The Woman's Liberation Movement

In the 1960s the Women’s Liberation Movement was well under way. The National Organization of Women (NOW) was founded in 1966, and was one of the most vocal organizations mobilizing women to push back against gender discrimination. Yet within NOW and Women’s Liberation as a whole, homophobia actively excluded the rights of lesbians, bisexual women, and trans women from the movement's demands.

The argument for excluding LGBTQ rights in Women’s Liberation was that lesbianism promoted the emulation of men and masculine power, which was coupled with the pervasive general homophobia and transphobia against gay, lesbian, and trans lifestyles in general society. Lesbians within the Women’s Liberation Movement were still isolated, or connecting with each other covertly.^[1] The view that lesbian rights had no part in NOW's feminist movement was also directly tied to class and race. Lesbians, women of color, and working class women often did not fall into the middle class, white, femme image that NOW and Women's Liberation rallied behind. The exclusion of lesbians in the fight was only one way that this image was upheld.

Consciousness Raising

One of the main tools of Women’s Liberation were consciousness raising groups. Groups of women would meet to share, without judgment, their grievances and struggles. Consciousness raising is a tool to connect everyday struggles to larger political demands, or to make the personal political, and therefore mobilize and incite people who may not have been previously politically active. It was used throughout LGBTQ activism of the 80s and 90s, was adopted by the Gay Liberation Front, and is even used today.

Consciousness raising became such an important tool, that it was standardized and presented in a handbook by the Los Angeles chapter of NOW starting in 1975, with new revised editions being printed into the 1980s. The orange copy shown is from 1979. In this version a section added with “feminist CR guidelines for men,” with the same topics possibly to compare answers between groups. In the same year, the Los Angeles County Division of Mental Health used consciousness raising in feminist mental health seminars.
The Mazer’s Subject Files document early consciousness raising rules and topics from the 1960s. Typical topics presented during consciousness raising meetings or rap sessions/rap groups, focused on making personal experiences political motivation, so they were often questions examining traditional gender roles and expectations of women in families, relationships, and larger society. Some examples of these questions are, "Is motherhood the final proof of womanhood?", "Discuss your relationship with men as they evolved. Have you noticed any recurring patterns?", "What would you most like to do in life and what has stopped you?", "Are women who love other women 'less feminine'?."^[2] The rap sessions would have a format, which usually followed a pattern of responding to topics or questions, each person sharing their thoughts and experiences, then an analysis of those responses, and finally a plan of action to create change in society. Further guidelines were in place to make sure everyone was sharing equally, could speak uninterrupted, and felt heard by the group without judgement.

Civil Rights and the Vietnam War

Other activism of this era that was focused on protesting the Vietnam War and the draft, as well as Civil Rights for Black Americans, and other people of color. Activists took part in organizations like Women United Against the War, the Gay Women’s Contingent, the Black Panther Party, and Womanpower, to name a few. 

Citations
[1] Margaret Cruikshank, The Lesbian and Gay Liberation Movement (New York: Routledge, 1993), 70.
[2] Consciousness Raising materials, drawer 02-03, subfolder 14, Subject Files, June L. Mazer Lesbian Archives.