Karla Jay, Author & Activist

Karla Jay, Author & ActivistKarla Jay, Author & ActivistKarla Jay, Author & Activist

Karla Jay, Author & Activist

Karla Jay, Author & ActivistKarla Jay, Author & ActivistKarla Jay, Author & Activist
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    • Karla Jay Home/About
    • Activism
    • Writing
    • Awards
    • Events
    • Press/Media
    • Contact
  • Karla Jay Home/About
  • Activism
  • Writing
  • Awards
  • Events
  • Press/Media
  • Contact

PRESS/MEDIA

 I have been interviewed and been featured in many news programs, documentary films and videos. 

Karla Jay YouTube Search

Film/Video/Audio

Collage of PRIDE FX logo with talking head of Karla Jay in the documentary called PRIDE on FX & hulu

PRIDE (FX)

PRIDE

I will be in a six-part doc airing May 14 on FX/Hulu called "Pride." The director is Cheryl Dunye.  I think I was a little star-struck!

 Decades of struggle, revolution, and love. PRIDE, FX's new six-part documentary premieres May 14 at 8pm on FX, 

the very next day on FX on Hulu.

logo for 5 Things USA Today Podcast

USA Today's Pride Month Podcast

USA Today's 5 Things Podcast: I appear in an interview featured in this Apple Itunes Podcast


Screenshot of activist Barbara Gittings from NBC OUT site.

NBC OUT: the LGBTQ section of NBCNews.com

NBC OUT  I appear in several clips and interviews featured in this online collection and series. Notably, "Who were the 'Homophiles'? The LGBTQ rights movement began long before Stonewall".   

Photo: Activist Barbara Gittings from NBC OUT site.

Karla Jay, 1971

"Stonewall Uprising 50 Years Later /Alumnae and Faculty Describe the Social Movement’s Impact", Barnard News

Barnard News: Barnard Alumni & Faculty in relation to Stonewall 50.

Fifty years ago, when police raided the Stonewall Inn in the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, members of New York City’s underground gay community, weary of the routine discrimination, fought back. Barnard might have been miles away when the historic uprising erupted, but the effects of the protests that followed were still felt by many on campus and are considered the catalyst for the modern gay-rights movement. Today, the LGBTQ movement and Barnard, through the Barnard Center for Research on Women and majors such as Women's, Gender & Sexuality Studies, are making sure to keep the history alive. 

Gay rights march, men and banners. Photo: Leonard Fink

Stonewallupproret ("Stonewall uprising") Swedish Radio

 I am on Swedish radio! Appearing on P3 Documentary

A program that looks back, digs into the archives and talks to those who were there when it happened. 

 Nothing goes as the police have imagined when they hit the gay bar Stonewall Inn in New York at the end of June 1969. In Swedish and English.

 Photo: Leonard Fink 

Headshots of guests on "Pride, Progress, and Politics: 50 Years Since Stonewall" WBAI Radio.

"Pride, Progress, and Politics: 50 Years Since Stonewall" WBAI

I appeared on a chock full show on WBAI 99.5 NYC on June 2, 2019 hosted by Jeff Simmons.   "Pride, Progress, and Politics: 50 Years Since Stonewall" 

A four-hour live special to mark Stonewall 50/WorldPride Month. 

 It was like "coming home" in a way to start off Pride Month. I first heard about the Stonewall Uprising on WBAI--I'm pretty sure it was Pete Wilson. Yes, folks, I am the only LGBT person in New York City who does not claim to have been in/at or passing by the Stonewall that night. Pacifica radio stations were and still are important voices of the people in this country.

NY Times' screenshot from video "Who Threw the First Brick?". The image  is of a brick under glass.

Video: "Who Threw the First Brick at Stonewall?Let’s Argue About It" NY TIMES

Shane O'Neill put up a video about "Who Threw the brick at Stonewall?", examining the myths and the realities.  I'm in it.

Stonewall National Monument Park from the film, "The Monument".

"The Monument", (Documentary short, NY Times Op-Ed

 "The Monument" 

I appear in this documentary short by Cheryl Furjanic.  It will be released in time for Stonewall 50. 

 In the summer of 1969, a group young people — LGBTQ+ street kids, trans folks, gender non-conforming youth, drag queens, and allies — fought back against a police raid of a popular NYC gay bar. This Stonewall uprising became the match that ignited the still fragile gay rights movement. In the years that followed, the LGBTQ community would gather together near Stonewall in times of celebration, mourning, and protest. In 2016, the area surrounding Stonewall was designated as a National Monument. From police riots to park rangers — The Monument explores the living legacy of Stonewall and ways in which this small corner of New York City has become a hallowed ground and sacred space for LGBTQ folks across the world. 

