Gay American Indians facts for kids

Gay American Indians (GAI) was an organization started in San Francisco in 1975. It was founded by Randy Burns (from the Northern Paiute people) and Barbara May Cameron (from the Hunkpapa Lakota people). GAI was important because it was the first group for Native Americans who were also part of the LGBTQ+ community in the United States.

At first, GAI was a social group where people could meet. Later, it became involved in helping people affected by a serious illness and promoting the idea of Two-Spirit people and their community.

History of GAI

The group GAI was formed during a time when many movements were happening, like the Red Power movement for Native American rights and movements for LGBTQ+ rights. GAI started as a safe place for Native Americans from the Bay Area who were also part of the LGBTQ+ community. These individuals often felt left out of other groups, both in the wider LGBTQ+ community and sometimes even in their own Native communities.

GAI was meant to be a "support group" where members could feel understood and accepted. Within five years, GAI grew to 150 members. By 1988, it had reached 1,000 participants.

The GAI History Project

In 1984, GAI started the GAI History Project. This project aimed to gather stories and traditions about different kinds of relationships and gender identities within Indigenous tribes.

Later, in 1988, GAI and the History Project worked with an anthropologist named Will Roscoe. They published a book called Living the Spirit: A Gay American Indian Anthology. This book included stories, poems, and art from Native American contributors who were also part of the LGBTQ+ community. It especially focused on Two-Spirit people. The book also listed 133 different words and identities for Two-Spirit people from various tribes. A well-known Mohawk poet, Maurice Kenny, contributed to the book.

Important Work and Activism

GAI's work began by helping its own members and building a strong network. As the group became more active in politics, GAI members started working on important Native American issues. These included fighting for land rights, water rights, and fishing rights.

Helping with Health Challenges

One of the group's main goals was to help Native Americans affected by a widespread illness. Many organizations in the Bay Area that helped with this illness mainly served non-Native communities. There was also limited support within Native communities for those dealing with the illness. To help fill this need, GAI helped create the Indian AIDS Project and the American Indian AIDS Institution. These groups provided important resources for Native Americans who were also part of the LGBTQ+ community. Randy Burns, one of GAI's founders, mentioned in 2015 that 82 members of GAI had passed away due to this illness.

Promoting the Two-Spirit Term

GAI continued its work from Living the Spirit by promoting a new term: "Two-Spirit". This word was created in 1990 as a respectful term to replace an older, often offensive, anthropological term. The older term was seen as colonial and disrespectful.

At a meeting of the American Anthropological Association in 1992, GAI members met with anthropologists. They asked for "Two-Spirit" to be used instead of the older term in academic writings. At later conferences, anthropologists began to address this issue themselves, and the older word was no longer used.

Records of GAI

Records and historical information from GAI are kept at the GLBT Historical Society.