National Socialist League (United States)

The National Socialist League, sometimes referred to as the Gay Nazi Party, was a Neo-Nazi political party in the United States that existed from 1974 until the mid 1980s. It was founded by Russell Veh in Los Angeles in 1974. Veh financed the party using the profits from his printing business. He also financed the party with a film distribution unit that specialized in Nazi propaganda films, including the perennial favorite Triumph of the Will. The National Socialist League had chapters in various parts of California.

Founding of the party
The party was founded in 1974 by Russell Veh and several other Neo-Nazis. The National Socialist League was unique in restricting its members to gay Nazis. The group distributed membership applications declaring NSL’s “determination to seek sexual, social and political freedom” for Aryans.

The primary appeal of the party was to gay Aryans in the leather subculture.

Anti-Jewish film distribution controversy
While normally low-profile, the NSL stirred a controversy in 1983 when it attempted to market the infamous 1930’s Nazi Anti-Semitic hate film that had been pirated by the group. An article in the Los Angeles-based Heritage and S.W. Jewish Press, titled “‘Gay Nazis’ Peddling Vile ‘Jud Suss’ Film,” named Veh and the National Socialist League. “We are most familiar with Mr. Veh (which is an alias, incidentally) and his notorious operations,” said legitimate film distributor, David Calbert Smith III.

Organizing efforts in the U.S. gay community
Veh solicited members for the National Socialist League through a publication called The National Socialist Mobilizer and through personal ads in homosexual publications, including the leading national gay magazine, The Advocate.

Before disappearing in the 1980s, the National Socialist League put out a journal called NS Kampfruf.

Organizing efforts in San Francisco
The National Socialist League placed advertisements identifying themselves as the Gay Nazis that included their phone number in order to recruit new members during 1974 and 1975 in the classified ad section of the San Francisco gay newspaper the Bay Area Reporter. The San Francisco chapter met in a house on 14th Street near Castro Street in San Francisco’s gay neighborhood, The Castro.