America has celebrated Women’s History Month since 1987. Originally, the recognition began a little more than 10 years earlier as “Women’s History Week” – with a local celebration held in Sonoma County, Calif. The celebration was organized to coincide with International Women’s Day, recognized as March 8.
Like most celebratory and historic recognitions, holidays and events – little light has been shed on members of the LGBTQ+ community – in this case, lesbian community members. Qnotes proudly acknowledges the contributions of all our community members and presents you just the tip of an iceberg with these phenomenal women. Some have left us and some are still with us; but none will ever be forgotten.
Gloria Evangelina Anzaldua (Sept. 26, 1942 – May 15, 2004)
Gloria E. Anzaldúa was a queer Chicana poet, author and feminist theorist. She received her bachelor’s degree from University of Texas–Pan American (now University of Texas Rio Grande Valley) and later earned a master’s degree in English from University of Texas at Austin. Her poetry and essays often examine the frustration, alienation and complexity of living at the intersections of cultural boundaries and collective identities.
Born in Texas. Her parents were struggling migrant workers who labored tirelessly in their attempts to escape poverty. In doing so, they produced a fearless child, an author, educator and activist who would later be known for groundbreaking work like her book “Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza” (1987) and her essay “La Prieta.”
For her work in the literary field, Anzaldúa received numerous awards. Among them, the Sappho Award of Distinction, an NEA (National Endowment for the Arts) Fiction Award and the Lambda Lesbian Small Book Press Award, to name a few. Her body of work includes authoring several books of poetry, nonfiction and children’s fiction.
Deborah Batts (April 13, 1947 – February 3, 2020)
When it comes to trailblazing women, our community does not fall short. So, it should come as no surprise, America’s first ever openly LGBTQ+ lifetime judge was a lesbian who already knew something about being a first. Nominated by former President Bill Clinton, the United States Senate confirmed Deborah Batts to a lifetime judgeship in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in 1997.
A graduate from Radcliffe College and Harvard Law School, she was also Fordham Law School’s first Black faculty member [1984]. She later became their first Black tenured professor in 1990. Batt’s appointment led to opportunities for over 20 openly LGBTQ judges now serving lifetime appointments. Batts wanted to be known for more than being a lesbian or “the gay judge.” She once said, “I’m a mother, I’m an African American, I’m a lesbian, I’m a former professor.”
In 2011 the New York Times printed her wedding announcement while many applauded the union of what some would call a lesbian power couple, Batts married Dr. Gwen Zornberg, a lead medical officer epidemiologist for the Food and Drug Administration.
Angela Davis (January 26, 1944)
Still sporting big hair that has gone from jet black to silver, Angela Davis, is an activist, philosopher and educator the world became better acquainted with in the midst of the Black Power Movement of the 1970s.
Reportedly a member of the Los Angeles Black Panther Party, Davis worked closely with the organization though she would eventually sever ties with the Panthers because of her involvement with the Communist Party and issues with the organization’s male-dominated structure and Black Nationalist stance.
Among her historic achievements: The Black Panther Party’s Angela Davis People’s Free Food Program. A substantial accomplishment, the program gave out 10,000 bags of groceries to Oakland California residents in need.
Davis has always been dogged in her efforts, including when she was wrongly charged with “unlawful flight to avoid prosecution on state charges of murder and kidnapping” – making her the third woman in history to end up on the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted list in 1970.
She came out as a lesbian in 1997 during an interview with Out magazine.
Now in her 80s, Davis continues to teach at University of California Santa Cruz and has reportedly lived with her partner, Gina Dent since 2020. Together, they continue to advocate for the abolition of police and prisons, using the concept of abolition feminism.
Today, her efforts, writings and lectures still continue to inspire individuals and organizations like the Black Lives Matter Movement. She supports inclusion, the rights of transgender individuals, queer liberation, and the dismantling of heteronormative structures like marriage.
Janet Mock (March 10, 1983)
Because being a woman is about more than what’s on a birth certificate and “there is no universal women’s experience,” we’d be more than remiss if we didn’t include the iconic and accomplished Janet Mock. Mock is a writer, television producer and transgender rights activist.
Her debut memoir “Redefining Realness” became a New York Times bestseller establishing her as an inspiration to cisgender and transgender women.
