A Friendship Forged Through the Gay-Rights Movement
Editor’s Note: This article is part of a series about the gay-rights movement and the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising.
Every week, The Friendship Files features a conversation between The Atlantic’s Julie Beck and two or more friends, exploring the history and significance of their relationship.
This week, she talks with two men who became friends through the gay-rights movement in Austin, Texas, in the 1970s. They discuss what it was like attending protests during a big era for LGBTQ activism, the community of friends they built once they both moved to California, and the importance of continuing to care for the members of their found family as they age.
The Friends:
Fred Hertz, 66, a family lawyer and mediator who lives in Oakland, California
Arthur Morris, 64, a retired health-department official for San Mateo County, who lives in San Francisco
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Julie Beck: You two met in Austin in the late ’70s working in the gay-rights movement together. What led you both to Austin and to activism?
Arthur Morris: I was lost. I had attended multiple universities. I decided that I was going to finish up at the University of Texas. I was floundering for a career as well as [dealing with] this unsatisfied attraction to men. I simply had to do something about that, so I moved to Austin.
I got to Austin, and I lived several blocks from the Gay Community Services office, which was across the street from the University of
