The Daughters of Bilitis (), also called the DOB or the Daughters, was the first lesbian civil and political rights organization in the United States. The organization, formed in San Francisco in 1955, was initially conceived as a secret social club, an alternative to lesbian bars, which were subject to raids and police harassment.
As the DOB gained members, its focus shifted to providing support to women who were afraid to come out and to becoming politically active. The DOB educated them about their rights and about gay history. Historian Lillian Faderman declared, "Its very establishment in the midst of witch-hunts and police harassment was an act of courage, since members always had to fear that they were under attack, not because of what they did, but merely because of who they were."Faderman, p. 190–191 The Daughters of Bilitis endured for 40 years, becoming an educational resource for lesbians, gay men, researchers and mental health professionals.
Background After World War II, the rise of the Soviet Union and start of the Cold War resulted in increasing concerns in the United States about potential communists in the US government, and vulnerability of civil and political workers to threats from communists due to their personal lives. The U.S. Congress began to require the registration of members of "subversive groups".Adam, p. 57
In 1950, the U.S. State Department declared homosexuals to be security risks (because of perceived vulnerability to blackmail, as the practice was illegal). A succession of increasingly repressive acts followed, which included the dismissal of federal, state and local government employees suspected of being homosexual; politically motivated police raids on gay bars all over the US and Canada; and the enactment of laws prohibiting cross-dressing for men and women. More specifically in San Francisco, where the Daughters of Bilitis was later founded, police on September 8, 1954, raided lesbian bars such as Adler and Tommy's Place.Adam, p. 58-60Katz, p. 410-411
History In 1955, Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon had been lovers for three years when they complained to a gay male couple that they did not know any other lesbians. The gay couple introduced Martin and Lyon to another lesbian couple, one of whom, a Filipina woman named Rosalie "Rose" Bamberger, suggested they create a social club. Tobin, p. 50 The original founding couples met on September 21, 1955. Attendees included: Rose Bamberger and Rosemary Sliepen, Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon, Marcia Foster and her partner June, and Noni Frey and her partner Mary. Rose and Rosemary, who were both working class and employed at brush-manufacturing factories, hosted the meeting in their home. The founding members wanted to have a place to dance, as dancing with the same sex in a public place was illegal.
Martin and Lyon recalled later, "Women needed privacy...not only from the watchful eye of the police, but from gaping tourists in the bars and from inquisitive parents and families."Meeker, p. 77 Although unsure of exactly how to proceed with the group, the women began to meet regularly, realized they should be organized, and quickly elected Martin as president. From the start they also focused on educating other women about lesbians to reduce self-loathing resulting from the socially repressive times.
Naming The group named the club at their second meeting. Bilitis is the name given to a fictional lesbian contemporary of the Greek poet Sappho by the French poet Pierre Louÿs in his 1894 work The Songs of Bilitis."And Now We Are 3..." The Ladder, October 1958, Vol. 3 Issue 1, p. 4. Bilitis lived on the Isle of Lesbos alongside Sappho. The women chose the name for its obscurity; even Martin and Lyon did not know what it meant.Gallo, p. 2 "Daughters" was meant to evoke association with other American social associations such as the Daughters of the American Revolution.
Early DOB members felt they had to follow two contradictory approaches: trying to recruit interested potential members and being secretive. Martin and Lyon justified the name, writing later, "If anyone asked us, we could always say we belong to a poetry club."Meeker, p. 78 They also designed a pin to wear to be able to identify with others, chose club colors and voted on the motto "Qui vive", French for "on alert". The organization filed a charter for non-profit corporation status in 1957, writing a description so vague, Phyllis Lyon remembered, "it could have been a charter for a cat-raising club."Tobin, p. 52
Mission Within a year of the group's creation, most of the original eight members were no longer active, but overall numbers had increased to 16. The women decided they wanted to be more than a social alternative to bars. Several working-class women of the original members were not comfortable with being more public, and left to form two secret groups for lesbians: Quatrefoil and Hale Aikane.
Historian Marcia Gallo writes of the shift in DOB members, "They recognized that many women felt shame about their sexual desires and were afraid to admit them. They knew that...without support to develop the self-confidence necessary to advocate for one's rights, no social change would be possible for lesbians."Gallo, p. 17
By 1959 additional chapters of the DOB had been founded in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Rhode Island. Upon arrival at a meeting, attendees would be greeted at the door. In a show of good faith, the greeter would say, "I'm ---. Who are you? You don't have to give me your real name, not even your real first name."Faderman, p. 149
Soon after forming, the DOB wrote a mission statement that addressed the most significant problem Martin and Lyon had faced as a couple: the complete lack of information about female homosexuality in what historian Martin Meeker termed "the most fundamental journey a lesbian has to make."Meeker, p. 79 When the club realized they were not allowed to advertise their meetings in the local newspaper, Lyon and Martin, who both had backgrounds in journalism, began to print a newsletter to distribute to as many women as the group knew. In October 1956 it became The Ladder, the first nationally distributed lesbian publication in the U.S. It was one of the first to publish statistics on lesbians, as the pair surveyed their readers in 1958 and 1964, and compiled and published the results. Martin was the first president and Lyon became the editor of The Ladder.
