Miriam Frank, a current professor at New York University has something to say about queer American labor. So much so that she's just finished a book about it entitled, Out in the Union: A Labor History of Queer America. Frank was born and raised in a blue collar household in Newark, New Jersey, and she credits her upbringing with her early education in labor and unions. She spent the better part of her adult years in and around New York City, and got her bachelor's degree and doctorate from New York University with a concentration in German Literature.
"It doesn't seem the kind of degree a labor person would have now does it?" asked Frank during her conversation with Windy City Times. But while she was living in Detroit, she met some union organizers who needed documents translated that had originally been written by a colleague of Karl Marx. It was her involvement Detroit labor organizers in the late 1960s that began Frank's deeper education and interest in the history of the American labor movement.
In 1982, Frank wrote The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter, a book chronicling the migration of women from the home front to the work front during the Second World War. Frank's book also led to a critically acclaimed documentary of the same name. "This led to a deeper interest in women and labor history and eventually led me to coming out in a union job," said Frank. Eventually Frank returned to New York City in the 1980s and fell in with Desma Holcomb, a noted out LGBT organizer and negotiator with District 65 of the United Auto Workers and a researcher with the Amalgamated Clothing and textile Workers Union. "It was this relationship that began my deeper interest in LGBT involvement in labor," added Frank.
In 1993, the Service Employees International Union ( SEIU ) Magazine decided to run a story on the rise of LGBT issues in the labor movement. However, SEIU soon found out that very little if anything had been written about LGBT labor interests and even less had been written about LGBT labor history. "This book, Out in the Union, told me I had to write it," said Frank. In 1994, she was a master teacher at New York University and was able to get a semester off to begin collecting oral histories from all over the country. She traveled to Boston, Washington, D.C., Detroit, San Francisco and Portland, collecting as much information on LGBT and queer labor culture.
"I wasn't able to make it to every locale. That's why I called the book a labor history not the labor history," said Frank. "In the last 20 years, the discussion in labor has shifted to LGBT interests. People are talking about these issues and really wanted to know about this subject. I became dedicated to this book," added Frank.
The book opens with an anecdotal story of a woman, left on her own, who lives her life as a man and becomes "a union man." She lives as a man and works as a man and even is elected a union steward. "The story leads to a deeper discussion of gender identity and what issues are important to a union because it is important to the union's membership." Frank does not beat around the bush when it comes to labor's involvement in both the emergence of the domestic partnership and later marriage equality. "These were labor issues because they were issues to the members of the unions. There were LGBT members who needed these benefits. The union was interested in marriage and the rights that flow from marriage because we are everywhere," said Frank.
Frank said she sees the future of labor rights and civil rights being transgender and gender-identity rights. "Trans individuals are no longer waiting until they are 40 to identify themselves. This is a present, here-and-now issue. If we are going to identify the movement as 'LGBT' we cannot forget about the 'T'. This is not an 'Oh. Them.' situation," urged Frank. If the idea of transgender rights and labor rights seem incongruous, Frank said only one word—"bathroom"—and the entirety of the argument made logical sense. An individual who identifies as female, though born with male genitalia needs the right to use the women's bathroom and vice versa. "In many plants and workplaces, this is a non-issue and was added to contracts. But in some cases there is significant workplace hostility," said Frank. But which bathroom to use just touches the subject, she said, adding that the costs of treatment and surgery need to be considered. "There is an entire period of preparation that includes therapy and medication and surgeries that should be covered by the trans employee's health care plan. Most people don't view this as a life-or -death issue but, in reality, it is," said Frank.
Out in the Union chronicles the story of queer U.S. labor and its significant impact on the rights that affect the LGBT community. Frank has seen it as her solemn duty to make certain that we, as a community, do not forget that involvement.
