Collective Living
1971: Party at GLF House, 1620 S St NW
Party at the Gay Liberation Front-DC communal house.
Bruce Pennington and Theodore Kirkland eating dinner at a local Chinese restaurant, name unknown.
Gay Liberation Front-DC house members during Year 1 of the house.
Gay Liberation Front-DC house members during Year 1 of the house
Bruce Pennington and Gay Liberation Front-DC house members during Year 1 of the house.
The house dog at the Gay Liberation Front-DC communal house.
On the floor at GLF House, 1620 S St. NW, Washington, DC, circa 1971: (lying sideways) is Reggie Haynes, behind Reggie is Guy Charles, in the middle with glasses and curly hair is David Aiken. On the couch: Kashi Rahman, Andy Hughes, Ronnie, Michael Ferri, Tim Corbett, unknown, Shima Rahman, unknown, Joseph Covert.
The First House
On September 1, 1970, eight GLF members moved into a 3 story rowhouse at 1620 S St NW, which quickly became known as the GLF House or Collective. This first collective lasted until 1974. As leader of the Ways and Means glonk, David Aiken had made arrangements to get the house in a neighborhood of antiwar and counter-culture collectives. The house had previously been occupied by a collective associatd with the antiwar Berrigan brothers.
The GLF House became an organizing center for gay and lesbian activists where plans were laid for protests at Catholic University, the Plus One, and other sites around the city. One memorable zap occured at Catholic University during a discussion of homosexuality. Among organizations emerging from the GLF House was the Breadbox collective of homeless gay youth who published their own newsletter, Breadbox.
The members of the first collective included:
- Jose Ramos
- Joan Carmody
- Bill Taylor
- Michael Ferri
- Bruce Pennington
- David Aiken
The Group Expands
In 1971, two GLFers left the 1620 S St. house and set up a neighboring collective at 1614 S St. NW. The second collective was known as the Skyline Faggots Collective (named for a meeting on Skyline drive in Virginia at which the group decided to start a separate house). Skyline Collective lasted until about 1975, though it moved in 1974 to 1733 Q St NW. Both this and the first collective at 1620 represented Gay Liberation Front thought, but favored differing tactics. Like many collectives of the period, the group devoted time to consciousness-raising raps, self-criticism, and ideological and tactical discussions.
Kent Jarratt, David Duty, Michael Ferri, Theodore Kirkland, Jim Lawrence, and Tim Tomasi formed the Skyline Faggots Collective. Both collectives sometimes served as "crash pads" for people needing a place to live who were residents but not members of the collective.