Jeff Graubart: A Conspiracy Unraveled, My 17 Day Urbana Sit-in, March, 1976
Under Construction
The Cast - Major players identified. Actual historical figures on left.
Jeff Graubart, Member Gay Rights Action Coalition, Narrator | Dave Rosen |
Hiram Paley, Mayor of Urbana | Manny Singer |
Toby Schneiter, Member Gay Rights Action Coalition | Ellen Schrader |
Nancy Davis, Member Gay Rights Action Coalition | Samantha Darwin |
Reid Smith, Gay Illini Supporter | Simon Sawyer |
John Petersen, I-Progressive Urbana Alderman | Joel Sandberg |
Bill Bland, Mayor of Champaign | Bill Young |
Duane Eckerty, Urbana City Clerk | Wayne Picardy |
Years ago, I cried watching the movie Ragtime as Coalhouse Walker Jr. replayed the scenes from my life. To preserve his dignity when some racist firefighters wrecked his car, he ultimately gave his own life.
When the Urbana cop said, "No faggot can bring charges against a real man without defaming his character," like Coalhouse Walker, I tried to get justice and failed. With each failure, those words stole a fresh piece of my soul. I continued to sink deeper into the pit of drug addiction, mental instability and desperation. Those words came to symbolize my reason for being.
Between Larry Gulian's sabotage of the march on Washington conference and my obsession with the Urbana cop, I spent two years in Chicago's gay political community, unleashing my rage. Readers of The Quest for Brian can decide whether I was more hero or villian. Ultimately, I tried to escape my demons and fled to my parent's house in California, but there was no way out, so I opted to return to Urbana and find justice or die trying.
This is the most embarassing and difficult-to-relive part of my life. My press release uses hyperbole such as "psychopathic vegetable" and "diseased ravaged mind." The sit-in in Urbana is the only part of my novel where the truth is weirder than the fiction and I toned down the mental illness, despite the reader's desire for sensationalism. It was too difficult to write. But the actual press releases and newspaper articles are included in this exhibit for the whole world to see.
Arrival in Urbana
Dramatization of Arrival at the Urbana City Building[1] Newspaper accounts, days later, have City Attorney Franks allowing me to stay in the foyer and getting me bathroom priviledges in the police station, but that is incorrect. He became the fall guy for the mayor when the political firestorm erupted.
When I heard that Urbana had passed the gay rights bill a year earlier, albeit a watered down version, I almost decided to return home victorious. But there was still questions of who was the Urbana cop and why the grand jury cover-up.
Press Release Initiating the Sit-in
At Home in City Hall
Dramatization of At Home In City Hall[2]
Days in City Hall
Dramatization of Statute of Limitations[3]
Dramatization of Reid Smith and the Gay Illini[4]
Dramatization of GRAC Demonstration[5] Reggie plays the role of Clarence Fletcher in earlier scenes from 1972 and 1973. In this dramatization, his role and story is purely fictional and a composite of another character.
Dramatization of Shower Break at Reid Smith's[6]
The Truth That Set Me Free
Dramatization of Meeting with John Petersen[7]
Dramatization of City Council Meeting[8]
Dramatization of Failed Hearts[9]
The Vigilantes of Urbana
Phone Call Threatens Man In Lobby
Arrest
Dramatization of Mayor Paley Returns Early[11]
Graubart Arrested For Trespassing
Gay Rights Action Coalition Press Release March 25th
A Wanted Man
References
- ↑ Graubart, Jeff. 2009. The Quest for Brian, 4th Draft,9:13-17
- ↑ Graubart, Jeff. 2009. The Quest for Brian, 4th Draft,9:18-22
- ↑ Graubart, Jeff. 2009. The Quest for Brian, 4th Draft,9:22-23
- ↑ Graubart, Jeff. 2009. The Quest for Brian, 4th Draft,9:23-26
- ↑ Graubart, Jeff. 2009. The Quest for Brian, 4th Draft,9:26-29
- ↑ Graubart, Jeff. 2009. The Quest for Brian, 4th Draft,9:29-31
- ↑ Graubart, Jeff. 2009. The Quest for Brian, 4th Draft,9:32-35
- ↑ Graubart, Jeff. 2009. The Quest for Brian, 4th Draft,9:35-37
- ↑ Graubart, Jeff. 2009. The Quest for Brian, 4th Draft,9:37-38
- ↑ Graubart, Jeff. 2009. The Quest for Brian, 4th Draft,9:38-42
- ↑ Graubart, Jeff. 2009. The Quest for Brian, 4th Draft,9:43-45
- ↑ Graubart, Jeff. 2009. The Quest for Brian, 4th Draft,9:45-47
- ↑ Graubart, Jeff. 2009. The Quest for Brian, 4th Draft,9:47-51
Contact Person
Jeff Graubart jeffgrau@rcn.com