Lois Johnson & Sheri Barden
Lois Johnson
Lois met Sheri Barden, in 1964 and they were married on March 27, 2008. While she majored in English in college, today Lois Johnson has a job in real estate. She has belonged to Boston Lesbian & Gay Political Alliance, Daughters of Bilitis, and the LGBT Aging Project. The Gay Pride parade has always been an extremely important event for Lois. She has been attending the parade for 40 years. At the time of the first Gay Pride Parade, Johnson worked at WGMH-TV producing children’s shows. Sheri Barden didn’t want her to march because she thought it might get Johnson fired. Despite Sheri’s wishes, Johnson did participate in the second Gay Pride parade. Johnson sees the political aspect of the parade as a way of achieving gay marriage legislation and legislation getting rid of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.
Sheri Barden
Sheri married Lois Johnson in March of 2008. At the age of 18, Sheri served in the United States Army during World War II for five years. Sheri explains “that out of the 270 females that were stationed with her in France, 200 were gay”. Today Sheri Barden is a picture framer and runs a bed and breakfast. She has been involved with the Boston Lesbian & Gay Political Alliance, Daughters of Bilitis, and the LGBT Aging Project in addition to other local groups. Just like her wife Lois, Sheri has been attending the Gay Pride Parade for 40 years.
**Johnson, L. and Barden, S. (1995, October 9). [DOB revised script]. DOB Oral History Project, Daughters of Bilitis. Herstory Archives, Brooklyn, New York.
Montalvo, A. (2010, July 20). The walls talk in South End lesbians’ home. South End News. Retrieved from http://www.mysouthend.com.
Lois Johnson and Sheri Barden Interview, April 1, 1989
The interview begins with Lois Johnson, who discusses when she realized that she was a lesbian, which caused her to move out to California and take a job in journalism. In the second part, Lois discusses expressing herself emotionally, and how she repressed her anger initially, unlike Sheri, who would often explode, leading to a lot of crying in the early part of their relationship.