A Lasting Impact on Lesbian & Gay Organizing

“In the Piedmont city of Durham last summer, a coalition of liberal voter groups, gay activists, civil-rights groups and religious leaders took on the Right over one of the South’s most explosive issues—gay rights—and won.” -Barry Yeoman, journalist, Mother Jones

Many of WRL Southeast's former leaders remember it as a group anchored in feminist analysis and lesbian feminist leadership. WRL Southeast members worked to end violence against women and lesbian and gay people alongside state repression and war.

One of the core issues that WRL Southeast rallied behind was lesbian and gay liberation. Lesbian and gay organizers in the Triangle built a strong local progressive movement in the 1980s. Members of WRL Southeast, often wearing multiple organizational hats, moved the dial regionally towards increased visibility and community support for lesbian and gay rights.

Group of white-presenting people gathered facing a road or public thoroughfare, holding handwritten signs. WRL Southeast's Steve Sumerford, a young white man with glasses and a beard and wearing overalls, appears in the center of the photograph. The signs read, "Germany Started This Way!!" and "On Good Friday Christians Deplore Violence and Death"

After the 1981 anti-gay murder of Ronald “Sonny” Antonevich at Little River north of Durham, local lesbian and gay activists organized a vigil. WRL Southeast organizer Steve Sumerford (front, third from right) stands in solidarity with members of the Triangle’s first Pride march in response to the killing—“Our Day Out.” He and fellow WRL Southeast organizer Dannia Southerland, an outspoken lesbian feminist, coordinated peacekeeping at the march to deescalate potential violence.

Newspaper clipping with a photograph of of people in a march behind a banner reading "Triangle Lesbian & Gay Pride." The title of the article reads: "Hundreds Stage Gay Rights March in Durham." Under the photograph is a caption reading: "Supporters of homosexual rights march down Hillsborough Road Saturday to mark Anti-Discrimination Week."

The second Triangle Pride march, 1986. The march's steering committee included several WRL Southeast members, including WRL staff organizer Mandy Carter and former staffer Dannia Southerland. WRL Southeast members Steve Sumerford and Carol Anderson were part of the march's Friends of Lesbians and Gays Committee.

“We are marching for freedom—to live and work free from bigotry, violence, and fear…in our workplaces, our families, the streets of our cities, our places of worship and play, in hospitals, in schools, and in the privacy of our homes.” -Statement of the Triangle Lesbian & Gay Pride ‘86 March and Celebration

Purple/pink June calendar of events for Triangle Lesbian and Gay Pride '86 month, reading "out today, out to stay." Events include "TALF/YWCA Cookout," "Lesbian literature reading,"and "Presentation: Civil Rights for Gays and Lesbians"

Calendar of activities for the second Triangle Pride march and celebration in 1986. Note the WRL women’s dance scheduled for May 21 at the YWCA, a local hub of lesbian feminist organizing.

Black and white poster advertising "Triangle Lesbian and Gay Pride '86," featuring an image of a white woman-presenting person waving and an image taken from behind of a white masculine-presenting person wrapping their arm around the shoulders of a masculine-presenting person of color. Additional text reads: "March and Celebration: Out Today, Out to Stay, Saturday, June 28"

Poster announcing the second Triangle Lesbian and Gay Pride march and celebration, 1986.

A sheet of green paper printed with a series of six circular outlines of political buttons, each button template reading "No Recall."

After Pride '86, a local right-wing coalition of conservative activists and evangelical ministers organized for the recall of Durham mayor Wib Gulley, based on his support for lesbian and gay Durhamites against discrimination. Durham progressives formed a multiracial coalition with lesbian and gay leadership to stop the recall. Gulley’s supporters wore buttons like these, pictured here.

“Democracies cannot exist without protecting their citizens from persecution and discrimination.” -Durham Mayor Wib Gulley, "Proclamation for 1986 Anti-Discrimination Week"

Full page advertisement with the title, "Some Truths About Homosexuality," with bullet points reading: "Gay Men and Lesbians Are Everywhere"; "Lesbians and Gay Men Are Subjected to Discrimination"; and "Gay Men and Lesbians Are Ordinary People." At the bottom of the page reads, "Durham Citizens for Responsible Leadership thanks each Durham citizen who is willing to stand on the side of human rights for all people."

An lebian and gay-positive ad appearing in the Durham Morning Herald on August 8, 1986. Members of WRL Southeast and the Triangle Area Lesbian Feminists alongside other groups founded Durham Citizens for Responsible Leadership, a coalition to prevent the recall of progressive Mayor Wib Gulley for his support for gay and lesbian Durhamites.

Yellow flier accented by an upside down triangle with the title in bold print, reading "Gay Community Meeting"

A meeting flier inviting local lesbian feminists and gay men active in the successful “No Recall” campaign to build a durable lesbian and gay organization in the Triangle. WRL Southeast member Dannia Southerland helped lead this meeting. Durham’s lesbian and gay community, including members of WRL Southeast, would continue to flex its growing political muscle.

Three white-presenting people sitting around a table. The person in the center table, who is wearing a name tag, is smiling and looking at the person to her right.

WRL Southeast member Dannia Southerland (second from left) at War Resisters League's 1983 national conference

“One of the lessons that we learned from the recall campaign was that the right will take us seriously if we just march, but the left will only take us seriously if we are organized.” -Dannia Southerland, Proposal for A Gay and Lesbian Organizing Committee, August 1986

Hot pink flier with hand-stenciled title, reading: "Gay & Lesbian Solidarity Coalition endorses," followed by a list of candidates

Local Triangle-area lesbian and gay organizing entered the electoral political arena during the mid-1980s, a move that would pave the way for ongoing electoral work led by progressive LGBTQ+ North Carolinians like WRL member Mandy Carter in the years ahead.