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“A Position Which My Gayness Itself Leads Me to Take”: Sexual-Minority Antiabortion Activists

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 January 2025

ISOBEL BLOOM
ISOBEL BLOOM*
Affiliation:
Department of History, University of Wisconsin–Madison. Email: iashby@wisc.edu.
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Abstract

Since the 1990s, the Pro-Life Alliance of Gays and Lesbians (PLAGAL) has positioned sexual minorities and fetuses as alike in struggle. The lesbian, gay, and bisexual members of this relatively small organization argued that tolerance and inclusivity of their positionality were strategically beneficial to both the gay rights and antiabortion movements. Ultimately, PLAGAL failed to convince many of the “legitimacy” of their campaigns, and was repeatedly expelled from both right-to-life rallies and Pride marches. This notwithstanding, PLAGAL organizing reveals much about (the limits of) identity politics and the relationship of different social and political movements in this turbulent decade.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of American Studies , First View , pp. 1 - 28
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press in association with British Association for American Studies

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Footnotes

She would like to thank Cecelia Brown, former president of PLAGAL, for sharing information about an unprocessed collection of organizational records, as well as Kate Dossett and Jonathan Bell for their comments on earlier drafts.

References

1 Tom Sena, “A Thinking Gay Man's Journey toward an Understanding of Abortion,” Wisconsin Light, 4 Dec. 1997, 4, Pro-Life Alliance of Gays and Lesbians records (unprocessed collection), Western Reserve Historical Society Library, Cleveland, OH (hereafter GLR). The title of this article is taken from Tom Sena, “It's Not the Same,” Washington Blade, 8 Dec. 1989, 25.

2 Sena, “A Thinking Gay Man's Journey.”

3 Tom Sena, “An Intellectual Journey about Abortion,” 20 Nov. 1997, 2–3, Pro-Life Alliance of Gays and Lesbians (hereafter PLAGAL), Archives of Sexuality and Gender, at gale.com/primary-sources/archives-of-sexuality-and-gender (hereafter ASG), original emphasis.

4 In 1995, PLAGAL Michael Ferens reported, “of the approximate national membership of 500, 35% are women.” See Michael Ferens, letter to Rich Tafel and Abner Mason, 19 May 1995, GLR.

5 See Garance Franke-Ruta, “Roe v. Gay,” Washington City Paper, 11 Feb. 2000, 14, GLR; Tony Peregrin, “Gay, Straight Pro-lifers Clash,” Windy City Times, 2 May 2000, GLR.

6 Mann, William, “No Easy Answers,” Philadelphia Gay News, 19, 26 (17–21 April 1995), 17–29Google Scholar, 29, GLR.

7 “PLAGAL 2nd Year at LA Pride,” PLAGAL Memorandum, 22 July 1998, 2, PLAGAL, GLR.

8 Cecelia (Holesovsky) Brown in Elene Schmidt, “Speaker Shares Experience as a Pro-life Lesbian Activist,” Miami Herald, 20–22 April 2009, 5, ASG.

9 Donna Marie Kearney in Wendy Johnson, “Gay Pro-lifers Often Rejected by Both Sides,” Washington Blade, 27, 4 (26 Jan. 1997), 21.

10 Ibid.

11 Philip Arcidi in ibid.

12 Ibid.

13 “June Is the Hottest Month,” PLAGAL Memorandum, 22 Oct. 1997, 2, PLAGAL, GLR.

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15 See Hartman, Andrew, A War for the Soul of America: A History of the Culture Wars (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2016), 95Google Scholar; Haugeberg, Karissa, “‘How Come There's Only Men Up There?’ Catholic Women's Grassroots Anti-abortion Activism,” Journal of Women's History, 27, 4 (2015), 38–61CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Williams, Daniel, “The Partisan Trajectory of the American Pro-life Movement: How a Liberal Catholic Campaign Became a Conservative Evangelical Cause,” Religions, 6, 2 (2015), 451–75CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

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17 “June Is the Hottest Month.”

18 “An Open Letter to the Pro-life Community,” undated, PLAGAL, Pro-life Alliance records, 1985–1998, Sophia Smith Collection of Women's History, Smith College, Northampton, MA (hereafter PAR), 1–2; Michael Dubson-Sage, “Abortion Is a Heterosexual Atrocity, Not a Gay Civil Right as Many Seem to Think,” Wisconsin Light, 7, 20 (29 Sept.–12 Oct. 1994), 9, ASG.

19 “An Open Letter to the Lesbian and Gay Community: Under the Rainbow Flag,” undated, PLAGAL, PAR, 1–2.

