American lesbian and gay rights activist
Jean O'Leary
(March 4, 1948 ? June 4, 2005) was an
American lesbian and gay rights
activist. She was the founder of
Lesbian Feminist Liberation
, one of the first
lesbian activist
groups in the
women's movement
, and an early member and co-director of the
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
. She co-founded
National Coming Out Day
.
In 1977 O'Leary organized the first meeting of gay leaders at the White House and then organized the passing of a sexual preference resolution for
NOW
at Houston's
Metropolitan Community Church
.
[1]
Before becoming a
lesbian and gay rights activist
, she was a Roman Catholic
religious sister
. She would later write about her experience in a 1985 anthology,
Lesbian Nuns: Breaking Silence
.
[2]
Early life
[
edit
]
O'Leary was born in
Kingston, New York
, and raised in
Cleveland
, Ohio. In 1966, just out of high school, she entered the
novitiate
of the
Sisters of the Humility of Mary
, of Villa Maria, Pennsylvania, in order to "have an impact on the world". In 1971, after graduating from
Cleveland State University
with a degree in
psychology
, she left the convent before completing the period of training.
[3]
Activism
[
edit
]
O'Leary reads a statement at the 1973
Christopher Street Liberation Day
in New York City.
In 1971 O'Leary moved to
New York City
and did doctoral studies in organization development at
Yeshiva University
.
[3]
As a
lesbian
during this period, she became involved with the nascent
gay rights movement
, joining the
Gay Activists' Alliance
(GAA) Chapter in Brooklyn and later lobbying state politicians.
[4]
In 1972, feeling that it was too dominated by the men of the movement, she left the GAA and founded
Lesbian Feminist Liberation
, one of the first
lesbian activist
groups in the
women's movement
. Two years later, she joined the
National Gay Task Force
, negotiating gender parity in its executive with director
Bruce Voeller
, joining as co-executive director.
In 1977 O'Leary organized the first meeting of gay rights activists at the
White House
through arrangements made with White House staffer
Midge Costanza
.
[3]
She was the first openly gay person appointed to a presidential commission, the National Commission on the Observance of International Women's Year, by
Jimmy Carter
. In this role she negotiated for gay and lesbian rights to be included on the discussion in a conference marking the year in
Houston, Texas
.
In November 1977, O'Leary was a speaker at the
1977 National Women's Conference
. Other speakers included
Rosalynn Carter
,
Betty Ford
,
Lady Bird Johnson
,
Bella Abzug
,
Barbara Jordan
, Audrey Colom, Claire Randall, Gerridee Wheeler,
Cecilia Burciaga
,
Gloria Steinem
,
Lenore Hershey
.
[5]
O'Leary was among three openly gay delegates to the
United States Democratic Party
convention in 1976.
[3]
She also served on the
Democratic National Committee
for 12 years, 8 of those on the executive committee.
During the early 1980s, O'Leary focused on building National Gay Rights Advocates, then one of the largest national gay and lesbian rights groups. It was one of the first to respond to the
HIV
/
AIDS
epidemic's implications for legal and civil liberties, using aggressive litigation to ensure AIDS patients' access to treatment.
She co-founded
National Coming Out Day
with Rob Eichberg in 1988.
[6]
Radical lesbian feminism
[
edit
]
In a speech given at the 1973 Christopher Street Liberation Day, O'Leary read a statement on behalf of 100 women that read, in part, "We support the right of every person to dress in the way that she or he wishes. But we are opposed to the exploitation of women by men for entertainment or profit."
[7]
In response,
Sylvia Rivera
and
Lee Brewster
, both self-identified
drag queens
,
[8]
[9]
[10]
jumped onstage and responded, "You go to bars because of what drag queens did for you, and
these bitches
tell us to quit being ourselves!"
[11]
[12]
In the early 1970s, O'Leary and other
gay liberation
activists did not actively include all
transsexuals
and
transvestites
in proposed gay rights legislation,
[note 1]
largely due to the belief that this would make basic legislation too difficult to pass at the time.
[12]
O'Leary later regretted her stance against the drag queens attending in 1973: "Looking back, I find this so embarrassing because my views have changed so much since then. I would never pick on a transvestite now."
[12]
"It was horrible. How could I work to exclude transvestites and at the same time criticize the feminists who were doing their best back in those days to exclude lesbians?"
