--- description: Barbara Gittings is one of the leaders, innovators, activists, entertainers, athletes and artists who defined the last century. title: Barbara Gittings: 100 Women of the Year image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfca2b35c93144fb2/698a0aeedb29876da5265030/social-1964_Barbara-Gittings.jpg?branch=production --- * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # 1964: Barbara Gittings Mar 5, 2020 11:37 AM CUT  Buy the cover art→ Buy the cover art→Illustration by Ivana Besevic ; Kay Tobin—Manuscripts and Archives Division/NYPL by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 5, 2020 11:37 AM CUT [The Stonewall riots](https://time.com/5598363/stonewall-beginnings-history/ "undefined") have become the focal point of the modern [LGBTQ-rights movement](https://time.com/5617238/lgbtq-community-after-stonewall/ "undefined"), but they didn’t start it. The groundwork was laid in the previous decade by activists like Barbara Gittings, who understood that before marginalized people can prevail, they must understand that they are worthy and that they are not alone. In an era when it was dangerous to be out, Gittings edited the _Ladder,_ a periodical published by the nation’s first known lesbian-rights organization, the Daughters of Bilitis, creating a sense of national identity and providing a platform for resistance. In the August 1964 issue, her editorial blasted a medical report that described homosexuality as a disease, writing that it treated lesbians like her more as “curious specimens” than as humans. Gittings would go on to be instrumental in getting the American Psychiatric Association to [stop classifying homosexuality as a mental illness](https://time.com/3705745/history-therapy-hadden/ "undefined") and in getting libraries to carry gay literature. Whether she was wielding a pen or a protest sign, the militant advocate had a simple message: when society said that being gay was an abomination, Gittings said that gay was good. _—Katy Steinmetz_ [**Buy the cover art→**](https://fineartamerica.com/featured/barbara-gittings-1964-time.html "undefined") --- _This article is part of_ [_100 Women of the Year_](https://time.com/100-women-of-the-year/ "undefined")_, TIME’s list of the most influential women of the past century. Read more_ [_about the project_](https://time.com/5793734/time-100-women-of-the-year-issue/ "undefined")_, explore the_ [_100 covers_](https://time.com/5793732/time-100-women-of-the-year-covers/ "undefined") _and sign up for our_ [_Inside TIME newsletter_](https://cloud.newsletters.time.com/newsletters?newsletter%5Fname=INSIDE%5FTIME&source=article-woy-footer "undefined") _for more._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5793614/barbara-gittings-100-women-of-the-year/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5793614/barbara-gittings-100-women-of-the-year/"},"headline":"1964: Barbara Gittings","datePublished":"2020-03-05T11:37:44.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T08:21:08.435Z","description":"Barbara Gittings is one of the leaders, innovators, activists, entertainers, athletes and artists who defined the last century.","url":"https://time.com/5793614/barbara-gittings-100-women-of-the-year/","keywords":["Women of the Year"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfca2b35c93144fb2/698a0aeedb29876da5265030/social-1964_Barbara-Gittings.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfca2b35c93144fb2/698a0aeedb29876da5265030/social-1964_Barbara-Gittings.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"SOCIAL - Women of the Year: 1964_Barbara-Gittings","caption":"","creditText":"","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5793614/barbara-gittings-100-women-of-the-year/","name":"1964: Barbara Gittings"}}]}] ```