 Stonewall Bar, 1969

"1969", TV Show, ABC Network Television

"1969"

The six-part series features gripping first-hand accounts of how the year's events came together at the same dizzying, chaotic time.  Airing in Summer 2019, can be viewed online at  abc.go 

The trailer can be viewed, here at abcnews.go.com

PHOTO: Stonewall Bar, 1969, during the Stonewall Uprising, from the docu-series, "1969", ABC-TV

"Stonewall Forever" logo

“Stonewall Forever”

Stonewall Forever is a project to find, preserve and share the untold stories of the Stonewall Riots of 1969 and the early years of the LGBTQ rights movement. The LGBT Community Center with support from Google.org is gathering, digitizing and archiving this crucial history. The stories will be included in an interactive monument in honor of the 50th anniversary of Stonewall. 

My profile will be featured in an interactive video to be shown on the walls of The Center, 208 W. 13th St., NYC, in June 2019. 

The interactive monument and documentary can be found online, here.

Eugene Gordon, ACT UP activists at Pride March, 1988.

“Letting Loose and Fighting Back: LGBTQ Nightlife Before and After Stonewall”

I will discuss life in mafia-controlled lesbian bars in an audio that will accompany part of this exhibit via wall-mounted headphones. 

New York Historical Society, 

May 24-September 22, 2019 

 Image Credit:Eugene Gordon, ACT UP activists at Pride March, 1988. New-York Historical Society Library  

Gay USA Screengrab Panel Discussion

“Gay USA” December 20, 2018.

 Panel on Stonewall Uprisings.    

Manhattan Cable, Free Speech TV, and YouTube. 

"What Stonewall Means To Me"

"What Stonewall Means To Me" NYU LGBTQ alumni,  

NYU faculty, staff and students speak out. A video screened at a timeline history of NYU's intersection with 50 years of gay liberation since Stonewall, "A Streak of Violet: LGBTQ+ History within New York University" .

Screengrab of Karla Jay from "Outwords Archive".

“Outwords Archive”

 OUTWORDS is the first project to travel America recording the stories of LGBTQ pioneers and elders: the people who witnessed our history, and made it happen.  A profile of me appears here.  

A brief trailer of the project is here.

Marsha P. Johnson, smiling and beautiful.

“The Death and Life of Marsha P, Johnson”

Filmmakers re-examine the 1992 death of transgender legend Marsha P. Johnson, who was found floating in the Hudson River. Originally ruled a suicide, many in the community believe she was murdered.  I appear as a contemporary expert.  

Netflix release,  2017   

"Shes Beautiful When She's Angry" logo

“She’s Beautiful When She’s Angry”

 In this documentary, I discuss Lavender Menace's action and First National Ogle-In, an action I organized on Wall Street in 1970 to combat the harassment of women in the streets.   This 2014 documentary is currently streaming and shown around the world in 22 languages.  Available here.

Print Media

Selected Articles, Profiles & Art Shows

Gay Barnard Community Illustration

Observing LGBTQ+ Pride, 50 Years After the First March

 Read how the Barnard community is celebrating Pride 2020 while social distancing.

June 1 marks the start of LGBTQ+ Pride Month, which is normally filled with joyous celebrations, mass marches for liberation, and voices from diverse communities. At Barnard, LGBTQ+ advocacy has a long and rich history, from the oldest LGBTQ+ student organization in the country to some of the first academic courses on gender and sexuality issues. 

Even though the COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically changed what the 2020 celebration looks, sounds, and feels like, the spirit of Pride persists at Barnard. This year, we checked in with several members of the Barnard community to see how they are celebrating, staying connected, and promoting Pride in the midst of continued social-distancing protocols.

Interviews and profiles continue here

Pride March in the 1970s Photo.

Internet 'a lifeline' for the LGBTQ community: Why the spirit of Pride Month will prevail as events move online

For LGBTQ pioneer Karla Jay, 73, who traces her activism to the dust of an uprising at the Stonewall Inn, Pride has always meant “not changing to be accepted.”

For Chazzie Grosshandler, 14, who eagerly awaited a community embrace at her first-ever march this summer, Pride is a pledge that “you are valid and you are loved.”

