Gallo was born c. 1951, in Wilmington, Delaware and has two younger brothers: Ed and Mike Maggitti.
After marrying in 1973, she became a stay-at-home housewife for a short time before taking on a secretary position at Today, Inc.[1] After moving to San Francisco in 1978, Gallo became a secretary for the American Civil Liberties Union, later becoming the field organizer for the San Francisco office.
While there, she learned about the Daughters of Bilitis, the first American lesbian civil rights group, which later inspired her doctoral dissertation.
[9] She published her second book, "No One Helped": Kitty Genovese, New York City, and the Myth of Urban Apathy, with Cornell University Press in 2015.
[2] Gallo married her husband Victor in 1973 after having been in a relationship for over three years, during which time he had fought in the Vietnam War.