Sheela Lambert

Last updated

Sheela Lambert
Born1956 (age 6768)
New York City
DiedJanuary, 2024
New York City
OccupationDirector, Bisexual Book Awards. Founder, Bi Writers Assoc. Writer, editor, bisexual rights activist
NationalityAmerican
Period1990s-2023
Genreentertainment journalism, essays, media advocacy
Subjectbisexuality, media, popular culture, LGBT
Website
biwriters.org

Sheela Lambert (1956-2024), a native and lifelong resident of New York City, was an American bisexual activist [1] and writer.

Contents

She was the Founder/Director of the Bisexual Book Awards, founder of the Bi Writers Association, was co-founder of Bi Women of All Colors and has been active in a number of bisexual rights groups including BiNet USA. She was openly bisexual and wrote about bisexuality and LGBT popular culture/entertainment issues in her national bisexual column for Examiner.com for seven years (2009-2016) as well as articles for The Huffington Post , The Advocate , AfterEllen and AfterElton , Bi Magazine , Lambda Literary Foundation and the America Today LGBTQ Encyclopedia and editing for efforts including Biwriters.org. [2] [3] She presented information on bisexuality issues at universities, conferences, high schools and in-service trainings. [4]

Education

Lambert worked as an HIV Counselor by New York City and New York State. [5]

She has also appeared on a variety of television shows on the topic of bisexuality including Real Personal With Bob Berkowitz (CNBC), The Rolonda Show (syndicated), and The Richard Bey Show (WWOR-TV). Additionally Lambert has been quoted in other media — including The Washington Blade , The New York Blade and Time Out New York — on issues related to bisexuality.[ citation needed ]

Lambert's work for bisexual rights

1990s

Lambert helped produce "Gay Men, Lesbians, Bisexuals, Sharing Our Lives: A Forum on Bisexuality", a forum held in May 1992. The forum was co-sponsored by the Lesbian and Gay Community Services Center (now the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Services Center), New York Area Bisexual Network and BiPAC.[ citation needed ]

During the 1992–93 television season, Lambert was the on-air correspondent and producer of Out in the 90s, a live New York City Public, educational, and government access (PEG) cable TV channels news and information show for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community. [6] In 1993, Lambert was the executive producer/host for Bisexual Network, the first television series by and for the bisexual community. [7] The series aired on New York City's public-access television.

In 1996, Lambert joined Heritage of Pride, in which she was an active LGBT pride organizer for two years to promote the bi-inclusive agenda as a member. [6] In 2002 Heritage of Pride renamed New York City's Lesbian and Gay Pride events to the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride March, Rally, Festival and Dance. [6]

2000s

Together with transgender activist Pauline Park, Lambert formed the Coalition for Unity and Inclusion in 2000. The Coalition was the lead group that successfully lobbied various New York City LGBT-related institutions to make their names more inclusive, including New York City's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center (formerly the NYC Lesbian and Gay Community Services Center) and the New York Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, & Transgender Film Festival (formerly the New York Lesbian and Gay Film Festival). [6] [8]

In 2000 she co-chaired Community, Unity, Inclusion: The 4th Tri-State Bisexual Conference, held at New York University and co-sponsored by NYU's Office of LGBT Student Services.[ citation needed ] In 2005, in response to the misinformation put out by the academically disputed Bailey Study, Lambert worked as a senior member of a joint Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD)/Bialogue task force that began to create information packets to provides facts about bisexuality, dispel myths and stereotypes, and educate the public about issues bisexuals face, as well as provides guidelines for various professionals.[ citation needed ] In 2006 Lambert founded the national groups the Bi Writers Association, the Bi Mental Health Professionals Association and co-founded the New York City group Bi Women of All Colors.[ citation needed ] In 2006, she led the successful campaign to convince Lambda Literary Foundation to add a bisexual award category to its literary awards, known as the "Lammys," which did not have a bisexual book category for its first 18 years of operation.[ citation needed ] She has served as a judge for the Lammy Awards ever since.[ citation needed ] She also founded the Bi Lines reading series, an annual multi-arts celebration of bisexual writing.[ citation needed ]

In 2007, Lambert organized two major bi events. Bi Lines: A Celebration of Bisexual Writing in Reading, Music and Culture, held in conjunction with the 19th Annual Lambda Literary Awards events. [9]

She began a bisexuality column on Examiner.com in July 2009 and has posted over 275 articles.[ citation needed ]

2010s

Her first book, Best Bi Short Stories, an anthology of literary fiction short stories, written in multiple genres (of which she is the editor, as well as contributor of the story "Memory Lane") was published in 2014. [10]

Partial bibliography

[ dubious ]

Print

Journals

Magazines

Online

See also

Notes

  1. Coming out bi is unique challenge: Bisexuals say they’re misunderstood, ostracized Archived September 28, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  2. Archived June 4, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  3. Calls For Papers For Journals and Publications: Best Bi Short Stories Archived January 23, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  4. Westchestergov.com Pride Works Biographies 2008
  5. "Barker says O'Donnell could replace him". The Huffington Post: Sheela Lambert. 2009. Retrieved January 10, 2009.
  6. 1 2 3 4 A Brief Trip Thru Bisexual NYC's History accessed January 10, 2009.
  7. Naomi Tucker, ed. Bisexual Politics: Theories, Queries, and Visions. Binghamton NY: Haworth Press, 1995. ISBN   1-56024-950-1 ISBN   978-1-56024-950-4
  8. Bi Focus: Bi Pride Archived May 3, 2005, at the Wayback Machine
  9. New York Area Bisexual Network: Big Bi Book Weekend 2007
  10. Rule, Jane; Forrest, Katherine V. (June 2014). Best Bi Short Stories: Bisexual Fiction. Circlet Press, Incorporated. ISBN   978-1613900888.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBT community</span> Community and culture of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people

