In 1974, Lammas opened as a craft and jewelry store that also stocked some books. It quickly evolved into a bookstore. Lammas was a meeting space for women in the lesbian community as well as a retail store. The publication Women's Monthly, which at one time was published by Lammas, conducted a survey around the time of the store's closure and found that most respondents attended events there like author readings or movie screenings in addition to patronizing it by purchasing books.Owners of the store over the years included Jane Troxell, who later became the director of the Lambda Literary Foundation, and Sylvia Colon.The closing of Lammas was part of a rise in independent bookstore closures in the early 2000s, due in part to the growth of chain and online booksellers. During this period, distinctly lesbian spaces were also closing in the Washington, DC area as LGBTQ culture gained more mainstream acceptance.

Lammas advertisement in "The Blade," December 1977. Courtesy of the Rainbow History Project (reproduced under Fair Use)

Dupont Circle Walking Tour, The Rainbow History Project

More Info

This was the final location of Lammas Women's Books & More, a lesbian and feminist bookstore that operated from 1974 to 2000. Founded as a jewelry and craft store in 1974 at 321 7th Street SE near Eastern Market, Lammas later evolved into a bookstore and moved to several locations before landing on 17th Street NW. In addition to being a bookstore, Lammas was a community space where lesbians could organize actions, watch movies, and attend workshops.

Lammas Women's Books & More (1974-2000)

Tour of sites related to the social and political history of the LGBTQ community in Washington, DC. The Rainbow History Project has also created a series of LGBT history tours at https://www.rainbowhistory.org/?page_id=661. 

LGBTQ History in the Capital

Admin

Barbara Gittings was the daughter of a U.S. diplomat. She was born in Vienna, Austria on January 31st, 1932. She moved to Delaware after the start of WWll. Barbara, while attending high school, was a good student however, was denied entry into the National Honors Society due to character profiling by a teacher. This profiling labeled her as homosexual. Over time, her self-examination led her to sessions with a psychologist who made claims that homosexuality could be “fixed.” This experience inspired Barbara to frequent the library, read, and research. She left home in Delaware at the age of 18 and moved to Philadelphia. Driven to remove inaccurate labeling and claims made by the medical establishments and empower the civil rights of gays, Barbara Gittings walked a life of activism in American civil rights. In 1958 at the age of 26, Barbara Gittings founded the New York chapter of The Daughters of Bilitis. Along with this accomplishment for which she is known, she edited lesbian magazine The Ladder from 1963 to 1966. It was in 1972 that she fought to change the psychological diagnosis of homosexuality away from illness which often was termed Sexual Inversion. This thinking connected crime, defect, and mental illness with homosexuality. Gittings found that there were no psychologists who were gay involved in the decision-making processes. The awareness that she brought to this problem also brought an increase in APA support to the views presented in this activism. In 1973 the diagnosis given to homosexuality by the psychological community was removed. It was no longer considered an illness. This was a great victory for the GLBTQ community in America, and around the world. Barbara Gittings died of breast cancer on February 18th, 2007.At the memorial service for her, Matt Foreman, the director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force said, "What do we owe Barbara? Everything." Barbara Gittings is recognized for her political contribution toward equal employment for gays and she marched in protest at the White House and the Philadelphia’s Independence Hall. Her walk through history, a protest of injustices, was one of great strides in the LGBTQ civil rights movement in America.

Barbara Gittings' final resting place is located within the Historic Congressional Cemetery in Washington, D.C. Her grave marks more than where she lies. Her life as an activist, and now her death, represents great accomplishments in the GLBTQ American civil rights movement. Barbara Gittings contributed much to the field of psychology and views of sexuality. This was only a part of the civil rights movement attributed to her work. Her contributions were not limited to Psychology but also politics. Bringing awareness to gay employment and equality, her activism lives today. 

