Frassmann, Dorothy, 1931-

Dorothy Frassmann was born October 29, 1931 in Brooklyn, New York. Right before her parents divorced while she was five, Frassmann moved to Canada to live with her great aunt. She moved back to the United States when she was ten years old because World War II started. She met her husband, Lewis, when she was 15 and he was 20 or 21; they married only a month after meeting each other in Texas. After a series of turmoil between Frassmann and Lewis, they got divorced less than a year later. She was left to support herself in Hubbard, Texas at the age of 15.

Frassmann worked as a waitress for a few months until someone offered her a job cleaning her house, so she moved to Wilmington, California where she finished high school. She lived with her mom and step-father, who would try to sell her off to his friends to pay for his alcohol addiction. Frassmann, wanting to escape yet again from her parents, decided to join the United States Womens Army Corps to gain independence. During basic training was the first time she had mutual attraction with another woman, and that opened her sexual expression and understanding of homosexuality.