Special Thanks to Nashville Queer History for their help with this article.
Each year during Women’s History Month, we celebrate the tenacity and passion of some of history’s most remarkable women. The Campaign for Southern Equality is proud to honor the queer Southern women who have paved the way for future generations. It is because of them that so many of us feel empowered to be our authentic selves publicly and proudly. When we question the best way to move forward in our continued fight for liberation, we look to their legacy.
This month and every day after, we want to reflect and admire the contributions made by these women and the organizations they built. Their impact has reached beyond the LGBTQ+ community, impacting society as a whole by laying the framework for a more equitable and inclusive future. Today and everyday, we are inspired by their work and honor them by continuing to speak their names, so their legacies live on in all of us.
Source: The New York Times
bell hooks (1952-2021)
One of the most prominent literary feminist voices arguably of the century, bell hooks has left a legacy that has continued to impact generations. An author, educator, and theorist hailing from Hopkinsville, Kentucky – hooks utilized her voice and teachings to expand our thinking on race, queerness, feminism, classicism and more. hooks called for readers to see these issues from an intersectional lens, exploring how our struggles are linked, not isolated.
In 2004, hooks joined the faculty at Berea College as a professor in residence. A few years later, she founded the bell hooks Institute, with the goal of creating a radical coalition between women, LGBTQPIA+ students, and students of color. Although hooks passed away in 2021, her legacy lives on through the Institute, as well as the theories she developed and the many brilliant pieces of literature she gave us.
Source: Vanderbilt News Service
Penny Campbell (1953-2014)
Born and raised in Tennessee, Penny Campbell made the first Nashville pride parade possible. From a young age, her life revolved around social justice as both her parents worked alongside the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during the Civil Rights movement. But it was not until Penny began attending Vanderbilt University that her activism began to evolve.
Using her voice, she fought for LGBTQ+ rights by protesting, writing to newspaper outlets, and organizing marches. After helping organize a group of Tennesseans in 1987 to attend the Second National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay rights, she helped start the first Nashville pride a year later. Campbell continued to advocate for LGBTQ+ rights and in 1996, she was the lead plaintiff in the Campbell v. Sundquist case which overturned the Tennessee law criminalizing sex between same-sex partners. A historical marker in her honor was erected in 2017. This marker was the first publicly-sanctioned historical marker honoring an LGBTQ+ person in the state.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter (COURTESY BANGER FILMS, THE NATIONAL FILM BOARD OF CANADA AND THE JACKIE SHANE ESTATE)
Jackie Shane (1940-2019)
Regarded as one of the “greatest soul artists of the 1960s”, Jackie Shane was a force to be reckoned with. Having grown up in Nashville, Tennessee, during the 40s and 50s, she experienced the harsh realities of racism in the South. Shane also identified as transgender, and came out to her mother at the age of 13. Faced with the harsh reality of living as a Black trans woman in the Jim Crow South, Jackie decided to leave Nashville.
Her affinity for music, especially R&B, would eventually lead to her Boston and then to Toronto, Canada where she would dominate the club scene and come into her own as an artist. Once in Toronto, she would go on to perform at sold-out nightclubs, and even appeared on local music TV shows.
As part of her lasting contributions to the music scene in Toronto, Shane was featured on a 22 story public mural. Her impact on “Toronto sound,” a brand of R&B music unique to the city, has shaped history.
Source: TIME
Angela Davis (Born 1944)
Born in Birmingham, Alabama, Angela Davis became active with the Black Panthers and Communist Party at an early age. From 1970-1972, she gained international fame after she was brought up on conspiracy charges, but she was later acquitted by an all-white jury.
Her passion for justice fueled by her mission to upend systems of oppression led her to become one of the most well-known activists of this century. Over the last twenty-five years, Professor Davis has lectured in all of the fifty United States, where she speaks on a multitude of topics ranging from race, sexism, LGBTQ+ rights, the prison system, and much more. Today, she is the Distinguished Professor Emerita at UC Santa Cruz in the History of Consciousness and Feminist Studies Departments. Since beginning her work in activism and reform, Davis has acquired multiple accolades for her work. In 2019, she was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame, and was featured in TIME Magazine’s 2020 “100 Most Influential People” for her influence and work with the Black Lives Matter movement.
