The Yippies were a quasi political group started in 1967 as the Youth International Party. They described themselves as an extremist version of popular anti-war and civil rights movements of the late 1960's. Their flag had a large marijuana leaf on it and they advocated the legalization of the drug. Part of their lobbying efforts included smoke-ins around the country on the 4th of July. The biggest of these gatherings was the Washington, D.C. event which is advertised in the colored handbill at left. In their countercultural extremism, yippies rejected all conventional forms of public and private institutions as well as conventional gender roles. Their styling, as shown at left in the illustration, also eschewed gender specificity. In keeping with this theme, the Yippies engaged a band named Root Boy Slim and the Sex Change Band to play at the 1978 smoke-in at the nation's capital.

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