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Karen Thompson Interview - Tape 5
This tape is part of a 5-part series interviewing Karen Thompson regarding her legal struggles to secure guardianship of her comatose partner, Sharon Kowalski. (Note: Tape 1 is missing)
In Tape 5, Karen discusses the physical and mental toll her legal battles have had on her, including the struggles she has experienced with Kowalski's family, particularly the pressure to be "perfect" to prevent the courts from using any mistakes against her.
Karen also talks about her relationship with Sharon before the incident, as well as the distance she felt that she needed to create between herself and her colleagues and students to prevent her outing, which could lead to the loss of her job. -
Karen Thompson Interview - Tape 3
This tape is part of a 5-part series interviewing Karen Thompson regarding her legal struggles to secure guardianship of her comatose partner, Sharon Kowalski. (Note: Tape 1 is missing)
Tape 3 primarily consists of Karen recounting her legal struggles with Sharon’s parents regarding Sharon’s guardianship. Karen also discusses how it felt coming out to her parents. -
Karen Thompson Interview - Tape 2
This tape is part of a 5-part series interviewing Karen Thompson regarding her legal struggles to secure guardianship of her comatose partner, Sharon Kowalski. (Note: Tape 1 is missing)
In Tape 2, Karen begins to describe her legal dispute with Sharon’s parents over guardianship and the emotions she felt during the process. Karen recounts the difficulties of coming out to her own family and Sharon’s parents, as well as her fear of a legal dispute over Sharon's guardianship outing her to the public. -
Speaking to the Future: 1978 Lesbian Regional Conference (Tape 2)
Part 2 of interviews addressed to "lesbians of the future" conducted by the Lesbian Herstory Archives at the 1978 Lesbian Regional Conference. Among the subjects discussed in the interviews include coming out, lesbian bars, racism against lesbians of color, representations of violence against women, feminism, and older lesbians. -
Speaking to the Future: 1978 Lesbian Regional Conference (Tape 1)
Part 1 of interviews addressed to "lesbians of the future" conducted by the Lesbian Herstory Archives at the 1978 Lesbian Regional Conference. Among the subjects discussed in the interviews include coming out, lesbian fashion, older lesbians, chosen names, homophobia, and racism against lesbians of color. -
Lesbian Style Project: Mariya Gorkhover
Alaina Zulli interviews Mariya Gorkhover. They discuss her family, coming out to her parents, how her style has evolved with her sexuality, how she believes she is perceived, and how she would like to be perceived (based upon her looks). -
Lesbian Style Project: Courtney Vance
Alaina Zulli interviews Courtney Vance, who now goes by Thomas. Vance discusses growing up, coming out, and current stylistic choices and experiences. -
Lesbian Style Project: Fumio Ichikawa (Disc 2)
Alaina Zulli interviews Fumio Ichikawa, part two. She reflects on her experiences of xenophobia and colonialism, particularly in the context of the six month university exchange program that she spent in London. Then, she reflects on how she came to understand her lesbian identity, the tensions between Japanese cultural norms and gendered expectations and her identity as a lesbian, and how her identity is reflected in her style. -
Lesbian Style Project: Fumio Ichikawa (Disc 1)
Alaina Zulli interviews Fumio Ichikawa, part one. First she reflects on her experiences across her childhood and adolescence; she grew up in a small town in Kanagawa outside of Tokyo, and recounts her experience of class and gender in Japan. She also describes her difficulties adjusting to the culture and language in America as a young adult after her family moved to New York when she was 17 years old. -
Lesbian Style Project: Anonymous Interviewee
The interviewee recounts her experiences growing up lesbian and intersex in Brooklyn and Manhattan. She discusses the lesbian community, the ballroom scene, workplace and school bullying, and her experiences working at an urban clothing company.
The interviewee's name has been withheld at her request. -
Ruth Berman and Rosemary Dempsey for the National Organization for Women NYC, 1991
Audio starts with Ruth Berman talking to an audience about the importance of voting as a Lesbian and as an ally, an about the importance of being political and coming out as a gay person. She touches on the role of money and legality in domestic partnerships and the need to prove them. Ruth encourages the audience to join the National Organization for Women (NOW) to amplify their voices.
10:00 mins into the tape, Rosemary Dempsey from NOW discusses the importance of legal tools to protect gay people and their families, ad how coming out is an important part of that process.
Audio ends at 13:11, the rest of the tape is blank.
