GenQ

On 31 July 1932, a woman who was destined to change the world was born; Barbara Gittings was a person who literally shaped human rights for gay people in the United States.  

Gittings was first discriminated against while in high school for having “homosexual inclinations” according to a teacher, resulting in a rejection of her membership application for the National Honour Society. The future gay-activist grew up in a time of very few praises towards homosexuals, with gay people continually being described as perverts, and were considered abnormal according to psychology textbooks.

An advertisement by Gittings was circulated on 20 November 1958, which asked for expressions of interest from “all women in the New York area who are interested in forming a chapter of the DOB.” Less than a dozen responses were received, but nevertheless, the New York division of Daughters of Bilitis was born at the request of Del Martin and Phyllis Lion.

The 1960s was a momentous decade for Gittings, during which she edited The Ladder (a magazine created by the Daughters of Bilitis), and took part in the first picket protests to ever be held at the White House, calling for an end to discrimination against gay people. In the same decade, Gittings worked with Frank Kameny to discredit Dr. Charles Socarides who publicly stated that gay people could be converted into heterosexuals.

Gittings and Kameny again collaborated in 1972 to establish Psychiatry: Friend or Foe to Homosexuals: A Dialogue, an event which she personally described as “transformative”. A year later, homosexuality was removed from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual as a mental disorder.

The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force was developed with the assistance of Gittings, who remained to be a board member throughout the 1980s. Gittings was also the inspiration for the establishment of the Gay Nurses Alliance in 1973, and also conducted exhibits at the American Psychiatric Association in 1972, 1976 and 1978.

Gittings has continued to be honoured for her work, having an award named in her honour by the American Library Association (the ALA also presented Gittings with a lifetime honorary membership in 2003) and the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, and in 2007 was voted a gay and lesbian hero.

Often described as a ‘gay pioneer’, Gittings passed away on 13 February 2007 at the age of 75.

Director of GLAAD Matt Foreman said at her memorial service “What do we owe Barbara? Everything.” GenQ could not agree more. It was only fitting that our very first Queer of the Year was a not-so-straight individual who changed the world. The legacy of Barbara Gittings will continue on for many years to come; she will certainly be in our thoughts. We may not have full legal rights yet, but it is because of people such as Barbara that we have made major progress. Barbara, from all of us, thank you.

Tags: Barbara Gittings, Queer of the Year