We need in every community a group of loving troublemakers.[1]

-Bayard Rustin

        The events recounted in this exhibit show that Quakers were especially concerned about how law enforcement and the criminal justice system controlled, regulated, and punished lesbian, gay, and bisexual people for their sexuality during the mid-twentieth century. In the 1940s, the Quaker clinic in New York City prevented law enforcement and the courts from causing harm to men who sought sex with other men. In 1963, Towards a Quaker View of Sex brought attention to the role of British police and judges in perpetuating injustices against homosexuals. Bradford, the Quaker President of Mattachine Midwest based in Chicago, overtly challenged police entrapment of gay people. And during a pivotal moment in the history of the gay liberation movement, Quakers helped heal those who had been injured by police during the Stonewall riots.

Deep listening is an important element of Quaker quiet worship. Through silence and stillness, Quakers turn inward to listen for truth. Historically, and for many Christian-identified Friends today, the practice of quiet worship facilitates deep listening to the voice of God or Christ that dwells within each person. Agnostic, atheist, and nontheist Friends engage with quiet worship as a means to gain insight from a different source, often a humanistic ideal or universal standard of ethics. All Friends seek truth through silence about themselves, their community, and the change that is needed to usher forth a more just and peaceful world. Perhaps this practice of deep listening enhanced Quaker abilities to hear and respond to the experiences of LGBT people ahead of most other religious groups. Though we can only speculate about their motivations, Quakers undoubtedly demonstrated compassion and concern for people who had been persecuted for their sexuality. Let the historical record show that Quakers took action against the criminalization of LGBT people as well as the practices of discrimination and dehumanization which caused harm to LGBT people in the mid-twentieth century.

Notes