Barbara Gittings' Grave 

Leonard P. Matlovich, a Vietnam War veteran and recipient of the Purple Heart and Bronze Star,&nbsp;was born on July 6th 1943 and died on June 22nd 1988. He served in the United States Air Force from 1963-1975.&nbsp;Although his&nbsp;service to America was grand, it was not his greatest service to our country. Unveiling the mistreatment &nbsp;of gays in the military, he bravely disclosed his sexual orientation and fought a battle for gay equality in the U.S. military. Disclosure of his sexuality brought attention to gays in the military and the desire to have equal treatment. His journey as a Gay activist brought change to the LGBT community and awareness to America with the publicity he gained by appearing on the cover of TIME magazine, the September 8, 1975 issue. Having worked successfully in "race relations" in the military, he connected the similarities between the discrimination of minorities and gays. Experiences in his military career stimulated his spirit of activism for gay rights. The U.S. Military found Matlovich unfit for service after his sexuality orientation disclosure. Though this door in his life was unfairly closed, a door of activism for the LGBT community was opened. While in Europe after a visit to the grave of Oscar Wilde, his burden to memorialize those who were gay and had served their country led him to pursue a gay memorial in the United States. This desire was a foreshadowing of the design for his own gravesite. Leonard Matlovich continued his Gay Rights activism and his fight for AIDS treatments and education even after his own diagnosis of AIDS. Just as he was open with the U.S. Military regarding his sexuality, he was just as open with his AIDS diagnosis. Matlovich, as and activist and a self-less man, fought a battle against gay prejudice by willingly sacrificing his career, his religion, and gaining the stigmatic reproach that came with being gay, as well as with the AIDS virus. Planning for his death, he designed his own grave marker. Buried at the Congressional Cemetery in D.C., his grave marker reads "A Gay Vietnam Veteran, When I was in the military, they gave me a medal for killing two men and a discharge for loving one." (Inscription on Matlovich's tombstone)&nbsp;&nbsp;His design included that the stone be made similar to the Vietnam&nbsp;War Memorial and&nbsp;reflecting the sacrifice made by the men who not only lost their lives serving their country, but the gay men who lost their lives serving their country. Also, he recognizes the persecution of gays within the Nazi regime by the inscription of 2 pink triangles on the stone. A photo of this stone is available on Clio. Leonard Matlovich could have kept his sexuality a secret. He could have cooperated with the military and renounced his gay life. But he sacrificed his career and his life, as he knew it before his "coming out," in order to pursue a career as an activist and be a voice for the LGBT community. Although his life was cut short by AIDS, as he planned his death arrangements, he speaks loudly from the grave with his words engraved on a monument memorializing those who made the ultimate sacrifice and were gay. 3.

Leonard Matlovich made American history on March 6th 1975 when he personally delivered a letter to his commanding officer which challenged the inequality in the military for the gay population. Bringing the issue of gay segregation to public attention and when asked "What does this mean?" Matlovich said, "It means Brown versus the Board of Education." 1 Collaborating with the Gay Rights activist Frank Kameny, Matlovich put his perfect military record on the line and began a journey of Gay Rights activism of his own for the liberation of Gay Americans. Refusing to sign a document saying he would "never practice homosexuality again," he sacrificed his military service for a battle other than Vietnam; a battle for Gay Rights on American soil.2 

