Donaciano Martinez

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Growing Up in the Conejos Neighborhood

Donaciano Martinez was born the youngest of eight siblings, and grew up in the Conejos neighborhood of Colorado Springs.^[2]

He grew up in the Conejos neighborhood of Colorado Springs, which ran from Colorado Ave. bridge, south on Conejos St., until Mill St. The western boundary was "El Rio," also known as Monument Creek, and Sierra Madre was the eastern boundary. He lived in that district for 20 years, until the mid-1960's, when the Conejos neighborhood was the target of "urban renewal."

Living in Colorado Springs in the 1940's, Donaciano and his family had to navigate a hostile landscape of anti-Mexican-American sentiment. At the time, many of the cafes, theaters, and restaurants downtown would have signs in their windows that said "No Mexicans or Dogs Allowed."

In learning how to navigate the hostile landscape of racism in Colorado Springs, Donaciano learned survival skills that helped him navigate the gay underground as well.

Introduction to the Gay Underground

At the age of 15, Donaciano was introduced to the gay underground when a friend invited him to the Chief Theater. The theater was off-limits to Chicanos throughout the 40s and mid-50s. Chicanos could only go to the Thompkins theater prior to the mid-50s. Mid-way through the movie, his friend told Donaciano to go check the bathroom. When he did, he found that a group of gay men were there, with someone keeping watch at the door. Donaciano started visiting the theater every weekend, and then Acacia Park, in lieu of designated community spaces that did not yet exist. ^[3]

By the mid-1960's, Colorado Springs finally had a gay bar: The Exit. Donaciano started going there as well.

He came out to his mother, emboldened by the knowledge that she was encountering other gay people at the Mexican bar where she worked - specifically, butch Chicana lesbians.

His mother was supportive.

Anti-war and Anti-poverty activism

Some of Donaciano's earliest activism was knocking doors for Lyndon Johnson's presidential campaign, motivated by an opposition to the Vietnam war. ^[4]

From there, Donaciano got involved with the Community Action Program (CAP), an anti-poverty program with a more militant subgroup called the Welfare Rights Organization (WRO). The organization sought to raise awareness of the intersection between the anti-poverty and anti-war movements, arguing that money should be going to benefit the people rather than war.

This led to Donaciano and the Community Action Program co-founding the Colorado Springs Free Clinic, where healthcare was free, "no questions asked." This clinic would go on to become Peak Vista, which continues to operate to this day.

Founding of the Gay Liberation Front of Colorado Springs

In 1969, Donaciano went to visit his friend Gale Whittington in San Francisco. Gale had recently been fired from his job for being gay, which lit a fire in him. He founded the Committee for Homosexual Freedom. When Donacio visited, he watched as Gale organized, garnering support for his organization along the streets of San Francisco. This was three months before The Stonewall Riots.

When Donaciano returned to Colorado Springs, he told some of his gay friends in the peace movement about what he saw in San Francisco.

Three months later, in June, 1969, the Stonewall Riots broke out. It felt like things were changing, from coast to coast. This helped tip the scales in Colorado Springs.

There were three other people in particular, Malachi Truman Harris, Gene Shinn, and Patrick Tracey, who were particularly interested in making a difference for gays and lesbians in Colorado Springs. They would go on to found the Gay Liberation Front of Colorado Springs.

The founding of the Gay Liberation Front was controversial, even among the anti-poverty activists that Donaciano had been working alongside. The name itself was even a potential source of controversy among the largely conservative gay population of Colorado Springs, who might take offense to the word "gay" being in the name.

There were lesbians who were supportive of the Front's vision, and they would go on to form the Gay Sisters Alliance of Colorado Springs, a sister group.

The Front started to convene every week to every other week for "Rap groups" that would meet in either Truman's, Gene Shinn, or Patrick Tracey's apartments. Never at Donaciano's apartment, because at that time, he was in a relationship with a closeted military man who was not supportive of Donaciano's activism, primarily due to the risk it posed to his military status.

The groups started growing in numbers. People would talk about topics related to gay life, such as coming out and job loss. They started a hotline that people could call for advice or a listening ear soon after. They also established a speaker's bureau, and would go and speak to churches and other interested groups.

The Colorado Springs, Boulder, and Fort Collins chapters of the Gay Liberation Front convened in Denver for an anti-war demonstration on November 6, 1971, carrying a large handmade banner that said GAY LIBERATION FRONT down Colfax avenue, chanting. There were about 80 people in the group. ^[5]

However, this level of upfront in-your-face activism could be dangerous in Colorado Springs. The group would receive death threats from right-wing organizations like the John Birch Society and the Minutemen, a hate group who had target practice in the hills outside of Colorado Springs.

A few years later, he would also contribute to the formation of the Lambda Services Bureau, which was a continuation of the Gay Liberation Front's work.^[4:1]

Around 1975, Donaciano Martinez saw an ad in the local gay paper, The Scene, about a gay lawyer in Denver looking for a secretary. He called the number, and it led back to Jerry Gerasch, who Donaciano had met previously at the Colorado College 1972 Same-Sex Lifestyles Symposium. Gerash hired Donaciano, which led to him moving to Denver.

In Denver, he would also meet a lawyer named Ruth Buchler, a lesbian. Both Jerry and Ruth would get involved in the legal battle for Lambda Services Bureau to retain its tax-exempt status against the IRS. ^[6]

In 2013, Donaciano won Out Front's Lifetime Achievement Award. ^[4:2]

Key Dates

• November 6, 1971: Gay Liberation Front of Colorado Springs marches down Colfax alongside the Boulder and Fort Collins chapters, carrying a handmade sign and chanting to protest the Vietnam war.

Questions

• Was the 1971 protest mentioned by Donaciano the one that occurred in November 6, 1971? Gay libs mentioned in RMN article.
  • Yes!

References

Anything to add?