Beth Elliott (born 1950) is an American

trans Trans- is a Latin prefix meaning "across", "beyond", or "on the other side of". Used alone, trans may refer to: Sociology * Trans, a sociological term which may refer to: ** Transgender, people who identify themselves with a gender that di ...

lesbian A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...

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, activist, and writer. In the early 1970s, Elliot was involved with the

Daughters of Bilitis The Daughters of Bilitis (), also called the DOB or the Daughters, was the first lesbian civil and political rights organization in the United States. The organization, formed in San Francisco in 1955, was initially conceived as a secret soc ...

and the West Coast Lesbian Conference in California. She became the centre of a controversy when a minority of attendees in the 1973 Conference, including a keynote speaker, called for her removal because of her trans status.

Daughters of Bilitis

Elliott served as vice-president of the San Francisco chapter of the lesbian political group

from 1971 to 1972, during which she served as editor of the chapter's newsletter, ''Sisters''. When she first joined in 1971, her right to join was heatedly debated because of her sex. The organization was split and eventually voted 35 to 29 against the inclusion of trans women in the San Francisco chapter of the DOB; When the vote was announced, the editorial staff of ''Sisters'' left the organization in solidarity with Elliott. Her college friend and member of the lesbian separatist Gutter Dykes Collective publicly accused her of sexually harassing her years earlier, which Elliott has denied, claiming she had made false accusations to save face with her group when it was revealed they were acquainted.

West Coast Lesbian Conference

Beth Elliott continued her involvement in the women's movement and helped to create the West Coast Lesbian Conference which took place in April 1973.; provides context on the accusations She was on the organization committee and was asked to perform as a singer in the conference's entertainment program. However, on the first night when she took the stage she met considerable opposition. Lesbian separatist group, The Gutter Dykes, had leafleted in protest of Elliott's presence, claiming she was a man, and approached the stage with hostility. Other performers, Jeanne Cordova, Robin Tyler, and Patty Harrison, have stated that they responded by defending Elliott and established the need for a vote on whether Elliott's performance should continue. It took over an hour to count the roughly 1,300 attendees and resulted in a reported two-thirds in favor of Elliott's performance. Some accounts state 3:1 in Elliott’s favor while others state it as a bare majority. Elliott gave a brief performance and went on to leave the conference. The following day, keynote speaker

Robin Morgan Robin Morgan (born January 29, 1941) is an American poet, writer, activist, journalist, lecturer and former child actor. Since the early 1960s, she has been a key Radical feminism, radical feminist member of the American Feminist movement, Wom ...

gave her address, which she had altered after the events of the previous night. In the speech, titled "Lesbianism and Feminism: Synonyms or Contradictions?" Morgan referred to Elliott as a "gatecrashing...male transvestite" and, using male pronouns, charged her as "an opportunist, an infiltrator, and a destroyer—with the mentality of a rapist."Robin Morgan, “Keynote Address” Lesbian Tide. May/Jun73, Vol. 2 Issue 10/11, p30-34 (quote p 32); additional coverage in Pichulina Hampi, Advocate, May 9, 1973, issue 11, p. 4

Post-conference

The incident at the West Coast Lesbian Conference, the largest lesbian gathering precedented, left a lasting impression. Not only was Elliott emotionally and socially scarred, but the words defaming her circulated among grassroots lesbian networks and began the 'transsexual rapist' trope." The event was the first time many feminists encountered the question of trans women's inclusion in the movement. Elliott was left ostracized from much of the women's and lesbian community due to the controversial division emerging among feminists.

Life and career

Beth Elliott has been publishing since the mid 1970s on bisexuality, feminism, the AIDS movement, sex positivity, and transgenderism. Additionally, Elliott is the author of several books published by ENC Press. Her 1996 memoir, ''Mirrors: Portrait of a Lesbian Transsexual'', was described as a “classic in lesbian feminist and transgender/transsexual literary history” by the Bay Area Reporter. She reprised the book in 2011, adding a new introduction and afterword as well as a chapter recounting of her experience at the West Coast Lesbian Conference. She is also the author of the science fiction novel, ''Don’t Call it “Virtual”'' published in 2003. She has been involved in political work in support of gay rights and co-founded the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Club. She was elected as a board member for the California Committee for Sexual Law Reform which, in 1975, supported Willie Brown to pass legislation repealing anti-gay sodomy laws in California. She has been a

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

ian since the late 1960s and was active in the

Haight-Ashbury Haight-Ashbury () is a district of San Francisco, California, named for the intersection of Haight and Ashbury streets. It is also called the Haight and the Upper Haight. The neighborhood is known as one of the main centers of the countercultu ...

hippie music scene in the 1970s. Her latest work is the album entitled "Buried Treasure," released independently in 2005.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Elliott, Beth 1950 births Living people American women folk singers American women founders American lesbian writers American lesbian musicians American transgender women American transgender writers American transgender musicians American LGBTQ singers American LGBTQ rights activists LGBTQ people from California Transfeminists Transgender rights activists Transgender lesbians Transgender women singers Lesbian singers Lesbian feminists Feminist musicians 20th-century American women singers 21st-century American women singers 20th-century American LGBTQ people 21st-century American LGBTQ people