The Militant Homosexual — John Barry 1967 Vintage Gay Pulp Book Poster

Published in 1967 by Brandon House in North Hollywood, California, The Militant Homosexual by John Barry was one of those wonderfully provocative little paperbacks that appeared during the turbulent years leading up to the gay liberation movement.

While most of America was still pretending homosexuals either didn't exist or needed psychiatric treatment, here was a book boldly announcing the arrival of the militant homosexual.

Not the discreet homosexual. Not the apologetic homosexual.

The MILITANT homosexual.

Unlike the usual assortment of steamy gay pulp novels featuring handsome sailors, lonely cowboys, and men getting into trouble in boardinghouses, The Militant Homosexual was a nonfiction examination of homosexuality, published at a time when attitudes toward gay people were beginning to change.

During the 1960s, organizations like the Mattachine Society and the Daughters of Bilitis were challenging discrimination, organizing demonstrations, and demanding that homosexual Americans be treated like everyone else.

In 1965, gay rights activists began picketing government buildings in Washington, D.C., openly protesting laws and employment policies that discriminated against homosexuals.

By the time Barry's book appeared in 1967, the country was experiencing enormous political and cultural upheaval. The civil rights movement, antiwar protests, women's liberation, and the sexual revolution were all challenging the established order.

And gay Americans were becoming increasingly unwilling to remain invisible.

Just two years later, the Stonewall uprising of June 1969 would help ignite a new era of gay liberation, transforming the struggle for homosexual rights into a much louder, angrier, and more visible political movement.

Published as Brandon House No. 1068, the 188-page paperback is now a fascinating artifact of its time, documenting an era when homosexuality was being debated, investigated, sensationalized, and increasingly defended in American popular culture.

And like so many mid-century paperbacks, its wonderfully dramatic cover makes it a collectible piece of vintage queer publishing history.