by Craig Johnson

Psychologists generally agree that over 90% of communication happens non-verbally. This fact became poignantly clear while talking with gay activist William Waybourn about his lived history of the LGBT rights movement. His timbre, the conviction in his voice and his timed gesticulation spoke past the place of superficial understanding … past the place where words on pages can reach. Statistics, theory, and chronology of events and names lay the foundation of the LGBT movement’s historical house. But no house is complete without the little things—knick knacks, worn furniture, and squeaky floorboards—that evoke memories, feelings, and understanding. With the words of Waybourn and others, the structure of the LGBT rights movement is becoming a home. The theme, key insight, and through line of my conversation with William was community … community built, then nearly lost, and now reimagined.

People in general, and LGBT people specifically, do not inevitably default into a functioning, inclusive, and productive community. Community must be continually cultivated and re-imagined. William and others created the Crossroads Market and Dallas Gay Alliance as gay institutions prior to the AIDS crisis. These organizations provided the framework for future lifesaving political organization. They cultivated the interpersonal relationships, funding sources, and political acumen needed to address the immense challenge of AIDS.

Having built a strong community and done important work to advance gay rights, William lost nearly all of his friends to the AIDS epidemic. The heartbreak and devastation of the human loss was horrific. At times, he recalls, he was attending 2 or 3 funerals a week. Too many characters in the Dallas LGBT rights movement were dead by the end of the first season; their bodies frozen in black plastic bags. The AIDS pandemic was so foreign to medical experience, and so little studied, that people would risk buying any medication or engaging in any treatment they could find. Often, the side effects were as bad as the symptoms of AIDS itself, while achieving nothing to slow the virus’s progression. As I listened to William, it was hard to imagine what it would be like to watch my friends begin to die without any insight as to the cause. By aspiring to understanding this painful history, I hope I might honor the brave men who fought for dignity during those dark but hopeful days.

William Waybourn (2014 / Dallas Black Tie Dinner)

As the LGBT community became comfortable its newly earned rights, some felt that continued progress was inevitable. Hollowing out or removing civil rights protections continues to be a policy priority for mainstream political leaders. For example, an increasing number of bills seek to prevent transgender children from competing in sports. It is a stark reminder that we must re-commit to nurturing LGBT organizations, institutions, and leadership. In our next crisis, these are the power structures that will see us through. Understanding the history of the fragmented LGBT movement will also help avoid pitfalls that have hamstrung leaders in the past. Community leaders and political organizers tend to encourage or even demand conformity to a socially acceptable set of behaviors, dress, and attitudes. Mass movements with a vertical power structure are formidable, but not the only model for the LGBT movement. LGBT leaders must guard against punishing non-conformity or launching intra-group attacks. Instead, activists should be encouraging a horizontal power structure among loosely interconnected groups. Myriad tactics, personalities, credos, and goals created the LGBT movement and must continue moving forward. A biblical example is helpful; one body, many parts.

“And if the ear says, ‘I am not part of the body because I am not an eye,’ would that make it any less a part of the body? If the whole body were an eye, how would you hear? Or if your whole body were an ear, how would you smell anything?” [1 Corinthians 12:16]

The diverse components of the LGBT rights movement in the past half century have worked in concert, even if at times they sounded like a cacophony. Groups like ACT UP, Queer Nation, Victory Fund, HRC, and the Campaign for Military Service had very different goals, tactics, and supporters. However, their work was meant to achieve a similar goal—LGBT equality under the law. With this litmus test, all LGBT activists ought to receive support and respect from the community.

Reflecting on my conversation with William, I can summarize my mood in a single word: grateful. I’m grateful for the stalwarts of the LGBT rights movement—their intelligence, courage, longsuffering, and foresight. I’m thankful for their selfless sacrifice for the next generation—the brothers and sisters who were bound to follow.

Closing the conversation, Waybourn marveled that an openly gay military officer will be teaching at a federal service academy. “Your teaching classes at the Coast Guard Academy is going to change people’s perceptions, more so than anything I’ve done or said,” he told me. He didn’t know that years after he’d fought for my right to serve openly, I had jumped in and out of the closet to preserve my auspicious career. While he’s been in the bilges fighting to keep the ship afloat, I waited to poke my head above decks until after the sun was shining, a zephyr at our stern. Notwithstanding, he seemed confident passing his mantle to the next generation. The sign read: “Hiring, no experience needed, no pay offered.” Here we go.

William Waybourn (right) with actor/playwright/producer Harvey Fierstein at a 1989 benefit event for the AIDS Resource Center in Dallas

“On February 13, 2021, Coast Guard Lt. Cdr. Craig Johnson interviewed William Waybourn via ZOOM. They spoke for nearly an hour about the past, present, and future of the LGBT rights movement. William is the former President of the Dallas Gay/Lesbian Alliance (1986-1989), co-founder and former executive director of the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund (1991-1995), and former managing director of GLAAD (1995-1997). He currently resides in Washington, D.C. with his husband Craig.
Johnson is a Coast Guard officer currently completing a graduate degree at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. As part of a class on the LGBT rights movement, he conducted this interview and wrote a reflection. His next assignment will be teaching government classes at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy.
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