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Ada Bello

Ada C. Bello (November 6, 1933 – March 31, 2023) was a Cuban-American LGBT rights activist and medical laboratory researcher of Portuguese descent. She was a founder of the Philadelphia Chapter of Daughters of Bilitis and the Homophile Action League. Bello led activism efforts for the LGBT community beginning in the late 1960s and served in advocacy roles including as a board member of the LGBT Elder Initiative.[1][2]

Ada Bello
Bello in 1961
Born(1933-11-06)November 6, 1933
Havana, Republic of Cuba
DiedMarch 31, 2023(2023-03-31) (aged 89)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Citizenship
  • Cuba
  • United States
Alma mater
Occupations
  • LGBT rights activist
  • medical laboratory researcher
Employers

Early life and education

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Bello was born on November 6, 1933, in Havana, Cuba.[1] Her mother was a homemaker from Madeira and her father was a lawyer and judge.[3] She lived in Matanzas before moving to Havana to study.[4] Bello attended University of Havana from 1953 until 1956, upon Fulgencio Batista's closing of the university, and she transferred to Louisiana State University (LSU) afterwards.[5] In 1961, she earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry from LSU.[1][6] She resided in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, from 1958 to 1961, before moving to Picayune, Mississippi, for a year.[3]

Career

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Bello worked for the University of Pennsylvania as a medical laboratory assistant from 1962 to 1980. She became a medical laboratory researcher at University of Pennsylvania in 1980 and later worked for the Food and Drug Administration.[3]

Activism

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External videos
video icon  "Ada Bello: The OUTWORDS Archive Full Length Interview", April 5, 2018, The OUTWORDS Archive

Bello moved to Philadelphia in 1962 where she participated in LGBT social and political organizing.[1] These nascent actions became known as the homophile movement.[7]

In 1967, Bello became a founding member of the Philadelphia Chapter of the Daughters of Bilitis (DOB). Bello edited the DOB-Philadelphia newsletter with fellow activist Carole Friedman. They both influenced the decision to dissolve DOB and create the Homophile Action League (HAL) in 1968. Bello worked as the editor of the HAL newsletter which challenged police harassment against the LGBT community.[5] She and other members of HAL began to meet with members of the Pennsylvania legislature, such as former governor Milton Schapp, to discuss equal rights and protections for LGBT people under Pennsylvania law.[8]

In 1968, Bello decided to become an activist after the Philadelphia Police Department raided Rusty's Bar, a local lesbian bar, and arrested 12 women. After consulting with the American Civil Liberties Union, HAL requested to meet with the police department. Due to her immigration status, Bello did not participate directly in the meetings, but drove the car for the HAL attendees.[8][9] Bello attended the final two Annual Reminder day protests in 1968 and 1969, having received U.S. citizenship in 1968.[5][8]

Bello's advocacy efforts in the late 1960s and early 1970s served as a "bridge between pre- and post- stonewall political activities."[5] She was one of the original organizers of the Philadelphia Gay Pride Parade in 1972 and 1973.[10]

In 1980, Bello and fellow LGBT activists Mark Segal and John Cunningham traveled to Fort Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania along with Spanish-speaking volunteers from the Metropolitan Community Church to assist a group of LGBT refugees from Cuba on the Mariel boatlift, known generally as "Marielitos", to receive asylum and temporary housing with LGBT-friendly hosts in the United States as part of a settlement program initiated by President Jimmy Carter.[11]

Bello volunteered for the American Library Association's Gay Task Force under Barbara Gittings and was a supporter of the William Way LGBT Community Center where she served as co-chair. Bello served on the board of the Philadelphia Lesbian and Gay Task Force. She organized the predecessor of the AIDS Fund, the From All Walks of Life.[12]

Bello served on the panel at the LGBT Aging Summit in 2010, alongside local LGBT activist Heshie Zinman. After the Summit, she helped to found the LGBT Elder Initiative, for which she served as a long-term board member.[4][12][13]

