50 YEARS OF THE MOVEMENT.

hicago’s Society for Human Rights (1924) did not last long and was superseded by the Mattachine Society, founded by communist Harry Hay in Los Angeles in 1950, which spread across the country over the decade and is considered the first significant American gay rights group. The Daughters of Bilitis, the first lesbian group (named after the fictional Sapphic character), started by partners Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon in 1955, was primarily a social safe space but became involved with the political struggle. Writers such as Gore Vidal, James Baldwin, Christopher Isherwood joined Radcliffe Hall in writing some of the only available fiction and would soon be joined by Audre Lorde and others. In the UK, things were also changing. After high-profile prosecutions of Alan Turning, Lord Montagu of Beaulieu and actor John Gielgud, Sir John Wolfenden’s 1957 report lead to the Sexual