ONE TO CATCH
Between 1953 and 1965, ONE Magazine, the first openly gay & lesbian periodical in the United States, received thousands of letters monthly from its readers. a great many of them isolated and in search of community. Now, playwright Josh Irving Gershick has compiled the voices of more than 40 distinct, mid-century Queer people — real people who tell us first-hand about their lives — and turned it into a performance piece that will feature actor George Takei on Saturday June 20, 2020, at 3pm PDT.
Produced by the ONE Archives Foundation, Inc., Dear ONE: Love & Longing in Mid-Century Queer America illuminates the lives of ordinary gay folk as recounted through these letters. In larger cities, the magazine was available on newsstands; in smaller towns, it arrived in mailboxes in a simple unmarked envelope. Looking for love, friendship or understanding, readers wrote of loneliness and longing, of joy and fulfillment, and of their daily lives, hidden from history. The play is adapted from material from the ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives at the USC Libraries.
Dear ONE features the voices of more than 40 distinct, mid-century Queer people — real people who tell us first-hand about their lives. The correspondents — deeply but seamlessly edited — come from nearly every walk of life, from every part of the country and abroad.
While popular accounts place the start of the queer movement in 1969, with the Stonewall Riots in New York City, the first documented LGBTQ civil rights demonstrations in the U.S. were held in May 1959, at L.A.’s Cooper’s Do-Nuts, in which gender-nonconforming folk and sex workers rousted by police resisted; in August 1966, at San Francisco’s Compton’s Cafeteria, when police attempted to rout transgender patrons; and on February 11, 1967, at the Black Cat café in Los Angeles, in response to a police raid. But Dear ONE suggests something else again: that the queer liberation movement — an awareness of community coupled with a galvanizing call to action — began long before, as many of its letters underscore. And ONE Magazine, whose mission was to “help homosexuals to understand themselves,” was there.
Along with Mr. Takei, the virtual performance will feature actors Michelle C. Bonilla, Nicky Endres, JP Karliak, and Doug Spearman, followed by a discussion with the playwright. Proceeds from Dear ONE will support ONE Archives Foundation’s education, exhibition, and public programs to keep Queer History Visible.
photos from ONE Archives
Dear ONE: Love & Longing in Mid-Century Queer America
ONE Archives Foundation, Inc.
streaming on Saturday June 20, 2020, at 3pm PDT
tickets ($20 plus fees) are available at ONE Archives
