Diane "Dee" Mosbacher, MD, Ph.D., (born January 13, 1949 in

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

, Texas) is an American filmmaker, lesbian feminist activist, and practicing psychiatrist. In 1993, she founded Woman Vision, a nonprofit organization to promote equal treatment of all people through the production and use of educational media, including video.

Early life and education

Mosbacher is the daughter of the late Jane Pennybacker Mosbacher and Robert Mosbacher (1927–2010), who served as

U.S. Secretary of Commerce The United States secretary of commerce (SecCom) is the head of the United States Department of Commerce. The secretary serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States on all matters relating to commerce. The secretary rep ...

under George H. W. Bush from 1989 to 1992. She has two sisters (Kathryn and Lisa) and a brother (Robert Jr.). Mosbacher and her father had a close relationship despite the Republican Party's largely anti-gay position. In 1992, on a day when the two were both giving commencement speeches, she told a reporter for ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' that she began her speech: "Dad and I had breakfast this morning. We looked at each other's speeches. He would have used mine but he's not a lesbian. I would have used his, but I'm not a Republican." Dr. Mosbacher spoke out against the gay-bashing and anti-woman focus of the Republican Party's 1992 campaign. Mosbacher earned a bachelor's degree in psychology from Pitzer College in Claremont, California, a doctorate in social psychology from Union Graduate School, and a medical degree from

Baylor College of Medicine Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) is a medical school and research center in Houston, Texas, within the Texas Medical Center, the world's largest medical center. BCM is composed of four academic components: the School of Medicine, the Graduate S ...

Career

Mosbacher was a medical intern at Cambridge Hospital through

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the graduate medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is one of the oldest medical schools in the United States and is consi ...

from 1983-1984 and was a psychiatry resident in the same hospital from 1984-1987. She became a women's health activist in college and began directing documentary films as a student at Baylor College and as a resident at

. Her films focused on discrimination against lesbian and gay physicians and patients, and she wrote many articles about gay and lesbian patients for the academic and medical community.

Woman Vision

In 1992, Dee Mosbacher founded the non-profit production company Woman Vision to counteract the media campaign on LGBT issues conducted by the Republican Party, which was the focus of the 1992 Republican National Convention. As a psychiatrist, Mosbacher understood the psychological and psychosocial suffering caused by homophobia and created Woman Vision to promote equal treatment of all people through the production and use of educational media. Woman Vision promotes positive role models and supportive images of societally marginalized people. It uses diversity trainings, lectures, and other educational outreach programs to encourage people to abandon their homophobia and to improve the lives of LGBT individuals. As of 2009, Mosbacher has directed or produced nine documentary films through Woman Vision, each having to do with

LGBTQ ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is ...

or women's rights issues. In 1994, she directed and produced '' Straight From the Heart'', which was nominated for an Academy Award. Altogether, Mosbacher's films have received a total of 46 awards — by LGBT, Black, Latina, Latin American, and Aging Media film festivals, including best of show award, grand jury awards, and audience awards, in the US, the UK, Australia, Cuba, Mexico, and Italy.

Oscar nomination for ''Straight from the Heart''

In 1995, Mosbacher co-directed and co-produced (with Frances Reid) ''Straight From the Heart'', a documentary that explored relationships between heterosexual parents and their adult lesbian and gay children. The film includes emotional interviews with parents who felt conflicted between the teachings of their religious communities and their love of their lesbian daughters and gay sons. One couple discussed their disapproval of homosexuality until they learned that their son, who was dying of AIDS, was gay. The film was nominated for an

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology) ...

in the Documentary (Short Subject) category.

''Training Rules''

In 2010, Mosbacher co-directed and co-produced with Fawn Yacker the documentary film ''

Training Rules ''Training Rules'' (subtitled ''No Drinking, No Drugs, No Lesbians'') is a 2009 American documentary co-produced and co-directed by Dee Mosbacher and Fawn Yacker. It is narrated by Diana Nyad. The film examines how women's collegiate sports, ...

'', an hour-long movie about

Rene Portland Maureen Theresa Muth "Rene" Portland (March 31, 1953 – July 22, 2018) was an American head coach in women's college basketball, known for her 27-year tenure with the Penn State Nittany Lions basketball team. Her career included 21 NCAA to ...

