The Spirit of May 68 and the Origins of the Gay Liberation Movement in France

Abstract

Interpretations of May 68 in France have been many, varied, and contradictory.¹ While no one disputes that the so-called “events”—the riots, strikes, and demonstrations that almost toppled the Gaul list regime— amounted to more than an ordinary crisis, most analyses point to their ultimate failure to change French politics or society in any meaningful way. Even so, an entire generation has defined itself (and been defined by others) in terms of its relation to May 68, and much of France’s political history over the subsequent forty years can be written as the story of this generation’s itinerary: the (rare) fidelity of ex-militants to their youthful ideals or, more commonly, their (reputed) betrayal of their principles for American-style or Thatcherite economic liberalism or for François Mitterrand’s brand of socialism.² Over the decades, the rebellious youths who took to the streets in 68 and challenged authority have accommodated themselves to the status quo. As Henri Mendras cynically but perceptively observes, in the end the radical tendencies that emerged from 68 “had as their principal result the opening of a new political and cultural space within which the new rulers served their apprenticeship to become leaders. This new generation of leaders then took its natural place within the existing institutions against which it had fought.” Mendras recognizes only one permanent consequence of May 68: a weakened respect for traditional authority and an expanded sense of individualism that together transformed sexual behavior and public attitudes toward sexuality.³ In