Craig Rodwell - Later Activism

Later Activism

Rodwell is believed to have created the term heterosexism in January 1971 when he wrote:

"After a few years of this kind of 'liberated' existence such people become oblivious and completely unseeing of straight predjudice and - to coin a phrase - the 'hetero-sexism' surrounding them virtually 24 hours a day."

In 1978 Rodwell was one of the creators and organizers of Gay People in Christian Science (GPICS). Rodwell credits Kay Tobin with suggesting the idea for the group. One reason for the creation of the group was that three of its members had been recently excommunicated from the local branch church. In 1980 the group began to demonstrate by leafletting at the church's Annual Meeting in Boston and by 1999, six years after Rodwell's death, the Christian Scientist church no longer barred openly gay or lesbian people from membership.

Rodwell was the recipient of the 1992 Lambda Literary Award for Publisher's Service.

In March 1993, Rodwell sold his bookshop to Bill Offenbaker. Rodwell died on June 18, 1993 of stomach cancer.