Jim Andris, Facebook

Gay Organizations in St. Louis

from Gay St. Louis, Vol. IV No 2, July-August 1978

In the late 1960’s, before Stonewall, before the gay liberation movement began, a gay organization called Mandrake existed in St. Louis. Having some ties with the Mattachine Society, Mandrake was a group in which gays could come together and communicate, hear presentations from the VD clinics, and work towards changing the archaic sexual laws in Missouri. Though primarily social, it was, at times, quite political. When, shortly after midnight on Halloween, in 1969, police raided bars and arrested about 25 men in drag, Mandrake members went down to the police station and worked for their release, obtained the following morning. Mandrake slowly faded out of existence in the early 1970's, as other gay organizations formed.

In the Fall of 1970, students at Washington University formed a Gay Liberation Front. Modeled after the radical groups in other cities, the organization, composed of students and nonstudents, soon toned down to fit St. Louis. It organized consciousness-raising groups, worked toward self-liberation and unity with other liberation groups in St. Louis. In December, 1970, the group moved off-campus in an effort to build closer ties with the community. It held meetings in a gallery/ coffee house on Euclid, and on Sunday evenings, operated its own coffee house. When the gallery lost its lease, GLF began to hold its meetings at Trinity Episcopal Church. Angered at the group's lack of activities, a radical caucus split off from GLF in the Spring of 1971, and concentrated its efforts in speaking engagements. Rent by internal political and personality conflicts, GLF slowly dissolved by the end of 1971.

For two years, there were no gay organizations at all in St. Louis. Finally, at the end of 1973, the Reverend Carol Cureton came to St. Louis to begin the formation of Metropolitan Community Church of St. Louis. With services and rap groups, MCC began to grow quite rapidly, helping gay women and men move toward self-acceptance and working toward the education of all people, gay and straight, through social events, speaking engagements and community activities. In less than a year and a half, MCC-St. Louis, one of the fastest growing churches in the fellowship, was able purchase its own building, on Waterman, where it provides a warm and generous welcome to all people, and to the other gay groups in St. Louis.

In early 1975, another gay group came into being in St. Louis, Dignity, for gay Catholics. Started by two members of Dignity-Boston who had moved here, Dignity grew rapidly, having two masses a month, in addition to several types of social activities. In the Spring of 1976, Dignity-St. Louis hosted a Midwest Dignity conference of over 100 people. Originally meeting in members' homes, the organization soon found a home at an Eastern Rite Catholic Church; it is presently meeting in a Roman Catholic Church and is hard at work not only in meeting the religious needs of its members and friends, but also at educating the St. Louis Archdiocese about the gay community.

Midcontinent Life Services Corporation (MLSC) was founded in the late summer of 1975 to help older gays, but soon began to focus its energy on the Gay Hotline. First given a home at MCC, the organization moved to its own office in the Fall of 1975, and started a community center, although it soon found itself becoming social service agency, becoming a gay service agency. Growing rapidly, it expanded its services, providing counseling, referrals to non-discriminating doctors, lawyers, and therapists, an active speakers’ bureau, a gay alcoholics group, a magazine, which developed into Gay St. Louis, and numerous other things for the gay community. In late 1976, MLSC bought a house on McPherson and attempted to expand its community center and service aspects, with a drop-in center, a weekend snack bar and numerous community events. Unfortunately, MLSC was not in a financial condition to support the building, and in March of 1978, it moved to smaller offices on South Euclid. It has eliminated its social activities, but is expanding its social services work to better serve the St. Louis gay community.

Anita Bryant brought an active political group to St. Louis in the Spring of 1977, the St. Louis Coalition for Human Rights. This group held several fund raisers to collect money for the Dade County coalition, and also worked to bring the St. Louis gay community together outside of the gay bars. The organization did not long outlive the national publicity over Ms. Bryant and faded out of existence in the Summer of 1977.
The past two years also saw the growth of two additional gay religious groups in St. Louis, Integrity, for gay Episcopalians and Lutherans Concerned for gay Lutherans. Both groups are doing well. Integrity meets twice a month at Trinity Episcopal Church.
The past five years has seen a tremendous growth in consciousness in the St. Louis gay community, and the formation of numerous groups. Not all of them have been successful, but most have done well. Although differences have occurred among the organizations, there is a spirit of cooperation among them all, with each helping out other groups when the need arises. So each group follows its own path, but all are striving toward better conditions for the gay community.