Natalie Clifford Barney: Pioneering Lesbian Author & LGBTQ+ Advocate

Natalie Clifford Barney, an influential lesbian author and salonnière, championed LGBTQ+ rights and lesbian fiction through her extensive writings and Parisian gatherings, leaving a lasting legacy.

Natalie created 12 publications that were published in a series of styles, consisting of fiction, essays, and memoirs. Each of these books contained Sapphic themes. Her life and connections also influenced personalities in a minimum of 12 books, much of which became the backbone of the lesbian fiction style. The unique Sapphic Idyll (A Female’s Event) was created by French courtesan Liane de Pourgy in 1927 and charted the passionate romance between Natalie and Liane. Natalie also motivated a character in maybe the most impactful and well known lesbian novel of the 20th century, Radclyffe Hall’s The Well of Solitude (1928 ).

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Early Life and Influences

Born in Dayton in 1876 to a affluent and distinguished household, Natalie went on to make a global impact for ladies and LGBTQ+ individuals with her writing and arranging.

The Natalie Clifford Barney historic marker was the very first to identify an Ohio LGBTQ+ tale, but it was not the last. The Gay Ohio Background Initiative (GOHI) at the Ohio History Connection is currently functioning on a job called Marking Diverse Ohio to produce at the very least 10 more Ohio Historical Markers that identify Ohio’s queer history. The goal of the job is to stimulate discovery of Ohio’s LGBTQ+ tales and to preserve these tales for future generations.

It has actually been upgraded to celebrate Natalie Clifford Barney’s 150th birthday celebration. The University of Dayton, in collaboration with the Dayton Metro Collection (DML) and the Dayton LGBT Facility, will certainly celebratethe occasion on October 30 with an event of works from the DML library’s Natalie Barney Collection.

Why, then, have so few queer Ohioans came across this Ohio heiress’s global legacy? The answer isn’t clear, pre-Stonewall LGBTQ+ history is regularly much more challenging to analyze, as historic stars were hardly ever able to be straight and absolute concerning their sexuality and sex identification. Natalie, however, leaves us no room for false impression– she was an unapologetic, happy lesbian.

According to Natalie’s works, she initially became aware that she was a lesbian at age 12. She invested her childhood and adolescence growing up in Dayton, Cincinnati, Paris and Washington D.C. and was informed according to her ways, attending the prestigious French boarding college Les Ruches as a youth. The college and Paris in general during the millenium showed to be a congenial location for Natalie to explore her budding sexuality. In fact, throughout her time at Les Ruches, Natalie frequently cross-dressed as a web page and even played at being a “partner” to various other ladies.

A Legacy of Literary Influence

Along with her own straight influence on lesbian society and literature, Natalie assisted in the advancement of a few of the leading literary giants of the very early 20th century with her weekly hair salon gatherings. For 50 years, Natalie held casual celebrations at her French suite, hosting such normal visitors as T.S. Eliot, Sinclair Lewis, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gertrude Stein and fellow Ohioan Sherwood Anderson, among loads of others. Even throughout World War I, Natalie’s beauty salon sustained and enabled authors and artists a risk-free space to continue their innovative cooperations. Natalie also established the Female’s Academy for women authors, as females were prohibited from other literary beauty parlors around Paris.

She earned her PhD in history from the Ohio State University, creating an argumentation about the increasing LGBTQ+ motion in the former Soviet Union. She is currently the Exec Workflow Supervisor at Stonewall Columbus and is also an independent LGBTQ+ history scientist.

The public love affairs, her writing and the writing she influenced positioned Natalie at the facility of much public chatter in Western high society. The blessed space Natalie inhabited– as an upscale white lady living in one of the most liberal cities of the early 20th century– allowed her to weather these rumors with relatively little effect to her position or safety.

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Unapologetic Expression and Impact

Natalie had many enchanting companions throughout her lengthy lifetime. Not only did she not try to hide these relationships– she wrote about them openly and passionately. As a young adult in 1900, Natalie wrote Quelques Potraits-Sonnets de Femmes (Some Portrait-Sonnets of Women). Each poem was committed to a different lady, whom Natalie identified just with the female’s initials. Natalie’s mom, Alice, even highlighted the book, although it’s unclear how much Alice knew or recognized of the poetry’s meaning.

As a young adult in 1900, Natalie wrote Quelques Potraits-Sonnets de Femmes (Some Portrait-Sonnets of Ladies). Each rhyme was committed to a different lady, whom Natalie identified only through the lady’s initials. The novel Sapphic Idyll (A Lady’s Affair) was composed by French prostitute Liane de Pourgy in 1927 and charted the passionate love event in between Natalie and Liane. The Natalie Clifford Barney historical pen was the first to identify an Ohio LGBTQ+ story, however it was not the last.

It’s clear that Natalie’s wealth, family history and education and learning put her at an extreme advantage in life throughout the late 19th and very early 20th century. Nevertheless, the Ohio heiress used this advantage to live and love unapologetically, while at the very same time removing the means for others to do the same. Her jobs and character motivated generations of young lesbians to take pride in their sexuality.

Ohio’s initial LGBTQ+ Ohio Historic Marker was installed in Dayton’s Cooper Park in 2009. The marker acknowledges Natalie Clifford Barney, a well known and affluent migrant– Parisian feminist, author, and social hair salon hostess. Born in Dayton in 1876 to a rich and prominent family members, Natalie took place to make an international influence for women and LGBTQ+ folks with her writing and organizing.