LGBTQIA culture magazine Instinct this month delves into a little told story in the long history of queer organisations, gay activism and liberation groups. In the early seventies, a group organised in San Francisco and modelled on the Black Panthers, espoused militant LGBTQIA liberation and, in common with the newly developing Womens Liberation groups, preached that self defence against anti-gay attackers was no offense.

The driving force behind the organisation was Reverend Raymond "Ray" Broshears. He had grown tired of watching police swoop into gay bars, witnessing transgender women arrested simply for existing, and seeing queer people avoid reporting violence for fear of being blamed rather than helped. Mainstream gay rights groups, he argued, often prioritised respectability over the needs of trans individuals, sex workers, and those on low incomes. Broshears turned his energy toward those he believed society had left behind.

Pool cues, whistles and red spray paint

According to Smithsonian Magazine, the Lavender Panthers armed themselves with sawed-off pool cues, clubs, whistles, chains, red spray paint, and other makeshift items while walking the neighbourhood. Broshears described their purpose as a protective presence intended to deter attacks before they could escalate into something worse.

Their most famous intervention occurred outside a bar called the Naked Grape. Four teenagers had confronted two gay men who were leaving for the evening. Before the harassment could turn violent, the Lavender Panthers appeared, and the teenagers fled the scene.

The group's name drew inspiration from the Black Panthers, whose community defence tactics influenced Broshears' thinking. Historians have not found any evidence that the Black Panthers officially supported or acknowledged the Lavender Panthers, but the reference made the group's aim unmistakable.

Dissolution and decline

By 1975, the Lavender Panthers had disbanded, and Broshears' health and emotional state reportedly worsened. Friends thought he carried deep trauma from years of activism and a lack of recognition. He later suffered a cerebral stroke and died at the age of 46.

His obituary in the Bay Area Reporter highlighted the contradictions that followed him through life. Friends praised his wit, compassion, and dedication to queer liberation, while critics labelled him a danger.

Yet in the Tenderloin, where many poor LGBTQ+ people, trans residents, and sex workers found a sense of community, Broshears was remembered differently. For many there, he had spent years helping people whom society had largely abandoned.

Read the complete and inspirational story of the Lavender Panthers at Instinct magazine at: https://instinctmagazine.com/lavender-panthers-lgbtq-vigilantes/