On this day, 21 August 1970, the Black Panther newspaper published a letter from co-founder Huey P Newton in which he criticised attitudes in the left groups towards women and LGBT+ people, and called for solidarity with the women's and gay liberation movements.
Newton criticised homophobia and sexism in revolutionary movements, commenting that "homosexuals… might be the most oppressed people in… society", and called on the left to desist using homophobic language:
"We should be careful about using those terms that might turn our friends off. The terms 'f****t' and 'punk' should be deleted from our vocabulary, and especially we should not attach names normally designed for homosexuals to men who are enemies of the people, such as [president Richard] Nixon or [attorney general John] Mitchell. Homosexuals are not enemies of the people."
The letter stated that as a basic principle, "a person should have the freedom to use his body in whatever way he wants", and went on to say that: "there is nothing to say that a homosexual cannot also be a revolutionary... Quite the contrary, maybe a homosexual could be the most revolutionary."
Newton argued that all radical events should include "full participation of the gay liberation movement and the women's liberation movement".
The move came a year after the Stonewall rebellion, and the subsequent foundation of the Gay Liberation Front, which supported the Black liberation movement, and militantly raised issues such as homophobia within radical organisations.
We discuss this in our podcast episodes 25-26: https://workingclasshistory.com/2019/05/13/e21-22-the-stonewall-riots-and-pride-at-50/