In honor of #BlackHistoryMonth, we're celebrating queer pioneers! Ernestine Eckstein was one of the first Black women on the forefront of the LGBTQ+ rights movement in the 1960's, putting her knowledge from the Civil Rights movement to good use.
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After college, she moved to New York City where she grew into her identity as a lesbian and decided to join the movement for LGBTQ+ rights. After a friend explained the term "gay" to her, she said, "Then all of a sudden things began to click … the next thing on the agenda was to find a way of being in the homosexual movement."
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Eckstein often demonstrated for LGBTQ+ rights as the only woman of color among other white protestors, connecting the dots between Black Civil Rights and LGBTQ+ rights. She eventually became a leader in the New York chapter of Daughters of Bilitis, as well as other Black feminist organizations like Black Women Organized for Action (BWOA). She was in favor of doing away with labels, and uniting people together as people alone. “I’d like to find a way of getting all classes of homosexuals involved together in the movement." 💪