Gittings, Barbara, 1932-2007

Barbara Gittings (1932–2007), prominent American GLBT activist, founded the New York chapter of Daughters of Bilitis, and was the first editor of DOB's The Ladder . Gittings was instrumental in forming the first gay caucus in the American Library Association (ALA). To honor her contributions, both the ALA and the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) created annual awards bearing her name.

From the guide to the Barbara Gittings papers, 1967-2006, (University of Minnesota Libraries. Jean-Nickolaus Tretter Collection in Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Studies [scrbt])

Gittings and Lahusen played important roles in the gay liberation movement emerging in the 1950s. Gittings helped organize the New York City chapter of the Daughters of Bilitis in 1958. Lahusen joined the New York City Daughters of Bilitis in 1961, and the two met there. From 1963-66, Gittings served as editor of DOB's periodical publication, THE LADDER, and Lahusen worked on it with her. Lahusen co-authored THE GAY CRUSADERS in 1972. Gittings was active in the campaign that led to the American Psychiatric Association dropping its categorization of homosexuality as a mental illness in 1973. Gittings was also active in the American Library Association for 16 years. Though not a librarian, she was an avid book lover, and joined ALA's Task Force on Gay Liberation as soon as she found out about it in 1970. Gittings and Lahusen remained active in the gay civil rights movement and remained partners until Gittings' death on Febrary 18, 2007.

From the guide to the Barbara Gittings and Kay Tobin Lahusen collection, 1965-2007., (Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library)

Gittings and Lahusen played important roles in the gay liberation movement emerging in the 1950s. Gittings helped organize the New York City chapter of the Daughters of Bilitis (DOB) in 1958. Lahusen joined the New York City Daughters of Bilitis in 1961, and the two met there. From 1963-66, Gittings served as editor of DOB's periodical publication, The Ladder, and Lahusen worked on it with her. Lahusen co-authored The Gay Crusaders in 1972. Gittings was active in the campaign that led to the American Psychiatric Association dropping its categorization of homosexuality as a mental illness in 1973. Gittings was also active in the American Library Association for 16 years. Though not a librarian, she was an avid book lover, and joined ALA's Task Force on Gay Liberation as soon as she found out about it in 1970. Gittings and Lahusen remained active in the gay civil rights movement and remained partners until Gittings' death on Febrary 18, 2007.

From the description of Barbara Gittings and Kay Tobin Lahusen collection, 1965-2007. (Cornell University Library). WorldCat record id: 64751571

Biography

Barbara Gittings was born on July 31, 1932, in Vienna, Austria, where her father was stationed as a United States diplomat. Returning to the U.S., the family eventually settled in Wilmington, Delaware. She entered Northwestern University and soon came out as a lesbian. She left Northwestern after her freshman year, settled in Philadelphia and supported herself with clerical jobs.

In 1958 she began her long career as a gay rights advocate when she founded the first East Coast chapter of Daughters of Bilitis (DOB) and later edited its national lesbian magazine, The Ladder, from 1963 - 1966. It was around this time when Gittings met the woman who would be her partner for 46 years, Kay Tobin Lahusen. In the mid-1960s, Gittings marched in the first gay demonstrations at the White House, Pentagon and Independence Hall. During the 1970s, Gittings became a charter member of the boards of directors for both the National Gay Task Force (1973) and the Gay Rights National Lobby (1976). At this time, she was also active in the American Psychiatric Association, running gay exhibits at APA conferences and working with prominent gay rights activist Dr. Frank Kameny to persuade the Association to remove homosexuality from its list of mental disorders. Though she is not a librarian, Gittings became involved in the Gay Task Force of the American Library Association, the first gay caucus in a professional association. From 1971 to 1986, she headed the group and campaigned to get positive gay and lesbian materials into libraries and out to users and to end discrimination against gay library workers and patrons. In 2003, the ALA awarded her with a lifetime honorary membership.

Kay Tobin Lahusen is a photojournalist, writer and activist who was born in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1932. She later moved to Boston, where she worked in the reference library of the Christian Science Monitor.

