A Woman to Know: Ruth Ellis
She was old and black and poor and gay, and happily herself. — Dudley Clendinen
(image via Nancy Andrews)
For entire decades, Ruth Ellis made headlines as "the oldest surviving lesbian." At 80 years of living openly as a gay woman in Detroit, journalists marveled at her tenacity. Ruth and her partner, "Babe" Franklin, turned their home into a salon for the LGBTQ community, known as "the gay spot" amongst Detroit visitors.
After Babe died in the 1970s, Ruth opened their place up as a safe haven for runaway gay teens. Today, the Ruth Ellis Community Center in Detroit fosters homeless LGTBQ youth -- and, most importantly, takes care of elderly gay adults.
Add to your library list:
Black Queer Studies: A Critical Anthology (E. Patrick Johnson and Mae G. Henderson)
Inventing Lesbian Culture in America (Ellen Lewin)
Read more:
As Hard to Grow Old as it was to be Young (The New York Times)
About Ruth Ellis (Ruth Ellis Center)
Gay Youths Find Place to Call Home in Specialty Shelters (The New York Times)
93-Year-Old Lesbian from Detroit (Nancy Andrews)
Left Behind: LGBT Homeless Youth (NBC News)
Portrait of a 100-Year-Old Lesbian (Curve Magazine)
Ruth Ellis (Sisters in the Life)
An epidemic of homelessness (National Gay & Lesbian Taskforce)
Listen more:
Living with Pride: Ruth Ellis (C.C. Carter)
** A note: Lena Dunham recently announced she would match donations to the Ruth Ellis Center.**
** Thank you to Amy Elliott Bragg for recommending Ruth as a woman to know! And for supporting this newsletter. **
** Send your own recommendations for women to know! Reply to this newsletter with your lady and she could be featured in an upcoming edition. You can browse the archive here. **