Source: City of Charlotte
Catherine Nicholson and Harriet Ellenberger, Founders of Sinister Wisdom (1976-Present)
Founded in 1976, the Sinister Wisdom publication is the longest-run lesbian journal. Created by couple Catherine Nicholsom and Harriet Ellenberger, the publication aimed to address the questions: “How does a woman survive when she steps out from the death process of patriarchy? How does she think without thinking ‘their’ thoughts, dreaming ‘their’ dreams, repeating ‘their’ patterns?” During a time of blatant sexism and homophobia, the publication served as an outlet for discussing issues faced by lesbians.
Prior to creating Sinister Wisdom, Nicholson served as a theater and drama professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. It was during this time, while also working at the Charlotte Women’s Center, she met Harriet Ellenberger, a founding member. Realizing they wanted to do more regarding lesbian rights, they created Sinister Wisdom.
Today, Sinister Wisdom is still being published, and works to create a multicultural, multi-class lesbian space. The publication offers free subscriptions to women in prisons and mental health institutions in addition to providing resources to women living on a fixed income.
Source: National Women’s History Museum
Ma Rainey (1886-1939)
Often referred to as the “Mother of Blues”, Ma Rainey is well known for her deep-throated voice and raw stage presence. Born and raised in Columbus, Georgia, she began performing and captivating audiences during her teenage years. Shortly after her first marriage ended, she went on to establish her own performance company and named it “Madame Gertrude Rainey and her Georgia Smart Sets.” Not long after being on tour, she was joined by fellow bisexual-musician, Bessie Smith. During this time, it was alleged that the two musicians shared a secret relationship.
In 1923, she signed a contract with Paramount records where she became one of the first recorded blues musicians. Over the course of five years, she recorded over 100 records and today, Ma Rainey is a household name. As much of her music contained queer themes, Ma Rainey’s work is heralded as a precursor to the lesbian cultural movement of the 1970s.
Source: National Museum of African American History & Culture
Bessie Smith (1895-1937)
Known as the “Empress of the Blues,” Bessie Smith was a well-known blues and jazz singer during the Harlem Renaissance. Born and raised in Chattanooga, Tennessee, she experienced poverty early on. During the beginning of her career, she toured with Ma Rainey, a well-known blues singer, whom she also trained under while she was just in her teens. Through her music, Smith unapologetically detailed her relationships with both men and women while also discussing the hardships of the Black working class. Topics such as racism, poverty, and sexism were all a part of the charisma that made Smith stand out against other musicians.
In total, she recorded over 100 songs throughout her musical career. Smith was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, National Women’s Hall of Fame, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Despite living in a time of racial tension, both Black and white audiences were captivated by her stage presence along with her vocal capabilities. Even today, many musicians still reference Smith’s range and likeness to their own music as she is regarded as a primary influence to many female vocalists.
Source: Atlanta Magazine
Atlanta Lesbian Feminist Alliance (1972-1994)
Founded in 1972, the Atlanta Lesbian Feminist Alliance (ALFA) was created to increase lesbian visibility and solidarity, in addition to providing a safe space for women to exist outside of the patriarchal society. Led by Diana Kaye, Elizabeth Knowlton, and Vicki Gabriner, the alliance built a library for lesbian literature and publications and formed a softball team for lesbians. The alliance would go on to partner with political and civic organizations to pressure Georgia state lawmakers to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment in 1972.
They also aimed to increase representation of gay and lesbian identities in the media. The ALFA created a newsletter called the Atalanta which publicized local, regional and national news that pertained to gay people, feminists, and leftists. Although the organization disbanded in 1994, their legacy impacts the movement for LGBTQ+ rights in the South today.
Source: Syracuse University
Minnie Bruce Pratt (1946-2023)
Minnie Bruce Pratt, was a poet and educator from Alabama. Pratt was part of a group of lesbian feminists who started to think and write about the complexities and intersections of gender, sexuality, race, and class, capitalism, and imperialism in the late twentieth century. Over the course of her career, Pratt authored eight books of poetry. Her 1989 book, “Crime Against Nature”, discussed her relationship with her two sons, and was one of the first pieces of literature to discuss the experience of lesbian motherhood.
Throughout her career, Pratt taught women’s and gender studies on multiple college campuses. From 2005 to 2015, while teaching at Syracuse University, she helped to develop the university’s first LGBTQ+ studies program. Pratt received multiple literary awards, including from the Academy of American Poets, the American Library Association, the Poetry Society of America, Lambda Literary and the Publishing Triangle.
