Avicolli Mecca, Tommi*

NAME: Tommi Avicolli Mecca

Biography: Tommi Avicolli Mecca is a longtime southern Italian radical queer activist who helped organize the first gay pride march in Philadelphia in 1972. He was co-founder of Radicalqueens, and a member of Gay Liberation Front/Temple. He served as president of Gay Activists Alliance (1975) and reporter/editor for the Philadelphia Gay News (1981-91). He founded the Philadelphia Gay and Lesbian Archives (now part of the library at the William Way Center in Philly. He was on the board of the first LGBT community center and helped organize its weekly Gay Coffeehouse.

He is a poet,performer, activist and writer. As a journalist, he has contributed to //Philadelphia Magazine//, [Bay Guardian//], //Bay Times//, [] Philadelphia Gay News, SF Examiner, and others. In 1978 he wrote and produced the first gay play ("Judgement of the Roaches") presented in Philadelphia; in 1986 the libretto for the first dance/spoken word piece on AIDS. Altogether he has produced about a dozens theatre works, including "la madonna nera" (black madonna) and "Italian.Queer.Dangerous."

He has continued to fight the good fight since moving to San Francisco, where he is now a prominent housing and queer activist. Tommi's poetry has been published in a wide variety of journals including Northwest Magazine, Philadelphia Poets, and the book, Gay & Lesbian Poetry in Our Time//. His articles have appeared in some 30 anthologies, including //That's Revolting, Out in the Castro, I Do I Don't, Men Freeing Men, Queer View Mirror, Orgasms of Light, Reconstructing Gender, Quickies, Sweet Lemons, The Whole World is Watching, etc.// He is author of //Between Little Rock and a Hard Place// and co-editor of //Hey Paesan!: Writing by Lesbians and Gay Men of Italian Descent// and //Avanti Popolo: Italian Writers Sail Beyond Columbus.// He is currently editing //Smash the Church, Smash the State: the early years of gay liberation, an anthology of writings about the post-Stonewall gay liberation movement. He writes regularly for the online newspaper, beyondchron.org. His website is: www.avicollimecca.com.

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