Leonard Matlovich's Gravesite 

The Furies in Greek Mythology were spirits of vengeance, female spirits that resided in the underworld, where they punished the wicked by driving them insane.1 They are also known as "the Erinyes," a derivative of Greek, which means "the angry ones." The name of this group is no accident,as Ginny Berson eventually point out in her January 1972 article for the The Furies newspaper2. Members of the Furies Collective were Rita Mae Brown, Nancy Myron, Jennifer Woodul, Helaine Harris, Susan Hathaway, Charlotte Bunch, Joan Biren, Ginny Berson, Sharon Deevey, Coletta Reid, Tasha Peterson, and Lee Schwing3. All of the members were lesbians and were with the amount of control the patriarchy had in American society. They were tired of male supremacy and the dominant force of heterosexuality and worked to be as independent as possible from these entities3.  The group would occupy an additional two residences: 1861 NW California Street and 2900 18th St NW. In the spring of 1971, The Furies, rudely called "Those Women" by the staff of a daycare across the street from their house on California, decided to start a Women's Skills Center, where women could learn life skills such as Spanish as a second language, take self-defense classes, and become skilled at basic car-repair techniques2. By the fall of 1971, The Women's Skills Center was established as a resource for women. Each woman in Those Women--they appropriated the name--had a role in the programs provided, they were: "Nancy Myron, Lesbian Press; Lee Schwing, Lesbian Newspaper; Sharon Deevey, Lesbian Pamphlet Series; Ginny Berson, sports; Charlotte Bunch, Women’s Skills Center; [and], Rita Mae Brown [was in charge of the\ Women’s Film Festival2." After their experience with producing motive, a lesbian feminist magazine and a publication for the United Methodist Church, when the women moved to Capital Hill in Washington, D.C., they began their lesbian feminist newspaper, The Furies. Built in 1913, Nicholas T. Haller, the architect, designed this rowhouse with ten large rooms--bedrooms,kitchen, bathrooms, dining room, basement, and a master bedroom. It was already a part of the Capitol Hill Historic District, but would become vital in the lesbian rights movement when "Those Women" rent the house to use it as their headquarters for their newspaper publication, The Furies, the title that replaced "Those Women." The basement served as the location for working on all aspects of the newspaper--writing, design, and packing1. The rest of the house was occupied by different events such as The Furies Meetings, educational programs, and "conscious-raising meetings"2. The newspaper was underpinned by lesbian feminist theory, and contained poetry, articles, and essays on issues with the lesbian feminist community--like male dominance, the need for more visibility and validation of lesbians, race, and class1. Although this group gave voice to the lesbian feminist struggle, the women's differences frayed the group because of tensions regarding socio-economic backgrounds and ideologies. The women did live together in the house and shared everything, member Ginny Berson told Slate: "We were very deliberate with how we shared money. Women with more privilege, who could get better jobs needed to put more in [the budget for living expenses]. Otherwise the women with least privilege and least education would be stuck working 40 hours a week at terrible jobs, and we wanted everyone to have time for political work4..”After the Collective dissolved in the summer of 1972, the women continued on with their advocacy separately with professions in the arts and socail justice--writers, human rights workers, and photographers. Former members also helped found organizations and companies, "Women in Distribution," "Olivia Records," and "Diana Press"4. The house also retained it's place as an active part of the lesbian women's movement, when Lammas Women's Shop opened in 19731. The rowhouse is now a private residence.

In the early 1970s, the Women's Liberation and Gay Liberation Movements were gaining traction. However, the Lesbian movement faced sexism and oppression from an ingrained patriarchal force from inside the feminist movement. The Furies Collective, a lesbian feminist group tried to challenge and overcome the patriarchy by creating a place for the collective of strong, lesbian women to expressive themselves. According to Brown in an interview with the MAKERS, she faced opposition from the heterosexual women of NOW and Betty Friedan, who purged the lesbians from their organization, known as the "lavender menace" for fear of becoming too radical, that it would hurt their movement. Brown states that these women were "rather privileged and very bright, [they] treated lesbians the way that men treated them."  This rowhouse was one of the locations in which the Furies Collective held their meetings between the spring of 1971 and the summer  of 1973, and it was also a communal living space for the women, in which they shared everything. 

The Furies Collective House

In 1974, Lammas opened as a craft and jewelry store that also stocked some books. It quickly evolved into a bookstore. Lammas was a meeting space for women in the lesbian community as well as a retail store. The publication Women's Monthly, which at one time was published by Lammas, conducted a survey around the time of the store's closure and found that most respondents attended events there like author readings or movie screenings in addition to patronizing it by purchasing books. Owners of the store over the years included Jane Troxell, who later became the director of the Lambda Literary Foundation, and Sylvia Colon. The closing of Lammas was part of a rise in independent bookstore closures in the early 2000s, due in part to the growth of chain and online booksellers. During this period, distinctly lesbian spaces were also closing in the Washington, DC area as LGBTQ culture gained more mainstream acceptance.

