The papers consist of biographical information, photographs, programs, and text of speeches and testimony documenting the life of Ermanno J. Stingo and his support of gay and lesbian rights, 1982-1995. A native of New York City, he and his partner, Boris Maysel became increasing involved in the movement. They attended the West Side Discussion group and marched in Pride parades. Stingo also testified a number of times at city hall hearings in support of gay and lesbian rights bills.

Ermanno J. Stingo was born in New York, New York, in 1917. He had his first gay experience at the age of nine with a boy from the neighborhood. He attended the Community College of New York, but had to drop-out to earn money for his family. Later he earned a scholarship to the Arts and Crafts Guild, where he met others like himself. In 1940 Stingo was called by his draft board, but he failed the physical. He eventually moved out of the family home to gain some privacy. In the early 1950s he met Boris Maysel; they remained together until Stingo's death in 1993. Stingo and Maysel were active in the West Side Discussion Group, the Gay Activist Alliance, the Gay and Lesbian Independent Democrats, the organization that would become Parents, Friends of Lesbians And Gays (P-FLAG), and the Coalition for Lesbian and Gay Rights. Later Stingo monitored criminal court cases concerning gays and lesbians for the Chelsea Gay Association (CGA). In 1983 he testified in support of Intro #1, the Gay Rights Bill, in 1984, 1985, and 1986 he also testified at city hall in support of gay and lesbian rights. After fifteen years of struggle he celebrated the passage of the Lesbian and Gay Rights Bill, Local Law 2, on June 05, 1986. He continued his activism, answering the referral phone line of the Bar Association for Human Rights. In 1993 he died after a pro-longed illness.

0.1 Linear Feet 1 folder

All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the ONE Archivist. Permission for publication is given on behalf of ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives at USC Libraries as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.