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We Set the Night on Fire: Igniting the Gay Revolution
We Set the Night on Fire is the story of Martha Shelley’s roots as the daughter of refugees and undocumented immigrants in New York in the 1940s and '50s, and her development as a political activist and a central figure in the intersection of the gay and women’s movements of the 1960s and '70s.
Shelley describes her childhood during the McCarthy era and subsequent civil rights and anti-Vietnam War movements and her struggles coming out as a lesbian at a time when being gay made her a criminal.
She rose to become a public speaker for the Daughters of Bilitis, organized the first gay march in response to Stonewall, and then cofounded the Gay Liberation Front. She coproduced the newspaper Come Out!, worked on the women’s takeover of Rat newspaper, and took a central role in the Lavender Menace action.
Martha Shelley’s story is a feminist and lesbian document that gives context and adds necessary humanity to the historical record.
Shelley describes her childhood during the McCarthy era and subsequent civil rights and anti-Vietnam War movements and her struggles coming out as a lesbian at a time when being gay made her a criminal.
She rose to become a public speaker for the Daughters of Bilitis, organized the first gay march in response to Stonewall, and then cofounded the Gay Liberation Front. She coproduced the newspaper Come Out!, worked on the women’s takeover of Rat newspaper, and took a central role in the Lavender Menace action.
Martha Shelley’s story is a feminist and lesbian document that gives context and adds necessary humanity to the historical record.
224 pages, Hardcover
First published June 13, 2023
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1915 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
January 6, 2024
the big finish with the embezzlement x dyke drama x callout posts reminded me somethings never change ❤️
February 20, 2024
Martha Shelley's book "We Set The Night On Fire, Igniting the Gay Revolution" is the vivid account of her life as a young lesbian who even in 1964, was at the forefront of the struggle for real changes in American life. It is a wise and good spirited book that accurately reflects so much of what "underground" radical progressive life was like in the 70s, 80s and after. At the end of the book she gives her advice to young activists today. Activism and resistance is so important now that the world's methods of surveillance and control have become so hard to circumvent. It's best if you read her own words, but I will summarize this advice as:
1. Make connections with other social movements.
2. We have to keep fighting! Someone is always trying to take our rights away.
3. You don't need advice from your elders. You are the leaders.
1. Make connections with other social movements.
2. We have to keep fighting! Someone is always trying to take our rights away.
3. You don't need advice from your elders. You are the leaders.
January 27, 2026
Felt like the first half of her childhood / teenage years had much more detail than the years she was an activist. A lot of name / historic event dropping but not a lot of detail about what it was actually like to be there? Ended super abruptly in 1978, kind of felt unfinished? But she was there doing the work and I have individually benefited from her activism so for that I am extremely grateful
June 25, 2024
Aww I absolutely loved this! It wasn’t necessarily a page turner, but a great read on lesbian history. The author talks about her life & work on different social justice movements. Such a wonderful read during pride month🫶
April 2, 2026
We Set the Night on Fire is a memoir that earns its place in the historical record not simply because of what its author witnessed and helped create, but because of the clarity, honesty, and humanity with which she tells it.
Martha Shelley lived at the intersection of some of the most consequential social movements of the twentieth century, and her account of that living is both an invaluable primary document and a genuinely compelling personal narrative. Born the daughter of refugees and undocumented immigrants in postwar New York, shaped by the McCarthy era and the civil rights and anti-Vietnam War movements, and coming out as a lesbian at a time when homosexuality was a criminal designation, Shelley's path to activism was forged in conditions of real danger and real stakes. That context is essential to understanding both the courage the movement required and the urgency that drove it.
The historical contributions Shelley recounts are extraordinary in their scope and significance. She organised the first gay march in response to Stonewall, cofounded the Gay Liberation Front, coproduced the groundbreaking newspaper Come Out!, and played a central role in the Lavender Menace action and the women's takeover of Rat newspaper. These are not footnotes in the history of LGBTQ and feminist liberation. They are foundational chapters, and Shelley's firsthand account of them adds a texture, complexity, and human specificity that no secondary source can replicate.
What elevates the memoir above a simple chronicle of historical events is the voice at its centre. Shelley writes with the directness and moral clarity of someone who has spent a lifetime in the difficult, necessary work of speaking truth to power, and who understands that the personal and the political are not merely connected but inseparable. Her story is a feminist and lesbian document in the fullest sense of both words: a life lived in resistance, rendered with precision and grace.
Essential reading for anyone serious about understanding how the world was changed.
Martha Shelley lived at the intersection of some of the most consequential social movements of the twentieth century, and her account of that living is both an invaluable primary document and a genuinely compelling personal narrative. Born the daughter of refugees and undocumented immigrants in postwar New York, shaped by the McCarthy era and the civil rights and anti-Vietnam War movements, and coming out as a lesbian at a time when homosexuality was a criminal designation, Shelley's path to activism was forged in conditions of real danger and real stakes. That context is essential to understanding both the courage the movement required and the urgency that drove it.