20 “Gays’ Fight against Abortion Often Gets Heavy Dose of Rejection,” Wisconsin Light, 10, 4 (13–26 Feb. 1997), 23, ASG.

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23 Michael Dubson-Sage, “Anti-abortion Stance Promoted for Alliance to Queer Rights Movement,” Alliance News, 114, 10 (Oct. 1994), 3, ASG. The title of this section is taken from “A Progressive Woman Speaks Out,” PLAGAL Memorandum, 29 March 1994, 3, PLAGAL, ASG.

24 “Equality for All: Lesbians, Gays, and the Unborn,” undated, PLAGAL, ASG, 1–2.

25 “Roe v. Wade: Death Warrant for Homosexuals,” PLAGAL Memorandum, 1 Sept. 1994, 3, PLAGAL, ASG.

26 “Roe v. Wade Revisited,” PLAGAL Memorandum, 1 Sept. 1994, 6, PLAGAL, ASG.

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29 Charles Silverstein in Jim Trageser, “Search for ‘Gay’ Gene May Lead to New Political Allies,” Adams Avenue Post, Sept. 1991, 2, GLR.

30 Steve Boggan, Glenda Cooper, and Charles Arthur, “Nobel Winner Backs Abortion ‘For Any Reason’,” The Independent, 17 Feb. 1997, at independent.co.uk/news/nobel-winner-backs-abortion-for-any-reason-1279136.html.

31 “Evidence of Gay Genetics,” PLAGAL Memorandum, 21 April 1996, 6, PLAGAL, GLR.

32 Nancy Marcus, “Same Moralistic Talk,” undated, GLR.

33 Terri Smith, “Coming to a Pride March Near You … The Pro-Life Alliance of Gays and Lesbians,” LRC News: The Lesbian Resource Center's Community Voice, Nov. 1995, ASG.

34 “Abortion … Another Name for Gay Bashing,” undated, PLAGAL, PAR; “The Final Solution to the Gay ‘Problem’,” undated, PLAGAL, GLR.

35 Hughes, Richard, “‘The Civil Rights Movement of the 1990s?’ The Anti-abortion Movement and the Struggle for Racial Justice,” Oral History Review, 33, 2 (1 Jan. 2006), 1–24CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed.

36 Donna Marie Kearney, “A PLAGAL Commentary: Gays Must Affirm All Life,” PLAGAL Memorandum, 19 March 1995, 3, PLAGAL, ASG.

37 Ibid., 3.

38 Tivis, M. Luhra, “Abortion: Cold-Blooded, Greedy Killing,” Lesbian Contradiction, 43 (Summer 1993), 17Google Scholar, ASG.

39 Laura Putre, “Nouveau Womb: Hip Pro-lifers Hope to Catch a New Wave of Recruits,” Cleveland Scene, 6 Aug. 2002, GLR, original emphasis.

40 Saurette, Paul and Gordon, Kelly, The Changing Voice of the Anti-abortion Movement: The Rise of “Pro-woman” Rhetoric in Canada and the United States (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2015), 298Google Scholar.

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44 Steve Cook, “Women Hurt by Legal Abortions,” OutNOW!, 11–17 Feb. 1997, 10, GLR.

45 Cecelia (Holesovsky) Brown in Brian van de Mark, “Gay Republicans – An Oxymoron?”, Gay and Lesbian Times, 933 (10 Nov. 2005), 43, ASG.

46 See Ehrlich, J. Shoshanna and Doan, Alesha E., Abortion Regret: The New Attack on Reproductive Freedom (Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger, 2019)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

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48 Cecelia (Holesovsky) Brown in Will Doig, “The Fetal Position,” Metro Weekly, 29 Jan. 2003.

49 Brown in Van de Mark, “Gay Republicans,” 43.

50 Cecelia (Holesovsky) Brown, “An Open Letter to Nellie Gray, President, March for Life,” 2002, GLR.

51 Cecelia (Holesovsky) Brown in Elene Schmidt, “Speaker Shares Experience as a Pro-life Lesbian Activist,” Miami Herald, 20–22 April 2009, 5, ASG.

52 Mann, “No Easy Answers.”

53 See Sorensen, Igna, “We're Here, We're Queer, We're Pro-life,” Lavender Network, 98 (April 1994), 6Google Scholar, GLR.

