The Bay Area Reporter, citing an email sent by her friend Jean Crosby. Gearhart had been in poor health for several years and had recently moved from her home in Willits, Calif., to a care facility in nearby Ukiah.Gearhart, a Virginia native, taught for many years at San Francisco State University, where in 1973 she became the first out lesbian to be named to a tenure-track position.
At SF State, she established one of the first women’s and gender studies programs in the nation. She was an author of feminist science fiction as well.In 1978 she campaigned against California’s Proposition 6, a ballot measure that would have barred gays and lesbians from teaching in the state’s public schools.