I can’t believe it has been so long since I have written about a SLSL (Something Like a Super Lesbian). In my mind I planned to do one at least once a week but I think I am 2 months off that plan.

The last amazing woman I highlighted was Mabel Hampton, contributor to the  Lesbian Herstory Archives in New York.

Today I am able happy to highlight prolific screenwriter, Lorraine Hansberry.

The muse of Nina Simone’s “Young, Gifted and Black”, Lorraine left a strong legacy with her enduring and ground breaking play, A Raisin in the Sun.  When it opened in the Spring of 1959, A Raisin in the Sun became the first play written by an African-American women produced on Broadway. The critically acclaimed play also helped her gain the distinction as the youngest American playwright ever receive the New York Drama Critics Award.

Though she never officially came out as a lesbian or spoke directly about her sexual orientation, as a member of the Daughters of Bilitis, the first lesbian civil and political rights organization in the US, Lorraine wrote letters speaking out against homophobia and injustice.

Lorraine, you might not have been a super lesbian but you were definitely something like it… Thank you for speaking the truth for  women who didn’t have a voice.

**I can’t wait to see the biopic about her that I heard was in the works. **

SLSLs in your neck of the woods? Email me at kristi at the kword.com or tweet me @kristiweb.