Lilli Vincenz (September 26, 1937 – June 27, 2023) was a German-born American lesbian activist and the first lesbian member of the gay political activist effort, the

Mattachine Society The Mattachine Society (), founded in 1950, was an early national gay rights organization in the United States, preceded by several covert and open organizations, such as Chicago's Society for Human Rights. Communist and labor activist Harry Ha ...

of Washington (MSW). Vincenz served as the editor of the organization's newsletter and in 1969 along with Nancy Tucker created the independent newspaper, the ''Gay Blade'', which later became the '' Washington Blade''. Vincenz invited women to meet every week at her home during the 1970s to create a safe venue for gay women to discuss gay activism and other lesbian-related issues, and her home became known as the Gay Women's Open House (GWOH). These meetings became the Gay Women's Alternative. She described her decision in an interview: Vincenz was the only self-identified lesbian to participate in the second White House picket with Frank Kameny in 1965. A January 1966 photograph of Vincenz, taken by Kay Lahusen, appeared on the cover of the lesbian magazine '' The Ladder'', making her the first woman with her face showing to do so. In 1972, Vincenz and Kameny headed one of the first LGBTQ+ fundraising groups for a presidential candidate, Gay Citizens for McGovern. Vincenz made an appearance on PBS' '' David Susskind Show'' in 1971, along with six other lesbians, including Barbara Gittings and Barbara Love. They were among the first open lesbians to appear on television in the US, and debated long-held

stereotype In social psychology, a stereotype is a generalization, generalized belief about a particular category of people. It is an expectation that people might have about every person of a particular group. The type of expectation can vary; it can ...

s about gays with Susskind. Vincenz and Gittings had also appeared on the Phil Donahue show in 1970. In 2013, her papers, films, and other memorabilia were donated to the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

. Vincenz died on June 27, 2023, at the age of 85.

References

External links

The Lilli M. Vincenz Collection at the Library of Congress includes her documentary films:
''The Second Largest Minority''
(1968)
''Gay and Proud''
(1970) {{DEFAULTSORT:Vincenz, Lilli 1937 births 2023 deaths Activists from Washington, D.C. American documentary film directors American lesbians American LGBTQ film directors American LGBTQ rights activists American women documentary filmmakers German documentary film directors German emigrants to the United States German lesbians German LGBTQ film directors German LGBTQ rights activists