Quote:
Originally Posted by Virago
2 nights ago I spoke on a panel at a local University regarding the importance of the bar scene to the gay community pre and post stonewall. There was one woman who bartended in the 40's, one who bartended in the 50's, one who bartended in the 60's and 70's and I represented the 80's and 90's. We're going to be doing more panel discussions and also a documentary is in the process of being filmed on the topic. It is all surrounding the new book, "Baby, You Are My Religion; Women, Gay Bars and Theology". I was curious as to all of your thoughts on Lesbian life in the 70's, 80's, 90's in comparison to the new millennium. Any thoughts?
http://babyyouaremyreligion.com/
"Baby, You Are My Religion
Baby You Are My Religion argues that American butch-femme bar culture of the mid-20th Century should be interpreted as a sacred space for its community. Before Stonewall - when homosexuals were still deemed mentally ill - these bars were the only place where many could have any community at all. " |
That is wonderful to hear, Virago.
I'm approaching my late 50s, but growing up during the 1960s to late 1970s, there was (to my knowledge) no bar for Lesbians Only, in my home state. Mostly, as I remember, we went to private parties by invitation only, location was kept pretty quiet, back then. To this day, I think, it's still almost that kind of thing with (and among) those who I've been friends with for years.
There used to be a bar for Lesbians only in the Hawthorne district (Portland, Or), but I'm not sure it's still there. But at one time, it was a place you could go to meet other Lesbian's in our metro community.
Maybe it's my age or something, but it has been MCC churches or certain Lutheran or Presbyterian churches which has been home to many in the LGBTQ community, where people could hold monthly get-together's, dances, or even organize for an political rally or what-not. Public universities, 1990s on, seem to have bloomed with Women's Resort Centers, which when I attended college in my late 30s/early 40s, I was active in our local chapter on campus (WRC) --- when Riot Grrl and Eve Ensler's Vaginal Monologues, made room for safe ways to be out loud and proud. However, finding Butch/Femme community is rather difficult and I have always been grateful for the Butch/Femme community, here online at The Planet.
I look forward to hearing more about your latest project and round table discussions. Thanks for sharing.
Eta: This weekend, there's a concert at a Lutheran church off of 21st & Broadway..... I plan to go because quite a few of my peers at work on campus are in the choir.