Mark Segal

Independence Hall

'He was the most prolific of us.' Another friend once remarked, 'Mark was so busy helping to create the sexual revolution that he didn't have time to participate.

- Stonewall Pioneer, Jerry Hoose

Standing here in front of Independence Hall with the Liberty Bell just to your right is the perfect place to conclude this tour and discuss one of the most prolific LGBTQ+ activists, Mark Segal, and his impact on not only this city but the nation as well. Born in Philadelphia in 1951, Segal grew up in a Jewish household in the Germantown neighborhood. Segal was challenging the status quo even as a child. In elementary school, he refused to sing 'Onward, Christian Soldiers.'Mark Segal was at the Stonewall bar that famous night in 1969 when the riots began in NYC, lighting a fuse that would start his lifelong work of queer activism. Just one year after Stonewall Segal founded the Gay Youth, the first LGBT youth organization in the nation.

Segal was very busy in 1973. As a leader in the Gay Raiders group, he adopted a bold approach to his activism. Unlike earlier generations of gay rights activists who held picket signs and handed out pamphlets, the Gay Raiders were loud and proud. On January 29, 1973, Segal arrived at Independence Hall with a plan to handcuff himself to the Liberty Bell. Unfortunately, the press and police were alerted and waiting for him. Segal ran through the building, eventually chaining himself to the railing above the Liberty Bell, and yelled, 'Independence for gay people! We want non-discrimination!' In '73, he continued protesting by campaigning against TV Networks to end LGBTQ invisibility. He notably disrupted a live broadcast of CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite. Soon after, he would debate with members of the American Psychiatric Association's (APA) position on homosexuality on the Phil Donahue Show.

These disruptions were meant to stop the censorship of LGBT people in media, because if we literally were going to create a movement for equality, the world had to know who we were. We weren't in newspapers, we weren't on TV, we weren't in radio, we weren't in magazines, so the group I found, the Gay Raiders, was meant to do that.

-Mark Segal

Another prominent year in Mark Segal's advocacy was 1976. He successfully persuaded Governor Shapp of Pennsylvania to issue the nation's first executive order ending discrimination against LGBT employees in state employment and to proclaim Gay Pride Month. Additionally, Segal founded the Philadelphia Gay News (PGN), which has since become the most decorated LGBTQ+ publication in the country. Additionally, Segal's lobbying efforts prompted five ABC affiliates to cancel network shows that featured homophobic content. In a historic moment, Segal met with Congressman Robert N.C. Nix, urging him to support a groundbreaking Congressional LGBT Rights Bill. As a result, Nix would become the first African American to endorse national LGBT legislation.

Mark Segal continued his activism into the 21st century. In 2005, he produced Philadelphia's 4th of July concert with Elton John and raised over $1m for HIV/AIDS Awareness. He has met multiple Presidents and traveled the world, continuing his work. In 2019, Segal donated personal papers and artifacts to the Smithsonian Institute of American History Museum for their Stonewall 50 exhibition and continues his work today.

Citations

'Activism.' MARK SEGAL, Stonewall Pioneer, Journalist, Author. Accessed April 21, 2024. https://www.marksegalstonewall.com/activism.

Cohen, Adam. 'Mark Segal, LGBTQ Iconoclast, Activist and Disruptor, Donates Lifetime of Papers and Artifacts.' Smithsonian.com, May 25, 2018. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/mark-segal-lgbtq-iconoclast-activist-and-disruptor-donates-lifetime-papers-and-artifacts-180969176/?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=socialmedia.

Funk, Mason. 'Mark Segal.' The Outwords Archive, July 16, 2023. https://theoutwordsarchive.org/interview/segal-mark/.

National Museum of American History. 'Segal's Activism Continued Long after #stonewall.' Https://T.Co/Pvyepl4opu Pic.Twitter.Com/9wiuoextqm.' Twitter, June 28, 2019. https://twitter.com/amhistorymuseum/status/1144727652420345856