From Lambda: Ever wonder where Lambda comes from?

[bluedawg12]

http://www.lambda.org/

Symbols of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Movements

The lambda
One symbol which continues to remain popular is the lower case Greek letter lambda. The symbol was originally chosen by the Gay Activists Alliance of New York in 1970. The GAA was a group which broke away from the larger Gay Liberation Front at the end of 1969, only six months after it's foundation in response to the Stonewall Riots. While the GLF wanted to work side by side with the black and women's liberation movements to gain unity and acceptance, the GAA wanted to focus their efforts more concisely on only Gay and Lesbian issues.

Because of its official adoption by the GAA, which sponsored public events for the gay community, the lambda soon became a quick way for the members of the gay community to identify each other. The reasoning was that the lambda would easily be mistaken for a college fraternity symbol and ignored by the majority of the population. Eventually though, the GAA headquarters was torched by an arsonist, destroying not only the building but all of the organization's records, and the movement never recovered from the loss. The symbol, however, lived on.

Now what the symbol means or meant when it was introduced are a prime topic for speculation and a morass of public rumoring. Some of the more popular rumors are:

Simply, the Greek letter "L" stands for "liberation."
The Greek Spartans believed that the lambda represented unity.
The Romans took it as meaning "the light of knowledge shining into the darkness of ignorance."
The charged energy of the gay movement. This stems from the lambda's use in chemistry and physics to denote energy in equations.
The synergy which results when gays and lesbians work together towards a common goal (a gestalt theory which also stems from the physics-energy theory)
The notion that straights and gays, or gays and lesbians, or any pairing of these three, are on different wavelengths when it comes to sex, sexuality, or even brain patterns. This again comes from the lambda's presence in chemistry and physics, where it is sometimes used to represent the wavelength of certain types of energy.
An iconic rendering of the scales of justice and the constant force that keeps opposing sides from overcoming each other. The hook at the bottom of the right leg would then signify the action and initiative needed to reach and maintain balance.
The lambda is also though by some to have appeared on the shields of Spartan and/or Theben warriors. The Thebes version is more popular because, as legend has it, the city- state organized the Theban Band from groups of idealized lovers, which made them extremely fierce and dedicated warriors. Eventually however, the army was completely decimated by Kind Philip II, but was later honored by his son Alexander the

<snip>

Whatever the lambda meant or means today, it's everywhere. Even though at one time it acquired a strictly male connotation, it is used by both gays and lesbians today. Back in December of 1974, the lambda was officially declared the international symbol for gay and lesbian rights by the International Gay Rights Congress in Edinburgh, Scotland.

<snip>

[TriMera]

1. Interesting...

I always wondered about that symbol. Thanks for the info.

[bluedawg12]

3. Welcome to DU TriMera!

Yeah, it was a pretty cool run down and they have good info. on their site, in general.

:hi:

[napoleon_in_rags]

2. A probably irrelevant historical footnote.

The most famous theoretical computer scientist of all time was gay, Alan Turing he very much invented the concepts that drive/model modern computers:
http://gayfortoday.blogspot.com/2007/06/alan-turing.html
A great deal of of his work is related to the theory of his close associate Alonzo Church, called the Lambda Calculus. Together they wrote the famouse Church Turing thesis. Could Lambda have been a special letter for these two? Wild speculation. :)

[bluedawg12]

4. That's awesome gay related history.

I wonder if it was a nod? I'd like to think so!

Thanks for the link, too. :)

[tbyg52]

10. Wow! Thank you so much for the Turing tidbit!

(I teach Computer Science. ;) )

[napoleon_in_rags]

15. Really? I aspire to teach computer science...

I wonder if there is a theme here... ;)

I've always thought there was a good book to be written exploring Turings psychology and genius. Have you ever seen state diagrams for Turing machines? The are always formalized as having 'Q' states, with the final state (HALT) being labeled as "Q accept", at least they were in my texts. I don't know if that's how Turing formalized them or that came later, but whenever I see 'Q accept' I think of for some reason of 'Queer accept', or queer acceptance, something Turing struggled for his whole life. To me this adds this whole rich metaphorical level to Turing's famous Halting Problem, the fact you can't tell whether a program will halt by looking at it, you actually have to run it: Similarly, in a repressed culture, he had no idea who would accept his homosexuality without reavealing it, nor who would reject it, leaving him churning in an infinite loop like one of his machines searching endlessly for a state of "queer acceptence" that would never come. There's a futility there, a deep sadness that probably led to his demise. But also probably a deep story worth telling...

[tbyg52]

20. I have not read any Turing biography, just

seen a PBS documentary. Sounds like you might be saying there isn't really a good one in book form yet...? Do you have a recommendation as to the best currently available?

Very interesting thoughts!

Teaching CS is great fun. I virtually stand on my head every year recruiting students, because I don't want to teach anything else!

[bluedawg12]

22. I saw it as a tid-byte.

:P

This is interesting stuff and the notion of computer code, or program ( or what ever it is called) as being a deeper code for a person's inner conflict is fascinating.

You know, "accept Q" as a plea "accept me" is awesome. :thumbsup:

[tbyg52]

25. Wouldn't you just....! ;->

:spank: :rofl:

[t0dd]

14. .

I've always appreciated that the father of computer science was a homosexual. I'm a CS major and homosexual myself ;-)

[napoleon_in_rags]

16. Its starting to look like we're all queer in CS. hee hee.

Funny how that never came up in class. ;)

[t0dd]

17. It surprises me there's numerous CS people here that are gay

At my university, I don't know any other CS majors that are gay. Well, none have come out anyway. It doesn't bother me too much since a lot of them are afraid of showers.