With vulnerable candor Mock shared intimate details about her interesting and often challenging experiences as a transgender woman of color and teenage sex worker. She did it in a manner which provided the type of insight that opened hearts and minds to a journey some experienced and others were curious about.
Mock was no stranger to the literary world. She served as a contributing editor for Marie Clair and a former staff editor for the online version of People Magazine.
A multi-faceted talent, she’s appeared in, written, directed and produced television series, talk shows and documentaries, sometimes simultaneously filling multiple roles. Notably, Mock is the first trans woman of color hired to write for a TV series. The FX Network production “Pose” depicted the lives of five transgender women – and their many friends – living in New York City. In addition to her role as writer, Mock was also director and producer for the now iconic series.
Kristen Stewart (April 9, 1990)
Chances are, if you’re into cult classics like the “Twilight” series or blockbusters like “Spencer” you’ve seen millennial film star Kristen Stewart. In her ability to seamlessly go from a sexy vampire to an emotionally distraught Princess Diana she’s proven her acting range. Stewart publicly came out during a Saturday Night Live opening monologue in 2017 and identifies as sexually fluid. Most recently, Stewart made headlines due to another resonating appearance. This time though she wasn’t playing a role, she was being interviewed by Architectural Digest. Using her time to share her angst over the changing landscape of Los Angeles resulting from ICE deportation actions, Stewart expressed shame in having to identify as a Los Angeles native.
“I don’t identify with that right now. I can’t stand the idea – the dismantling of [our] culture, that did have a hand in making me who I am. Which is so meaningless in the face of people’s lives being completely unearthed, uprooted, destroyed. This is not who we are.”
There’s little to no argument that Stewart is not afraid of rustling feathers when it comes to bringing awareness to issues faced by marginalized populations, issues that impact us all.
Lily Tomlin (September 1, 1939)
Way back in the early ’70s Lily Tomlin entered our homes as Ernestine, a nasal sounding telephone operator who made each call with her signature, “one ringy-dingy, two ringy-dingies” phrase in a skit on the TV series “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In,” a sketch comedy show. Those old enough to remember the show can probably still hear her snorting chuckle when she doled out some quick wit to one of her pretend callers she wanted to take a jab at.
Most American television viewers didn’t know that Tomlin, a renowned comedian and actress, was not only part of the LGBTQ community but partnered with writer Jane Wagner since 1971.
A staunch supporter of the Los Angeles LGBT Center – Tomlin frequently spoke out against anti-LGBTQ+ legislation has made her views on oppressive LGBTQ+ laws and attitudes clear. Though she’s expressed pride in the uptick in LGBTQ+ representation over the years, Tomlin has lamented, “I mean, limiting any group’s rights is a travesty. People cannot push backwards to that. It’s insane.”
Today, Tomlin has left Ernestine behind – while continuing to entertain and advocate for us. Over the course of her career she has won too many awards to mention in this small space (Grammy, Mark Twain and Screen Actors Guild Lifetime Achievement awards among them) can still be found on media platforms public spaces and making us laugh or sit up and pay attention on stages and more recent movies and shows like “Grace and Frankie” and “Damages.”
Chantale Wong (November 1, 1954)
Chantale Wong really knows her way around a spreadsheet. When it comes to finances and organizational budgets, this woman is a beast. Wong has occupied many U.S. government and private sector roles in the realm of finance. In 2022, she made history as the first openly lesbian (and first openly Asian American lesbian) senate-confirmed ambassador and served as United States Director of the Asian Development Bank.
During former president Barack Obama’s administration, Wong also served as Vice President for administration and finance, and CFO, at the Millennium Challenge Corporation. Before that, she was budget director at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, acting budget director at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, and as the chief of staff to the director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
But she hasn’t solely spent her time and career engaged in furthering the goals of government officials. She also founded the Conference on APA Leadership, which encourages young Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders to pursue careers in public service.
During her childhood, Wong has said, her parents “made the ultimate sacrifice to allow me to escape” referring to a time (1960) when she and her grandmother fled China, hiding in the bottom of a boat headed for Hong Kong.
A champion for inclusive leadership, public service and diversity in representation, Wong has often referenced the legacy of a long-term friend in the civil rights arena, “John Lewis taught me about making good trouble, but necessary trouble.”