Editing Daughters of Bilitis (section)

===Change in direction===

In 1960, letters from readers in ''The Ladder'' appeared that expressed exasperation with the DOB's emphasis on [[conformity]]. <ref>Gallo, p. 55</ref> In the 1970s, Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon reflected that by contemporary standards, the early ideals of the DOB for integration and adjustment of the lesbian into society were outmoded. They also remembered that, in the 1950s and early 1960s, many gay men and lesbians considered those ideals unreachable and this approach radical.<ref>Meeker, p. 83</ref> The DOB never had the number of members comparable to the Mattachine Society's. Although some may have considered the DOB's ideals unrealistic, some also considered them too tame.<ref name="glbtq" />

In 1961 the largest raid on a gay bar in San Francisco resulted in the arrests of 100 people. In a raid in [[Chicago]], police forced women arrested to disrobe to prove they were not wearing men's underwear. ''The Ladder'' called for lesbian women to be more politically active. "If we ever hope to win our battle, we must fight. First, unshackle ourselves from fear, for it alone is our omnipresent enemy," read the report.<ref>D. S. "Readers Respond." ''Ladder,'' Apr61, Vol. 5 Issue 7, p21.</ref>

But in 1962 at the Daughters' second convention, national president Jaye Bell again argued for the pragmatic approach of integration and patience with slow change in the [[United States criminal justice system|criminal justice system]]. In 1963 two events happened that changed the course of the organization. The group received a windfall when an anonymous donor (who refused for her name to be recorded, and known to the DOB only as "Pennsylvania") began donating large sums of money to the group: $100,000 over five years. "Pennsylvania" wrote $3,000 checks to different DOB members, who in turn signed them over to the organization.<ref>Gallo, p. 83</ref> Barbara Gittings took over as editor of ''The Ladder''. 

Because ''The Ladder'' was the primary method of communication from the leadership of the DOB to individual chapters, the editorship was extremely influential. Gittings made significant changes to the magazine, emphasizing an increase in visibility for the DOB. Specifically, she wanted to align the DOB with the [[East Coast Homophile Organizations]] (ECHO), a coalition of other social and political clubs for gays and lesbians. ECHO was established in January 1962, with its formative membership including the DOB chapter in New York, the [[Mattachine Society]] chapters in New York and Washington D.C., and the [[Janus Society]]. ECHO was meant to facilitate cooperation among homophile organizations and outside administrations.<ref>''ECHO Monthly,'' Jan. 26-Sep 1, 1963</ref>

Audiences were getting impatient with psychiatrists telling them they were mentally ill. In 1964 at an ECHO convention, featured speaker, psychologist [[Albert Ellis (psychologist)|Albert Ellis]], stated that "the exclusive homosexual is a [[psychopath]]". Someone in the audience responded, "Any homosexual who would come to you for treatment, Dr. Ellis, would ''have'' to be a psychopath!" a comment that was met with applause.<ref>Shotwell, Jody. "ECHO convention '63." ''The Ladder'', Dec 1963, Vol. 8 Issue 3, p8.</ref>

In 1964, Martin and Lyon began to control less of the organization, saying, "We felt that if the organization had any validity at all it couldn't be based on two people, it had to be able to stand and grow on its own. And it was never going to do it if we didn't move out."<ref>Tobin, p. 53</ref> 

Martin and Lyon joined the newly formed [[Council on Religion and the Homosexual]] (CRH) to develop a dialogue between [[organized religion]] and gays and lesbians. They urged the DOB to join the organization as well, but a previous rule precluded the DOB from joining separate organizations. (This had been established under earlier conditions, primarily to ensure it would not join organizations that sympathized with Communist aims.) 

But the DOB did collaborate with the CRH at times. Most notably, on the eve of January 1, 1965, several homophile organizations in San Francisco, including the DOB, the CRH, the [[Society for Individual Rights]], and the [[Mattachine Society]], held a fund-raising ball for their mutual benefit at California Hall on Polk Street.<ref name="miller_p348">Miller, Neil (1995). ''Out of the Past: Gay and Lesbian History from 1869 to the present.'' New York: Vintage Books. pp. 348. {{ISBN|978-0679749882}}.</ref> Although San Francisco police had agreed not to interfere, on the evening of the ball, the police showed up in force and surrounded the California Hall. They focused numerous klieg lights on the entrance and photographed each of the 600-plus persons who entered.<ref name="miller_p348" /> Numerous police vans were parked in plain view near the entrance to the ball, further intimidating attendees.<ref name="miller_p348" /> 

[[Evander Smith]], a lawyer for the groups organizing the ball including the DOB, and [[Herb Donaldson (lawyer)|Herb Donaldson]] tried to stop the police from conducting the fourth "inspection" of the evening; both were arrested along with two heterosexual lawyers, Elliott Leighton and Nancy May, who were supporting the rights of participants to gather at the ball.<ref name="miller_p348" /> Twenty-five of the most prominent lawyers in San Francisco joined the defense team for the four lawyers. When the case came to court, the judge directed the jury to find the four not guilty before the defense had begun their  argumentation.<ref name="miller_p348" /> This event has been called "San Francisco's [[Stonewall riots|Stonewall]]" by some historians;<ref name="miller_p348" /> the participation of such prominent litigators in the defense of Smith, Donaldson and the other two lawyers marked a turning point in gay rights on the west coast of the United States.<ref name="cain">{{cite journal|last=Cain|first=Patricia A.|title=Litigating for Lesbian and Gay Rights: A Legal History|journal=Virginia Law Review|date=Oct 1993|volume=79|issue=7 Symposium on Sexual Orientation and the Law|pages=1551–1641|doi=10.2307/1073382|jstor=1073382|url=https://digitalcommons.law.scu.edu/facpubs/277}}</ref>

The [[homophile movement]] was also influenced by gains of  activism of the [[civil rights movement]]. (In 1964 [[Cleo Bonner]], an African American, was elected as the DOB's national president.) Higher profile members of the DOB, such as [[Barbara Gittings]], Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon, began to [[Picketing|picket]] the [[White House]], the [[State Department]], and other federal buildings in 1965 and 1966 with members of the [[Mattachine Society]]. Gittings, as editor of ''The Ladder'', encouraged others to do the same, and their activism became controversial in the leadership of the DOB. Gittings also ran a regular column in ''The Ladder'' that she called "Living Propaganda", encouraging women to come out to their friends and family members. 

[[Frank Kameny]] frequently contributed, also urging political action. Some readers responded positively to Kameny, who in a speech declared homosexuals as normal as heterosexuals;<ref name="katz">[[Jonathan Ned Katz|Katz, Jonathan]]. ''[[Gay American History: Lesbians and Gay Men in the U.S.A.]]'' (New York: Harper, 1976) {{ISBN|0-06-091211-1}}</ref> some were put off by the political tone. Others were angered by Kameny, as a man, suggesting to them what they should do. DOB leaders disliked Kameny and disagreed with Gittings's decisions for the magazine, and she was let go as editor in 1966.<ref>Gallo, p, 131-132</ref>