Lilli Vincenz

Lilli Vincenz
Born	(1937-09-26) September 26, 1937 Hamburg, Germany
Known for	The Mattachine Society

Lilli Vincenz is a lesbian activist and the first lesbian member of the gay political activist effort, the Mattachine Society of Washington (MSW). She served as the editor of the organization's newsletter and in 1969 along with Nancy Tucker created the independent newspaper, the Gay Blade, which later became the Washington Blade.

Vincenz invited women to meet every week at her home during the 1970s to create a safe venue for gay women to discuss gay activism and other lesbian related issues and her home became known as the Gay Women's Open House (GWOH). These meetings became the Gay Women's Alternative. She described her decision in an interview:

I decided to have women come into our home every week for seven years, and it just become an establishment. And it was wonderful to have them come, and we had musicians come ... lots of women who didn't know where to go, they didn't want to go to the bars, they just wanted to be in a place that was safe, so we provided that.

Her January 1966 photograph taken by Kay Lahusen was the first woman to appear on the cover of lesbian magazine The Ladder with her face showing and she was the only self-identified lesbian to participate in the second White House picket with Frank Kameny.

In 2013 her papers, films and other memorabilia were donated to the Library of Congress.