Norman, Goodwife (fl. mid-17th c.)

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Norman, Goodwife (fl. mid–17th c.)

American colonial woman tried for lesbianism. Born in MA.

In 1649, as a citizen of Plymouth in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, was charged with "lude behavior upon a bed."; was found guilty and sentenced to "public acknowledgment" of her crime, civic humiliation being a favorite punishment of Puritan authorities; is thought to be the 1st woman in America convicted of lesbianism.

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