Kay Tobin Lahusen, a prominent gay rights activist whose photographs documented the movement’s earliest days and depicted lesbians who were out when they were virtually absent from popular culture, died on Wednesday in West Chester, Pa. She was 91. Her death in a hospital, was confirmed by Malcolm Lazin, a longtime friend and the executive director of the Equality Forum, an L.G.B.T.Q. Ms. Lahusen and her longtime partner, Barbara Gittings, were at the forefront of the lesbian rights movement, determined to make whom they loved a source of pride rather than shame. They were early members of the Daughters of Bilitis, the first national lesbian organization, and soon spoke out about their sexuality and their demands for equality at a time when gay rights groups were less vocal. In the 1960s, they helped organize protests at a National Council of Churches meeting, the Pentagon and the White House well before the Stonewall uprising in Greenwich Village in 1969, a pivotal event for the gay rights movement.

Source: New York Times May 27, 2021 20:12 UTC