THE DAUGHTERS OF BILITIS - DOB - was, and maybe still is, a lesbian organisation founded in 1955 in San Francisco. It probably predates all other lesbian organisations world-wide, and in its time spread from coast to coast in the USA. Its newsletter "The Ladder" reached thousands of lesbians nation-wide, and the influence of its members on the Feminist Movement in the USA - though unwelcome - came to be seismic. Yet few today know much of DOB other than its name.
EVEN THOUGH the Constitution of America awards to its citizens the "Right to the Pursuit of Pleasure and Happiness, in 1955 all American States prohibited female homosexual activities; wearing items of male clothing could cause a lesbian to be arrested as could two women dancing together. Prison was unlikely but the trip to the precinct was invariably unpleasant and often savage. ( Read "Stone Butch Blues" by Leslie Feinberg.) The original 8 women who set up DOB were well aware of the risks; envisaging a private club so as to avoid the law, they realised that meetings in private homes was the way to begin until suitable premises could be found. Three meetings a month were planned; business, social and a discussion. The name had to be discreet too. "Bilitis" was quoted in a poem by Pierre Louys (she was associated with Sappho the Greek poetess) and "The Daughters of... "was in the tradition of Women's Groups in the USA such as The Daughters of The American Revolution and The Daughters of Texas. If asked - this was a Women's Poetry Group.
DOB WAS LAUNCHED with 8 founder members, four blue collar workers, four white collar ! A few months later there were still 8. Yet shortly even those few became less. The working class lesbians, seeing themselves at more risk from police intervention and the consequences of arrest and exposure wanted to keep DOB strictly for lesbians; the four middle class lesbians, more educated and with better work prospects even after possible disclosure of their sexuality, wanted DOB's activities to include all women, particularly at the discussion meetings . The argument wandered into and finally solidified around issues of dress and behaviour codes - and half of the founder members left DOB forever. Thereafter DOB operated mainly with the ideals and fervour of the secure intellectual middle class.
THERE HAD BEEN, of course, a hidden agenda; DOB was not, in fact, the only "Homophile" Organisation in San Francisco! The Mattachine Society, (now defunct) had been founded in LA in 1951 to give support to homosexual men distressed by their homosexuality, and to campaign for Law Reform. ONE Inc ( a split from Mattachine and also defunct,) was less pious than Mattachine, more flamboyant, and also had a fair number of women in its ranks - one of which was the Editor of the ONE Inc magazine. It was a crucial encounter ; with the support of Mattachine and ONE Inc the voice, of DOB, "The Ladder," made its debut in October 1956.
THE LADDER BECAME an instant success, letters poured in by the thousand, membership of DOB rocketed skyward to such an extent that in January 1957 it became a non profit organisation under the law of the State of California. New "Chapters" were formed nation-wide, each chapter being independent and their elected officers forming part of the DOB National Governing Board - being required to attend the Biennial Lesbian Convention which was first held in 1960. Heady days. Volunteers were found to take part in research by the medical profession and there was a constant request for speakers to address learned bodies and appear on TV and radio.
THE NEXT TEN YEARS were the Golden Times for DOB. "Common Cause" had been firmly established with the men of Mattachine and DOB took public part in the joint campaigns to reform the anti-homosexual laws of the land. But the relationship with Mattachine and ONE Inc became precarious as the Women's Liberation Movement began to gain ground on the east coast. The men of Mattachine showed little desire to champion the Women's Cause, being unable to comprehend that the lesbian - as an independent woman having to work to support herself - was doubly burdened with discrimination. As the 1960s progressed the foaming wave of the Women's Movement hurtled across the USA sweeping DOB along with it towards yet even more troubled waters. A bitter choice of direction was becoming inevitable ; Women's - or Gay - Liberation !
AFTER THE STONEWALL RIOTS of 1969 DOB had been in existence for 15 years and had already seemed to some to be out of date; its rigid fabric of Chapter, President and elected officers unable to find the spontaneity needed for organising instant demonstrations and protests. It did not encourage drug culture and was not always anti capitalist; with which attributes the newly formed Gay Liberation Front was plentifully endowed. Yet at the same time the Feminist Movement was by no means welcoming. N.O.W. - the National Organisation of Women (led by Betty Friedan)- afraid that the open inclusion of lesbians in The Women's Movement would invoke even more hostility and malignity from the male dominated media - sought vigorously to eject lesbians from its ranks, disdainfully naming them "The Lavender Menace". Which way should the DOB members jump ? The choice was bitter and feelings ran high.
THE CRUNCH came in 1970 through "The Ladder" which had always been produced and mailed out to members from the editorial offices in California. Since 1968 the Editorial Board had favoured following the Women's Movement ; but the then President of DOB had championed the Gay Rights Agenda. Serious trouble was anticipated at the 1970 DOB Conference. But just before the Conference the entire physical production and mailing of The Ladder was secretly removed from California into the DOB Chapter of Reno, Nevada, thereafter the magazine devoting itself solely to Feminist rather than Gay issues. The Ladder was lost and DOB never really recovered. It ceased publication in August 1972.
WITH "The Ladder" gone the individual Chapters had to publish their own newsletters, and naturally began to focus on local rather than national interests. As the 70s progressed the membership drifted away, and over the years chapters began to close. The enormous successes of the Gay Rights Movement after Stonewall overshadowed the remaining DOB chapters as its loyal members grew older and less active. The Feminist Movement did eventually relax its oppressive attitude to lesbians (with the advent of a new menace, the transsexual m - f !) but too late to save DOB. The Daughters sank softly out of sight into the sands of time.
YET its traces and legacy remain; one solitary chapter in Boston MA announces its presence on the web. DOB was an organisation of its time, it did wonderfully well, it did what had to be done and deserves our love, respect and remembrance.
Thanks to "Lesbian/Woman" by Del Martin & Phyllis Lyon (Glide publications 1972)
And to Pat at the Lesbian Archive and Information Centre in Glasgow.
And all the people at DOB 1955 - 1972; writers, artists, poets.
You can buy a complete bound set of The Ladder from Ayers Press in NY
From Old Dyke 5, October 2000
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