Helen Keller on the queers

April 17, 2015 2:37 AM

Did Helen Keller ever express any position for or against homosexual rights?

I know she was a radical, a Socialist, and a feminist -- but as far as I can tell with my non-specialist googling, she had no stated position on homosexual rights, unlike some other radical writers of her time.

I would love a sanity check on that from people who have better knowledge of her (and/or better research tools) than I do.

(I'm asking because I may be using an excerpt from one of her Socialist speeches in a really visible queer context -- as the text for a new mass-choir piece in the biggest queer arts event in the world -- so there's potential for people to be upset if she had any public anti-queer position.)

posted by kalapierson to Society & Culture (2 answers total)

I'm not aware that she ever publicly stated an opinion either way. There is some unsubstantiated speculation that she herself was a lesbian. If there were public statements available they would be key evidence for those who debate her sexuality and so I suspect that there are none.
posted by lwb at 2:54 AM on April 17, 2015 [1 favorite]

My limited Google Scholar fu has turned up no direct statements--she is much better remembered for her opinions on disability activism, workers' rights, and gender equality. I did find the same arguments about her own sexuality that lwb mentiones, though.
posted by sciatrix at 10:12 AM on April 17, 2015