Virginia historical markers recognize people and places across the Commonwealth. Now one is noting LGBTQ history for the first time.
"Dr. Lilli Vincenz was a pioneering leader whose work as a journalist, filmmaker and psychotherapist empowered the national gay civil rights movement." That's the first sentence on a new historical marker that will be installed on Carlin Springs Road in Arlington – the first state marker to highlight Virginia LGBTQ history. Vincent Slatt at the Rainbow History Project says her documentaries from the late 60s and early 70s brought visibility to the movement.
"These films are important because it is the perception of what an LGBTQ person sees, right? It's a lesbian's lens," Slatt says. "So, she's telling our story about us rather than having someone else make a story and talk about us."
Vincenz was a co-founder of the Washington Blade newspaper, which began as a mimeographed underground newsletter.
"She could have never imagined that the modest newsletter that she created would evolve into a 55-year-old, 24/7 news operation with a dedicated chair in the White House briefing room and correspondents all over the world,” says Blade editor Kevin Naff. "We owe her a huge debt of gratitude, and she is most deserving of this recognition."
For years, Vincenz hosted a Gay Women's Open House at her home in the Columbia Heights neighborhood of Arlington, which will now be the location of the first LGBTQ historical marker in Virginia.
Here is the complete text of the marker:
Dr. Lilli Vincenz was a journalist, filmmaker, and psychotherapist whose work empowered the nation’s gay civil rights movement. A pioneering leader, Vincenz participated in the first gay rights protest at the White House in 1965 and co-founded the Washington Blade newspaper in 1969. Her documentaries featuring recordings of significant gay rights marches brought visibility to the movement. Vincenz was a resident of Arlington County, where she established and hosted the Gay Women’s Open House in her home in Columbia Heights West from 1971 to 1979. The Open House provided weekly gatherings that allowed lesbians, bisexuals, and women questioning their sexuality to meet in comfort and safety, fostering the development of the region’s openly LGBTQ+ community.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