On July 4, 2015, Bello was one of the participants in the 50th Anniversary Celebration of the Reminder day protests and LGBT Civil Rights Movement, held at Independence Hall.[8][14]

In a 2018 interview, Bello stated about her advocacy that "In the future, I would like to get to a point in which your sexual orientation is irrelevant and is not taken more seriously than the color of your eyes."[2]

Death

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Bello died from complications of COVID-19 and pneumonia in Philadelphia, on March 31, 2023, at the age of 89.[1][2]

Awards and honors

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Bello received the 2015 David Acosta Revolutionary Leader Award (DARLA) from the Gay and Lesbian Latino AIDS Education Initiative (GALAEI).[12] In 2020, she received the Spirit of CARIE Award from the Center for Advocacy for the Rights of the Elderly for her work in advocating for LGBTQIA+ senior citizens in Philadelphia.[1][13]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f Fortino, Sebastian (April 4, 2023). "Ada Bello, LGBTQ pioneer who made Philadelphia home, dies at 89". Philadelphia Gay News. Archived from the original on April 6, 2023. Retrieved April 6, 2023.
  2. ^ a b c Miles, Gary (April 7, 2023). "Ada Bello, pioneering LGBTQ activist and longtime laboratory chemist, has died at 89". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Archived from the original on April 7, 2023. Retrieved April 7, 2023.
  3. ^ a b c "Ada Bello, February 7, 1993 · Philadelphia LGBT History Project · OutHistory.org: It's About Time". outhistory.org. Archived from the original on September 27, 2019. Retrieved September 27, 2019.
  4. ^ a b "In paradise, fighting for LGBT rights". AL DÍA News. May 9, 2013. Archived from the original on September 27, 2019. Retrieved September 27, 2019.
  5. ^ a b c d "Ada Bello". If They Should Ask. Archived from the original on November 11, 2017. Retrieved September 27, 2019.
  6. ^ "Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Medical College Mid-Year Commencement, January 24, 1961". January 24, 1961. p. 7. Archived from the original on April 7, 2023. Retrieved April 9, 2023.
  7. ^ Metcalf, Meg. "Research Guides: LGBTQIA+ Studies: A Resource Guide: Before Stonewall: The Homophile Movement". guides.loc.gov. Archived from the original on February 13, 2023. Retrieved April 7, 2023.
  8. ^ a b c d Funk, Mason (2019). The book of pride : LGBTQ heroes who changed the world (1st ed.). New York, NY. ISBN 978-0-06-257170-0. OCLC 1088601027. Archived from the original on April 9, 2023. Retrieved April 9, 2023.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  9. ^ Gregg, Cherri (June 19, 2019). "For LGBT people of color, equality has been a multi-layered fight". KYW. Archived from the original on September 27, 2019. Retrieved September 27, 2019.
  10. ^ "Watermark Issue 29.12: Looking Back, Marching Forward by Watermark Publishing Group – Issuu". issuu.com. June 9, 2022. p. 25. Archived from the original on April 7, 2023. Retrieved April 3, 2023.
  11. ^ Bodies and barriers : queer activists on health. Adrian Shanker, Rachel Leland Levine, Kate Kendell. Oakland, CA. 2020. p. 182. ISBN 978-1-62963-801-0. OCLC 1124761535. Archived from the original on April 9, 2023. Retrieved April 3, 2023.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: others (link)
  12. ^ a b c "Ada Bello- Board Profile | LGBT EI". Archived from the original on September 27, 2019. Retrieved September 27, 2019.
  13. ^ a b "PGN Feb. 21–27, 2020 | PDF". Scribd. p. 8. Archived from the original on April 7, 2023. Retrieved April 3, 2023.
  14. ^ "Program Participants | LGBT 50th Anniversary July 4, 2015". lgbt50.org. Archived from the original on April 7, 2023. Retrieved April 7, 2023.
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