Jane Fonda supported LGBTQ rights in a powerful 1979 interview

An interview with actress and activist Jane Fonda in 1979 shows that her allyship with the LGBTQ community started decades ago, long before it became an important issue for other mainstream celebrities or activists.

In the short clip from the Kinolibrary Archive Film Collections, Fonda tells the interviewer at an event that gay and lesbian people were “absolutely” discriminated against.

“Culturally, psychologically, economically, politically – gays and lesbians are discriminated against,” she says. “They are a very powerful movement, especially in San Francisco. They don’t need me, but… they like me!”

Fonda cited her organization, the Campaign for Economic Democracy (CED), as a strong resource for LGBTQ activists at that time. “Working together, we can be stronger than either entity is by itself.”

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