"Raised in Wilmington, Delaware, where her proclivity for crushes on classmates at the Catholic girls’ school she attended kept her from the National Honor Society, Barbara Gittings was barely out of her teens when she began her search for reliable data on same-sex love...
https://twitter.com/LGBAlliance_USA/status/1313456219563200517
...Her legendary skills as a researcher surfaced in the late 40’s and early 50’s as she sought out the handful of books, and their authors, that discussed homosexuality without condemning it. On a quest to find “my people,”"
"In 1963, Gittings assumed the editorship of DOB’s monthly magazine The Ladder... She brought her wide-ranging knowledge of literature, her interest in science and psychology, and her cosmopolitan sensibilities to the mimeographed newsletter...
...helping to transform it into a respected magazine that featured “real” lesbians on the cover. She put the tagline “A Lesbian Review” on the front and removed the warning “for adults only"
"She helped staff the famous, outrageous “Hug A Homosexual” booth..As was typically Barbara, she not only happily hugged other homosexuals but was photographed enthusiastically kissing author Isabel Miller on the lips while the librarians looked on in amazement."
"She was responsible for convincing gay “Doctor H. Anonymous” (John Fryer) to speak to his colleagues in 1972. Although he appeared in disguise, it was a historic encounter with one of their own that the good psychiatrists in the audience could not ignore...
....The next year, in 1973, the APA removed homosexuality from its list of mental disorders. “All of a sudden, we were cured!” remarked Barbara"
"it is hard to accept that there won’t be one more conversation about gay history, one more discussion of activist strategies, another funny story about lesbian drama or hugging homosexuals. She still seems very much with us."
"Typically Barbara, she had a plan for passing on her important collection of gay movement materials, which will preserve her legacy of lesbian visibility, leadership, and collegiality"
The above thread is the words of Marcia M Gallo.
amazon.com/gp/product/158…
glreview.org/article/articl…
amazon.com/gp/product/158…
glreview.org/article/articl…
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