Long before slogans went viral, one simple phrase said it all: “Avenge Oscar Wilde.”
Emerging in the late 1960s and ’70s as a rallying cry within the growing gay liberation movement, the slogan connected the modern fight for equality to the legacy of Oscar Wilde — the brilliant playwright and wit who was imprisoned in 1895 for “gross indecency” after his homosexuality became public scandal.
To wear this phrase was to reject shame and reclaim pride — a reminder that queer persecution had deep roots, and that visibility itself was resistance. It appeared on buttons, banners, and T-shirts at early Pride marches and demonstrations around the world.
