Women's Activism NYC

Amber L. Hollibaugh

1946 - 2023

By: | Date Added:
Edited

Amber L. Hollibaugh was an American writer, filmmaker, activist and organizer concerned with working class, lesbian and feminist politics, especially around sexuality. She was a former Executive Director of Queers for Economic Justice and was Senior Activist Fellow Emerita at the Barnard Center for Research on Women. Hollibaugh proudly identified as a "lesbian sex radical, ex-hooker, incest survivor, gypsy child, poor-white-trash, high femme dyke." As discourse on sexuality in the feminist and lesbian feminist movements picked up in the late seventies, Hollibaugh was a significant voice in support of sexual liberation and sex work. Hollibaugh, alongside writer and organizer CherrĂ­e Moraga, co-authored the piece "What We're Rollin' around in Bed With" a much-cited and discussed piece in the controversial "Sex Issue" of Heresies: A Feminist Publication on Art and Politics. Hollibaugh was a speaker at the 1982 Barnard Conference on Sexuality, a key event in what would become known as the Feminist Sex Wars. Hollibaugh has written on the marginalization she experienced afterwards as a result of being a former sex worker and her involvement in the sadomasochism community. Hollibaugh was the director and co-producer with Gini Reticker of The Heart of the Matter, a 60-minute documentary film about the confusing messages women students receive about sexuality and sexually transmitted diseases such as AIDS. The film won the 1994 Sundance Film Festival Freedom of Expression Award and premiered to a national audience on PBS. In 2012, Hollibaugh received the Vicki Sexual Freedom Award from the Woodhull Freedom Foundation. Hollibaugh was the Chief Officer of Elder & LBTI Women's Services at Howard Brown Health Center in Chicago. She was a director of education, advocacy and community building at Services & Advocacy for GLBT Elders (SAGE), a New York program dedicated to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender senior education, advocacy, and community organizing.

click here

Share This Story

We'd Love Your Feedback

Share your thoughts on this story with us. Your comments will not be made public.

Email

WomensActivism.NYC is a project of the NYC Department of Records and Information Services