[napoleon_in_rags]

18. I think there would be a HIGH chance of them being closeted.

Nerds are shy to start out with, so nothing is shyer than a gay nerd, right? :)

At my school (Evergreen State in Olympia) there were a load of LBGT in the math and CS scene. But its a notoriously liberal school, without a super-great CS or Math department. So it may be that LBGT folks interested in math and CS were drawn there because of the politics, so my view could be skewed. But its an interesting question at least, these folks who are drawn to computers because they are outsiders in the "normal" social scene...Coupled with a fact that the holy grail, the motivating force of CS for the last 40 year has been artificial intelligence, the construction of the "artifical man". hmmm.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6U4QVCowisY

;)

[tbyg52]

23. >>Nerds are shy to start out with

I get some like that, but I also get a lot of very articulate people with warped senses of humor.

I also get a lot of shy people who *become* very articulate people with warped senses of humor.... ;)

[joeybee12]

5. I thought it was the dance of love?

Where the hell did that craze go?

Seriously, this is interesting...thanks for the post.

[bluedawg12]

6. Ha, ha, heh, The Lambada!

I forgot about that. :rofl: Where did the 80's go? heh heh

Glad you enjoyed the post. :)

[joeybee12]

7. I don't know where the 80's went...

...but they better stay there!! :hi:

[La Lioness Priyanka]

8. its my tattoo

:)

[bluedawg12]

9. Oh yeah! Very cool.

:)

[tbyg52]

11. May I invoke a DU tradition and nitpick....? ;->

I've always hated the misuse of "decimated," which the Theban Band definitely was *not*. (They were *all* killed.) 'Course, the quoted segment, right after that, refers to "Kind" Philip, which he wasn't either....! :rofl:

dec⋅i⋅mate
–verb (used with object), -mat⋅ed, -mat⋅ing.
1. to destroy a great number or proportion of: The population was decimated by a plague.
2. to select by lot and kill every tenth person of.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/decimated

Regardless of nitpick, thanks very much for the information! :hi:

Edited for inevitable (it seems) stupid typo.

[bluedawg12]

12. The Holy Roman Empire, was neither holy nor Roman,

talk among yourselves. :rofl:

Remember that Mike Meyer character based on his mother in law, on SNL, "Coffee Talk with Linda Richman."

It kind of reminded me of that, and it was very funny.


Mike Meyers as Linda Richman

But you are correcto mundo and it's true I have always used decimate as Bugs Bunny might use it, "I'll decimate you!"

But oh so wrong, when Bugs and I would have meant annihilate! :P

And I just oogled "Kind" Philip and I saw the movie with Angelina Jolie about Alexander and I slept (schlepped?) in a Holiday Express last night, so I knows my history. :evilgrin:

I wonder why they called him "Kind?" I just found this and scanned it, and it doesn't seem like he was kind.
http://www.san.beck.org/EC22-Alexander.html

[tbyg52]

21. Wow, do I ever feel culturally illiterate....!

No cable for the last 10 years, don't stay up late, hardly ever see a movie that's less than 10 years old.....!

I think the "kind" was just a typo for "king" - my fingers are always getting away from the on stuff like that. I had a resume for years that claimed I went to a "station" instead of a "state" university.

[bluedawg12]

28. Or...I just dated myself. LOL.

And no one remembers Mike Meyers on SNL anymore....so much.

Of course dating yourself means never having to argue about what movie to see. :rofl:

[Eryemil]

29. Actually no, they weren't ALL killed.

The excavation at the burial site uncovered 254 skeletons.
By the way, you can still visit the reconstructed monument at the gravesite, though the original one was lost.

[tbyg52]

34. I stand corrected.

I'm hoping the excavation happened during my lifetime, so I don't look like *too* much of an historical illiterate - just out of date....? ;)

[mitchtv]

13. I remember the meetings about the symbol to use

I was closely associated with both groups. In SF we were using ad hoc the purple hand, derived from the purple hand prints left on the wall of the SF Examiner when someone dumped a vat of purple printers ink on our heads while we were demonstrating against a homophobic new article. we took the ink and smeared it all over the building's, walls causing a police riot . In retrospect it would have been a better symbol for the Gay Mafia.

[bluedawg12]

19. mitchtv - I am glad you are here, you have actually lived and experienced

some of our GLBTQ history first hand and been on the front lines.

Thank you for that!!!!!!

[mitchtv]

30. I got put in jail once picketing Macy's

they were indulging in entrapment at the restrooms in their Union Sq store. We militants thought that their Gay customers should be aware of their involvement ,. I was wearing part of my Postal uniform (illegal for me) I was set upon by a woman and her Hubby who push me around then marched off. I sent a kick that did not connect, but made a great photo for the cops who then picked me up and brought me to jail I think Northern Station on green st( If that is the right time I went to jail). I was eventually released to a Gay Lawyer and Got probation, as they had no witness. The gay Lawyer insisted upon being "paid" I was cheap enough to accommodate.

[Behind the Aegis]

32. LMAO!

"The gay Lawyer insisted upon being "paid" I was cheap enough to accommodate."

My kinda man! heehee! You rock! Thanks for your contribution to our rights!

[mitchtv]

33. Those were the days my Friend

We all had Drag names, even the butches . It kept the narcs at bay. they stayed far from the Gay bars too, Like the Capri in North Beach and the Stud on Folsom( also the scene of a picket line or two.

[tbyg52]

24. Awesome! Tell us some more history, pretty please! nt

[mitchtv]

31. see above

[Mike 03]

26. Thank you. I have been wondering this ever since November when the people

here told me about this organization.

They are excellent in every way. They send me a magazine every month and I'm proud to be a member of this organization.

[Mike 03]

27. I'm only a bit sad that this OP is too old to kick and rec, because to me this is

an important thing, to know the history of this organization and why it matters, whether or not you are gay or straight.