In Memoriam: Sally Miller Gearhart (1931–2021)
In Memoriam: Sally Miller Gearhart (1931–2021)
Lesbian activist Sally Miller Gearhart, who helped launch the field of Women’s Studies and with Harvey Milk was key to the defeat of anti-gay Proposition 6 that would have banned LGBT teachers from public schools, died on June 14 in Ukiah at the age of 90. One of the most prominent and influential out lesbians in Bay Area history, Gearhart was the first openly lesbian member of the boards of the San Francisco Family Service Agency and the San Francisco Mental Health Association. Through such positions, she fought homophobia and misogyny and advanced civil rights for all.