Pictured above are (l-2-r): Williamson
Henderson, S.V.A. Founder and President, wearing blue, tight, stitched, designer flair jeans and
a hand-made, multi-colored, print satan shirt plus stylish platform shoes and carrying a
Gay rights protest sign; Stan
Mallow (who lived with his lover around the corner on 14 Street),
SW-ve and S.V.A. Executive Committee,
wearing blue flair jeans, dark blue tee-shirt, sandles and dark sunglasses (wonder
why); and, to his right, Electra O'Mara, S.V.A. Corresponding
Secretary, wearing blue designer jeans,
blue plaid shirt over dark blue tanktop and
high-heeled shoes (with head turned and mouth yacking as
usual).
You will notice that of all the people shown, only
Williamson wore a colorful, really Gay-spirited shirt.
The blouse/shirt was designed by Charlez, the designer for
Williamson's on/off boyfriend boxing champ Emile Griffith.
Virtually everyone else wore something low-keyed and drab --
not the Gay spirit.
If you know Williamson, it is no surprise that in all of the
marchers shown, only he carried a Gay rights sign! At that time
it was definitely a determined and brave act to do so. It is
obvious
that Williamson did it quite proudly and with a confident
smile.
The theme of "Stonewall 8" in 1977 was anti-homophobe, orange juice queen Anita
"Paper Roses" Bryant out of orangey Florida. That explained why
this Gay Pride Parade was the biggest by far to that point. No
one -- before or since -- unified the Gay & Lesbian ("G/L") community like
soon-to-be-dethroned Anita the Bee. Spouting her evangelical
tirades of hate against Gay people, Williamson's sign (shown above) reacts and reads: "Anita made me
an atheist"!
"Stonewall 8" in 1977 was the last year that the New York City Gay Pride Parade wnet up Fifth
Avenue. At the time of the 1977 parade, strongly rumored to be
Gay,
candidate Congressman Ed Koch was campaigning for NYC mayor.
Although the S.V.A. was the only Gay group to support him (the
others endorsed Mario Cuomo), our "Koch-ya" won the run-off election --
God bless! In 1978 as the Mayor of New York City, Ed
Koch smartly
and proudly granted our long-sought wish to march from Central Park
West and down
Fifth Avenue appropriately to Greenwich Village and past the landmark
Gay Stonewall Inn, historic site of the revolutionary 1969 Stonewall
Rebellion!
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