Interviewer(s): John Goins

Project: University of Houston

This interview with Deborah Bell, a longtime feminist and GLBT activist, highlights these two movements in Texas as part of a broader Civil Rights movement. She recounts the context in which she gradually became more and more involved with the National Organization for Women (NOW) in the 1970s, eventually becoming the President of the state chapter. Bell then recalls her “coming out” in the 1980s. Her prior experiences of activism within NOW would reflect her position in the gay community of Houston, where she quickly embraced political advocacy, participating in Pride, conferences, even marching in the 1993 March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual Rights and Liberation.