54 Jeff Epperly, “Gay and Anti-abortion: ‘Pro-life’ Gay Men and Lesbians Take Part in Right Wing DC March,” Bay Windows, 27 Jan. 1994, 14, GLR. The title of this section is taken from Philip Arcidi, “Hoisting the Banner: PLAGAL Greets the March on Washington,” PLAGAL Memorandum, 15 May 1993, 1, PLAGAL, ASG.

55 Mann, 17.

56 Ibid.

57 Carl Weiser, “Lesbian Compares Pro-choice Position to Homophobia,” Gannett News Service, 23 Jan. 1995, reprinted in PLAGAL Memorandum, 19 March 1995, 6, PLAGAL, ASG.

58 Philip Arcidi in Stephen H. Miller, “Shouting Past Each Other,” Update, 736 (31 Jan. 1996), 11, ASG.

59 Mary Jean Mulherin in Cynthia Scott, “Community Divided: Pro-life Gays and Lesbians Come Out of the Closet, Again,” Q Monthly, Jan. 1996, 14, GLR.

60 Jack Isaacks, “Two Heads, Same Hydra,” undated, GLR.

61 Cecelia (Holesovsky) Brown, “We Were Silenced,” Gay People's Chronicle, undated, GLR.

62 “Sena Comments on the March,” PLAGAL Memorandum, 16 Feb. 2000, 6, PLAGAL, GLR.

63 Igna Sorensen, “We're Here, We're Queer, We're Pro-life,” Lavender Network, 98 (April 1994), 6, GLR.

64 Johnson, “Gay Pro-lifers Often Rejected by Both Sides.”

65 Mann, “No Easy Answers,” 17.

66 Untitled, Genre, 18 (May 1994), GLR.

67 “Roe v. Wade: Death Warrant for Homosexuals,” PLAGAL Memorandum, 1 Sept. 1994, 3, PLAGAL, ASG.

68 Garance Franke-Ruta, “Roe v. Gay,” Washington City Paper, 11 Feb. 2000, 14, GLR.

69 Cheryl Schwartz, “Letter to the Editor,” Bay Windows, 13, 30 (20–26 July 1995), 7, ASG.

70 Philip Arcidi, “2c. Worth,” Gay and Lesbian Times, 392 (29 June 1995), 33, ASG.

71 Susanne Sande, “Be Willing to Listen,” undated, GLR.

72 Donna Marie Kearney, “A PLAGAL Commentary: Gays Must Affirm All Life,” PLAGAL Memorandum, 19 March 1995, 3, PLAGAL, ASG.

73 “Help Expand the Pro-life Movement,” undated, PLAGAL, GLR.

74 “Volz Queries Philly AIDS Walk,” PLAGAL Memorandum, 1 Sept. 1994, 6, PLAGAL, ASG.

75 Cecelia (Holesovsky) Brown, “Letter to the Editor,” undated, GLR.

76 Betsey Kaufman, “Planned Parenthood: The Goal Is Prevention,” Plain Dealer, 13 Oct. 1994, GLR.

77 Eric Wichner, letter to Chuck Volz, 15 Aug. 1994, GLR.

78 Chuck Volz, letter to Mark Segal, 23 Aug. 1994, GLR.

79 “Abortion Scandal Rocks Philly AIDS Walks,” PLAGAL Memorandum, 20 Dec. 1995, 2, PLAGAL, GLR.

80 “Local Prides Are Next,” PLAGAL Memorandum, 1 March 1997, 1, PLAGAL, GLR.

81 Norah Vincent, “Welcome to the Club,” Village Voice, 26 Dec. 2000, at villagevoice.com/2000/12/26/welcome-to-the-club.

82 Nat Hentoff, “The Enemy within Gay Pride Day,” Village Voice, 40, 32 (8 Aug. 1995), GLR.

83 “Pro-abortion Hate Group Disrupts Boston Pride, Ousts Pro-life Gays,” PLAGAL Memorandum, 25 June 1995, 1, PLAGAL, ASG.

84 Ibid.

85 Victoria Brownworth, “Just Another Soapbox: I'm Not Pro-abortion; I'm Pro-choice,” Philadelphia Gay News, 17, 39 (23–29 July 1993), 26, 29, 26, ASG.

86 Nancy Buermeyer, “Counterpoint: Gays Should Be Pro-choice,” Washington Blade, 5 Oct. 1990, 33, ASG.

87 Brownworth, 29.

88 Maria De La O, “Pro-life Lesbians?”, Deneuve: The Lesbian Magazine, 4, 6 (Dec. 1994), 18, ASG.

89 Cheryl Schwartz, “Letter to the Editor,” Bay Windows, 13, 30 (20–26 July 1995), 7, ASG.

90 Terri Smith, “Coming to a Pride March Near You … The Pro-Life Alliance of Gays and Lesbians,” LRC News: The Lesbian Resource Center's Community Voice, Nov. 1995, ASG.