In 1971, Deacon Maccubin opened EarthWorks, a headshop that also carried LGBTQ books and magazines, at 1724 20th Street NW. EarthWorks was the first non-bar business in the capital that specifically catered to gay customers. By 1974, the business was doing well enough to found Lambda Rising as a separate bookstore business. The bookstore served as a community hub as well. In 1975, the shop hosted the first Gay Pride Day block party in the city, which has now evolved into Capital Pride. Other gay, leftist, and art organizations also operated on the premises, such as the publications Off Our Backs, the Gay Blade (precursor to the Washington Blade) and the Gay Switchboard; gay youth groups; DC Switchboard; Defense Committee for the Black Panthers; the Youth International Party; the American Society for Theatre Arts; and the Playwright's Theatre. Businesses such as Alternatives, Androgyne, Bread and Roses Music, and Amy Horowitz's Roadwork also operated at the site. The bookstore moved in May 1977 to a larger location at 2012 S St NW. The bookstore moved again in 1984 to 1625 Connecticut Avenue, where it operated until its closing in 2010. Its legacy continues in Lambda Literary, an organization supporting and awarding LGBTQ authors which arose from Maccubin's Lambda Book Report and Lambda Book Awards founded in the 1980s.

Deacon Maccubin founded this LGBTQ bookstore in Dupont Circle. The store and its parent organization, Earthworks, operated in this space until 1977, when the bookstore moved to 2012 S St NW. Lambda Rising was the first non-bar business in the capital to specifically serve the gay community, and in 1975 held the first Gay Pride Day block party. In addition to being a bookstore, Lambda Rising served as a hub for Washington's gay, arts, and leftist communities, and this building was known as "The Community Building." The bookstore operated from 1974 to 2010 at larger locations, eventually operating several satellite bookstores in Maryland and Virginia.

Original Lambda Rising Location

Franklin
Edward Kameny, known as Frank Kameny, was born May 21st, 1925 and died October
11th, 2011. Known as "America's First Gay Activist," 86 year old
Kameny left a legacy for not only the LGBT community, he left a legacy for the
world. In the midst of the Civil Rights Movement,&nbsp;Kameny fought for equality in
many walks of life, including the fight for equality among Gay America. 

Kameny
was a federal employee in the 1950s. As a child, he dreamed of becoming an
astronomer. This dream became a reality as he pursued an education and obtained
a Ph.D. in Astronomy from Harvard.1&nbsp;&nbsp;Kameny
held a position as Astronomer and was employed by the United States Army. This
dream came to an end in 1957 because of Kameny's sexuality. Kameny was dismissed from the United States Army as a homosexual. Although dismissed,
he made history when he fought back. Through his life work of Gay Rights activism,
he transformed "gay" in the eyes of the people, which helped to
remove labels of illness. “Gay is good!” (Kameny) He "personally
petitioned the United States Supreme Court" contesting his dismissal from
the Army based on his sexuality. (&nbsp;2010 BrowseBiography.com, Frank Kameny)
Although known as a quiet man, he did anything but remain silent. 

Dr.
Franklin E. Kameny (Frank), known as the “father of gay activism,” 3
lived in a quaint, two-story house which was built in 1955. It is a landmark
with the U.S. National Register of Historic Places, due to its connection with
the Gay Civil Rights Movement, in which it was the headquarters. 4&nbsp; Kameny
was the co-founder of the Mattachine Society. (founded in 1950) 5 The
house became a meeting place after it became his residence in 1962. He lived
there nearly 40 years. His Gay Rights activism helped to change the definition
of gay and brought liberation to the gay community. In 2009, the home became a
D.C. Historical Landmark even though he still occupied the home. 

