Randy Wicker
| Randy Wicker | |
|---|---|
| Born |
3 February 1938 Baltimore, Maryland |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Activist, author, blogger |
| Known for | Gay activism |
Randolfe Hayden "Randy" Wicker (b. Charles Gervin Hayden, Jr. 3 February 1938) is an American author, activist and blogger. After involvement in the early homophile and gay liberation movements, Wicker became active around the issue of human cloning.
Wicker was born Charles Gervin Hayden, Jr. in Plainfield, New Jersey in 1938. He was raised in Florida by his grandparents. His first exposure to the homophile movement came while he was a student at the University of Texas at Austin in the mid-1950s, when he discovered a copy of the ONE, Inc. magazine One. Wicker affiliated himself with the New York City chapter of the homophile Mattachine Society (MSNY) in 1958, while still a UTA student, spending the summer in the city to work with the organization. Mattachine took a conservative stance in its work for homosexual rights and Wicker, who was younger than the leadership and many of the other members, joined with other younger activists like Craig Rodwell in an effort to make the group more radical. "He was, let's say, a disturbing acquisition for the movement", recalled then-MSNY president Arthur Maule. After convincing MSNY that it should begin publicizing its events, Wicker printed up flyers for an upcoming lecture, leading to a standing-room-only crowd. It also led police to persuade MSNY's landlord to evict the group from its recently occupied headquarters.
As he became more active in the movement, Wicker apprised his family of his activities. Hayden, Sr., while skeptical that his activities would amount to anything, asked him not to use "Charles Hayden" for his activism. He adopted the pseudonym "Randolfe Hayden Wicker", retaining his family name as his new middle name to maintain the family connection. He legally changed his name in 1967.
Returning to Austin in the fall of 1958, Wicker tried to start a homophile organization called Wicker Research Studies. WRS adopted the philosophy of the San Francisco-based lesbian group Daughters of Bilitis and operated across Texas, Mississippi and Louisiana. WRS was short-lived, however, as Mississippi denied the organization's application for incorporation. He also became active in the civil rights movement. Wicker ran for student body president but during the campaign the dean received notification that Wicker and his roommate Edward Lacey were gay. This helped convince him that homosexuals needed to engage in militant action.
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