Sally Miller Gearhart
| Sally Miller Gearhart | |
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Sally Miller Gearhart in Eugene, Oregon, November 2013
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| Born | Sally Miller Gearhart April 15, 1931 Pearisburg, Virginia, US |
| Occupation | Novelist |
| Genre | Science fiction |
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Sally Miller Gearhart (born April 15, 1931) is an American teacher, radical feminist, science fiction writer, and political activist. In 1973 she became the first open lesbian to obtain a tenure-track faculty position when she was hired by San Francisco State University, where she helped establish one of the first women and gender study programs in the country. She later became a nationally known gay rights activist. She has been controversial for her statement that "The proportion of men must be reduced to and maintained at approximately 10% of the human race", made in her essay "The Future-If There is One-Is Female".
Gearhart grew up in the Appalachian mountains of Virginia. She was raised by her grandmother and mother after her parents divorced and the influence of these two would shape her thoughts on the roles and importance of women. Another important influence in her life were the many movies Gearhart watched thanks to the local theater her grandmother owned. Looking back, she said, "There was another undercurrent going on. That was my lesbianism. From when I was ten years old, I knew that I wasn't going to have children."
Gearhart attended an all-women's institution, Sweet Briar College near Lynchburg, Virginia. She graduated with a B.A. in Drama and English in 1952. At Bowling Green State University she obtained a master's degree in theater and public address in 1953. She continued on at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, getting her Ph.D. in theater in 1956, with the intent of pursuing a life of academia.
Gearhart began teaching speech and theater at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas, and later moved to Texas Lutheran College (now University) in Seguin, Texas. In both positions, Gearhart lived in the closet, determined to hide her true sexual identity to fit with the culture of the schools. As a professor, she was incredibly popular and sought-after, but her personal life was full of the struggles of living in the closet. This continued until she moved to San Francisco, California in 1970.
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