Lynn Marie Hull, a prominent Chicago area lesbian-feminist activist and separatist, died Dec. 7, 2025, of pancreatic cancer. She was 77.
Hull was born Jan. 28, 1948, and grew up in the Chicago area. She knew from childhood that she was attracted to women and first came out to another person in 1962 when she was 14. However, given the restrictions society imposed on lesbians in the ‘60s and ‘70s, Hull married and had two daughters. After 10 years, Hull divorced her husband and began enjoying the vibrant Chicago lesbian feminist social scene.
In the decades since Hull came out, she nurtured, celebrated and co-created lesbian community, both through the individual lives she touched, and through the organizations and groups she helped sustain. She was active in Metis Press, DuPage Women Against Rape, Institute for Lesbian Studies (ILS), Mountain Moving Coffeehouse and a lesbian mothers support group she created with her good friend, the late Mimi Lewin.
Hull also founded the non-profit Employment Advocacy and Research Network (EARN), which helped women facing employment problems. She was also a board member of Chicago Women in Trades (CWIT), Berwyn United Neighborhood Gay and Lesbian Organization (BUNGALO), Wimmin’s Studies Teaching Collective and Chicago Wimmin’s Liberation Union.
Over the course of Hull’s life, she loved spending time with other womyn, building community, partaking of womyn’s music festivals (including taking her daughters with her to the Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival) and sharing her skills with other lesbians.
In an interview for the Chicago Gay History site in 2007, Hull stated that “as a feminist, I have tried to live my life in a nonhierarchical and inclusive way.” She also spoke about how she “detested that the general societal values of exclusion and hierarchy” pervaded a number of the LGBTQ+ groups she got involved with and that is why she decided to leave them.
Over the last 20 years, Hull continued to nurture and thrive in womyn-only gatherings and organizations. In the start of these years, this included Artemis Singers, and more recently, several underground womyn-only groups.
In Hull’s free time she loved to garden, fish, camp and live on the land. She was also a life-long learner who shared her knowledge with many people in her life.
Hull is survived by her daughters Jennifer Hull and Laura (Trevor) Clay; grandchildren Brett (fiancée Anna) and Sedona Clay; sister Renee Finik; brother George Pinc; nieces and nephews, numerous chosen family members and friends and her one-eyed cat Kohaku. She was preceded in death by her sister Debby Tobias and brother Dale Henning.
Laura Clay said, “My ma was a strong, independent, opinionated womyn (her preferred spelling) with a long, unique and interesting life. She was a lab tech, phlebotomist, machinist, typesetter for Windy City Times and construction worker/handywomyn who could build you a lofted bed, replace your stairs, create a koi pond, install a toilet and tuckpoint your house (only a few of the many projects she accomplished).”
Friend and fellow ILS member Kathy Munzer said, “Lynn was a resilient and courageous lesbian feminist activist, with a wry sense of humor. I found her work on behalf of lesbians, domestic violence survivors and women in the trades was inspiring. She made a great impact in our Chicago community, and beyond. I appreciated her sharing her experiences of sexism, misogyny and lesbophonia as a woman working in the trades. Lynn fought for her rights, filing discrimination suits, while suffering injuries on the job.
“As a member of Chicago Women in Trades, she gave support, and helped other women gain employment. She was a ‘Jill-of -All -Trades’—a Rape Crisis Counselor, a typesetter, a machinist. Lynn loved attending lesbian gatherings, and participated in coffeehouses, festivals and conferences all over the country.”
Friend and fellow ILS member Anne Leighton said, “Lynn was a wonderful dyke. She was warmhearted, intellectually curious, committed to social justice and always willing to provide advice on DIY projects. Always more interested in acting than reacting, her sense of adventure never dimmed. She was a valuable and valued member of our communities. She is missed.”
Friend and fellow Artemis Singers member Ruth Clark said, “I’ve known Lynn for many years through our sisterhood in Artemis Singers. She truly showed up as a community member, whether it was building scenery for a stage production, bringing a unique dish to a potluck, singing in the second soprano section or getting her head shaved to support a good cause. She loved camping and being outdoors. She knew how to bait a hook and operate a Dremel. She was a strong and sturdy dyke who always, always stood up and spoke out for the rights of women and lesbians. We will miss her.”
Friend Tina Beacock said, “Lynn had a powerful effect on me. In fact, she saved my life four years ago. We were chatting on the phone one time, till she realized why she couldn’t understand me. I was having a stroke. She called 911 and I was bundled off to the ER. A doctor treating me told me, if I’d just hung up and gone to sleep, I wouldn’t have woken up.”
Friend Maiko said, “I will always remember the moment I first met Lynn. It was the first meeting of a feminist consciousness raising group, and she was there sitting across the circle from me. I was a gender non-conforming woman so far in the closet I could see Narnia, struggling with always being told I was broken, wrong, that eventually I’d ‘get with the program’ and ‘grow out of it.’ That I’d cave and conform.
“But there she was, a woman older than me by a full generation, who looked like me. Who was like me. Who was still doing it, non-conforming. Living her truth. I couldn’t take my eyes away. I saw in her my own path forward, that yes, it was okay to be me. To resist. That I wasn’t alone. We became fast friends and I eventually came out. I’ll always remember us dancing together to Amazon Woman Rise and feeling completely, utterly free.”
A celebration of life will be held at a later date.
