Sidney Abbott (July 11, 1937 – April 15, 2015) was an American feminist and lesbian activist and writer. A former member of the

Lavender Menace The Lavender Menace or revolution was an informal group of lesbian radical feminists formed to protest the exclusion of lesbians and their issues from the feminist movement at the Second Congress to Unite Women in New York City on May 1, 1970. Me ...

, she co-authored '' Sappho Was a Right-on Woman: A Liberated View of Lesbianism'' with

Barbara Love Barbara Joan Love (February 27, 1937 – November 13, 2022) was an American feminist writer and the editor of ''Feminists who Changed America, 1963–1975''. With the National Organization for Women, Love organized and participated in demonstr ...

, and was one of the most vocal and active members in the

National Organization for Women The National Organization for Women (NOW) is an American feminist organization. Founded in 1966, it is legally a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization. The organization consists of 550 chapters in all 50 U.S. states and in Washington, D.C. It ...

, helping the organization to focus on not just women's rights in general, but lesbian rights, as well.

Life and career

Sidney Afton Abbott was born in 1937 into a military family, describing herself as a

military brat A military brat (colloquial or military slang) is a child of serving or retired military personnel. Military brats are associated with a unique subcultureDavid C. Pollock, Ruth E. van Reken. ''Third Culture Kids: Growing Up Among Worlds'', Revise ...

. She attended

Smith College Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smith (Smith College ...

for three years, and graduated from the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; es, Universidad de Nuevo México) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Founded in 1889, it is the state's flagship academic institution and the largest by enrollment, with over 25,400 ...

in 1961. She then attended Columbia University for graduate school, studying

urban planning Urban planning, also known as town planning, city planning, regional planning, or rural planning, is a technical and political process that is focused on the development and design of land use and the built environment, including air, water, ...

. In 1969 she joined the

(NOW) and became one of the first people to speak out for lesbian rights on panels at the New York chapter of NOW and at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

. Abbott was a member of the

and co-authored '' Sappho Was a Right-on Woman: A Liberated View of Lesbianism'' in 1971, with

. In the mid-1970s, with Barbara Love, she lobbied for a NOW task force to be established to focus on lesbian issues, eventually it was established. NOW first named the task force the "sexuality and lesbian task force," and Abbott had to co-chair with a

heterosexual Heterosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction or sexual behavior between people of the opposite sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, heterosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to ...

woman. At the NOW national conference in Philadelphia in 1976, Abbott demanded that 1% of the organizations budget should go to the task force, and succeeded. During the conference, it was only one of two resolutions to pass. Abbott served on the founding board of the

National Gay and Lesbian Task Force The National LGBTQ Task Force is an American social justice advocacy non-profit organizing the grassroots power of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) community. Also known as The Task Force, the organization supports act ...

, and worked to ensure the organization's board was equal numbers gay men and lesbian women. She was named by the

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

Borough President to the community planning board; she was the first openly gay person to do so. She also served as program developer for two departments in the

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

government. She was co-chair for the New York Performing Arts Center, and was politically active in the North Fork area of

Long Island, New York Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United States and the 18th ...

. Abbott and

Kate Millett Katherine Murray Millett (September 14, 1934 – September 6, 2017) was an American feminist writer, educator, artist, and activist. She attended Oxford University and was the first American woman to be awarded a degree with first-class honor ...

Phyllis Birkby Noel Phyllis Birkby (December 6, 1932 – April 13, 1994) was an American architect, feminist, filmmaker, teacher, and founder of the Women's School of Planning and Architecture. Early life and education Noel Phyllis Birkby was born in Nutle ...

Alma Routsong Alma Routsong (November 26, 1924 – October 4, 1996) was an American novelist best known for her lesbian fiction, published under the pen name Isabel Miller. Early life Alma Routsong was born Elma Louise Routsong in Traverse City, Michigan, o ...

, and Artemis March were among the members of CR One, the first lesbian-feminist consciousness-raising group.

Later years

Abbott lived in

Southold, New York The Town of Southold is one of ten towns in Suffolk County, New York, United States. It is located in the northeastern tip of the county, on the North Fork of Long Island. The population was 23,732 at the 2020 census. The town also contains a ha ...

. In 2007, she founded the Women's Rights are Human Rights nonprofit. In 2008, she started a newsletter, ''In Our Shoes'', about politics, class, and poverty. Her personal archives are located in the

Sophia Smith Collection The Sophia Smith Collection at Smith College is an internationally recognized repository of manuscripts, photographs, periodicals and other primary sources in women's history. General One of the largest recognized repositories of manuscripts, ar ...

at Smith College and in the Radcliff College feminist collection of NOW biographies.

Death

Abbott died in a house fire in Southold, New York on April 15, 2015.Lisa Finn
"Victim of Southold Fire Renowned Feminist Sidney Abbott"
''Southold Local'', April 15, 2015.

Works

* *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abbott, Sidney 1937 births 2015 deaths 20th-century American women 20th-century LGBT people 21st-century American women 21st-century LGBT people Activists from New York (state) American lesbian writers Deaths from fire in the United States Lavender Menace members Lesbian feminists LGBT people from New York (state) National Organization for Women people People from Suffolk County, New York Place of birth missing