Bloody Stonewall Again

I wanted to look sharp and feel good about “doing the right thing” this week. I don’t want anyone to hit me for copyright infringement. I got in touch with the New York Times by email and asked if I could link to a specific article and use a 1969 photo. I wondered if I would be told I’d have to use Harvard referencing in my article. I couldn’t get that right in 18 months at university and I live in fear of its total impracticality now. That’s why I use square brackets or footnotes.


Not withstanding that however, I really haven’t got a bloody clue what the outcome is.

I got reply from Pam telling me to see the FAQ and I’m sure Pam writes to a lot of people’s enquiries! So anyway, of I go the FAQ and I understood it told me I could link, no problem, and that I could use the photo if I registered as a member with them which is free. So I registered. I’m not a lawyer but I can follow basic English. But to be sure I wrote to them again because I wanted to tell you that it isn’t all that hard or expensive to get permission. But unfortunately, it is!!! I set out what I understood they wanted me to do and that I had registered. I got the same reply to see the FAQ.

So frankly folks I’m rubber-ducked if I know if I’ve done the right thing here. If not, and if they see what I’ve used they can just ask me to remove it. While they’re at it perhaps the NY Times might make there FAQ a little simpler. And let that be a lesson to others in the copyright business. Keep it simple; use short, clear and simple sentences.

In a few days its Stonewall time. Yep, they old bastard is nagging about that again. But there is a good short article in the New York Times, well worth a read. Here’s the link to it and here’s a lovely little black and white photo from 1969 of the unassuming little bar. Select the Lens Blog link in the article for more pics

Here’s a link to an article in the Sydney Star Observer which might help Gen X and Gen Y kiddies with a contemporary perspective. It doesn’t use the words Like or Awesome or the phrase Yeah/No but it’s valuable stuff

Should the SSO or NYTimes have a problem please let me know and I will amend the log as soon as I can. There will be no need to thank me for the free publicity.

Why is all this so important? Well I can only offer you my opinion but no mater what you think n the GLT community they’ve done more for us than anyone. Cognoscenti may be aware of various European countries that were always way ahead but our Govt, and indeed the British, weren’t. They took there queues and largely still do (in so many things) from the Yanks. 40 years ago these brave trannies, poofs and dykes stood up, got bashed by the cops and stood up again for their own rights and for generations to come - US, NOW. Mardi Gras prime timers did it all again in Sydney some years later but the movement was already off and running.

That’s why it’s so important to me. And perhaps why it should be something you think about to.