Ruthie Berman and Connie Kurtz

Ruthie Berman and Connie Kurtz (July 19, 1936 – May 27, 2018)[1][2][3] were American LGBT rights activists. As a couple, they successfully sued the New York City Board of Education for domestic partner benefits, winning such benefits for all New York City employees in 1994.[2][4]

Early lives

Both women were born in Brooklyn, Berman on March 30, 1934[2] and Kurtz on July 19, 1936; they met in the late 1950s and became friends.[2][5] Both were married to men and had children at the time.[2] Kurtz moved to Israel with her family in 1970, and when she returned to visit America in 1974, she and Ruthie fell in love.[2] They divorced their husbands and became a couple.[2]

As a lesbian couple

In 1988, Berman was a health and physical education teacher at a Brooklyn high school. She and Kurtz sued the New York City Board of Education for domestic partner benefits in 1988, eventually winning in 1994.[4] The couple went on the talk shows The Phil Donahue Show and Geraldo to talk about the case, and came out of the closet on Donahue in 1988.[4]

Berman and Kurtz started branches of Parents, Friends and Family of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) in Florida and New York, and in 2000, they began serving as co-chairs of the New York State NOW Lesbian Rights Task Force. They also founded The Answer is Loving Counseling Center (they were both certified counselors) and worked there for over twenty years.[2] They were married on July 26, 2011, in New York.[6] Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum officiated.[6]

They retired to Palm Beach County, Florida, where they were continually active in Democratic, LGBT, feminist, and #BlackLivesMatter politics.

Film and papers

In 2002 a documentary titled Ruthie and Connie: Every Room in the House was made about their lives, directed by Deborah Dickson.[7] The film premiered at the Berlin Film Festival in February 2002, and won six best documentary awards within a year.[7] The Ruth Berman and Connie Kurtz Papers are held in the Sophia Smith Collection at Smith College.[2]

Death

Kurtz died due to liver cancer on May 27, 2018 at the age of 81.[3]

Additional Information

References

  1. ↑ Genzlinger, Neil (June 1, 2018). "Connie Kurtz, Gay Rights Advocate, Dies at 81". The New York Times. Retrieved June 3, 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Ruth Berman and Connie Kurtz Papers, 1956-2006". Sophia Smith Collection. Five Colleges Archive & Manuscript Collections.
  3. 1 2 Streeter, Leslie Gray (May 29, 2018). "LGBTQ pioneer and Century Village resident dies at 83". Palm Beach Post. Retrieved June 3, 2018.
  4. 1 2 3 "About". Ruthie and Connie: Every Room in the House.
  5. ↑ "Bates Hillel to screen 'Ruthie and Connie' as part of the 2003 Maine Jewish Film Festival". Bates Views. February 27, 2003.
  6. 1 2 Brown, Elicia (July 26, 2011). "My Beloved Is Mine — At Last". The Jeewish Week. Retrieved June 3, 2018.
  7. 1 2 Pittman, Asa (March 1, 2003). "Grand Dames". New England Film. Archived from the original on June 27, 2003.
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