HARRY HAY - Founder of the Mattachine Society, the first successful gay rights organization in the U.S. He is credited with helping to define homosexuals as an oppressed minority, a concept that became the foundation of the modern gay liberation movement. Hay and his partner John Burnside lived together for over 39 years. Hay died on October 24, 2002, at the age of 90.

DALE JENNINGS - A founding member of the Mattachine Society, Dale was thrust into the spotlight when he was entrapped by Los Angeles police in a late night park arrest in Los Angeles in 1951. While most homosexuals entrapped by police in the 50s quietly pled guilty and paid the fine, Jennings and Harry Hay rallied the Mattachine Society to mount a defense in court. Jennings' defense attorney caught the police officer in a lie, found evidence of jury tampering, and the case was thrown out, giving Mattachine and Jennings a triumphant victory.

KONRAD STEVENS - Mild mannered Konrad Stevens (called "Steve" by his friends) was a founding member of the Mattachine Society. He worked as a commercial photographer. He joined the group together with his boyfriend John Gruber. In the film, Stevens describes how everyone knew someone who was arrested in a bar raid, "that's just the way we lived." He also describes in great detail what a difficult character Harry Hay was. "I don't think anyone became his friend," Stevens recalls, "he was too wrapped up in his work."

JOHN GRUBER - Gruber and boyfriend Konrad Stevens were founding members of the Mattachine Society. In the film, Gruber describes the climate of fear they all lived in. "In those days if you were a homosexual, it was your problem and you knew it," he says. He talks about after a police raid on a gay bar, everyone relaxed because the police had "done their duty for the day and now we could have fun." Gruber is the last remaining founding member of the Mattachine Society.

JOHN BURNSIDE - Burnside was Harry's partner for over 40 years. They met while working together at ONE Institute in LA, a gay resource center. Burnside owned a kaleidoscope factory at the time, which Hay became part of when they joined their lives. Burnside currently lives in San Francisco's Mission District.

RUDI GERNREICH - Gernreich was the first to sign on to Harry's plan to create the Mattachine Society. They worked for two years before finding a small group that would join them. Gernreich later became a world renowned fashion designer, famous for his creation of the topless bathing suit.

BOB HULL - Hull had been a student in Harry's music classes, and a fellow Marxist and Communist Party member. Harry showed him the call for the founding of Mattachine and Hull joined Harry and Rudi immediately. Hull worked as a chemist in Los Angeles.

CHUCK ROWLAND - With Bob Hull, Rowland was one of the founding members of the Mattachine Society. Also a Marxist and CP member, Rowland and Harry formed a powerful organizing team in Mattachine. Rowland worked in a production-control job at a furniture factory.

MIRIAM SHERMAN - Sherman was a Section Organizer in the Communist Party in Los Angeles in the 1940s and 50s, and she served as Harry Hay's "boss" in the Party. When Harry realized he needed to resign from the Communist Party so he could do his work organizing the Mattachine Society, he went to Miriam Sherman. Sherman currently lives in Los Angeles.

HELEN GOROG - Gorog was a long time Hay family friend. She introduced Hay to his wife-to-be, Anita Platky. Gorog knew Harry was homosexual, so when Harry announced his engagement to Anita, Gorog wondered, "did she know?" Gorog currently lives in Los Angeles.

FRANK PESTANA - Pestana has been an attorney and political activist in Los Angeles all his life. He was a student in Harry's political folk music classes. In the film he eloquently describes how the Communist Party was fighting for the basic rights of the people: "social security was a dream to us!"

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