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Jim Fouratt
Born(1941-06-23)June 23, 1941(age 83)
NationalityAmerican
Known forGay activism

Jim Fouratt(born June 23, 1941) is agay-rightsactivist, actor, and former nightclubimpresario.He is best known for his involvement with theStonewall riotsand as co-founder ofDanceteriain New York City.[1]

Early life

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Fouratt was raised in a working class Catholic home inRiverside, Rhode Island.He attended theLa Salle AcademyinProvidence.After high school he was accepted intoHarvard Universitybut could not attend for financial reasons, instead he began studies at St. Peter's Seminary inBaltimore.In 1960, he was kicked out for homosexuality and moved to New York City.[2][3]

Activism

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Fouratt took up political activism more seriously in 1965, after being arrested inTimes Squareat America's firstAnti-Vietnam wardemonstration. In 1967 he was one of the organizers of the famousCentral Park Be In.That same year he cofounded theYippies,a youth-oriented countercultural movement, alongsideAbbie Hoffman,Jerry RubinandPaul Krassner.[1][4]

Fouratt was at the first night of what he calls theStonewall 'Rebellion',a term he prefers over "Stonewall Riots."[5]

I happened to be coming home from my job at Columbia Records. I saw a sole police car outside of theStonewall Inn.I was out in theNew Leftmovement and the anti-war movement and there was an incredible amount of homophobia—in the old and new left. Like a good '60s radical, I went to see why that car was there. There might have been 20 people around—this was 10:30 at night.[6][7]

On the third night of the rebellion, Fouratt co-founded theGay Liberation Front,the first of many lesbian and gay liberation movements that sprouted across the country in the following months.[1][8]

Fouratt was a founding member of the Lesbian and Gay Community Service Center, the Gay Community Service Center, and Wipe Out AIDS (now known as H.E.A.L).[9]He was active inACT UP,serving on the media committee withMichael SignorileandJay Blotcher.[3]

In 2009, Fouratt took part in the Democratic primary against City Council SpeakerChristine Quinn.He claims to have raised $20,000 in two weeks, but later withdrew.[1]In 2016, Fouratt ran for State Assembly but lost toDeborah Glick.[10]He is a member of the Village Independent Democrats club.[1]

Other work

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Music and nightlife

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In 1969 Fouratt worked as an assistant toClive Davis.[3]

In 1978, Fourrat became the manager for the clubHurrahwhere he brought in DJs to create the first "rock disco," with music videos playing as well as live music acts.[11]He also worked at Pop Front, andStudio 54.[1][12]

In 1980, he opened the nightclubDanceteriawith Rudolf Pieper. In November 1980, Pieper and Fouratt had prepared to open the NewPeppermint Loungenight club, but were pushed out by Frank Roccio and Tom Goodkind.[13]In June 1982, Pieper and Fouratt became embroiled in a legal battle, and Fouratt was pushed out.[14]

In the early 1990s, Fouratt served as director of national publicity atRhino Records,[9]and from 1995 to 1999, Fouratt was the vice president of A&R at Mercury Records.[15]In the late 1990s, Fouratt attempted to launch the sub-imprint Beauty Records, but that project ended when PolyGram, Mercury's parent corporation, was bought bySeagram's, and Fouratt's acts were let go.[16]

Journalism

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Fouratt has been pop culture critic forBillboardandRolling Stone[1][17]and a contributing editor atSpin.Additionally, he has written forThe Village Voice,[18]TheAdvocate,Bay Area Reporter,Gay City NewsandCome Out![15][19]He is currently an editor forWestview News.[20]

Acting

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Fouratt studied for seven years with Lee Strasberg in the early '60s. Fouratt was a member of theOpen Theater,and performed atCafé CinoandLa MaMa.He joinedActors Equityand made his Broadway debut inThe Freaking Out of Stephanie Blake.[12]He worked with the National Shakespeare Theatre in Cambridge.[3]

Personal life

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In 1969, Fouratt asked his loverPeter Hujarto take a photograph for a Gay Liberation Front recruitment poster. The image is now one of the most iconic of the gay liberation movement.[21][22]

Hujar's boyfriend at the time, Jim Fouratt, arrived on the scene to organize for the Gay Liberation Front (GLF), the first political group to cite homosexuality in its name. Hujar agreed to make a photograph for a GLF poster. The poster, portraying a jubilant group of GLF members under the slogan COME OUT!!, appeared in late spring 1970 in advance of the gay liberation march that marked the first anniversary of Stonewall.

