LGBT community has gained equal respect in the United States. Not long ago, the US Government has even legalized same-sex marriage across the state.
In early days, LGBT was a less acceptable minority community. But they fought their way to get their rights acknowledged. They even established many organizations that will strengthen their existence. Mattachine Society, Daughters of Bilitis, Gay Liberation Front, and Gay Alliance are the image of successful organizations that fight against LGBT discrimination and abuse.
“There are various successful goals that each of them achieved” Dhaniar Th. Musa said in her open dissertation defense at Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Universitas Gadjah Mada, on Thursday (11/19).
Defending her dissertation entitled The Struggle of Queer Community in the United States of America in the 1950s and 1960s, the professor in Tourism Department, Politeknik Negeri Manado, said that the Mattachine’s success showed the professionalism of the leader in creating effective social space for organization movement. Despite the non-conducive social, cultural, political and economic condition in America, the underground movement adopted by the LGBT community from the Communist’s showed optimum result. Their organisational leaders mustered gay and lesbian people in LA-California area who then initiated the same movement in other areas, such as the Daughters of Bilitis in San Fransisco.
The success of this organization is supported by the professionalism of their leaders and their members, using One newspaper as their media to spread information ontheir activities, “ she explained.
The same method was also applied in Daughters of Bilities Organization. The leader of this organization created and developed effective social space for their community. Beside that, it was also supported by their skills to shape the mindset of their people so their values were fully understood and implemented in their life.
Meanwhile, Gay Liberation Front was full of conflicts internally and externally. The founding fathers of this organization were less successful in creating effective social space for its members, because there was no firm leader and good organizational management.
“However, they were able to create a network to connect gay and lesbian activists,“ she added.