Lilli Vincenz, who became a gay rights activist in the hushed, repressive era before the Stonewall rebellion of 1969, when such a concept scarcely existed, making a mark as a newspaper editor, documentary filmmaker and psychotherapist devoted to L.G.B.T.Q.
issues, died on June 27 in Oakton, Va. She was 85. Her death, at a care facility, was confirmed by a niece, Julia Bode, who did not specify a cause.
Dr. Vincenz’s journey to prominence in the nascent gay rights movement of the mid-1960s began after a personal collision with intolerance.
In 1963, she was serving in the Women’s Army Corps when a roommate outed her as gay, leading to her discharge after only nine months in uniform.