Pat Walker
Pat Walker was a lesbian activist and leader. She joined the Daughters of Bilitis (DOB) in the early 1960s and was later elected president of the San Francisco chapter. She represented DOB at the 1964 “Church and the Homosexual” retreat, which brought together fifteen lesbian and gay activists and fifteen clergymen to discuss gay and lesbian inclusion in Christianity. The retreat led to the foundation of the Council on Religion and the Homosexual in San Francisco, which created a network of affirming churches and clergy, held social events for gay and lesbian Christians, engaged in political advocacy on behalf of gay and lesbian issues, and inspired similar councils around the country.
She was also active in suicide prevention work, working shifts for the San Francisco Suicide Prevention Agency helpline. Outside of activism, she ran a wake-up call service and later a snack bar in an office building. After the death of a relative, Walker inherited property that she then sold, which allowed her to purchase five acres of desert land. She lived alone on her property, finding it more peaceful and freeing than San Francisco, though she kept in touch with fellow activists and friends from DOB.
Walker was blind and had the most direct involvement with the disability community of all the activists profiled in this exhibit. For a year, she lived at the Center for Independent Living (CIL) in Berkeley, California, learning skills to navigate the world from other blind people. Established by disabled student activists from the University of California, Berkeley, in the 1970s, the CIL allowed disabled people to live outside of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities, which had histories of abuse and mistreatment while still providing care, other essential services, and a chance to be part of a disability community. The Center sparked a national movement, with hundreds of similar centers appearing across the country, and engaged in disability activism, lobbying for funding to sustain and expand its services and change the inaccessible communities where they were based.