91 Brownworth, 26.

92 Ibid.

93 “Texas Lesbian Conference,” PLAGAL Memorandum, 10 July 1997, 2, PLAGAL, GLR.

94 Steve Cook, “Pro-life What?”, Hot-Line, 13 April 1994, 4, GLR.

95 Tom Sena, “Round and Round She Goes …,” PLAGAL Memorandum, 25 June 1995, 7–8, PLAGAL, ASG.

96 Norah Vincent, “Bunnies in Babeland,” Advocate, 22 June 1999, GLR.

97 Philip Arcidi, “Save the Whales! Save the Rainforest! Kill the Babies?”, Ohio Feminist, 2, 1 (Winter–Spring 1996), 7, Feminists for Life (hereafter FFL)–Ohio, GLR.

98 Arcidi, “2c. Worth.”

99 Howard, Clayton, “Gay and Conservative: An Early History of the Log Cabin Republicans,” in Bell, Jonathan, ed., Beyond the Politics of the Closet: Gay Rights and the American State since the 1970s (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2020), 141–64Google Scholar, 147.

100 Ibid., 141.

101 “Log Cabin Republicans Adopt Neutral Position on Abortion,” PLAGAL Memorandum, 30 Aug. 1999, 1, PLAGAL, ASG; “Log Cabin Republicans Assist Pro-choice Campaign,” PLAGAL Memorandum, 22 Oct. 1997, 5, PLAGAL, ASG.

102 Young, Neil J., Coming Out Republican: A History of the Gay Right (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2024), 239CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

103 Ibid., 240.

104 Evelyn Kotch, “Log Cabin Resents Diversity of Pride,” Au Courant: Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Newsweekly, 13, 28 (16–22 May 1995), GLR.

105 Philip Arcidi, letter to the editor of Au Courant: Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Newsweekly, 19 May 1995, GLR.

106 “Pro-life Gays Meet the Rainbow Police,” PLAGAL Memorandum, 25 June 1995, 5, PLAGAL, ASG.

107 “Boston Peaceful in 1997,” PLAGAL Memorandum, 10 July 1997, 2, PLAGAL, GLR.

108 “PLAGAL 2nd Year at LA Pride,” PLAGAL Memorandum, 22 July 1998, 2, PLAGAL, GLR.

109 Susanne Sande, “Be Willing to Listen,” undated, GLR.

110 “PLAGAL 2nd Year at LA Pride,” 2.

111 Joshua Prager, The Family Roe: An American Story (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2021). The title of this section is taken from “Expand the Pro-life Movement,” undated, PLAGAL, GLR, original emphasis.

112 Philip Arcidi in “Roe v. Wade Revisited,” PLAGAL Memorandum, 1 Sept. 1994, 6, PLAGAL, ASG.

113 Maria De La O, “Jane Roe's Conversion,” Deneuve: The Lesbian Magazine, 4, 6 (Dec. 1995), 16, ASG.

114 “A Switch for Roe,” Outlines: The Voice of the Gay and Lesbian Community, 9, 4 (Sept. 1995), 33, ASG.

115 Mann, “No Easy Answers,” 17.

116 Gallagher, John and Bull, Chris, Perfect Enemies: The Religious Right, the Gay Movement, and the Politics of the 1990s (New York: Crown Publishers, 1996)Google Scholar, xv.

117 Williams, Daniel, Defenders of the Unborn: The Pro-life Movement before Roe v. Wade (New York: Oxford University Press, 2016)CrossRefGoogle Scholar, 3.

118 Philip Arcidi in Johnson, “Gay Pro-lifers Often Rejected by Both Sides.”

119 “Expand the Pro-life Movement,” undated, PLAGAL, GLR.

120 Cecelia (Holesovsky) Brown, letter to Physicians for Life, undated, GLR.

121 Ibid.

122 Tom Sena, “Religion and the Pro-life Movement,” Feminism & Nonviolence Studies, 22 Sept. 1998, at thefreelibrary.com/Religion+and+the+the+prolife+movement.-a095764439.

123 James Dawson, Live and Let Live: Pro-life, Animal-Rights, Libertarian, 6 (Oct. 1993), 10, GLR.

124 Cecelia (Holesovsky) Brown, “Tom Sena, Founder of Largest Gay Right to Life Organization (PLAGAL), Dies,” PLAGAL Memorandum, 25 July 2001, 1, PLAGAL, ASG.

