Jean O'Leary
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Jean O'Leary (March 4, 1948 – June 4, 2005) was an American lesbian and gay rights activist. She was the founder of Lesbian Feminist Liberation, one of the first lesbian activist groups in the
women's movement The feminist movement, also known as the women's movement, refers to a series of social movements and political campaigns for radical and liberal reforms on women's issues created by inequality between men and women. Such issues are women's ...
, and an early member and co-director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. She co-founded National Coming Out Day. In 1977 O'Leary organized the first meeting of gay leaders at the White House and then organized the passing of a sexual preference resolution for
NOW Now most commonly refers to the present time. Now, NOW, or The Now may also refer to: Organizations * Natal Organisation of Women, a South African women's organization * National Organization for Women, an American feminist organization * Na ...
at Houston's
Metropolitan Community Church The Metropolitan Community Church (MCC), also known as the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches (UFMCC), is an international LGBT-affirming Christian denominations, LGBT-affirming mainline Protestant Christian denomination. The ...
. Before becoming a lesbian and gay rights activist, she was a Roman Catholic
religious sister A religious sister (abbreviated: Sr.) in the Catholic Church is a woman who has taken public vows in a religious institute dedicated to apostolic works, as distinguished from a nun who lives a cloistered monastic life dedicated to prayer and ...
. She would later write about her experience in a 1985 anthology, ''Lesbian Nuns: Breaking Silence''.


Early life

O'Leary was born in
Kingston, New York Kingston is the only Administrative divisions of New York#City, city in, and the county seat of, Ulster County, New York, United States. It is north of New York City and south of Albany, New York, Albany. The city's metropolitan area is grou ...
, and raised in
Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...
, Ohio. In 1966, just out of high school, she entered the
novitiate The novitiate, also called the noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a Christian ''novice'' (or ''prospective'') monastic, apostolic, or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether ...
of the Sisters of the Humility of Mary, of Villa Maria, Pennsylvania, in order to "have an impact on the world". In 1971, after graduating from
Cleveland State University Cleveland State University (CSU) is a public research university in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It was established in 1964 and opened for classes in 1965 after acquiring the entirety of Fenn College, a private school that had been in oper ...
with a degree in
psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...
, she left the convent before completing the period of training.


Activism

In 1971 O'Leary moved to
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
and did doctoral studies in organization development at
Yeshiva University Yeshiva University is a Private university, private Modern Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox Jewish university with four campuses in New York City.
. As a
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 ...
during this period, she became involved with the nascent
gay rights movement Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) movements are social movements that advocate for LGBTQ people in society. Although there is not a primary or an overarching central organization that represents all LGBTQ people and their i ...
, joining the Gay Activists' Alliance (GAA) Chapter in Brooklyn and later lobbying state politicians. In 1972, feeling that it was too dominated by the men of the movement, she left the GAA and founded Lesbian Feminist Liberation, one of the first lesbian activist groups in the
women's movement The feminist movement, also known as the women's movement, refers to a series of social movements and political campaigns for radical and liberal reforms on women's issues created by inequality between men and women. Such issues are women's ...
. Two years later, she joined the National Gay Task Force, negotiating gender parity in its executive with director Bruce Voeller, joining as co-executive director. In 1977, O'Leary organized the first meeting of gay rights activists at the
White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...
through arrangements made with White House staffer Midge Costanza, with whom she was in a secret relationship. She was the first openly gay person appointed to a presidential commission, the National Commission on the Observance of International Women's Year, by
Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...
. In this role she negotiated for gay and lesbian rights to be included on the discussion in a conference marking the year in
Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...
. In November 1977, O'Leary was a speaker at the 1977 National Women's Conference. Other speakers included
Rosalynn Carter Eleanor Rosalynn Carter ( ; ; August 18, 1927 – November 19, 2023) was an American activist and humanitarian who served as the first lady of the United States from 1977 to 1981, as the wife of President Jimmy Carter. Throughout her decades of ...
,
Betty Ford Elizabeth Anne Ford (; formerly Warren; April 8, 1918 – July 8, 2011) was First Lady of the United States from 1974 to 1977, as the wife of President Gerald Ford. As first lady, she was active in social policy, and set a precedent as a politi ...
,
Lady Bird Johnson Claudia Alta "Lady Bird" Johnson (; December 22, 1912 – July 11, 2007) was First Lady of the United States from 1963 to 1969 as the wife of President Lyndon B. Johnson. She had previously been Second Lady of the United States from 1961 to 196 ...
, Bella Abzug,
Barbara Jordan Barbara Charline Jordan (February 21, 1936 – January 17, 1996) was an American lawyer, educator, and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, she was the first African American elected to the Texas Senate since Reconstruction, the first ...
, Audrey Colom, Claire Randall, Gerridee Wheeler, Cecilia Burciaga,
Gloria Steinem Gloria Marie Steinem ( ; born March 25, 1934) is an American journalist and social movement, social-political activist who emerged as a nationally recognized leader of second-wave feminism in the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s. ...
, Lenore Hershey. O'Leary was among three openly gay delegates to the
United States Democratic Party The Democratic Party is a Centre-left politics, center-left political parties in the United States, political party in the United States. One of the Major party, major parties of the U.S., it was founded in 1828, making it the world's oldes ...
convention in 1976. She also served on the
Democratic National Committee The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the principal executive leadership board of the United States's Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party. According to the party charter, it has "general responsibility for the affairs of the ...
for 12 years, 8 of those on the executive committee. During the early 1980s, O'Leary focused on building National Gay Rights Advocates, then one of the largest national gay and lesbian rights groups. It was one of the first to respond to the
HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of '' Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the im ...
/
AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...
epidemic's implications for legal and civil liberties, using aggressive litigation to ensure AIDS patients' access to treatment. She co-founded National Coming Out Day with Rob Eichberg in 1988.


