A History of The Advocate's Earliest Political Cartoons
The Advocate first debuted in September 1967, it did so in the wake of violent, anti-LGBTQ+ police raids in Los Angeles — Cooper Do-nuts (1959), New Faces and Black Cat Tavern (both 1967) — and at San Francisco’s Compton’s Cafeteria (1966).
After the Black Cat raid and the protests of police brutality that followed, the early gay activist group, PRIDE, launched a newsletter that became, at first, The Los Angeles Advocate and later just The Advocate. (PRIDE stood for Personal Rights in Defense and Education.) The Advocate’s stated purpose was, “To publish news that is important to the homosexual — legal steps, social news, developments in the various organizations...at the same time, The Advocate will present a generous portion of feature material to entertain, to inform, and perhaps to provoke.” Right alongside the editorial announcing the paper’s purpose, and just above the letters section, was the first cartoon to appear in The Advocate. “Look out, straight world, here I come” (from September 1967)The cartoon was the brainchild of John Sam Allen.
Like most everyone associated with the early Advocate, John Sam Allen used pseudonyms. Sam’s cofounders of The Advocate transformed from Richard Mitch into Dick Michaels and Bill Rau to Bill Rand, and early contributor A.J.
Laurent to P. Nutz.Pseudonyms were essential to avoid retribution from law enforcement and the public. In a 2007 blog marking The Advocate’s 40th anniversary, Laurent wrote, “It was dangerous to be a ‘pervert’ prior to the liberation movement.