125 Holland, Jennifer, Tiny You: A Western History of the Anti-abortion Movement (Oakland: University of California Press, 2020)Google Scholar, 4.

126 “Fruggle – The Alien from Planet Voop,” Harmony: Voices for a Just Future, 1, 1 (Sept.–Oct. 1987), 20, Seamless Garment Network, Hall-Hoag Collection of Dissenting and Extremist Propaganda, John Hay Library, Brown University, Providence, RI.

127 Dawson.

128 Hagel, Alisa von and Mansbach, Daniela, Reproductive Rights in the Age of Human Rights: Pro-life Politics from Roe to Hobby Lobby (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016)CrossRefGoogle Scholar, 13.

129 Ibid, 4.

130 Tom Sena, “PLAGAL at Socialist Confab,” PLAGAL Memorandum, 25 April 1995, 2, PLAGAL, ASG.

131 Susan Maronek, “Diversity: A Personal Reaction: 1996 March for Life,” 1996, FFL, GLR.

132 “March for Life Encouraging,” PLAGAL Memorandum, 1 Feb. 1997, 1, PLAGAL, GLR.

133 “PLAGAL and Friends March for Life!”, PLAGAL Memorandum, Feb. 1994, 1–2, PLAGAL, ASG.

134 “1993 March for Life,” PLAGAL Memorandum, 6 April 1993, 2, PLAGAL, ASG.

135 Ibid.

136 Epperly, “Gay and Anti-abortion.”

137 Rachel Giese, “Aborting Gay Fetuses,” Xtra! West: Vancouver's Gay and Lesbian News, 20 Jan. 1995, 12, ASG.

138 Joyce Price, “Gays and Lesbians to Join Pro-life Forces in March,” Washington Times, 16 Jan. 1994, A4, GLR.

139 “We Marched!”, PLAGAL Memorandum, 16 Feb. 2000, 2, PLAGAL, GLR.

140 “PLAGAL Celebrates Ten Years as an Organization,” PLAGAL Memorandum Anniversary Edition 2001, Aug. 2001, 2, PLAGAL, GLR.

141 Philip Arcidi in Epperly.

142 “Gays Join 1995 March for Life,” 23 Jan. 1995, PLAGAL, GLR.

143 “1993 March for Life,” PLAGAL Memorandum, 27 Feb. 1993, 1, PLAGAL, GLR.

144 Philip Arcidi, letter to Raymond Drake, 26 Jan. 1995, GLR.

145 Ibid.

146 Ibid.

147 Viet Dihn, “Anti-abortion Gays Make Waves during Annual March for Life,” 1998, GLR.

148 “PLAGAL and the Annual March for Life,” 1999, 1, PLAGAL, GLR.

149 Michael Ferens in “Pro-life Gay Group Claims Harassment,” Washington Blade, 4 Feb. 2000, 14, GLR.

150 Lisa Neff, “Anti-abortion Gays Defy DC March Ban,” Chicago Free Press, 26 Jan. 2000, 3, GLR.

151 Michael Ferens, “We Held Our Banner High,” Gay People's Chronicle, 11 Feb. 2000, 6, GLR.

152 Moses Remedios in Doreen Brandt, “Gay Anti-abortion Leaders Arrested at National Pro-life March,” 365 Gay, 25 Jan. 2002, GLR.

153 Nellie Gray in Ann Rodgers-Melnick, “Buses Set to Roll to 30th Anti-abortion March,” Post-Gazette, 20 Jan. 2003, at old.post-gazette.com/localnews/20030120march0120p2.asp.

154 Kara Fox, “We're Gay! We're Pro-life!”, Washington Blade, 25 Jan. 2002, 21, GLR.

155 Colette Moran in Doig, “The Fetal Position.”

156 Serrin Foster in Fox, “We're Gay!”, 21.

157 Mubarak Dahir, “Do Pro-lifers Have a Place in the Gay Movement?”, Front Page, 21, 4 (18 Feb. 2000), 13, ASG.

158 Zachary Schermele, “For Anti-abortion LGBTQ Groups, Roe's Reversal Is a ‘Human Rights Victory’,” NBC News, 29 June 2022.

159 Garance Franke-Ruta, “Roe v. Gay,” Washington City Paper, 11 Feb. 2000, 14, GLR; Tony Peregrin, “Gay, Straight Pro-lifers Clash,” Windy City Times, 2 May 2000, GLR.

160 “About Us,” Rainbow Pro-Life Alliance, 2023, at rainbowprolife.org/about-1.