Lesbian Herstory Archives AudioVisual Collections

Debra, February 20, 1980 (Tape 2)

Item

SPW498_Debra.jpg

Title

Debra, February 20, 1980 (Tape 2)

Subject

Lesbians
Lesbians Conduct of life
Lesbians--Employment
Lesbians--Family relationships
Lesbians--Social life and customs
Lesbians--United States--Interviews
Lesbians--United States--Identity
Lesbians--United States--Social conditions
Lesbians--New York (State)--Buffalo--History--20th century
Lesbians and sports
Lesbians--New York (State)--Buffalo--Social conditions
Lesbianism--United States
Lesbianism--Social aspects
Lesbianism--United States--History
Lesbian and gay experience
Lesbians--Romantic Relationships
Gay bars
Lesbians of Color

Description

Discusses her child, a son. He was the product of her one-day marriage. She kept him for about 8 months and then her brother and his wife took him and raised him. He would spend the summers with her until he was 12 and then he lived with her and spent the summers with her brother and his wife.
Believes lesbians make better mothers because they know more. She didn’t want her son to go into gay life because she felt it would be difficult for him, she doesn’t believe that gay men relationships last. She believes you can teach someone not to be gay.
They talk about gay men and lesbian relationships and social interactions. She would call upon her gay male friends to be her date to events that she needed a date, also sometimes family events. They talk about marriages between a gay man and gay woman. Debra says that she knew quite a few couples who had done that to put up a front, but that those relationships always worked out well. Debra also talks about marriage between two women. She never wanted to get married but knew women who did.
They also discuss alcoholism and drugs among the gay community.
On the second tape, Debra further discusses fights in the lesbian community. Madeline asks if she knew any lesbians who played sports in the 1940s and 1950s. Debra believes lesbians played sports but cannot definitely say so.

Creator

Debra (Interviewee)
Madeline Davis (Interviewer)

Date

1980-02-20

Date Created

1980, February 20

Contributor

Pratt Institute, School of Information and Library Science, LIS 665 Projects in Digital Archives students.

Format

Original = Cassette Tape
MP3
WAV

Extent

Side A = 29:29
Side B = 9:02

Language

English

Type

Sound
Physical Object
Oral History Interview

Identifier

SPW498

Rights Holder

Lesbian Herstory Archives, Contact Designation: Maxine Wolfe, Contact Address: 484 14th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11215, Phone Number: 718-768-3953

Citation

Debra (Interviewee) Madeline Davis (Interviewer), “Debra, February 20, 1980 (Tape 2),” Lesbian Herstory Archives AudioVisual Collections, accessed March 28, 2024, http://herstories.prattinfoschool.nyc/omeka/items/show/185.