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Uncovering the Queer History of the Women's Suffrage Movement in California

The women’s suffrage movement was very queer. But, the queer history of the campaign for the vote has been largely erased. The true story of their lives and loves were buried or obscured. Historian Wendy Rouse has attempted to recover some of this lost queer history. By piecing together clues from the personal diaries, letters, and the private papers of individual suffragists, Rouse has begun to reconstruct the queer history of the suffrage movement. This investigation has helped reveal the important role of queerness and queer suffragists in the fight for the vote.

Wendy L. Rouse is associate professor of History at San Jose State University. Her scholarly research focuses on the history of women, gender and sexuality during the Progressive Era. Rouse’s most recent work, "Public Faces, Secret Lives: The Queer History of the Women’s Suffrage Movement", explores the ways that suffragists challenged norms of gender and sexuality in their era. Rouse is also the author of "Children of Chinatown: Growing Up Chinese American in San Francisco, 1880-1920" and "Her Own Hero: The Origins of the Women’s Self-Defense Movement". https://wendylrouse.com/

Jun 7, 2022 05:30 PM in Pacific Time (US and Canada)