Out in the Archives
Gender and Sexuality Collections at Georgia State University

Charlie St. John and ALFA v. The Atlanta Journal and Constitution

Charlie St. John was one Atlanta’s best known gay activists during the early 1970s. He was a founding member of Georgia’s Gay Liberation Front, and he was the first gay person to be appointed to Atlanta’s Community Relations Commission. In 1973, St. John was working as a copy boy for the Atlanta Journal, when he was fired for distributing fliers about Gay Pride.  

Around the same time, members of the Atlanta Lesbian Feminist Alliance (ALFA) were frustrated with the Atlanta Journal and Constitution because multiple requests to print ALFA announcements had been rejected. As a result, members of ALFA, the Gay Liberation Front, and other activists picketed the newspapers’ offices. 

Photograph — Protesters outside AJC headquarters
Newspaper clipping — “ALFA Takes the Offensive”
Photograph — Protester outside AJC headquarters