Daughters of Bilitis and the Ladder that Teetered

ABSTRACT

This article traces the economic history of the Daughters of Bilitis, the first national Lesbian organization, and its periodical The Ladder. Besides membership, subscriptions and fundraisers were monetary donations and in-kind “gifts” from businesses. Staff labor was volunteer. Compensation for authors was DOB's guarantee of full rights to their own work. Funding was precarious until an anonymous donor came to the rescue. Funds were funneled through a member/friend who singularly decided what project to back. Officers of the organization were not privy to an overall plan, nor any accounting of how the funds were spent. In the end, secrecy was the undoing of DOB as a national organization and the demise of The Ladder as well.

Key Words:

• Lesbian
• lesbian activism
• fundraising