He became politically active in the 1960s , participating in his first sit-in on May 13 , 1966 , when he and other students occupied the administration building of City College in protest against the college 's involvement in Selective Service . He also participated in a number of anti-war protests , including the 1968 Columbia protests . In 1967 , Evans signed a public statement declaring his intention to refuse to pay income taxes in protest against the U.S. war against Vietnam . He also participated in the protests at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago . While at Columbia , Evans joined the Student Homophile League , founded by Nino Romano and Stephen Donaldson , although Evans himself was still closeted . He was not at the Stonewall Riots in 1969 , but they did fuel him into a " militant fervor , " according to the '' New York Times '' , and inspired him to join the Gay Liberation Front along with Arthur Bell . Within GLF , he co-created a cell called the Radical Study Group to examine the history of homophobia and sexism , with participants including Evans , Bell , John Lauritsen , Larry Mitchell , and Steve Dansky . However , he and others felt the group was not coherent and assertive enough , and also that it was diluting its effectiveness by focusing on issues such as racial discrimination and the Vietnam War . On December 21 , 1969 , Evans , Marty Robinson , and several others met to found the early gay rights group Gay Activists Alliance , with a more aggressive ethos than GLF and 12 starting members . Evans wrote the group 's statement of purpose , as well as much of its constitution . Based out of New York , the group used methods such as " zaps " to draw attention to discrimination , confronting Mayor John V. Lindsay and demonstrating against legislation of the time , for example a regulation at the time requiring gay people to get approval from a psychiatrist before being allowed to drive a taxi . Evans was often arrested for the zaps
1968 Democratic National Convention
1968 Democratic National Convention
Arthur Evans (author)