Different Daughters: A History of the Daughters of Bilitis and the Rise of the Lesbian Rights Movement
by Marcia M. Gallo
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Description
Nearly fifteen years before the birth of gay liberation, the Daughters of Bilitis (DOB) was the world's first organization committed to lesbian visibility and empowerment. Like its predominantly gay male counterpart, the Mattachine Society, DOB was launched in response to the oppressive anti-homosexual climate of the McCarthy era, when lesbian and gay people were arrested, fired from jobs, and had their children taken away simply because of their sexual orientation. It was against this show more political backdrop that a circle of San Francisco lesbians formed a private club where lesbians could meet others in a safe, affirming setting. The small social group evolved over the next two decades into a national organization that counted more than a dozen chapters, and laid the foundation for today's lesbian rights movement. Different Daughters chronicles this movement and the women who fought the church and state in order to change not only our nation's perception of homosexuality, but how lesbians see themselves. Marcia Gallo has interviewed dozens of former DOB members, many of whom have never spoken on record. Through its leaders, magazine, and network of local chapters, DOB played a crucial role in creating lesbian identity, visibility, and political strategies in Cold War America. show lessTags
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Queer History - Specialized
37 works; 1 member
Author Information
2 Works 164 Members
Marcia M. Gallo received her Ph.D. with distinction from the City University of New York Graduate Center in 2004. She has worked as Field Director for the American Civil Liberties Union in San Francisco; she also worked in social justice philanthropy in New York. Currently, she is Associate Professor of History at the University of Nevada, Las show more Vegas, where she teaches courses on race, gender and sexuality as well as oral history and public history. Her first book, Different Daughters: A History of the Daughters of Bilitis and the Rise of the Lesbian Rights Movement, won the 2006 Lambda Literary Award for Nonfiction. Her second book, "No One Helped": Kitty Genovese, New York City, and the Myth of Urban Apathy, won the 2016 Lambda Literary Award for LGBT Nonfiction. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 2006
- Dedication
- For Anni, with love and thanks.
- First words
- When the package marked “FBI” finally arrived in April 1981 at their
home in San Francisco, Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin wondered what
on earth it could contain. - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)From the standpoint of yet another repressive period in U.S. history, it seems that finally, today, we may be able to appreciate the complicated women who wore, decorated, and then discarded the mask of conformity a half century ago.
Classifications
- Genres
- Nonfiction, LGBTQ+, History, General Nonfiction
- DDC/MDS
- 306.7663 — Society, government, & culture Social sciences, sociology & anthropology Social Behavior - Dating, Marriage, Divorce Sexual relations Sexual orientation, transgender identity, intersexuality Homosexuality Lesbianism
- LCC
- HQ75.6 .U5 .G36 — Social sciences The family. Marriage, Women and Sexuality The Family. Marriage. Women Sexual life Homosexuality. Lesbianism
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 111
- Popularity
- 292,020
- Rating
- (4.06)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 3
- ASINs
- 1
