Synopsis
Ruth Simpson's pioneering work examines the intersections of lesbianism, feminism and other civil rights movements. From the Closet to the Courts chronicles the gay rights movement of the 70's and Simpson's founding of the first lesbian community center in New York. Through this lens, No segment of society that embraces bigotry is too sacrosanct to escape her insightful scrutiny.
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About the Author
Ruth Simpson was the founder of the United States' first lesbian community center, an author, and former president of Daughters of Bilitis, New York.
Review
"How do we fight the battles we must wage against the burgeoning tide of right-wing nuttery, the apathy and seeming disinterest of political moderates, and the un-invigorated complacency of way too many `others?'" she asks. Her response, in part, is central to our LGBT movement, now as in the past: "...what works best is never accepting others' negative image of you and rather, with pride and minority smarts, show people what a good person you are." But that's not all. Simpson has never been one to rely solely on individual personal responses to institutional and political issues.
As leader of the New York Daughters of Bilitis (DOB), she helped mobilize the homophile-era women's social and educational network during the fiery days of lesbian and gay militancy in the early 1970s. Although DOB always saw its mission as inclusive of social change, its tactics and strategies changed over time from its inception as a small secret club in San Francisco in 1955 to its growth as a national lesbian rights organization with more than a dozen chapters throughout the U.S. by the late 1960s. DOB New York, founded by legendary gay rights activist Barbara Gittings along with Marion Glass in 1958, usually was one of the most action-oriented of DOB's local groups during its two decades of lesbian organizing; under Simpson's leadership, however, DOB New York became part of the upsurge of street actions, protests, and media confrontations that followed the queer Stonewall Inn anti-police riots in Greenwich Village in June, 1969.
Her book - a primer on lesbianism, emphasizing the many myths masquerading as homophobic "facts" that surround female same-sex love - came at a time when women who loved other women - or thought they might -- had very few reliable, reaffirming sources of information available to them. Lesbian activists' first-person accounts were rarer still; founding Daughters Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon had written Lesbian/Woman in 1972, and New York DOB leader Kay (Tobin) Lahusen edited The Gay Crusaders with Randy Wicker the same year. Both of these works wove personal "coming-out" stories and tales of early gay movement organizing into a narrative of lesbian and gay - and, for Martin and Lyon, feminist -- liberation.
Five years later, despite the huge increase by 1977 in lesbian publications, books like From the Closet to the Courts were still unique. In addition to telling her own story, Simpson was courageous in publishing a scathing critique of societal bigotry against gay people and women that extended to racial and ethnic minorities. She also did not hesitate to expose government interference - from name-and-badge-number accounts of harassment on the part of the New York Police Department to disruptive techniques that were traced to the highest levels of the F.B.I. and other federal agencies. Her political sensibility is that of a lifelong activist with a worldview expanded by decades of struggles with the powers-that-be: "(W)hen DOB began to transform from a social gathering place into a politically active organization, it became the target of intensified harassment, especially when it organized activity in conjunction with other groups," she observes; she then applies this essential lesson to progressive political activism in general.
"As a homosexual I am obligated to my own people; as a woman I am responsible to feminist principles; as a human being I am dedicated to the basic right of human dignity," she began her book in 1977. In 2007, she concludes, "(A)s was true more than thirty years ago, achieving dignity and justice is still up to us, So let's do it." I can only hope that, for decades more, Ruth Simpson will be fighting the good fight - on as many fronts as necessary - and spurring us all onward. -- Marcia Gallo, Author of Different Daughters
Proud to be gay, but deeply ashamed that I'm not a lesbian; this was my reaction, in a nutshell, to reading Ruth Simpson's From the Closet to the Courts. If you've never heard of Simpson, or like to think the brightest sparks of twentieth century gay lib were found only at Stonewall, this book should be at the top of your fall reading list -- and will make a great stocking stuffer for gay men whose sense of history needs a serious injection of lesbian awareness (which, shamefully, is most of us).
First published in 1976, this 30th Anniversary Edition features a foreword by Cheryl Jacques (former President of The Human Rights Campaign) and a far-reaching Afterword by Simpson. In between is the original text -- which, depending on your disposition, can function as a sober history lesson, a cautionary tale about the perils of organizing, or motivational ammunition for those determined to change society without losing their humanity.