Fouratt has faced criticism for his comments ontransgenderidentities andtranssexualism,which he views as a method "to make gay men and lesbians straight."[23]He believes that transgender identity reinforcesgender stereotypes[24]and that trans discourse is marginalizing the experiences of gays and lesbians.[25]However, in a 2015 Facebook post, he wrote "I support the right of each person to control their body. Period. Fighting the conscription of socially policed gender behavior is an essential fight."[26]

In 2009, when asked byStephen Colbertif there was a leader in the gay community on par withMartin Luther King Jr.,Fouratt said "Well, I would like to think that I'm that leader."[27]

Fouratt previously lived with Carl Miller,Allen Young,and Giles Kotcher in the Seventeenth Street commune.[28][29]

See also

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References

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  1. ^abcdefg"The faces of Jim Fouratt".The Villager.July 3, 2012.Archivedfrom the original on April 1, 2019.RetrievedApril 1,2019.
  2. ^"NYPL Community Oral History Project | Your Village, Your Story | Jim Fouratt".oralhistory.nypl.org.Archivedfrom the original on April 1, 2019.RetrievedApril 1,2019.
  3. ^abcd"ActUp Oral History Project: Jim Fouratt"(PDF).Archived(PDF)from the original on August 1, 2018.
  4. ^"Jim Fouratt | Arthur Magazine".April 13, 2011.Archivedfrom the original on April 1, 2019.RetrievedApril 1,2019.
  5. ^Kirby, David (June 27, 1999),"Making it work; Stonewall Veterans Recall the Outlaw Days",The New York Times,pp. Section 14, Page 3, Column 1, The City Weekly Desk,retrievedFebruary 11,2010
  6. ^"Nightlife Legend Jim Fouratt Talks What Really Happened at Stonewall and Birthing Danceteria".PAPER.April 7, 2017.Archivedfrom the original on April 1, 2019.RetrievedApril 1,2019.
  7. ^Duberman, Martin B. (1993).Stonewall(1st ed.). New York.ISBN0525936025.OCLC26854943.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  8. ^Duberman, Martin (1993).Stonewall.Dutton.ISBN0-525-93602-5.
  9. ^abChepesiuk, Ron (2007).Sixties radicals, then and now: candid conversations with those who shaped the era.Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co.ISBN978-0786437320.OCLC170957857.
  10. ^"New York State Primary Election Results: De La Rosa, Alcantara, Niou Claim Wins in Marquee Races".New York City, NY Patch.September 12, 2016.Archivedfrom the original on April 1, 2019.RetrievedApril 1,2019.
  11. ^Shapiro, P.:Turn the Beat Around: The Secret History of Disco,page 256.Faber & Faber,October 2006.
  12. ^ab"who is jim fouratt | Facebook".RetrievedApril 1,2019– via Facebook.
  13. ^Boch, Richard (2017).The Mudd Club.Port Townsend, WA:Feral House.pp. 422–423.ISBN978-1-62731-051-2.OCLC972429558.
  14. ^Gooch, Brad (August 21, 2013)."Studio 54's Cast List: A Who's Who of the 1970s Nightlife Circuit".The Hive.Archivedfrom the original on March 13, 2017.RetrievedApril 1,2019.
  15. ^ab"Matt & Andrej Koymasky - Famous GLTB - Jim Fouratt".andrejkoymasky.Archivedfrom the original on April 1, 2019.RetrievedApril 1,2019.
  16. ^Billboard.Nielsen Business Media, Inc. November 7, 1998. p.14.Beauty Records jim fouratt.
  17. ^Gundersen, Edna (July 27, 2000),"Eminem: What's with this guy? Rapper's hate-filled lyrics anger some, while others say it's just a clever act",USA Today,pp. LIFE, Pg. 1D,retrievedFebruary 11,2010
  18. ^Leland, John (September 10, 2017)."A Village Voice Reunion, and Nobody Got Punched".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.Archivedfrom the original on April 1, 2019.RetrievedApril 1,2019.
  19. ^Lawritz, John;Shelley, Martha;Martello, Leo;et al. (November 14, 1969)."Come Out!".Vol. 1, no. 1. New York City:Gay Liberation Front.JSTORcommunity.28035043.OCLC14078148.Open access icon
  20. ^"About Us -".February 2, 2012.Archivedfrom the original on April 1, 2019.RetrievedApril 1,2019.
  21. ^"The Morgan opens the first full-scale retrospective of the photography of Peter Hujar".artdaily.RetrievedApril 1,2019.
  22. ^Fouratt, Jim (March 29, 2016)."Jim Fouratt: CulturalInstigator: How the iconic Peter Hujar Come Out image is stripped of its political meaning and used without context.. by a museum with good intentions".Jim Fouratt.Archivedfrom the original on April 1, 2019.RetrievedApril 1,2019.
  23. ^"National Transgender Advocacy Coalition".July 4, 2002. Archived fromthe originalon July 4, 2002.RetrievedApril 1,2019.
  24. ^Stryker, Susan; Whittle, Stephen (2006).The Transgender Studies Reader.United Kingdom: Routledge. pp. 1–2.ISBN0-415-94708-1.OCLC62782200.Archivedfrom the original on June 28, 2014.RetrievedOctober 12,2012.
  25. ^The transgender studies reader.Stryker, Susan., Whittle, Stephen, 1955-. New York: Routledge. 2006.ISBN0415947081.OCLC62782200.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: others (link)
  26. ^whoiscis (August 1, 2015)."Jim Fouratt".whoiscis.Archivedfrom the original on April 1, 2019.RetrievedApril 1,2019.
  27. ^Stephen Colbert(June 25, 2009)."Jim Fouratt Interview".Archived fromthe originalon February 8, 2018.RetrievedJuly 1,2017.
  28. ^Jay, Karla (1999).Tales of the Lavender Menace.Basic Books.
  29. ^Smash the church, smash the state!: the early years of gay liberation.City Lights Books. 2009.ISBN978-0-87286-497-9.
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