ADA BELLO
Born in Havana, Ada left Cuba in 1958 after the university she attended was closed following student protests. She continued her education at Louisiana State University, graduating with a degree in chemistry. In 1962, Ada relocated to Philadelphia, working first at the University of Pennsylvania and later at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Ada recounts that “in Philadelphia, I came to know a group of lesbian women who became early leaders in the homophile movement.” She became a founding member of the Philadelphia Chapter of the Daughters of Bilitis and of its successor, the Homophile Action League (HAL). Reporting for the HAL Newsletter, Ada covered the Annual Reminder demonstrations, a series of early pickets organized by LGBTQ organizations that took place each July 4 at Independence Hall in Philadelphia from 1965 – 1969.
Ada’s trail-blazing activism included volunteering with the American Library Association’s Gay Task Force, providing early support for the Gay Community Center, for which she served as Co-Chair, serving on the board of the Philadelphia Lesbian and Gay Task Force and helping to organize From All Walks of Life, the first walk-a-thon for AIDS funding. In addition, she was one of the founding members of the LGBT Elder Initiative, serving on the Board of that organization until 2019. In 2015 she received the David Acosta Revolutionary Leader Award from GALAEI, Philadelphia’s queer Latino social justice organization.
Upon her professional retirement, Ada sought a volunteer opportunity where she could make a difference and found it as a long-term care ombudsman. As she notes, ‘it gave me the opportunity of exploring the challenges of aging while perhaps helping others in the process.” Ada advocated for elders in long term care for 20 years, helping to find solutions to problems, promoting residents’ rights and “recognizing them in their full entitlement as human beings.”
Ada stands with ground-breaking pioneers Barbara Gittings, Kay Lahusen, Frank Kameny, and John James as a champion of LGBTQ equality and rights. For her courage and compassion, her lifelong advocacy in behalf of the LGBTQ community and her commitment to improving the lives of the most vulnerable older adults, CARIE is privileged to honor Ada Bello with the 2020 Spirit of CARIE Award.