The book, organized into ten chapters, begins with the essential question: "What is Lesbianism?" As a gay man, this may not be a question at the top of your philosophical to do list; but it's worth clarifying, since doing so dispels a rogue's gallery of popular misconceptions used to dismiss sexual orientation and justify discrimination. Simpson exposes the clinical definition (an adult female who is engaging in overt, repetitive homosexual activity) as a futile exercise in stating the obvious ("It is as illuminating as. . .saying that a pear tree is a tree that grows pears."). She then goes on to provide a far more humane meaning: "My personal -- which is also my political -- appraisal of lesbianism is that it is a love relationship between women of equal status, of equal trust, of equal freedom to pursue their lives individually and together. It is also a way of life which has as its natural concomitant concern for all women and their attendant problems."
That her own definition speaks more towards the rewards and responsibilities of love than its carnal pleasures is a telling window into the book's overall approach; political, yes; but polite as well (you won't find any overt mentions of lusting after women or references to the joy of the sex act itself). Thoroughly modern activist dykes may easily dismiss her modesty as timidity; but I suspect that Simpson would take this as the ultimate backhanded compliment. Having come so far, it's difficult to put the content into its proper historical context (youngsters who don't notice the "30th Anniversary" label may very well wonder why this out-of-touch gal never once mentions cell phones, the Internet or sex toys).
After exploring the myths and facts of lesbianism, other chapters address The Family, Social Attitudes, Lesbianism & Feminism, The Oppressor Church, Lesbianism & Psychiatry, Homosexuals -- In & Out of the News, Lesbians and Law Enforcement, The Homosexual Movement and Lesbians and the Courts of Justice. Throughout, Simpson's stealthy argumentative tactics combine righteous indignation with clinical, fact-based rebuttals that lay waste to the opposition's beliefs and tactics. Particularly strong are the chapters where she takes on the church and the field of psychiatry by answering their own words with point-by-point rebukes that drag hypocrisy and backwards thinking into the light. Although the gay rights struggle has yet to make converts out of most religious types, the efforts of Simpson and others can claim partial credit for The American Psychiatric Association's 1973 baby steps decision to categorize homosexuality as a "sexual orientation disturbance" rather than a "mental disorder."
Much of the book focuses on the empowering potential and frustrating limitations of joining or forming organizations. In 1969, Simpson went to her first meeting of Daughters of Bilitis (the New York chapter of the nation's first lesbian organization, founded in San Francisco in 1955). Through D.O.B., she met long-time partner Ellen Povill. The organization ultimately disbanded due to a combination of infighting and outside agitation. Simpson: "To believe that the dissolution of the D.O.B. is caused exclusively by people who are ill-advised and unintentionally disruptive is a serious error. D.O.B., we know, was infiltrated by at least two government agents." In January of 1971, Simpson founded the first lesbian community center -- which was subjected to a similarly destructive campaign of covert surveillance and overt harassment. After fighting the good fight in NYC, she and Povill bought a home in Woodstock, NY in 1976. Simpson eventually became president of the Woodstock Library's board of trustees and remains active in the local public access station.
The Afterword finds Simpson reflecting upon thirty years of social and personal change since the book's publication (and thirty-five spent with Ellen). Over the course of a mere fifteen pages, Simpson weighs in on Reagan, Rock Hudson, AIDS, C-Span, Nixon, Phyllis Schafly, The Congressional Black Caucus, Dr. Laura, Dick Cheney and daughter Mary, Will & Grace, PFLAG, Marc Foley, Catholic Church sex scandals, Mitt Romney, Matthew Shepard, Iraq, Pat Robertson, trash talk shows and same sex marriage. It's a dizzying array of sharply observed opinions on contemporary topics that deserves its own book -- or at least a few more pages. -- Edge Magazine, October 11, 2007 Edge Magazine, October 11, 2007
Ruth Simpson is a courageous woman. "From the Closet to the Courts" is essential reading for both its historical importance and its striking relevance to the struggle for LGBT rights that continues. She has been out and active for decades connecting her personal struggle to broader movements and issues. Her "afterword" links her lifelong fight for lesbian rights to civil rights, racism, immigration, extraordinary rendition and more. Thank you, Ruth Simpson. -- Amy Goodman, Host of Democracy Now!
The most mature, honest and courageous description I have read of what it means to be a lesbian. Ruth Simpson is to be congratulated for helping open the closet doors... -- Representative Bella Abzug
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