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Jean O’Leary

1948-2005; born in Cleveland, Ohio

Jean O'Leary

Jean O’Leary is the woman who, according to Gloria Steinem, “helped the women’s movement to recognize the universal cost of homophobia, and the gay movement to see that marginalizing the voices of lesbians would only diminish its power,” grew up in Cleveland.

Seeking an avenue for social justice work, O’Leary entered the Sisters of the Holy Humility convent in 1966. In 1970 she left the convent to attend graduate studies at Yeshiva University in New York and became a leader in the nascent gay rights movement. O’Leary and other women left the male-dominated Gay Activists Alliance in 1972 to form Lesbian Feminist Liberation. Two years later O’Leary joined former GAA president Bruce Voeller as co-executive director of the National Gay [and Lesbian] Task Force. O’Leary and Rob Eichberg established National Coming Out Day, first celebrated in 1988.

In 1976 O’Leary became the first out lesbian elected to a national political convention. In March 1977 she organized the first White House meeting of gay and lesbian leaders. President Carter selected O’Leary for the National Commission on the Observance of International Women’s Year, another first, appointing an openly gay person to a Presidential Commission. O’Leary chaired the Democratic National Committee’s Gay and Lesbian Caucus from 1992 until 2002. Political leaders recognize her work as providing the foundation for the presence that LGBT people now have in the National Democratic Party.

SOURCES:
“DNC Statement on the Passing of Jean O’Leary, Former Chair of the DNC LGBT Caucus.” 7 June 2005, http://www.democrats.org, 3 October 2009

“Jean O’Leary, 57, Former Nun Who Became a Lesbian Activist, Dies.” New York Times, 7 June 2005, http://www.nytimes.com, 3 October 2009.

Kuhr, Fred. “The Prime of Ms. Jean: Late Activist Jean O’Leary Got Gays their First White House Meeting and Co-founded National Coming Out Day.” The Advocate, 19 July 2005, http://www.thefreelibrary.com, 19 October 2009.

Rapp, Linda. “O’Leary, Jean (1948-2005).” glbtq: The Encyclopedia of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Culture, 10 August 2005, http://www.glbtq.com, 19 October 2009.

Strub, Sean. “Activist Jean O’Leary Dies.” American Chronicle, 6 June 2005, http://www.americanchronicle.com, 3 October 2009.

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