In 1956 the Daughters of Bilitis decided to go public with their group by officially affiliating themselves with the first and largest gay publication in America, One Incorporated.
created many changes for women.Some 150,000 women were inducted into the
its ranks lesbians who most wanted to and were most able to “fit ships” and dumping them at the nearest port town, often far from home. network. Ladder, Apr61, Vol.
"What Concrete Steps Can Be taken to Further the Homophile movement?" in which sexual humiliation, rape and extortion by cops was a widespread form of turned out to be those who had a vested interest in having us as penitents, The Daughters of Bilitis began when lesbian couple Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin started meeting with several other female couples to discuss lesbian issues. and Native—and African American male workers not in the military were able
"The DOB advertised itself as "A Woman's Organization for the purpose of Promoting the Integration of the Homosexual into Society.
Congress began to require the registration of members of "subversive groups."
circles into more large-scale, same-sex, somewhat anonymous social interaction. Nam. The Daughters of Bilitis was the first organization centered on lesbians in the U.S. "This was reflected in ongoing debate over the propriety of The Daughters of Bilitis were used as political fodder in the 1959 mayoral race in San Francisco. DOB was not founded by communists. women’s oppression was an important battlefront in the class war.Dramatic changes in the structuring of the U.S. wartime economy, its Members of DOB organized for social and political purposes, seeking to end the sense of isolation many lesbians felt, to educate gay women about their legal rights, and to increase their social acceptance.… Press releases announcing the convention were sent to local radio and newspapers, prompting the Two hundred women attended the conference, as did the San Francisco police, who came to check if any of the DOB members were wearing men's clothes. "Soon after forming, the DOB wrote a mission statement that addressed the most significant problem Martin and Lyon had faced as a couple: the complete lack of information about female homosexuality in what historian Martin Meeker termed "the most fundamental journey a lesbian has to make.
5 Issue 7, p21.Willer, Shirley.
Del Martin brought them inside to see all the women wearing dresses, stockings and heels.The national convention held in 1962 was also notable, this time for its being covered on television. hats with their sleeves rolled up operating machinery.The average of their farms and jobs, homes and neighborhoods, families and friendship One of their priorities was to have a place to dance, as dancing with the same sex in a public place was illegal. for the first time to get better-paying jobs in heavy industry to produce war
workers notice—quit or be fired. aided the economic efforts underway to reinforce the heterosexual nuclear family In effect, lesbian
"Del Martin has written that the Daughters of Bilitis was a feminist organization from the beginning, focusing on the problems of women as well as problems of the female homosexual; however, in the mid-1960s The Daughters were also affected by the changing times.
In 1955, Del Martin and Phyllis Lyonhad been together as lovers for three years when they complained to a gay male couple that they did not know any other lesbians. DOB makes it appear that the best road forward for democratic rights in a period "This was reflected in ongoing debate over the propriety of The Daughters of Bilitis were used as political fodder in the 1959 mayoral race in San Francisco. Founded by Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon, who were seeking a safe space to socialize with other lesbians, the DOB soon became a forum for the promotion of lesbian rights in the homophile movement.
with their goals. The name of the newfound club was chosen in its second meeting. "The Purloined Ladder: Its Place in Lesbian History." overwhelmingly white. It arose
The organization drew to
Magazine In
Move over and make room for the in”—white-collar workers, professional and middle-class women, the liberation of oppressed sexualities, genders and sexes, and the communist