In 1968, Jack Nichols and his partner Elijah “Lige” Clark started writing “The Homosexual Citizen” for SCREW Magazine — the first gay-interest column to run in a non-gay, mainstream newsstand publication. Just like that, “Lige & Jack” became a household name in, well, certain households: The Most Famous Gay Couple in America.
That didn’t come without it’s challenges though. Not just for Lige & Jack being openly gay at that time, but for SCREW publishers Al Goldstein and Jim Buckley who took a big chance publishing their column. They faced many legal battles over it because, at the time, publishing a gay lifestyle column was considered “obscene”. But I digress.
Meet Jack
Jack Nichols was a firebrand and a fearless pioneer in the gay rights movement. In April 1965, he led the very first gay rights march on the White House. He was a fixture at the Annual Reminder pickets at Independence Hall in Philly every Fourth of July from ’65 through ’69. Jack and his comrades also helped twist the American Psychiatric Association’s arm into dropping its ridiculous classification of homosexuality as a mental illness.
In 1967, Jack became the first American to openly talk about being gay on national television — appearing in CBS News’ documentary The Homosexuals, hosted by Mike Wallace. It was a landmark moment. But it came at a cost.
Jack appeared on camera but used the pseudonym “Warren Adkins,” to protect his father — an FBI agent who would’ve lost his security clearance (and likely his career) if anyone found out his son was gay. The day after the broadcast, Jack himself was fired from his job at the International Inn in D.C.
The name “Warren” wasn’t pulled out of a hat. It belonged to one of Jack’s early lovers — a country boy he met in Neptune Beach, Florida in 1961. Jack had a taste for Southern charm. That affection for hillbilly boys would eventually lead him to his greatest love: Elijah Clark.
Meet Lige
Elijah “Lige” Clark was about as country as a man could get. Born in Cave Branch, Kentucky (just outside the tiny town of Hindman), he served in the U.S. Army before landing a job at the Department of Defense in D.C. That’s where he met Jack. And fell in love.
Together, they wrote “The Homosexual Citizen” for SCREW — the only publication ballsy enough to publish it at the time. They co-wrote two books: I Have More Fun With You Than Anybody (1972), and Roommates Can’t Always Be Lovers (1974). And in 1970, they helped launch GAY — SCREW’s short-lived spinoff and “America’s First Weekly Homosexual Magazine,” with Al Goldstein and Jim Buckley. It was ahead of its time. The world wasn’t ready.
The Birth of a Word
In SCREW #14 (May 23, 1969), Lige and Jack published a piece exploring straight men’s fear of being perceived as gay — a fear their friend Dr. George Weinberg called homophobia. That marked the first time the word homophobia ever appeared in print. Let that sink in. The word didn’t even exist until 55 years ago.
Gone, But Not Forgotten
On February 11, 1975, Lige was murdered in Mexico in what can only be described as a brutal hate crime. Jack, shattered, carried on. He became news editor for the San Francisco Sentinel, then Senior Editor at GayToday.com in the early internet years. He died in 2005 from cancer of the salivary gland.
His favorite song — Rosemary Clooney’s “Ev’ry Time We Say Goodbye” — played as he left this world. We like to think Lige was waiting for him on the other side.
Their Legacy
With Pride Month here again, we couldn’t not pay tribute to Lige and Jack — not just for what they did with SCREW, but for what they did for the entire LGBTQ community. They were brave, loud, proud, and beautifully unapologetic in a time when that could cost you everything. We will run a tribute to them every year until we’re throw in jail (again) for supporting the rights of our gay friends.
So here’s to Lige & Jack — America’s Most Famous Gay Couple.
Happy Pride Month.
Keep fighting the good fight.
—P.