[13]
O'Leary was referring to the
Lavender Menace
, a description by
second wave feminist
Betty Friedan
for attempts by members of the
National Organization for Women
(NOW) to distance themselves from the perception of NOW as a haven for lesbians. As part of this process,
Rita Mae Brown
and other lesbians who had been active in NOW were forced out. They staged a protest in 1970 at the Second Congress to Unite Women, and earned the support of many NOW members, finally gaining full acceptance in 1971.
[14]
Personal life
[
edit
]
She and her
partner
, Lisa Phelps, had a daughter (Victoria) and a son (David de Maria).
[3]
O'Leary died on June 4, 2005, in
San Clemente, California
, of
lung cancer
, aged 57.
[3]
Legacy
[
edit
]
[Jean O'Leary] helped the women's movement to recognize the universal cost of homophobia, and the gay movement to see that marginalizing the voices of lesbians would only diminish its power.
Season 2, episodes 4 and 5 of the
podcast
Making Gay History
are about her.
[15]
O'Leary, and her advocacy for the inclusion of lesbian and gay rights in the
1977 National Women's Conference
, is portrayed by Canadian actress Anna Douglas in the
FX
television miniseries
Mrs America
.
[16]
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
At the time, the term "gay" was commonly used to refer to all lesbian and gay people. Those we now refer to as
transgender
, and gay-identified bisexuals, were also included under this term if they participated socially in the lesbian and gay community. However, the umbrella terms "
LGBT
", "transgender", and "
queer
" were not yet in popular usage during these years.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
The Gay Revolution: The Story of the Struggle
. Simon and Schuster. September 27, 2016.
ISBN
9781451694123
.
- ^
Curb, Rosemary; Manahan, Nancy, eds. (1985).
Lesbian Nuns: Breaking Silence
(1st ed.). Tallahassee, Florida:
Naiad Press
.
ISBN
9780930044633
.
OCLC
11573398
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
"Jean O'Leary, 57, Former Nun Who Became a Lesbian Activist, Dies"
.
The New York Times
. Associated Press. June 7, 2005.
ISSN
0362-4331
. Retrieved
March 26,
2019
.
- ^
Marcus, Eric
(1992).
Making History: The Struggle for Gay and Lesbian Equal Rights, 1945-1990: An Oral History
. HarperCollins.
ISBN
9780060167080
.
OCLC
24797895
.
- ^
"
1977 National Women's Conference: A Question of Choices
", 1977-11-21, The Walter J. Brown Media Archives & Peabody Awards Collection at the University of Georgia,
American Archive of Public Broadcasting
- ^
"Robert Eichberg, 50, Gay Rights Leader"
.
The New York Times
. August 15, 1995
. Retrieved
October 16,
2020
.
- ^
Jean O'Leary of Lesbian Feminist Liberation Speaks at 1973 NYC Pride
(video). June 1973. Event occurs at 00:58
. Retrieved
October 16,
2020
.
- ^
Rivera, Sylvia
(2006). "Queens In Exile, The Forgotten Ones".
Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries: Survival, Revolt, and Queer Antagonist Struggle
. Untorelli Press.
OCLC
915505315
.
- ^
Martin, Douglas (May 24, 2000).
"Lee Brewster, 57, Style Guru For World's Cross-Dressers"
.
The New York Times
. Retrieved
October 16,
2020
.
- ^
Nichols, Jack (n.d.).
"Lee Brewster Dies at 57: Pioneering Transvestite Activist"
.
Gay Today
. Retrieved
October 16,
2020
.
- ^
Clendinen, Dudley;
Nagourney, Adam
(1999).
Out for Good: The Struggle to Build a Gay Rights Movement in America
. New York: Simon & Schuster. p. 171.
ISBN
9780684810911
.
OCLC
40668240
.
- ^
a
b
c
Duberman, Martin
(1993).
Stonewall
(1st ed.). New York: Dutton. p. 236.
ISBN
9780525936022
.
OCLC
26854943
.
- ^
Marcus, Eric
(2002).
Making Gay History: The Half-Century Fight for Lesbian and Gay Equal Rights
. New York: Harper. p. 156.
ISBN
9780060933913
.
OCLC
1082454306
.
- ^
Adam, Barry D.
(1987).
The Rise of a Gay and Lesbian Movement
. Boston, Massachusetts: Twayne. pp. 90?91.
ISBN
9780805797145
.
OCLC
14904421
.
- ^
"Season Two"
. Making Gay History
. Retrieved
April 27,
2020
.
- ^
Channing, Cornelia (May 13, 2020).
"What's Fact and What's Fiction in
Mrs. America's
Episode About Bella Abzug"
.
Slate
. Retrieved
July 28,
2020
.
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