Ruth Simpson, a leader in the gay liberation movement who wrote a well-regarded critique of social and political attitudes toward lesbians in the 1970s, died May 8, in Woodstock, N.Y., after a series of illnesses. She was 82.
Simpson became prominent in 1970, when she led the New York chapter of Daughters of Bilitis, the oldest U.S. lesbian rights organization. As president, she began to steer it in a more activist direction, which included establishing one of the first lesbian community centers in the United States.
She also wrote From the Closet to the Courts, a book that examined discrimination against lesbians in various arenas, including religion, psychiatry, the legal system and the women's and gay rights movements. Originally published in 1976 by Viking Press and reissued last year by Take Root Media, it was unusual for its time, not only because few major publishers were interested in works about lesbianism but also because it blended personal history with analysis.
See Gay liberation leader Ruth Simpson dies
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