[4] Wicker's first exposure to the gay movement came while he was a student at the University of Texas at Austin in the mid-1950s, when he discovered a copy of the ONE, Inc. magazine One.

[8] After convincing MSNY that it should begin publicizing its events, Wicker printed up flyers for an upcoming lecture, leading to a standing-room-only crowd.

WRS adopted the philosophy of the San Francisco-based lesbian group Daughters of Bilitis and operated across Texas, Mississippi, and Louisiana.

A week before the broadcast, Jack O'Brian, a columnist for the New York Journal American, attacked it as an attempt to present "the ease of living the gay life."

Wicker, along with Rodwell, sexual freedom activist Jefferson Poland and a handful of others, picketed the Whitehall Street Induction Center in New York City in 1964 after the confidentiality of gay men's draft records was violated.

[17] He supported himself by operating, with his lover Peter Ogren, Underground Uplift Unlimited, a slogan-button and head shop.

[18] Wicker was a witness to the Stonewall riots in June, 1969, which are recognized as the start of the modern gay liberation movement.

He later recalled seeing rioters set bonfires and throw garbage barrels through the windows of Greenwich Village businesses.

"[19] Despite his early activism, Wicker denounced the riots at a community organizational meeting a week later, saying that "throwing rocks through windows doesn't open doors" and dismissing "disorderly" behavior as a means to social tolerance.

The GLF had an intersectional approach, and spread their focus amongst a number of left-oriented political activities, including opposition to the Vietnam War and support for the Black Panther Party.

[27] As a part of its mission statement, CRUF adopted the "Clone Bill of Rights": Season 2, episode 1 of the podcast “Making Gay History” is about Wicker and Marsha P. Johnson, and features an interview where the two dispel misinformation about the first night of the Stonewall riots.