on AFL-CIO policies. One of the strongest advocates for the gay rights resolution in the AFSCME, William Lucy, was the co-founder of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists. Lucy leveraged his platform to speak before the AFL-CIO Building Trades and the Industrial Union departments. His impassioned defense on the grounds of shared interests between the two movements won the support of the departments (9). In 1983, the AFL-CIO adopted a gay civil rights resolution. The adoption of these resolutions demonstrates the sort of ripple effect that small coalitions had on the national union agenda. Steadily, they pushed the union to support gay rights building this national stance on the rights of gay workers. Additionally, at the same convention, the AFL-CIO released another resolution urging the federal government to fund AIDS research and develop systems to protect people from workplace exposure to AIDS, a cause central to the queer rights movement of the time. The resolution says, “To respond to the growing concern about AIDS and AIDS-related problems in the workplace, the Centers for Disease Control ... must develop and issue guidelines to protect all workers who may face occupational exposure to AIDS” (10). In a political climate as conservative as that of the 1980s under Reagan, this was an extremely bold move. Again, the strong support of unions up and down the ladder stems from the work of small organized coalitions of gay union members. The labor movement as a whole began to notice the strategic importance of queer workers after their support helped to turn the tide in a boycott. The first major inroad between queer activists and the labor movement came in 1974 during the Coors beer boycott (11). Teamsters unions in the San Francisco Bay area were attempting to win exclusive union contracts with several companies, including Coors. When faced with extreme resistance, the Teamsters PAGE 7 VOL. 2, NO. 1 ZEITGEIST rights, but several months later AFT released the statement. Although it was substantially less radical than Mitchell’s initial draft, the adoption of a pro-gay stance in the 70’s by a national organization was revolutionary (8). Mitchell was not the only queer teacher advocating for change in the union. In New York City, the Gay Teachers Alliance worked within the local union to create change, and in San Francisco, the Gay Teachers Coalition did the same(8). Inspired by the work of Mitchell and the other teacher's unions, members of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Workers also began advocating for gay rights. Tom Stabnicki and Barry Friedman were local union leaders in Chicago and an out-gay couple. At the national conference in 1981, they dressed in drag and held caucuses for queer members. By the next conference in 1982, they had built a strong group of activists, including Bailey T. Walker Jr., an organizer. Together, they introduced a resolution at the conference. Walker described the experience, “They were steeling themselves for what they thought was going to be a horrible battle… He said, ‘These are members of the union, working men and women,’ and emphasized that the resolution square with the union’s tradition of civil rights, [Dr.] King and Memphis, and the women’s movement. Not another negative thing was said” (8). Although the group supporting this resolution was small, they were able to pass it with minimal resistance. This can partly be attributed to the support of the Black Caucus, who wore pins at the convention saying “Another AFSCME Member for Gay Rights” (8). The collective nature of their efforts is the foundation of unions and was successfully utilized to allow a small group to make a large impact. The advances in queer protections made in individual unions and locals had a dramatic impact
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