Sally Miller Gearhart

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.

By 1973, Gearhart was employed at San Francisco State University, where she went from teaching speech to teaching women's studies. There she was able to develop one of the first women and gender studies programs in the United States. She continued at San Francisco State University until her retirement in 1992.

A fund was established by Carla Blumberg, one of Gearhart's former students, in Gearhart's name in January 2008 at the University of Oregon for the Sally Miller Gearhart Chair in Lesbian Studies, as a part of the Women and Gender Studies program.

After Gearhart received tenure from SFSU she was able to continue her writings focused on lesbianism and related political topics, along with becoming politically active, fighting in particular for radical feminist causes.

In 1978, Gearhart fought alongside Harvey Milk, one of the first openly gay politicians in the U.S., to defeat California Proposition 6, known as the "Briggs Initiative." Gearhart famously debated John Briggs, attacking the initiative to ban homosexuals from academic positions. A clip of the debate appeared in the documentary film The Times of Harvey Milk, which also included Gearhart talking about working with Milk against Proposition 6, and reactions in San Francisco in the aftermath of Milk's assassination.

Gearhart was also featured in several documentaries, including Word Is Out: Stories of Some of Our Lives, released in 1977, and "Last Call at Maud's" released in 1993.

While living in San Francisco, Gearhart began writing science fiction novels and short stories that highlighted her utopian ideals for a wider lesbian audience. In 1978 her most famous novel, The Wanderground, was published. She has also written two books as part of the Earthkeep trilogy, The Kanshou, published in 2002, and The Magister, published in 2003. Both stories explore a dystopian world where women outnumber men, and humans are the only beings on the planet.

She did not limit her writing to the science fiction genre. She also wrote a book entitled Loving Women/Loving Men: Gay Liberation and the Church, which was aimed at the conservative Christian churches and communities that barred homosexuals from fellowship. While never fully embracing the Christian faith, Gearhart did acknowledge the parts of it that were meaningful for her own ideals. She once stated that “love is the universal truth lying at the heart of all creation.” She also co-wrote A Feminist Tarot with Susan Rennie. When it was first published in 1981 by Persephone Press, it was one of several tarot divination books on the market attempting to find alternative meanings within the symbology. Unusual for a work of feminist spirituality at a time of goddess worship, she kept the conventional Rider Waite Smith imagery and wrote a book to accompany it, reinterpreting and subverting the stated meanings.

Gearhart lives north of Willits, California and labels herself "a recovering political activist."

The Sally Miller Gearhart Papers (1956-1999) are held at the Special Collections and University Archives, University of Oregon Libraries.

Gearhart is an entry in the 2003 dictionary-like book The A to Z of the Lesbian Liberation Movement: Still the Rage, by JoAnne Myers.

The Sally Miller Gearhart Fund for lesbian studies was created to promote research and teaching in lesbian studies through an annual lecture series and an endowed professorship at the University of Oregon. The annual Sally Miller Gearhart Lecture in Lesbian Studies at the University of Oregon was first held on May 27, 2009; this first lecture was titled The Incredibly Shrinking Lesbian World and Other Queer Conundra, and was given by Arlene Stein of Rutgers University.

Gearhart’s 1972 speech "The Lesbian and God-The-Father Or, All The Church Needs is A Good Lay --- On Its Side" is included in the 2010 book Great Speeches on Gay Rights, edited by James Daley.

Carrie Preston plays Gearhart in the 2017 miniseries about LGBT rights called When We Rise.