Dr. Lillie Vincenz
Dr. Vincenz, who became a psychotherapist, devoted more than half a century to the cause of gay equality, beginning with the first organized picket for gay rights outside the White House in 1965.
Arlingtonian gay rights activist Lilli Vincenz was born in Hamburg, Germany, on September 26, 1937. Her mother married an American, and the family immigrated to the US in 1949. After being outed and discharged from the Women’s Army Corps in 1963, Dr. Vincenz became a central, yet unsung, figure in the struggle for gay equality.
Dr. Vincenz, who became a psychotherapist, devoted more than half a century to the cause of gay equality, beginning with the first organized picket for gay rights outside the White House in 1965. She was the first outed lesbian ever to appear on a magazine cover displayed on newsstands around the country. She was showcased on a 1966 cover of “The Ladder,” a periodical published by a lesbian organization. She also co-founded DC’s “Washington Blade.”
She produced two short documentaries recorded at early gay rights protests. The first, from 1968, in a demonstration designed to make the group appear non-threatening. The second was in 1970 when the first gay pride march occurred in New York City. The Library of Congress described the two films as representing a tonal shift that has continued into a powerful movement. “It was so important that we become visible,” Dr. Vincenz once said, “because we weren’t visible before.”
Dr. Vincenz hosted the Gay Women’s Open House at her residence in Arlington from 1971 to 1978, offering a safe and comfortable place for lesbian, bisexual, and women questioning their sexuality to meet every week. Women throughout the region sought the friendship, discourse, and support offered at Lilli’s home. During those eight years, the Open House fostered the development of the openly gay community in Northern Virginia and Washington, DC, and inspired other social groups for gay women nationwide.
Of her gay clients, she observed that “many of their wounds have been sustained in the pursuit of and validation of who they are and of not wanting to hide their identity. I am grateful to be able to help and to witness their empowerment and healing.”
“What did I want to accomplish?” Dr. Vincenz told the publication “Gay Today.” Reflecting on her life’s work, she said she sought to “help unmask the lies being told about us, correct the notion of homosexuality as a sickness, and present it as it is, a beautiful way to love.” She died in June of 2023.
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