Her life as a gay rights activist began in 1961 when she joined the Daughters of Bilitis, where she met the woman who would become her life partner, Barbara Gittings. Soon after, she moved to Philadelphia to live with Gittings. During the mid-1960s, Lahusen marched in the earliest picket lines for gay rights, and in 1970, she became one of the founding members of the Gay Activists Alliance in New York. She also worked in the Oscar Wilde Memorial Bookshop, wrote for the newspaper, Gay, and was active in the Gay Task Force of the American Library Association. In 1972, she co-authored a book of biographies of gay activists, The Gay Crusaders (1972).

Throughout their lives, Gittings and Lahusen continued to advocate for gay rights causes. Their 46-year partnership ended on February 18, 2007 when Gittings died of breast cancer at the age of 74 at their home in Pennsylvania.

From the guide to the Barbara Gittings and Kay Tobin Lahusen collection, 1962-2007, (ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives.)

Barbara Gittings and Kay Tobin Lahusen were gay civil rights activists and partners for nearly forty-six years. Barbara Gittings (1932-2007) began her involvement with the homophile movement in 1958, when she established the East Coast chapter of the Daughters of Bilitis (DOB), the first lesbian organization in the United States, which had been founded in San Francisco in 1955. From 1963-1966, Gittings edited The Ladder, the DOB's national magazine. She also marched in the annual Independence Day pickets in the 1960s, which were the first demonstrations for gay rights. From 1971-1986, Gittings acted as the coordinator of the American Library Association's Gay Task Force, creating gay bibliographies and topical reading lists. Her involvement with panels and exhibits at American Psychiatric Association (APA) conventions directly influenced the APA's decision in December 1973 to remove homosexuality from its list of mental illnesses. In addition, Gittings was a charter member of the board of directors of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (1973) and the Gay Rights National Lobby (1976), which later merged with the Human Rights Campaign.

Kay Tobin Lahusen (1930-) began her involvement with the homophile movement in 1961, when she joined DOB. Lahusen is known, often under her pen name Kay Tobin, for being the first openly gay photojournalist. She photographed and reported for The Ladder and Gay Newsweekl y and is responsible for many famous pre-Stonewall photographs. Some of the most reproduced images from this era are Lahusen's depiction of the Independence Day pickets, in which she also marched. In 1970, Lahusen co-founded the Gay Activists Alliance (GAA), and later organized the Gay Women's Alternative in New York City. In 1972, Lahusen co-authored The Gay Crusaders, the first collection of short biographies of gay activists.

From the guide to the Barbara Gittings and Kay Tobin Lahusen gay history papers and photographs, 1855-2009, 1963-2007, (The New York Public Library. Manuscripts and Archives Division.)

Barbara Gittings (1932-2007) and Kay Lahusen (b. 1930) are longtime activists and Philadelphia residents. Their relationship began in the early 1960s, after they met at a Daughters of Bilitis (DOB) picnic in Rhode Island in 1961.

Barbara Gittings attended her first DOB meeting in 1956 during a vacation in Los Angeles. Two years later, she helped to found DOB-New York, the first lesbian organization on the East Coast. In the mid 1960s, she edited DOB's magazine, The Ladder: A Lesbian Review . Gittings co-organized and marched in the annual July 4 homophile picketing at Independence Hall starting in 1965. In the early 1970s, she was instrumental in lobbying the American Psychiatric Association to declassify homosexuality as a disease. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, she was a driving force behind the American Library Association's lesbian and gay caucus.

Kay Lahusen (alias Kay Tobin) joined DOB-New York in 1961. She contributed photographs, articles and her editing skills to The Ladder from 1961 to 1963. Lahusen's photographs of 1960s homophile protests have been widely published and have appeared in numerous exhibits. In 1969, she was one of the twelve founding members of the Gay Activists Alliance in New York. She is the author of The Gay Crusaders (New York: Paperback Library, 1972). Lahusen used the pseudonym "Kay Tobin" in her gay community activities during the 1960s and 1970s.

From the guide to the Barbara Gittings and Kay Tobin Lahusen collection, Bulk, 1964-1975, 1964-2001, (John J. Wilcox Jr. GLBT Archives of Philadelphia)