Lillian Faderman (born July 18, 1940) is an Americanhistorian whose books onlesbian history andLGBT history have earned critical praise and awards.The New York Times named three of her books on its "Notable Books of the Year" list. In addition,The Guardian named her book,Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers, one of the Top 10 Books of Radical History.^[2] She was a professor of English atCalifornia State University, Fresno (Fresno State), which bestowed her emeritus status,^[3] and a visiting professor atUniversity of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). She retired from academe in 2007. Faderman has been referred to as "the mother of lesbian history" for her groundbreaking research and writings on lesbian culture, literature, and history.^[4]

Faderman was raised by her mother, Mary, and her aunt, Rae. In 1914, her mother emigrated from ashtetl inLatvia to New York City, planning eventually to send for the rest of the family. Her aunt Rae came in 1923, but the rest of the family was killed duringHitler's extermination ofEuropean Jews, and Mary blamed herself for not being able to rescue them. Her guilt contributed to a seriousmental illness that would profoundly affect her daughter.^[5]

Mary and Rae, Faderman's mother and aunt, worked in thegarment industry for very little money. Lillian was her mother's third pregnancy; her mother (unmarried) aborted the first two pregnancies at Lillian's biological father's request, but insisted on bearing and raising the third. Mary married when Lillian was a teenager and died in 1979, continuing to have a profound influence on her daughter's life.

Using pseudonyms such as Gigi Frost, Faderman did nude modeling and made softcore nude film loops which paid for her education.^[6] She gave her experience in the softcore porn industry in her memoir bookNaked in the Promised Land.^[7]

Faderman studied first at theUniversity of California, Berkeley, and later at UCLA.^[1]

Her family moved with her to Los Angeles where, with her mother's encouragement, Lillian took acting classes. She began modeling as a teenager, discovered thegay bar scene, and eventually met her first girlfriend. Before she graduated fromHollywood High School,^[8] she married a gay man much older than herself—a marriage that lasted less than a year.

Faderman came out as lesbian in the 1950s.^[9][10] She lives with herpartner, Phyllis Irwin. She and Phyllis raised one son, Avrom, conceived through artificial insemination by an anonymous Jewish donor.^[11]

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• The New York Times (Notable Book of 1981) forSurpassing the Love of Men: Romantic Friendship and Love Between Women from the Renaissance to the Present^[12]
• Stonewall Book Award (1982) forSurpassing the Love of Men: Romantic Friendship and Love Between Women from the Renaissance to the Present
• Lambda Literary Award (Editor's Choice Award, 1992) forOdd Girls and Twilight Lovers: A History of Lesbian Life in Twentieth-Century America
• The New York Times (Notable Book of 1992) forOdd Girls and Twilight Lovers: A History of Lesbian Life in Twentieth-Century America^[13]
• Stonewall Book Award (Nonfiction, 1992) forOdd Girls and Twilight Lovers: A History of Lesbian Life in Twentieth-Century America
• Lambda Literary Award for Best Non-fiction Book (2000) forTo Believe in Women: What Lesbians Have Done For America - A History
• Lambda Literary Award for Best Lesbian/Gay Anthology (2003) forNaked in the Promised Land
• Yale University JamesBrudner Prize for Exemplary Scholarship in Lesbian/Gay Studies (2001)
• Paul Monette-Roger Horwitz Trust Award (1999)
• Bill Whitehead Award for Lifetime Achievement (Publishing Triangle, 2004) forNaked in the Promised Land
• Judy Grahn Award for Memoir (Publishing Triangle, 2004) forNaked in the Promised Land
• Two Lambda Literary Awards for Best Nonfiction Book & LGBT Arts and Culture Award (2007) both awards forGay L. A.: A History of Sexual Outlaws, Power Politics and Lipstick Lesbians
• Lambda Literary Award (Pioneer Award, 2013)
• The New York Times (Notable Book of 2015) forThe Gay Revolution^[14]
• The Washington Post (Notable Nonfiction Book of 2015) forThe Gay Revolution^[15]
• Anisfield-Wolf Book Award (Nonfiction, 2016) forThe Gay Revolution^[16]
• Golden Crown Literary Society 2017 Trailblazer Award^[17]

• Faderman, Lillian (1981).Surpassing the Love of Men: Romantic Friendship and Love Between Women from the Renaissance to the Present (1st ed.).William Morrow & Company.ISBN 068803733X.
• Faderman, Lillian (1983).Scotch Verdict: Miss Pirie and Miss Woods v. Dame Cumming Gordon (1st ed.).William Morrow & Company.ISBN 068801559X.
• Faderman, Lillian (1991).Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers: A History of Lesbian Life in Twentieth-Century America (1st ed.).Columbia University Press.ISBN 0231074883.
• Faderman, Lillian, ed. (1994).Chloe Plus Olivia: An Anthology of Lesbian and Bisexual Literature from the 17th Century to the Present (1st ed.).Viking Books.ISBN 0670846384.
• Faderman, Lillian; Xiong, Ghia (1998).I Begin My Life All Over: The Hmong and the American Immigrant Experience (1st ed.).Beacon Press.ISBN 0-8070-7234-6.
• Faderman, Lillian (1999).To Believe in Women: What Lesbians Have Done For America – A History (1st ed.).Houghton Mifflin Company.ISBN 039585010X.
• Faderman, Lillian (2003).Naked in the Promised Land: A Memoir (1st ed.).Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.ISBN 0-618-12875-1.
• Faderman, Lillian; Timmons, Stuart (2006).Gay L. A.: A History of Sexual Outlaws, Power Politics, and Lipstick Lesbians (1st ed.).Basic Books.ISBN 978-0465022885.
• Faderman, Lillian (2013).My Mother's Wars (1st ed.).Beacon Press.ISBN 978-0807050521.
• Faderman, Lillian (2015).The Gay Revolution: The Story of the Struggle (1st ed.).Simon & Schuster.ISBN 978-1451694116.
• Faderman, Lillian (2018).Harvey Milk: His Lives and Death (1st ed.).Yale University Press.ISBN 978-0300222616.
• Faderman, Lillian (2022).Woman: The American History of an Idea (1st ed.).Yale University Press.ISBN 978-0300249903.

Filming on an adaption of the bookScotch Verdict by Flora Nicholson and Sophie Heldman took place in 2025, with the titleMiss Pirie and Miss Woods. The story was also the inspiration forLillian Hellman's 1934 playThe Children's Hour.^[18]

• Official website
• Award-winner Lillian FadermanArchived 2011-07-23 at theWayback Machine
• Interview with Lilian FadermanArchived 2011-10-15 at theWayback Machine
• C-Span Book TV
• Lillian Faderman
• Lillian Faderman atIMDb

• 1940 births
• Living people
• 21st-century American historians
• 21st-century American women writers
• 21st-century American memoirists
• American women historians
• Historians of LGBTQ topics
• Historians of the United States
• Jewish American historians
• Lesbian academics
• American lesbian writers
• American LGBTQ historians
• GLAAD Media Awards winners
• Lesbian Jews
• Lesbian memoirists
• American women memoirists
• American people of Latvian-Jewish descent
• LGBTQ people from New York (state)
• Writers from Fresno, California
• California State University, Fresno faculty
• Lambda Literary Award winners
• Stonewall Book Award winners
• 21st-century American Jews
• Hollywood High School alumni
• LGBTQ educators

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