Radical lesbian feminism

In a speech given at the 1973 Christopher Street Liberation Day, O'Leary read a statement on behalf of 100 women that read, in part, "We support the right of every person to dress in the way that she or he wishes. But we are opposed to the exploitation of women by men for entertainment or profit." In response,
Sylvia Rivera Sylvia Rivera (July 2, 1951 – February 19, 2002) was an American gay liberation and transgender activism, transgender rights activist September 21, 1995. Accessed July 24, 2015. who was also a noted community worker in LGBT history in New Yo ...
and Lee Brewster, both self-identified
drag queens A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have usually been gay men, and have ...
, jumped onstage and responded, "You go to bars because of what drag queens did for you, and ''these bitches'' tell us to quit being ourselves!" In the early 1970s, O'Leary and other
gay liberation The gay liberation movement was a social and political movement of the late 1960s through the mid-1980s in the Western world, that urged lesbians and gay men to engage in radical direct action, and to counter societal shame with gay pride.Hoff ...
activists did not actively include all
transsexual A transsexual person is someone who experiences a gender identity that is inconsistent with their assigned sex, and desires to permanently transition to the sex or gender with which they identify, usually seeking medical assistance (incl ...
s and
transvestite Cross-dressing is the act of wearing clothes traditionally or stereotypically associated with a different gender. From as early as pre-modern history, cross-dressing has been practiced in order to disguise, comfort, entertain, and express onesel ...
s in proposed gay rights legislation,At the time, the term "gay" was commonly used to refer to all lesbian and gay people. Those we now refer to as
transgender A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth. The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...
, and gay-identified bisexuals, were also included under this term if they participated socially in the lesbian and gay community. However, the umbrella terms "
LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...
", "transgender", and "
queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are non-heterosexual or non- cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against LGBTQ people in the late 19th century. From the late 1980s, queer activists began to ...
" were not yet in popular usage during these years.
largely due to the belief that this would make basic legislation too difficult to pass at the time. O'Leary later regretted her stance against the drag queens attending in 1973: "Looking back, I find this so embarrassing because my views have changed so much since then. I would never pick on a transvestite now." "It was horrible. How could I work to exclude transvestites and at the same time criticize the feminists who were doing their best back in those days to exclude lesbians?" O'Leary was referring to the
Lavender Menace Lavender Menace 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. Members included ...
, a description by second wave feminist
Betty Friedan Betty Friedan (; February 4, 1921 – February 4, 2006) was an American feminist writer and activist. A leading figure in the women's movement in the United States, her 1963 book '' The Feminine Mystique'' is often credited with sparking the s ...
for attempts by members of 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 ...
(NOW) to distance themselves from the perception of NOW as a haven for lesbians. As part of this process,
Rita Mae Brown Rita Mae Brown (born November 28, 1944) is an American feminist writer, best known for her coming-of-age autobiographical novel, '' Rubyfruit Jungle''. Brown was active in a number of civil rights campaigns and criticized the marginalization of l ...
and other lesbians who had been active in NOW were forced out. They staged a protest in 1970 at the Second Congress to Unite Women, and earned the support of many NOW members, finally gaining full acceptance in 1971.


Personal life

She and her partner, Lisa Phelps, had a daughter (Victoria) and a son (David de Maria). O'Leary died on June 4, 2005, in
San Clemente, California San Clemente (; Spanish for " St. Clement" ) is a coastal city in southern Orange County, California, United States. It was named in 1925 after the Spanish colonial island (which was named after a Pope from the first century). Located in the ...
, of
lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...
, aged 57.


Legacy

Season 2, episodes 4 and 5 of the
podcast A podcast is a Radio program, program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Typically, a podcast is an Episode, episodic series of digital audio Computer file, files that users can download to a personal device or str ...
''
Making Gay History ''Making Gay History'' is an oral history podcast on the subject of LGBT history, featuring trailblazers, activists, and allies. Most episodes draw on the three-decade-old audio archive of rare interviews conducted by the podcast's founder and h ...
'' are about her. O'Leary, and her advocacy for the inclusion of lesbian and gay rights in the 1977 National Women's Conference, is portrayed by Canadian actress Anna Douglas in the FX television miniseries '' Mrs America''.


Notes


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:OLeary, Jean 1948 births 2005 deaths 20th-century American Roman Catholic nuns Former Roman Catholic religious sisters and nuns LGBTQ Roman Catholics Lesbian feminists Deaths from lung cancer in California Activists from New York (state) Activists from Ohio Catholics from New York (state) Catholics from Ohio LGBTQ people from New York (state) LGBTQ people from Ohio Activists from Cleveland People from Kingston, New York American LGBTQ rights activists Cleveland State University alumni Yeshiva University alumni Articles containing video clips 20th-century American LGBTQ people