After
his death, the home has had an uncertain future. Although it is registered a
U.S. Historic Place, the house was sold to a private buyer.6 
Located at 5020 Cathedral Ave., N.W., Washington, DC 20016, the house was sold
for $725,000. There has been some controversy regarding the sale however, those
who love Kameny profess his simple lifestyle and lack of assets; not begrudging
the sale and distribution of the money to his partner.7 

A
man of honor, strength, and a leader in American Gay Activism, Frank Kameny
broke through social, cultural, and legal barriers on behalf of gay liberation,
freedom, and equality. After his death, he was cremated and his ashes were
divided into two urns, one which was to be buried in the D.C. congressional
Cemetery, where his grave marker can be found. Although his burial was
scheduled for March 3rd 2012, there was a delay due to issues
regarding his estate between an heir and a gay social group that contributed to the
purchase of his gravesite.8&nbsp;&nbsp; His ashes are currently being stored at “Capitol Hill’s
Congressional Cemetery.” (washingtoncitypaper.com) 

Although
this iconic activist’s home and gravesite are in transitional situations of either new
private ownership or estate battles, the impact of Kameny’s work as an
activist resonates to this day. You will find the location of Kameny’s home here
on Clio and a link is provided for you to visit the historical Congressional
Cemetery in D.C. and see where his headstone marks his burial place at an
undetermined date in America’s future.

Franklin Edward Kameny, known as Frank Kameny, was born May 21st 1925 and died October 11th 2011. Known as "America's First Gay Activist," 86 year old Kameny left a legacy for not only the LGBT community, he left a legacy for the world. In the midst of the Civil Rights Movement, people fought for equality in many walks of life, including the fight for equality among Gay America. 



Frank Kameny House and Grave Site

This building, originally holding a garage, dates back to 1935-1940, but its significance comes from its role as home of The ClubHouse beginning in the 1970s. Metropolitan Capitolites, a group for queer Black Washington residents, founded The ClubHouse here in 1974. This group had been throwing popular house parties, an alternative to the sometimes racist Washington gay bar scene, but needed a larger space. Even after opening two bars, the Zodiac Den and the Third World on Riggs Road, they still needed a larger venue. People who wanted to go to The ClubHouse had to apply for membership to the Metropolitan Capitolites. Aundrea and Paulette Scott, John Eddy, Chasten Morell, and Rainey Cheeks, along with 400 charter members, opened the club as a nonprofit in 1975; over time, membership grew higher than 4,000 people. Members could bring guests as well, and a typical weekend could bring 800 people to the club per night. Attractions included the club's in-house dance troupe; sound system installed by audio engineers from Studio 54; high-profile DJ performances; and celebrations like Mother's Day and Children's Hour. Party names included Black Hole at the End of the Universe, Land of Oz, Zodiac parties, Halloween costume parties, and A Spaghetti Party. The ClubHouse was instrumental in bringing house music to the capital city. As with several other contemporary LGBTQ businesses in the District of Columbia, The ClubHouse also served a second purpose as an activist space. In 1979, the club founded the Third World Gays conference. Mayoral candidate Marion Barry frequently stopped at The ClubHouse during his campaigns, seeking support from its community, and the club held fundraisers for him. The club was involved without other political campaigns as well, including a cocktail party for the 1980 Carter-Mondale campaign. In the 1980s it took a strong role in AIDS activism, and manager Rainey Cheeks hosted meditation sessions and self-help workshops for those living with HIV/AIDS. The club connected public health to the gay community. The HIV/AIDS crisis rampaged through the queer community in the 1980s, and at least 600 members of The ClubHouse perished in this time. Heterosexual patrons' numbers dwindled at the same time, and the club closed in 1990.

In the 1970s, the queer Black community in Washington tended to gather at house parties to avoid discriminatory practices at white bars. Social group the Metropolitan Capitolites founded The ClubHouse in 1974 and it opened in 1975 in this space, a former garage and warehouse. Individuals seeking admission were required to apply for membership. The original 400 members ballooned to several thousand over the next decade and a half. In addition to its parties, The ClubHouse was involved in LGBTQ and AIDS activism and politics. After The ClubHouse's closure in 1990, the site held another club, but has been vacant for several years.

LGBTQ History in the Capital

Lammas Women's Books & More (1974-2000)

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Sources

Additional Information