The DOB advertised as "A Woman's Organization for the purpose of Promoting the Integration of the Homosexual into Society."Katz, p. 426 Their mission statement was composed of four parts; it was printed on the inside of the cover of every issue of The Ladder until 1970:
Education of the variant...to enable her to understand herself and make her adjustment to society...this to be accomplished by establishing...a library...on the sex deviant theme; by sponsoring public discussions...to be conducted by leading members of the legal, psychiatric, religious and other professions; by advocating a mode of behavior and dress acceptable to society. Education of the public...leading to an eventual breakdown of erroneous taboos and prejudices... Participation in research projects by duly authorized and responsible psychologists, sociologists, and other such experts directed towards further knowledge of the homosexual. Investigation of the penal code as it pertain to the homosexual, proposal of changes,...and promotion of these changes through the due process of law in the state legislatures.
New York chapter president Barbara Gittings noted that the word "variant" was used instead of "lesbian" in the mission statement because the term "lesbian" in 1956 had a very negative connotation.Gallo, p. 3
Methods There was ongoing debate over the propriety of butch and femme dress and role-play among DOB members. As early as 1955 members made a rule that women who attended meetings, if wearing pants, should be wearing women's slacks. However, many women remember this rule was seldom observed; at many meetings women were wearing jeans, and in the 1950s the only type for sale were men's.Gallo, p. 24
Barbara Gittings recalled that even years later, in preparation for a national convention, members of the DOB persuaded a woman who had worn men's clothing all her life "to deck herself out in as 'feminine' a manner as she could... Everyone rejoiced over this as though some great victory had been accomplished... Today we would be horrified at anyone who thought this kind of evangelism had a legitimate purpose."Katz, p. 429
In the 1959 mayoral race in San Francisco, challenger and city tax assessor Russell Leroy Wolden Jr. made homosexuality a public issue, claiming that incumbent George Christopher was making the city safe for "sex deviants".Lyon, Phyllis. "S.F. Election Aftermath" The Ladder; 1959 vol. 4 issue 3: p.23 Wolden's campaign distributed materials that stated, "You parents of daughters — do not sit back complacently feeling that because you have no boys in your family everything is all right... To enlighten you as to the existence of a Lesbian organization composed of homosexual women, make yourself acquainted with the name Daughters of Bilitis."
The DOB kept only two copies of the subscription list of The Ladder, an attempt to protect it from getting into the hands of anyone who might use it against the subscribers. DOB leaders moved the list from its headquarters and later learned that San Francisco police had searched their office after its removal.Faderman, p. 150 Even the FBI was curious enough to attend DOB meetings; an agent reported in 1959, "The purpose of the DOB is to educate the public to accept the Lesbian homosexual into society."
National conventions In 1960, the DOB held their first convention in San Francisco. Press releases announcing the convention were sent to local radio and newspapers, prompting San Francisco Chronicle columnist Herb Caen to direct a jab at Russell Wolden and publicize the convention, writing: "Russ Wolden, if no one else, will be interested to learn that the Daughters of Bilitis will hold their nat'l convention here May 27–30. They're the female counterparts of the Mattachine Society — and one of the convention highlights will be an address by Atty. Morris Lowenthal titled, 'The Gay Bar in the Courts.' Oh brother. I mean sister. Come to think of it, I don't know what I mean....""Here and There". The Ladder, March 1960, Vol. 4 Issue 6, p. 26. The blurb was reprinted in the March issue of The Ladder.
Two hundred women attended the conference, as did the San Francisco police, who came to check if any of the DOB members were wearing men's clothes. Del Martin brought them inside to see all the women wearing dresses, stockings and heels.Gallo, p. 62–63 The attendees listened to speakers, including a debate between two attorneys about the legality and morality of gay bars, a presentation by the American Civil Liberties Union, and an Episcopal priest who "served up damnation with dessert".Sanders, Helen. "Impressions". The Ladder; June 1960, Vol. 4 Issue 9, p. 24. He went on a "tirade" telling the audience they were sinners, to which they listened politely.Gallo, p. 63–65 The DOB gave awards to men who were allied with them, whom they called "Sons of Bilitis", or SOBs. These included their lawyer, photographer, and members of the Mattachine Society who assisted them with the convention.