Similar sentiments, decades apart.

The veteran and the newcomer share something else: Along with millions across the globe, this year they will partake in a Pride Month like no other. . USA TODAY June 10, 2020

Article continues here

Image of filmstrip of images from the 1970s street marches.

They Marched in America’s First Pride Demonstrations in 1970. They’re Still Out, Loud, and Proud.

 America’s first Pride marches were held in 1970 in New York, L.A, San Francisco, and Chicago. Organizers and participants recall the post-Stonewall power of being seen and heard. 

Karla Jay, author of Tales of the Lavender Menace: A Memoir of Liberation, was an early member of the Gay Liberation Front and a founding member of Radicalesbians. She helped organize the first Los Angeles Pride march—known as the Christopher Street West parade—on June 28, 1970.  Daily Beast, July 05, 2020

Interview included here

Karla Jay Headshot

"Sheroes: The Lesbian Stonewall" LA Blade

Popular history tells the story of the Stonewall Uprising with men as the star protagonists, the trans community limited to Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson, and lesbian activists like me as background actors. But lesbians were rebels, too, fighting for women-oriented alternatives to oppressive Mafia-run clubs like the Stonewall Inn. (more)

The first LA Pride Parade took place along Hollywood Boulevard on June 29, 1970. (Associated Press)

"Some memorable moments of the L.A. Pride parade through the years" LA Times

There is a photo included in this LA Times article of the first L.A. Pride parade.  I am in the center, just right of the GLF banner behind the man in the vest.   June 29, 1970.

Collier Schorr Stonewall at Alice Austen House, promo picture.

Collier Schorr: Stonewall at 50

Collier Shorr photographed Karen F. Kerner, Duchess, and me for her forthcoming Stonewall 50 show at Alice Austen House on Staten Island.  Duchess says she intends to steal the show, leave her current line of work, and become a model.

The Alice Austen House presents 'Stonewall at 50', an exhibition by artist Collier Schorr. 15 intergenerational portraits of LGBTQ+ activists and artists, celebrates the 50th Anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising. This project, generated by partnerships made in the Stonewall 50 Consortium, an organization committed to producing programming, exhibitions, and educational materials related to the Stonewall uprising and/or the history of the LGBTQ civil rights movement, brings together participants of the 1969 Stonewall Uprising with activists who have followed in their footsteps. 

 The Alice Austen House, Staten Island, NY [05/19/19– 09/30/19 ]


Karla Jay and friends at a Pride rally, 1974. Courtesy of Karla Jay

How Lesbian Potlucks Nourished the LGBTQ Movement

Now a queer stereotype, the lesbian potluck has radical roots. 

I am quoted in this article in Gastro Obscura/Atlas Obscura. Hangouts and meetups were often built around cooking and food.  Building community and relationships; brunches, dinners, and potlucks formed the basis of the women's, lesbian and gay movements. 

The piece, How Lesbian Potlucks Nourished the LGBTQ Movement by Reina Gattuso, describes that exciting and heady time. 

PHOTO: Karla Jay and friends at a Pride rally, 1974. Courtesy of Karla Jay

The Book of Pride: LGBTQ Heroes Who Changed the World

The leaders and activists on the front lines of the LGBTQ movement, from the 1960’s to the present, through interviews and black and white photographs compiled and presented by OUTWORDS.   A biography of me is highlighted in a chapter in The Book of Pride: LGBTQ Heroes Who Changed the World  by Mason Funk,  HarperOne, May 21, 2019 (hardcover/paper/audio) 

A black and white photograph for the background. The photo is of five men and women linking arms.

“Gay-In III”

 “Gay-In III” famous 1970 poster by Lee Mason with me in the center, promoting an event in September 1970 in Griffiths Park, Los Angeles that involved LGBT education, mock marriages,  voter registration, face painting, and more.  Appears in “Art After Stonewall, 1969-1989.  Grey Art Gallery (NYU) and Lesbian Lohman Museum (New York), April 24-July 20, 2019.  The exhibit will then travel to the Frost Museum in Miami, FL and the Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, OH 

"Activist NY" Book cover

“Gay is Good: The Rise of Gay Power”

 My activism is highlighted in Chapter 13 of the book Activist New York: A History of People, Protest, and Politics: A History of People, Protest, and Politics  by Steven H. Jaffe, NYU Press, hardcover.  For purchase.

Copyright © 2019 Karla Jay, Author & Activist - All Rights Reserved.



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