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Bernice Goodman
A smiling white woman with grey hair cut in a blunt bowl-style cut
Bernice Goodman, from a 1979 publication
Born
Bernice Evelyn Goodman

June 27, 1927
Hot Springs, Arkansas, U.S.
DiedApril 27, 2003 (aged 75)
Occupation(s)Social worker, therapist, activist

Bernice Evelyn Goodman (June 27, 1927 – April 27, 2003) was an American social worker, therapist, and activist for women's rights, gay rights, child welfare, and civil rights. She was described as "one of the unsung heroes of the gay liberation movement."[1]

Early life and education

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Goodman was born in Hot Springs, Arkansas,[2] and raised in Long Beach, New York, the daughter of Bernard L. Goodman and Dorothy K. Neumann Goodman. Her family was Jewish.[2] She graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1948.[3] She earned a master's degree in social work at Columbia University School of Social Work.[4]

Career

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Goodman was a social worker[5] and "one of New York's few openly lesbian therapists" in the early 1970s.[6] In 1973, she and Charles Silverstein were prominent in the successful effort to removed homosexuality from the American Psychiatric Association's list of mental disorders.[7][8] She and Silverstein co-founded Identity House, a peer counseling program in New York. Identity House developed into the Institute for Human Identity.[6] In 1976 she started a lesbian writers' group with some of her patients, including Audre Lorde, Blanche Cook, Michelle Cliff, and Adrienne Rich.[9] She also studied lesbian mothers and their children's lives,[10][11] and created the first policies on the care of lesbian and gay clients at the National Association of Social Workers Delegate Assembly in 1978.[12]

Goodman served on the board of the National Lesbian and Gay Health Foundation (NLGHF).[1][13] She spoke to professional and community groups about gay rights and sexuality topics.[14][15] She was a keynote speaker at the National Gay Health Conference in New York City in 1979.[16]

Publications

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  • The Lesbian Mother (1973, with Barbara Glickman)[17][18]
  • The Lesbian: A Celebration of Difference (1977, published by Joan Larkin's Out and Out Books)[19][20]
  • Confronting Homophobia (1978)[21]
  • "Some Mothers are Lesbians" (1980)[22]
  • "Where Will You Be?" The Professional Oppression of Gay People: A Lesbian/Feminist Perspective (1980)[23]
  • "How to Choose a Nonhomophobic Therapist" (1984)[24]

Personal life

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Goodman died in 2003, at the age of 75.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Bernard, L. Diane (June 2004). "In Memoriam: Bernice Goodman (June 27, 1927 - April 27, 2003)". Journal of Gay & Lesbian Social Services. 17 (1): xix–xxii. doi:10.1300/J041v17n01_a. ISSN 1053-8720.
  2. ^ a b Alexis De Veaux (2004). Warrior poet. W.W. Norton. pp. 127–128. ISBN 978-0-393-01954-4.
  3. ^ The University of Wisconsin Madison (1948). "Badger (yearbook)". UW-Madison Libraries. p. 132. Retrieved 2024-05-27.
  4. ^ Pierce, Dean (1989). Social work and society : an introduction. Internet Archive. New York : Longman. p. 4. ISBN 978-0-582-28665-8.
  5. ^ "Social Workers Hear Gay Needs". Gay Community News. November 10, 1979. p. 3.
  6. ^ a b Kunzel, Regina G.; Kunzel, Regina (2024). In the Shadow of Diagnosis: Psychiatric Power and Queer Life. University of Chicago Press. p. 152. ISBN 978-0-226-83185-5.
  7. ^ O'Connell, Mark (January 30, 2014). "A Clinic Invested In Your Identity". Psychology Today. Retrieved 2024-05-27.
  8. ^ Duberman, Martin (1997). Queer Representations: Reading Lives, Reading Cultures : a Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies Book. NYU Press. ISBN 978-0-8147-1883-4.
  9. ^ Nash, Jennifer C.; Pinto, Samantha (2023-02-28). The Routledge Companion to Intersectionalities. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-000-81481-1.
  10. ^ Rivers, Daniel Winunwe (2013-09-03). Radical Relations: Lesbian Mothers, Gay Fathers, and Their Children in the United States since World War II. UNC Press Books. pp. 1, 70. ISBN 978-1-4696-0719-1.
  11. ^ Vandenberg-Daves, Jodi (2014-05-26). Modern Motherhood: An American History. Rutgers University Press. ISBN 978-0-8135-7313-7.
  12. ^ Rothblum, Esther D.; Gartrell, Nanette (2013-09-13). Everyday Mutinies: Funding Lesbian Activism. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-99263-9.
  13. ^ Shankle, Michael (2013-04-03). The Handbook of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Public Health: A Practitioner's Guide to Service. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-136-57355-2.
  14. ^ Connell, Tara (1973-05-09). "Don't save him, accept him, says homosexual expert". Mount Vernon Argus. p. 31. Retrieved 2024-05-27 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ "Homosexuality is panel topic". The Record. 1979-02-01. p. 38. Retrieved 2024-05-27 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ Vachon, Ron (June 2, 1979). "NGHC Meets". Gay Community News. pp. 3, 8.
  17. ^ Goodman, Bernice. The lesbian mother. Institute for Human Identity, 1973.
  18. ^ Klemesrud, Judy (January 31, 1973). "Lesbians Who Try to Be Good Mothers". The New York Times. p. 46. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-05-27.
  19. ^ Goodman, Bernice (1977). The Lesbian: A Celebration of Difference. Out & Out Books. ISBN 978-0-918314-04-8.
  20. ^ Dalmas, John (1977-04-29). "Joan Larkin: 'Poetry was a way of talking about things taboo'". The Journal News. p. 27. Retrieved 2024-05-27 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ^ Goodman, Bernice (1978). Confronting Homophobia: Notes on Creating a Lesbian Community/A Matter of Life (PDF). National Gay Health Coalition Educational Foundation.
  22. ^ Goodman, Bernice. "Some mothers are lesbians" Women issues and social work practice (1980): 153-181.
  23. ^ Goodman, Bernice. "Where Will You Be?": The Professional Oppression of Gay People: a Lesbian/feminist Perspective (J & P Distribution, Womenmade Products, 1980).
  24. ^ None (1984). Darty, Trudy; Potter, Sandee (eds.). Women-identified women. Internet Archive. Palo Alto, Calif. : Mayfield Pub. Co. ISBN 978-0-87484-573-0.
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