The Dog Page #2

October 21, 1967.

Got married at St. Rita's Church

in Brooklyn.

The whole neighborhood

was there.

MAN:
Forever and ever

Want to let you know

There was a big thing

at the end.

It was terrible.

My priest wanted to annul

the wedding that night.

Annul it.

The night of the wedding,

we almost broke up

because we had a fight

over the wedding money.

The father wanted me to pay

for part of the wedding.

So we got into a big fight,

me and Carmen, that night.

So I took the money

and just threw it at him

and walked the f*** out.

[Sirens]

TERRY:

Ha ha ha!

BIFULCO:
I went home one night.

Everything was gone.

My kitchen set was gone.

My engagement gifts were gone.

"I left. Go to your mother."

That was it. Ha!

WOJTOWICZ:
Carmen and I broke up

June 20,1969.

That's when the first man walked

on the moon, Neil Armstrong,

and then they had the Stonewall

riots on June 26, 1969,

and that's what they call the

birth of the gay movement, OK?

So the gay movement happened

at the same time

that the guy walked on the moon

and I walked on Carmen.

So it logically follows that

that's where I would wind up.

EDWIN NEWMAN:
Homosexuals who

acknowledge their homosexuality

and pattern their lives

accordingly are known as gay,

and the gay liberation movement

is challenging

a society that abhors

homosexuality.

The Gay Activist Alliance

is the largest

and most vocal

of several homosexual groups.

WOJTOWICZ:
I got interested

in the gay movement

after the Stonewall riots.

So what happened is, I joined

the Gay Activist Alliance.

We used to meet

in different locations.

Then finally, they got

their own headquarters,

which was called the Firehouse,

and it was on Wooster Street

over in the Village.

[Music playing]

MALE REPORTER:

The Gay Activist Alliance

holds dances

every Saturday night

at its headquarters,

an old firehouse

in Greenwich Village.

Upwards of 1,000 attend.

Many would not appear

in this film.

Freedom of sexual expression

is as much an issue

of the gay movement

as civil and legal rights are.

Gay people

want to be themselves,

flirt, hold hands, kiss,

and talk openly about sex

just as heterosexuals do.

WOJTOWICZ:
I was a member

of the entertainment committee.

So I would meet and greet

new gay people

coming into the scene.

I could have sex with them

quicker than anybody else

because they were just

coming out,

and in those days,

we did a lot of getting down.

You got to understand that

the thing about the gay movement

is that it was more

sexually driven than anything

because anybody can be straight,

but it takes somebody special

to be gay.

OK. Now, you're now entering

Christopher Street Park,

where gays from

all over the world come

to see the famous statues

that are supposed to represent

the gay movement.

OK. These two statues right here

represent gay males, OK?

The only problem is that

a lot of black gays

and a lot of Spanish gays

hate these two statues

because, as you notice,

they're all white, OK?

What this statue should be,

there should be a black face

on this statue

and find some kind

of colored clothes,

and this statue, the face

should be more olive

so he can be like

an Italian gay, right,

or a gay with a suntan

or a Latino gay,

not to mention Chinese

and all the rest.

I come here all the time.

I would say once or twice

a month.

Usually, I come into the city

for two things... money or body.

Usually, it's body, OK,

and usually, you would come

to the park and sit down

and a lot of the people

I know in the park

I have sexual

relations with, OK,

and they enjoy it,

and they have a good time, OK?

Also, if they need a meal

or if they need a place to sleep

or they're just horny like I am,

this is where you come.

I hope you enjoyed your tour.

Have a nice day.

Enjoy yourselves.

[Edwin Starr's "Easin' In"

playing]

TERRY:

STARR:
Easin' in

Slick as he can, mm-hmm

TERRY:

MAN:
Well, basically,

I relate emotionally to men.

I like men emotionally.

DIFFERENT MAN:

I'm totally gay.

TERRY:

Yep.

WOJTOWICZ:
When I joined

the movement, I met people.

I liked the people,

and we had sex,

and then, like, around '71,

I became more active.

I went to more meetings, OK,

because I would meet

a lot of people,

but they were more politically

oriented than sexually oriented.

RICK WANDEL:
The Gay Activists

Alliance, what we wanted to do

was to tell people

that ultimately,

the key to our getting

equal rights was to come out

so that everybody knew

they knew gay people.

MEN:
Justice! Justice! Justice!

WANDEL:
It was a political,

nonviolent,

militant organization.

"N"!

"N"!

Give me an "O"!

Ho"!

Give me a "W"!

RANDY WICKER:
I was actually

one of the very early members.

They used to have

a demonstration

once or twice a week...

Gay power!

Gay power!

WICKER:
and I was one

of the few people

that had a video camera,

and I caught all

this fabulous stuff.

Hi. I'm Randy Wicker.

Today we're talking

to Father Robert Clement

of the Church

of the Beloved Disciple.

Father Clement,

what type of church

is the Church

of the Beloved Disciple?

Like all churches,

it's basically, first,

a church for everyone,

but our congregation

is primarily gay...

I'd say 90%, approximately...

and we exist for the needs

of the gay community,

and I am gay myself.

I see.

WICKER, VOICE-OVER: At the time

in the gay activist community,

gay marriage wasn't even

on the agenda,

but the city clerk of New York

came out and said,

"You know, there's this guy

in this gay church,

"and he's performing blessings

of holy unions or something,

"but weddings are what they are,

and if he doesn't stop it,

we're going to take action

against him."

Well, at this point,

on the one hand,

gay activists didn't want

to do anything

with the issue of gay marriage

because they would argue

among themselves about that,

but they couldn't sit back

and have a city official

attacking the gay community

and threatening a gay church.

MARC RUBIN:
I think

that we should never

understand their point of view.

Any point of view

which is opposed to gay rights

is a wrong point of view

categorically

by fiat and word of God.

MAN:
Ooh, ooh, ooh.

WICKER, VOICE-OVER:

So they decided,

"Well, we'll go into

the Wedding Bureau,

"and we'll take

a big wedding cake.

"We'll take over

the Wedding Bureau.

"We'll throw

an engagement party.

We'll have made our statement,"

and that's exactly

what they preceded to do.

We have two leaflets.

One is an invitation.

It says, "The Honorable

Herman Katz, City Clerk,

"invites you

to an engagement reception

"for Messrs. John Basso

and John C. Bond

"and Messrs. Steve Krotz

and Vito Russo.

All are welcome.

Dress optional."

[Laughter]

Spokesman for this should be

myself and Jim and John Basso.

WOJTOWICZ:
When I was

in the gay movement,

I didn't use the name Wojtowicz.

I coined the phrase

Little John Basso, OK?

Little is because

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