The National Socialist League (NSL) was a

neo-Nazi Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and racial supremacy (often white supremacy), attack ...

organization of

gay men Gay men are male homosexuals. Some bisexual and homoromantic men may also dually identify as gay, and a number of young gay men also identify as queer. Historically, gay men have been referred to by a number of different terms, includin ...

in the United States that existed from 1974 until 1984. It was originally founded by Jim Cherry, but was quickly taken over by

Russell Veh Russell Raymond Veh ( real name unknown) (born 1950) was the head of the San Diego based neo-Nazi organization World Service. From the early 1970s through the 1990s, Veh edited and distributed neo-Nazi and racist propaganda books, periodicals, ...

, a neo-Nazi and transplant to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

, California, from Ohio. Veh financed the party using the profits from his

printing Printing is a process for mass reproducing text and images using a master form or template. The earliest non-paper products involving printing include cylinder seals and objects such as the Cyrus Cylinder and the Cylinders of Nabonidus. The ...

business. He also financed the league with a film distribution unit that specialized in

Nazi propaganda films The propaganda used by the German Nazi Party in the years leading up to and during Adolf Hitler's dictatorship of Germany from 1933 to 1945 was a crucial instrument for acquiring and maintaining power, and for the implementation of Nazi polic ...

, including ''

Triumph of the Will ''Triumph of the Will'' (german: Triumph des Willens) is a 1935 German Nazi propaganda film directed, produced, edited and co-written by Leni Riefenstahl. Adolf Hitler commissioned the film and served as an unofficial executive producer; hi ...

''. The ''National Socialist League'' had chapters in various parts of

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, and implied in their mass mailing on July 4, 1978 that they had established an offshoot organization in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives at the University of Southern California Libraries is the oldest existing lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) organization in the United States and one of the largest repositories of LGBT materials ...

, National Socialist League Collection, Folder 6

History

The league was founded in 1974 by Jim Cherry and several other California-based neo-Nazis. Early reports suggest that there were as many as 400 members of the National Socialist League in San Francisco, and organized across city and state lines. The National Socialist League was unique in restricting its members to gay men. The group distributed membership applications declaring NSL's "determination to seek sexual, social, and political freedom" for

Aryans Aryan or Arya (, Indo-Iranian *''arya'') is a term originally used as an ethnocultural self-designation by Indo-Iranians in ancient times, in contrast to the nearby outsiders known as 'non-Aryan' (*''an-arya''). In Ancient India, the term ...

. It argued that gay men had a role in maintaining the "white race" and that they were meant to be a military and cultural vanguard. They summarized this position in their 12 point credo. The National Socialist League placed advertisements identifying themselves as the ''Gay Nazis'' that included their phone number in order to recruit new members during 1974 and 1975 in the classified ad section of the

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

gay newspaper the ''

Bay Area Reporter The ''Bay Area Reporter'' is a free weekly newspaper serving the LGBT communities in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is one of the largest-circulation LGBT newspapers in the United States, and the country's oldest continuously published newspaper ...

''. The NSL also advertised in the

leather Leather is a strong, flexible and durable material obtained from the tanning, or chemical treatment, of animal skins and hides to prevent decay. The most common leathers come from cattle, sheep, goats, equine animals, buffalo, pigs and hog ...

magazine ''

Drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drums. Most contemporary western bands that play rock, pop, jazz, or R&B music include a drummer for purposes including timekeeping and embellishing the musical timbre. The drummer's ...

'', despite apprehension and personal dislike of Nazism by editor

Jack Fritscher John Joseph "Jack" Fritscher (born June 20, 1939) is an American author, university professor, historian, and social activist known internationally for his fiction, erotica and non-fiction analyses of popular culture and gay male culture. A pre- ...

. The ad contained the slogan "Tomorrow Belongs to You!", an ironic reference to the song "

Tomorrow Belongs to Me "Tomorrow Belongs to Me" is a song from the 1966 Broadway musical ''Cabaret'', and the 1972 film of the same name. It was written and composed by two Jewish musicians – John Kander and Fred Ebb – as part of an avowedly anti-fascist work; th ...

" in ''

Cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dinin ...

,'' a 1972 film about the rise of Nazism in 1930s Germany, popular with gay men for its inclusion of LGBT characters. “If Homosexuals can be Capitalists, we can be Communists...then why can’t we be National Socialists? Join the first and only Homophile organization for National Socialists!!” -NSL Pamphlet In 1977 NSL applied for a free table at the Los Angeles Gay Pride Parade and was denied, although Christopher Street West – the organization which runs the event – had at that time a policy of total non-exclusion. This resulted in major debates within the community and coalesced in 1978 when Christopher Street West reversed its stance and said that as a private organization they could act to endorse their community principles.

, National Socialist League Collection, Folder 1 During its span of operation, the National Socialist League put out a journal called ''NS Kampfruf'', later renamed ''NS Mobilizer''. The magazine contained Nazi rhetoric as well as drawings of scantily clad SS soldiers with swastikas covering their genitals to emphasize the "sexual trip" described by the recruiting pitch. The NSL stirred a controversy in 1983 when it attempted to market the infamous 1930s Nazi

anti-Semitic Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

film '' Jud Süß'' ("Süss the Jew") which had been

pirated Copyright infringement (at times referred to as piracy) is the use of works protected by copyright without permission for a usage where such permission is required, thereby infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the copyright holder, s ...

by the group. An article in the Los Angeles-based ''Heritage and S.W. Jewish Press'', titled "'Gay Nazis Peddling Vile 'Jud Suss' Film", named Veh and the National Socialist League as responsible for pushing this. "We are most familiar with Mr. Veh (which is an alias, incidentally) and his notorious operations," said legitimate film distributor David Calbert Smith III. The National Socialist League disappeared in 1984, after which its periodical the ''NS Mobilizer'' was renamed to ''Race & Nation''. Although ''Race & Nation'' was still edited by Russell Veh and distributed by his ''World Service'', it stopped discussing the NSL and sexuality altogether.

University of Michigan Library The University of Michigan Library is the academic library system of the University of Michigan. The university's 38 constituent and affiliated libraries together make it the List of largest libraries in the United States#Largest research libraries ...

, Joseph A. Labadie Collection, Section 1, HS 2330.N21 N13

References

{{Authority control Defunct LGBT organizations in the United States Defunct political parties in the United States Organizations established in 1974 Organizations disestablished in 1984 1974 establishments in the United States 1984 disestablishments in the United States Neo-Nazi political parties in the United States LGBT conservatism in the United States LGBT politics in the United States LGBT-related controversies in the United States LGBT political parties

History

See also

References