The unstoppable lesbian lawyer who crushed the status quo & was a “guardian angel” for queer rights
To those facing her across a courtroom, she was a terrifying spectacle, utterly ruthless and laser-focused behind her heavy-rimmed glasses.
By Rebecca Batley for LGBTQ Nation –
For many years, the sight of Pearl Hart’s lavender Auburn car pulling up outside the courthouse struck fear into her opponents. Known for her uncompromising nature and fierce defense of those who could not defend themselves, Pearl Hart was not a lawyer prosecutors ever wanted to face.
She defended gay rights all her life, often without charging a fee. She was unpopular with the establishment, being, in the words of the Chicago LGBT Hall of Fame, “too liberal and too honest to ever win the backing of a corrupt and prejudiced political system.” Within the LGBTQ+ community, however, she was regarded as a heroine, a woman who would protect their rights at any cost, and the first lesbian lawyer to appear before the Supreme Court. Her name is still spoken with reverence in the lesbian bars of Chicago, and more publically, her name lives on in the city’s Gerber/Hart Library, which is devoted to LGBTQ+ books and archives.
Hart was born in Traverse City, Michigan in 1890 to Jewish immigrant parents, the fifth daughter of David and Rebecca Harchovsky. Her father was a rabbi who, soon after her birth, moved his family to Chicago, where he served a congregation on the southwest side. Hart herself would later say that this early exposure to poverty and her parents’ dedication to helping others formed the basis of her lifelong dedication to social justice. She recalled that she was a much-loved child, spoiled on occasion, who was encouraged in everything she did.
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