The historical contributions Shelley recounts are extraordinary in their scope and significance. She organised the first gay march in response to Stonewall, cofounded the Gay Liberation Front, coproduced the groundbreaking newspaper Come Out!, and played a central role in the Lavender Menace action and the women's takeover of Rat newspaper. These are not footnotes in the history of LGBTQ and feminist liberation. They are foundational chapters, and Shelley's firsthand account of them adds a texture, complexity, and human specificity that no secondary source can replicate.
What elevates the memoir above a simple chronicle of historical events is the voice at its centre. Shelley writes with the directness and moral clarity of someone who has spent a lifetime in the difficult, necessary work of speaking truth to power, and who understands that the personal and the political are not merely connected but inseparable. Her story is a feminist and lesbian document in the fullest sense of both words: a life lived in resistance, rendered with precision and grace.
Essential reading for anyone serious about understanding how the world was changed.
July 23, 2023
Stories from a writer and activist centrally involved in gay rights and women's rights movements, focusing mostly on 60's and early 70's when she was a young adult, as well as her growing up in NYC as a Jewish lesbian.
Not very central to the story, but it jumped out at me that she was briefly connected to the Sullivanians cult in New York, of which I'd never heard until recently reading a book about them.
Likely of more general interest is her story about happening upon the Stonewall Uprising while giving a walking tour to some visitors from Boston: "'What's going on?' Pat exclaimed. 'It's just a riot,' I replied, assuming we'd encountered yet another antiwar demonstration. 'We have them all the time' (pp. 96-97). Only later did the word get out that something significant had happened, and a month afterward the author had organized a sizable protest march.
Lots of insider accounts of turbulence in one or another activist group, project, or even road trip with friends. I guess one takeaway would be that even if you're all committed to the same political and societal goals there is still the same mix of difficult personalities, credit seekers, corruption, financial malfeasance, etc. as might seem predictable in a regular business.
Very good writer with strong points of view on, of course, politics but also the people she ran across. Only thing keeping it from 5 stars for me was the loose structure -- it's less a coherent memoir, let alone history of "gay revolution," and more a series of anecdotes, to be sure many of them fascinating.
Not very central to the story, but it jumped out at me that she was briefly connected to the Sullivanians cult in New York, of which I'd never heard until recently reading a book about them.
Likely of more general interest is her story about happening upon the Stonewall Uprising while giving a walking tour to some visitors from Boston: "'What's going on?' Pat exclaimed. 'It's just a riot,' I replied, assuming we'd encountered yet another antiwar demonstration. 'We have them all the time' (pp. 96-97). Only later did the word get out that something significant had happened, and a month afterward the author had organized a sizable protest march.
Lots of insider accounts of turbulence in one or another activist group, project, or even road trip with friends. I guess one takeaway would be that even if you're all committed to the same political and societal goals there is still the same mix of difficult personalities, credit seekers, corruption, financial malfeasance, etc. as might seem predictable in a regular business.
Very good writer with strong points of view on, of course, politics but also the people she ran across. Only thing keeping it from 5 stars for me was the loose structure -- it's less a coherent memoir, let alone history of "gay revolution," and more a series of anecdotes, to be sure many of them fascinating.
March 25, 2024
I heard Martha Shelley read at an event, and I was so moved by her poetry and the brief biography shared at the event, I wanted to know more! I met her briefly and she was so kind and lovely.
However, "We Set the Night On Fire" was rather disappointing. Though the memoir is about deeply personal topics and hugely influential moments in the history of the gay rights movement, it felt strangely cold and clinical. Peppered with anecdotes and name drops, but presented in a sequential, dry manner. There was no strong narrative arc to the decades Shelley chose to focus on, and I was surprised by the book's abrupt ending in 1978.
However, "We Set the Night On Fire" was rather disappointing. Though the memoir is about deeply personal topics and hugely influential moments in the history of the gay rights movement, it felt strangely cold and clinical. Peppered with anecdotes and name drops, but presented in a sequential, dry manner. There was no strong narrative arc to the decades Shelley chose to focus on, and I was surprised by the book's abrupt ending in 1978.
October 13, 2023
I loved reading We Set the Night on Fire. It was smart and unpretentious; I felt like I was in Shelley's pocket, inciting passion for change, sharing intimacy with fellow comrades, dirty deeds over a mink coat. The urgency to teach her wisdom and hope is felt throughout. We, the younger generations and next wave, would be wise to take a page- a bunch of pages from Shelley's book, continuing to pass the torch and say "fuck you" to the pharaohs.
November 11, 2024
a great switch up from my regularly scheduled programming
this was a great book and I really enjoyed it. it’s well written and the author is a great storyteller.
it’s important to learn the history that brought us to where we are today.
this was a great book and I really enjoyed it. it’s well written and the author is a great storyteller.
it’s important to learn the history that brought us to where we are today.
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March 19, 2025lots of interesting anecdotes and stories about shelley’s time as an activist in the gay rights and women’s liberation movements. a bit cut and dry as far as memoirs go, but i would still highly recommend, esp for anyone interested in lesbian history.
March 14, 2025
Amazing book but I can’t do another non fiction this year. I didn’t finish the book because I don’t have the mental capacity
August 21, 2024
3.5 stars
March 9, 2025
Martha Shelley is so slay but I fear storytelling is not for her
August 13, 2024
A bit pedestrian, but a story that must be told and should be read.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews