Historical Perspective: UUSIC Interweave
Tova Vitiello, Co-chair, UUSIC Interweave

Remember -- or if you are too young to remember, imagine -- the 1950s when marriage and childbearing received strong cultural support. In fact, the cultural pressure to be married with children was so strong, unmarried adults were suspected of being lesbian or gay.

It was a time when members of our government declared that “homosexual people” were security risks to the United States. It was argued that lesbians and gays would divulge government secrets to communist spies. A senate committee informed U.S. citizens that “homosexuals and other perverts” in our government lacked “moral fiber.” Psychologists labeled homosexuality as a mental illness, and many gays and lesbians were institutionalized. In 1953, Dwight D. Eisenhower signed an executive order barring “homosexual” men and women from all federal jobs. Following this action, states and local communities enacted similar measures.

In the sixties police yelled “faggot” and “dyke” as well as other obscenities at gays and lesbians. There were illegal searches and arbitrary arrests. Gay and lesbian bars were routinely raided. Police stormed in and hit patrons and employees with clubs and with the butt of their guns. They forced lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LBGT) people into police vans and took them to jail. I remember hiding during one raid. I knew that I would lose my teaching license if I were arrested in a lesbian bar. Fortunately, I was not found.

Even after the 1969 Stonewall riots, a series of demonstrations that took place in New York City’s Greenwich Village, it wasn’t safe for LBGT people.

The Roots of Our Welcoming Congregation
In the early 1970s, as a co-founder of Iowa City’s Lesbian Alliance, I went to the minister of the Unitarian Universalist Society and asked if his congregation would allow us to hold dances in Channing Hall. The answer was “yes.” Once a month, lesbians met in a safe environment to socialize and dance. In addition to dances, Channing Hall hosted lesbian talent shows, poetry readings, concerts, and a lesbian version of The Taming of the Shrew.

However, prejudice and discrimination toward lesbian, bisexual, gay and transgender people persisted. In response to the oppression of LBGT people, members of the UUSIC took action. In 1995, we began educating ourselves about LBGT issues and concerns. Then on May 18, 1997, we voted unanimously to become an official Welcoming Congregation. At that time, Interweave was formed. Interweave is a membership organization actively working to end oppression based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

Unfortunately, prejudice and discrimination continue in our culture. Another movement that is responding to oppression is Transliberation. Masculine females, feminine males, cross-dressers, intersexuals, gender benders, gender blenders, transsexual men and women are challenging us to expand our acceptance and celebration of what it means to be human.