Marie Equi
| Marie Equi | |
|---|---|
.jpg) |
|
| Born |
Marie Diana Equi April 7, 1872 New Bedford, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Died | July 13, 1952 (aged 80) Portland, Oregon, U.S. |
| Occupation | Physician |
Marie Equi (April 7, 1872 – July 13, 1952) was an early American medical doctor in the American West devoted to providing care to working-class and poor patients. She regularly provided birth control information and abortions at a time when both were illegal. She became a political activist and advocated civic and economic reforms, including women's right to vote and an eight-hour workday. After being clubbed by a policeman in a 1913 workers' strike, Equi aligned herself with anarchists and the radical labor movement.
Equi was a lesbian who maintained a primary relationship with Harriet Speckart for more than a decade. The two women adopted an infant and raised the child in an early example of a same-sex alternative family. For her radical politics and same-sex relations, Equi battled discrimination and harassment. In 1918, Equi was convicted under the Sedition Act for speaking against U.S. involvement in World War I. She was sentenced to a three-year term at San Quentin State Prison. She was the only known lesbian and radical to be incarcerated at the prison.
Equi was the daughter of John Equi, an Italian immigrant, and Sarah Mullins, an Irish immigrant. She was born the fifth child and fifth daughter in a large working-class family in New Bedford, the former whaling capital of the world that became a textile manufacturing powerhouse during Equi’s early years. She attended New Bedford High School for one year before dropping out to work in a textile mill to support herself. In 1892 Equi escaped a grim future in the mills and joined her high school girlfriend, Bessie Holcomb, on an Oregon homestead along the Columbia River.
In the late 19th century, little was known or publicly discussed about same-sex affairs between women. Instead in some spheres of society in the United States, people recognized “romantic friendships” among women. Wealthy and professional women at the time undertook what were called “Boston Marriages.” These associations entailed varying degrees of emotional and affectionate intimacy between two women and, often, sexual activity as well.
...
Wikipedia