Just in time for Pride Month, lesbian activist Marie Equi (1872-1952) is being honored by the National Park Service (NPS) and the Oregon State Secretary of State for her courage and commitment to economic and social justice.
The New Bedford Whaling National Historic Park, part of NPS, triggered the attention to Equi with an exhibit featuring her contributions during the 2018 Pride Month. The profile of Equi highlights her early life, her role as an early woman physician in the West, her controversial fights for women’s and labor’s rights, her romantic and intimate relations with women, and her adopting a child. Equi’s inclusion in the story of the United States by the National Park Service is significant for spotlighting, for the first time, a lesbian doctor and political radical. Read her NPS profile here.
The New Bedford Whaling National Historic Park, part of NPS, triggered the attention to Equi with an exhibit featuring her contributions during the 2018 Pride Month. The profile of Equi highlights her early life, her role as an early woman physician in the West, her controversial fights for women’s and labor’s rights, her romantic and intimate relations with women, and her adopting a child. Equi’s inclusion in the story of the United States by the National Park Service is significant for spotlighting, for the first time, a lesbian doctor and political radical. Read her NPS profile here.
On the West Coast, the office of the Oregon Secretary of State has included Marie Equi among the “Notable Oregonians” featured on its website. Equi is recognized for woman suffrage work, her fight for labor justice, and her opposition to World War I. The site also notes that Equi was the first publicly known lesbian in Oregon.* Equi first settled in the state in 1892 when she joined her girlfriend on a homestead outside The Dalles, Oregon along the Columbia River. After a relocation to San Francisco, Equi returned to Oregon to receive her medical degree and to practice in Pendleton, Oregon and then in Portland. She lived the rest of her adult life in the state. Equi was beloved by many for her commitment to justice and her fierce defense of the underdog.
*Based on research for Equi’s biography, “Marie Equi: Radical Politics and Outlaw Passions,” Oregon State University Press, Michael Helquist, 2015. Available in print and kindle, from independent bookstores and online at Amazon. Also see marieequi.com.
RSS Feed