The LGBT community is a loosely defined grouping of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals united by a common culture and social movements. These communities generally celebrate pride, diversity, individuality, and sexuality. LGBT activists and sociologists see LGBT community-building as a counterweight to heterosexism, homophobia, biphobia, transphobia, sexualism, and conformist pressures that exist in the larger society. The term pride or sometimes gay pride expresses the LGBT community's identity and collective strength; pride parades provide both a prime example of the use and a demonstration of the general meaning of the term. The LGBT community is diverse in political affiliation. Not all people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender consider themselves part of the LGBT community.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lambda Literary Awards</span> Award for published works that celebrate or explore LGBT themes

Lambda Literary Awards, also known as the "Lammys", are awarded yearly by Lambda Literary to recognize the crucial role LGBTQ writers play in shaping the world. The Lammys celebrate the very best in LGBTQ literature. The awards were instituted in 1989.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BiNet USA</span> American nonprofit organization

BiNet USA was an American national nonprofit bisexual community whose mission was to "facilitate the development of a cohesive network of bisexual communities, promote bisexual visibility, and collect and distribute educational information regarding bisexuality. Until 2020, BiNet USA provided a national network for bisexual organizations and individuals across the United States, and encouraged participation and organizing on local and national levels." They claimed to be the oldest national bisexuality organization in the United States. In 2020, all of the content on BiNet USA's website was replaced with a statement that the BiNet USA president, Faith Cheltenham, now identified as Christian conservative and was walking away from progressive politics entirely.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBT culture</span> Common culture shared by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people

LGBT culture is a culture shared by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer individuals. It is sometimes referred to as queer culture, while the term gay culture may be used to mean either "LGBT culture" or homosexual culture specifically.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lambda Literary Foundation</span> LGBT literary organization

The Lambda Literary Foundation is an American LGBTQ literary organization whose mission is to nurture and advocate for LGBTQ writers, elevating the impact of their words to create community, preserve their legacies, and affirm the value of LGBTQ stories and lives.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lambda Rising</span>

Lambda Rising was an LGBT bookstore that operated from 1974 to 2010 in Washington, D.C.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brenda Howard</span> Bisexual rights activist (1946–2005)

Brenda Howard was an American bisexual rights activist and sex-positive feminist. The Brenda Howard Memorial Award is named for her.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Francisco Pride</span> Annual LGBTQ+ event in San Francisco, California

The San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Celebration, usually known as San Francisco Pride, is a pride parade and festival held at the end of June most years in San Francisco, California, to celebrate the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people and their straight allies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center</span> LGBT community organization in New York City

The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center, commonly called The Center, is a nonprofit organization serving the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) population of New York City and nearby communities.

Over the course of its history, the LGBT community has adopted certain symbols for self-identification to demonstrate unity, pride, shared values, and allegiance to one another. These symbols communicate ideas, concepts, and identity both within their communities and to mainstream culture. The two symbols most recognized internationally are the pink triangle and the rainbow flag.

Bialogue, a portmanteau of the words bisexual and dialogue, is an American activist group that started in New York City, working on issues of local, national, and international interest to the bisexual, fluid, pansexual, queer-identified communities and their allies. Bialogue's mission is to dispel myths and stereotypes about bisexuality, address biphobia and bisexual erasure, educate the public on the facts and realities of bisexuality and advocate for the bisexual community. Its slogan is "Taking Action not just Offense".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diane Anderson-Minshall</span> American journalist (born 1968)

Diane Anderson-Minshall is an American journalist and author best known for writing about lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender subjects. She is the first female CEO of Pride Media. She is also the editorial director of The Advocate and Chill magazines, the editor-in-chief of HIV Plus magazine, while still contributing editor to OutTraveler. Diane co-authored the 2014 memoir Queerly Beloved about her relationship with her husband Jacob Anderson-Minshall throughout his gender transition.

<i>Bi Any Other Name</i> 1991 anthology

Bi Any Other Name: Bisexual People Speak Out, published by Riverdale Avenue Books, is an anthology edited by Loraine Hutchins and Lani Kaʻahumanu, and is one of the seminal books in the history of the modern bisexual rights movement. It holds a place that is in many ways comparable to that held by Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique in the feminist movement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Campus Pride</span>

Campus Pride is an American national nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization founded by M. Chad Wilson, Sarah E. Holmes and Shane L. Windmeyer in 2001 which serves lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) and ally student leaders and/or campus organization in the areas of leadership development, support programs and services to create safer, more inclusive LGBT-friendly colleges and universities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bisexuality in the United States</span> Overview about bisexuality in the United States of America

The first English-language use of the word "bisexual" to refer to sexual orientation occurred in 1892.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeanne Córdova</span> German writer

Jeanne Córdova was an American trailblazer of the lesbian and gay rights movement, founder of The Lesbian Tide, and a founder of the West Coast LGBT movement. Córdova was a second-wave feminist lesbian activist and proud butch.

New York has a long history of LGBT community building, activism, and culture which extends to the early history of the city.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Outline of LGBT topics</span> Overview of and topical guide to LGBT topics

The following outline offers an overview and guide to LGBT topics.

Dr. Kim Fountain is the Deputy CEO of The San Diego LGBT Community Center. She was previously the Chief Operating Officer of the Center on Halsted, the Midwest's largest LGBTQ+ community center, located in Chicago, Illinois,. the executive director of the Pride Center of Vermont and the co-director for the New York City Gay & Lesbian Anti-Violence Project. Fountain has served on the New York State Crime Victims Board and is a trainer for the Office of Victims of Crime and the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs' Reports Committee. She serves on the board of the National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum.