After the 2024 election, we can be inspired by these historical LGBTQ+ movements against oppression
Amid the trauma and disappointment of the election results, we take a look at queer resistance over the past century
NOVEMBER 13, 2024
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daughters of bilitis
Women Who Paved the Way: Writer Edythe Eyde
This week's woman you should know: the founder of the first U.S. lesbian publication.
MARCH 19, 2017
Lesbian News publisher Ella Matthes has died at 81
She oversaw North America’s longest-running lesbian publication.
APRIL 5, 2024
Memorializing LGBT History, One Podcast at a Time
Frustrated at his own scant knowledge of queer events, Brad Dunshee took matters into his own hands and created The Mattachine Podcast.
JANUARY 29, 2018
Pioneering Lesbians Kay Lahusen, Rusty Warren Dead
Lahusen was a photographer and activist, Warren a risque comedian.
MAY 26, 2021
Heather Matarazzo & Shannon Purser on Playing Lesbian Icons in 'Equal'
In a video interview with The Advocate, the out actors shared that they were honored to play activists Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon in the HBO Max series.
NOVEMBER 24, 2020
An Ellen for the ages
In an ever-progressing American society that finds itself more tolerant and understanding of LGBT culture, who do we have to thank for starting all of this? Ellen DeGeneres, of course!
MAY 2, 2007
Lilli Vincenz, LGBTQ+ Activist and Filmmaker, Dies at 85
Vincenz participated in and documented many events in the LGBTQ+ rights movement.
JULY 4, 2023
40 years? Or 55?
A national celebration May 1 in Philadelphia is being touted as the 40th anniversary of the gay rights movement in the United States. This leading gay historian suggests the movement was actually born 15 years earlier
MARCH 31, 2005
HBO Max's 'EQUAL' Dives Into LGBTQ+ History With Star-Studded Trailer
Cheyenne Jackson, Samira Wiley, Jamie Clayton, Sara Gilbert, Shannon Purser, and many more out actors appear in the series.
SEPTEMBER 23, 2020
"The Advocate Is You": Activists Look to LGBT Past and Future at 50th Gala
The Advocate's editor in chief renewed the magazine's commitment to LGBT rights alongside Candis Cayne, the mayor of West Hollywood, and the CEO of Here Media.
JUNE 16, 2017
The Most Important Lesbian Writer Never Heard Of
This author of pulp fiction, mystery, and YA literature forever changed perceptions of same-sex love and desire.
MARCH 10, 2016
LGBTQ+ History: When NOW Purged Lesbians From Its Feminist Movement
This the history of Betty Friedan, "feminine feminists" and the Lavender Menace.
OCTOBER 29, 2023
Del Martin & Phyllis Lyon's Home Is First Lesbian Landmark in the West
The place where the pioneering lesbian couple founded the Daughters of Bilitis and launched The Ladder will be preserved for generations to come.
MAY 7, 2021
Phyllis Lyon, Pioneering Lesbian Activist, Dies at 95
Lyon and her longtime partner, Del Martin, had fought for equal rights since the 1950s.
APRIL 9, 2020
Before Stonewall, There Was The Black Cat Protest
The organizer of the 1967 Black Cat protest, Alexei Romanoff recalls the details of the watershed moment for LGBTQ rights.
OCTOBER 29, 2018
Queer Women Who Paved the Way: Playwright Lorraine Hansberry
To mark Women's History Month, The Advocate will feature a different queer woman from history each day. Today we look at A Raisin in the Sun author Lorraine Hansberry.
MARCH 9, 2017
Lesbian Couple of 55 Years Ready to Say 'I Do'
Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin fell in love at a time when lesbians risked being arrested, fired from their jobs and sent to electroshock treatment. On Monday afternoon, more than a half-century after they became a couple, Lyon and Martin plan to become the first same-sex couples to legally exchange marriage vows in San Francisco and among the first in the state. ''It was something you wanted to know, 'Is it really going to happen?' And now it's happened, and maybe it can continue to happen,'' Lyon said.
JUNE 14, 2008
Out, Black, and proud: Ernestine Eckstein fought for us before Stonewall
During Black History Month, we honor the courage of Ernestine Eckstein, who put her life on the line to speak out for queer rights.
FEBRUARY 11, 2023