Homophiles, Militants, and Relative Liberation : The Political Dynamics of Gay and Lesbian Rights Movements in France, 1954-1982

Abstract

This research examines the relationship between self-described "homophile" gay rights groups and self-described radical gay rights groups in France. The differentiation in terminology used to describe these groups will be more thoroughly explicated in the coming chapters. As the operative question motivating this research, I ask: how did the French gay liberation movements regard themselves and their ambitions within French society? In answering this question, my interest lies in examining the formation and actions of these groups, the development of the political rift which distinguishes the "homophiles" from the "radicals", and the theoretical considerations they cultivated in this era. In order to augment my analysis, I will thoroughly engage with existing scholarship on these organizations and make use of archival resources that I have gathered through my independent research. The periodization of this project begins in 1954 with the founding of Arcadie, the first gay rights organization in the country, and will conclude in the early 1980s immediately preceding the emergence of the AIDS epidemic.