Daughters of Bilitis

Daughters of Bilitis (DOB), founded in San Francisco in 1955, was one of the first lesbian organizations to be established worldwide. The organization began as a small, secret social club for lesbians, starting with just eight members. During the late 1950s, other DOB chapters were founded across America and in Australia too, although membership numbers remained relatively small. When DOB was established, there were few opportunities for lesbians to meet, and lesbians were subject to much discrimination and public hostility. The organization took its name from a poem written by Pierre Louys called “Songs of Bilitis,” where Bilitis was a female character who was romantically associated with Sappho. Among the founding members of DOB were long-standing couple Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon. Martin and Lyon have been key speakers for lesbian rights and authored Lesbian/Woman, the first book to be published by lesbians about life as a lesbian.

Early in the development of DOB, its role and membership criteria came under scrutiny, especially with respect to whether or not heterosexual women should be allowed to join. Conflicting views led some of the original founding members to leave DOB. These changes contributed to redefining DOB as a political organization focused on lesbian rights, rather than as a purely social organization. This was a radical development, given the social stigma of homosexuality at the time.

In October 1956, DOB published the first issue of The Ladder, edited by Lyon, initially under the pen name of Ann Ferguson. The Ladder is usually regarded as the first lesbian serial in America, although an earlier short-lived publication titled Vice Versa had existed in the late 1940s. DOB ceased publication of The Ladder in 1972, following the secret takeover of the magazine by a separatist feminist DOB chapter. This event reflects one of the core tensions that surrounded DOB: whether it should align itself with male-dominated gay rights groups such as its ally, the Mattachine Society, or whether it should identify itself with lesbian separatist feminists. These conflicting perspectives led to DOB's dissolution in the 1970s.

Although plagued by tensions that reflect the difficult and politically loaded social climate, DOB can boast numerous achievements. Socially, DOB facilitated one of the first opportunities for lesbians to meet and share their everyday struggles. Politically, DOB began the long quest to achieve visibility and acceptance for lesbians and to place lesbian rights on the civil rights agenda.