631 Featuring Speaking While Female: A Big Talk by Madeline Davis

This week, I’m reading from Speaking While Female: 75 Extraordinary Speeches by American Women — an amazing book that my dear friend and community member Carol Lempert sent me. 

Dana Rubin authored this book, and you heard me read from it before back in Episode 562 when I read the speech “Homecoming Day” by Josephine Baker. 

Today, I’m sharing a trailblazing big talk Madeline Davis gave at the 1972 Democratic National Convention.

In this episode, we’ll explore:

• What happened when Davis, the first openly gay woman to speak at a national political convention, declared, “I am a woman and a lesbian” from the stage
• Powerful moments from her talk
• The historical context of the speech and other important social movements happening at the time
• The impact Davis had both from the stage and beyond it