06/22/2026
Happy Pride Month from the Women's, Gender, & Equity Center!! This week we will be spotlighting q***r social movements through time, starting with The Mattachine Society and The Daughters of Bilitis.
The Mattachine Society (1950) and the Daughters of Bilitis (1955) were trailblazing groups of America’s early "homophile" movement, establishing a foundation for LGBTQ+ activism long before Stonewall. Both groups formed during the height of the Cold War's Lavender Scare, a period of intense government persecution of gay and le***an people.
Founded in part by Harry Hay (pictured left) and with a focus on Gay men, the "Missions and Purposes" of The Mattachine Society outlined three priorities: 1. to Unify "homos*xuals isolated from their own kind and to provide a principle from which all of our people can . . . derive a feeling of belonging." 2. to Educate "ethical homos*xual culture . . . paralleling the emerging cultures of our fellow minorities" and 3. to Lead political action
against "discriminatory and oppressive legislation."
The Daughters of Bilitis (pictured right) was formed by Rose Bamberger, Rosemary Sliepen, Del Martin, Phyllis Lyon, and two other le***an couples to, at its start, provide a safe meeting place and social club for le***ans away from frequently raided bars. They admitted "Gay girls of good moral character” as members, and as they grew, became more explicitly political, focusing on education and the "integration of the homos*xual into society," aiming to combat the prevailing medical and legal views that homos*xuality was a mental illness or a crime.
Both groups published educational magazines and grew into complex and covert membership-based organizations throughout the United States. Their activism was foundational to the continued q***r social movements we will highlight over the next few days!
