The Real L Word: Litigation (Impact)

In the July issue of Lesbian News Magazine, there's a brief but terrific piece on the history of one of our most prominent organizations: NCLR, or the National Center for Lesbian Rights. As one of our oldest civil rights organizations (they turn 30 this year), NCLR has been at the forefront of many court cases that have set precedents leading to a change for the better in the lives of LGBTQ people and their families.

Started in San Francisco as the Lesbian Rights Project of the feminist law firm Equal Rights Advocates (ERA), NCLR won important victories for the LGBTQ community including child custody for lesbian mothers, joint-adoptions by a same-sex couple, as well as the parental rights of a gay man with AIDS for custody of his son.

The NCLR is widely recognized as an authority on family law and is often called upon as experts representing the LGBTQ community. In 1997, Executive Director Kate Kendell debated Rev. Jerry Falwell on the topic of LGBT issues within the national discussion of family values. Later on in 2001 NCLR helped Sharon Smith become the first same-sex (or unmarried) partner to win the right to sue for wrongful death, in the now infamous case of the dog mauling of Diane Whipple.

Always evolving forward, NCLR has recently expanded to include transgender rights law. NCLR also counts famed transgender attorney Shannon Minter amongst its staff, who not only retained his position after transitioning from female to male, but also as Legal Director helped win Sharon Smith's groundbreaking wrongful death suit.

In our topsy-turvy world today where the erosion of LGBT rights continues albeit subtly, it's encouraging to know there are still hardcore groups like NCLR holding down the fort for us. Happy 30th NCLR!



To learn more and to support, please visit:

NCLR

Diane Whipple

Shannon Minter

The Lesbian News Magazine

Afterellen.com at NCLR 30th Anniversary Celebration

Daughters of Bilitis

Full Disclosure: Stonewallyouth originally started a year ago as a mailing list. We talked about some great topics and thought our blog readers should know about them as well. So there'll be some 'classic' posts from the Stonewallyouth mailing list posted in the future, marked accordingly. Enjoy!

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Date: Sat Apr 21, 2007 10:40 am
Subject: The Daughters of Bilitis

"Different Daughters: A History of the Daughters of Bilitis and the
Rise of the Lesbian Rights Movement," is the first and only
full-length text to be published about Daughters of Bilitis, a lesbian
rights group around for over fifty years. "Daughters" blends
formidable research and quirky anecdotes to relay the story of
pioneers who helped launch efforts for lesbian and women's equality in
1950s America. It's an important history lessons for the queer youth
of today, as most educational systems do not teach about lesbian
activism. Here's the link, I reccomend checking it out and if you're
intrigued, check out the book!

http://gaycitynews.com/site/index.cfm?newsid=18144030&BRD=2729&PAG=461&dept_id=5\
68864&rfi=8

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Date: Mon Oct 9, 2006 9:56 pm
Subject: Event and Book: Daughters of Bilitis

So check this out y'all!

Before there was the L Word, before Ellen, and before even the Stonewall
Rebellion, there
was the Daughters of Bilitis. Just as most gay men of "the Greatest Generation"
pointed to
WWII as a pivotal event in their lives, so too did a lot of gay women, but for
different
reasons. While WWII brought American gay men out of the closets of their
hometowns and
into the more gay-friendly cities of the US and Europe, the war allowed women
the
opportunity to enter the workforce in ways never before imagined. The image of
Rosie the
Riveter was born, and for some, the chance to earn their own money was an
experience
they'd never forget.

But when the war ended gay men and lesbians were asked to retreat back into the
conformity of a Leave It to Beaver-America. To counter their silence, a
courageous few
decided to form the Daughters of Bilitis.

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Nearly 15 years before the Stonewall Rebellion and the birth of gay liberation
came the
Daughters of Bilitis (DOB). 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 on the basis of their sexual
orientation.
Marcia Gallo's new book, Different Daughters: A History of the Daughters of
Bilitis and the
Rise of the Lesbian Rights Movement, chronicles the history of the Daughters of
Billitis and
introduces us to pioneering lesbian liberators who, during the 1950s, dared to
challenge
the homophobic silence and contempt that surrounded and endangered women-loving-
women for so many generations.

Celebrating the book's publication by Carroll & Graf, Gallo will be joined in
conversation
by Blanche Wiesen Cook, author of Eleanor Roosevelt, Volumes One and Two.
Everyone
interested in feminism, social and political history, and stories of bold life
journeys in
embattled times will be eager to read Different Daughters.