, a women's basketball coach from Penn State University. Portland allegedly banned lesbians from playing on her team. The film contains interviews with former athletes and faculty members at Penn State who say that Portland actively pursued and harassed members of her team whom she suspected were gay. ''Training Rules'' was shown at dozens of film festivals in the United States, Canada, and Europe, and won three audience choice awards.

Affiliations

From 1994 to 2002, Mosbacher served on the Pitzer College Board of Trustees. In 2011, she established the Mosbacher Fund for Media Studies and the Mosbacher/Gartrell Center for Media Experimentation and Activism at Pitzer College.

''The Last Closet''

In 2012, Woman Vision launched ''The Last Closet'', a web-based campaign and video project to end homophobia in men's professional sports.

Personal life

Mosbacher is married to

Nanette Gartrell Nanette Gartrell is an American psychiatrist, researcher, lesbian activist and writer. Gartrell is the author of over 70 research reports on topics ranging from medical student depression to sexual minority parent families to sexual exploitation o ...

, MD, a researcher, psychiatrist, and author of six books, including ''My Answer Is NO... If That's Okay With You''.

Filmography

* 1985: ''Closets are Health Hazards: Gay and Lesbian Physicians Come Out'' - Director/Producer * 1991: ''Lesbians on Practice, Patients, and Power'' - Director/Producer * 1994: '' Straight From the Heart'' - Director/Producer (with

Frances Reid Frances Reid (December 9, 1914 – February 3, 2010) was an American dramatic actress. Reid acted on television for nearly all of the second half of the 20th century. Her career continued into the early 2000s. Although she starred in ma ...

and Deborah Hoffman) * 1995: ''Out for a Change: Addressing Homophobia in Women's Sports'' - Director/Producer * 1996: '' All God's Children'' - Director/Producer (with Sylvia Rhue and Frances Reid) * 2001: ''De Colores'' - Executive Producer * 2002: ''

Radical Harmonies ''Radical Harmonies'' is a 2002 American independent documentary film directed and executive produced by Dee Mosbacher that presents a history of women's music, which has been defined as music by women, for women, and about women. The film was ...

'' - Director/Producer (with Boden Sandstrom and

June Millington June Millington (born April 14, 1948) is a Filipina-American guitarist, songwriter, producer, educator, and actress. She was the co-founder and lead guitarist of the all-female rock band Fanny, which was active from 1970 to 1974. Millington has ...

) * 2006: ''No Secret Anymore: The Times of Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon'' - Producer (with Joan E. Biren) * 2009: ''

'' - Director/Producer (with Fawn Yacker)

Awards

* 1992: Creating Change Award, from 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 ac ...

* 1995: Jerry E. Berg Leadership Award, from the Human Rights Campaign Fund * 1997: Liberty Award, from

Lambda Legal Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, better known as Lambda Legal, is an American civil rights organization that focuses on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) communities as well as people living with HIV/AIDS ( PWAs) through imp ...

Defense * 2009:

Barbara Gittings Barbara Gittings (July 31, 1932 – February 18, 2007) was a prominent American activist for LGBT equality. She organized the New York chapter of the Daughters of Bilitis (DOB) from 1958 to 1963, edited the national DOB magazine ''The Ladd ...

Memorial Award, from Equality Forum * 2014: Mathew O. Tobriner Public Service Award, from the Legal Aid Society (San Francisco), Employment Law Center In 1991, Dee Mosbacher was the first Pitzer College graduate to deliver a commencement address at her alma mater. In 2010, she established the Mosbacher/Gartrell Center for Media Experimentation and Activism at Pitzer College.

References

External links

*
Woman Vision - official website''Training Rules'' - official websiteDee Mosbacher papers and Woman Vision records
at 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, a ...

, Smith College Special Collections {{DEFAULTSORT:Mosbacher, Diane Living people 1949 births American documentary filmmakers American people of German-Jewish descent American psychiatrists Lesbian feminists LGBT physicians LGBT film directors American LGBT rights activists LGBT people from Texas People from Houston Activists from Texas American women psychiatrists Film directors from Texas Pitzer College alumni Baylor College of Medicine alumni American women documentary filmmakers 21st-century LGBT people 21st-century American women