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Ruth Berman, Connie Kurtz , and Deborah Dickson Interview with Bay Area Reporter, 2001
In this interview with an unknown reporter, Ruth Berman and Connie Kurtz discuss their lives in context with the recent documentary about their life directed by Deborah Dickson, who is also interviewed.
Ruth and Connie discuss how they met, their early activism within their communities, being married to men and having families, and their eventual falling in love with one another and coming out as Lesbians. They discuss their relationships with their families then and now, and the importance of coming out of the closet.
Deborah talks about her process when working in this film, and how she tried to make the film for both gay and striaght audiences -
Jade Martner Interview
In this oral history conducted by the Rossmoor Lesbian Social Club, Jade Martner discusses her discusses her coming out process, both to herself at age 15, and to her mom when she was 17 which led to Jade being kicked out of the house. Moving to the Bay Area in 1988 from Arizona and finding a women’s group and community with the Palo Alto Lesbian Rap Group and in Lesbian Bars. Her work in IT management and being a Lesbian in a professional setting and starting an LGBTQ resource group at her company. -
Stephanie Singer Interview
Recording of a Zoom event "Life Passages" where Stephanie Singer speaks on her experience as a transwoman and a Lesbian and discussed her early life, her coming out, and her family dynamics. After Stephanie speaks, there is a Q&A with other people on the Zoom meeting who are part of the Rossmoor Lesbian Social Club. -
Neighborhood Voices: Sonny Wainwright Interview (Tape 4)
Sonny Wainwright discusses being closeted, her group of closeted friends, and keeping her private life private. She also discusses labels as being necessary because the word “woman” does not define every part of her, and when she is free to be who she is she will no longer feel the need to be labeled a “radical lesbian feminist” because woman will be sufficient. Also mentioned is Wainwrights’ battle with breast cancer, and how it brought her first book Stage V: A Journal Through Illness.
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Neighborhood Voices: Sonny Wainwright Interview (Tape 3)
The New York gay bar scene in the 1950s gave Sonny Wainwright and her peers a place to be together without the interference of straight society. She left New York in 1953 to become a college teacher at University of New Hampshire. Wainwright oscillates between ideas of identity and stories of different instances of being outed in her personal and professional life, including a story about developing a relationship with a student at the University of New Hampshire, who outed her sexualty leading to her dismissal. -
Neighborhood Voices: Sonny Wainwright Interview (Tape 2)
Wainwright remembers her youth and feeling on the “fringes” of society. Growing up and attending an all girls highschool, she was aware of her feelings about women and only later realized what it meant after graduating high school and meeting her first lover. Despite understanding her identity and sexuality, she made the choice to “live straight” in the 1960s due to the lack of acceptance by society and the threat of losing her job as principal of a junior high school while raising her daughter alone. -
Neighborhood Voices: Sonny Wainwright Interview (Tape 1)
Sonny Wainwright discusses coming out in 1948, navigating the Village bar scene as a young college student with her lover Kelly, and the social life of lesbians in the 1950s. Wainwright found support in the bars as well as her close circle of closeted friends prior to the formation of the Gay Women’s Alternative. -
Ladder Workshop/Wendy Hayes, 1970s (Part 1)
Wendy Hayes elaborates her coming out in San Francisco and joining the Daughters of Bilitis (DOB). The Daughters of Bilitis started as a group of women trying to find an alternative to the bar scene in San Francisco. -
Lesbian Nation, April 2, 1974
This recording begins with announcements for upcoming poetry readings located throughout New York City. The next segment is a pre-recorded interview panel that offers insight into the gay professional led by a woman identified only as Shoshana. She discusses her own background and experiences in the workplace and then asks her panelists questions about their experiences and difficulties they face. The panelists go on to discuss their hesitancy and fears of what the repercussions of being out on the job would mean. Continuing on, the panelists discuss societal pressures and the vagaries of workplace policies and the paranoia it can lead to. As the discussion concludes, the focus and fear society has on the sexual aspect of being gay is explored. This broadcast concludes with Martha Shelley discussing her feelings of nostalgia on turning 30. -
Lesbian Nation, July 28, 1972
Martha Shelley interviews Gene Damon aka Barbara Grier, founder of the lesbian magazine The Ladder (1956-1972). They discuss the beginnings of The Ladder and how it evolved from a smaller publication within the Daughters of Bilitis (DOB) into an independent publication. Grier discusses the shift in content as well once the magazine became independent of the Daughters of Bilitis. Grier felt that under DOB they were focused on presenting a clean public image of lesbians to society at large and that this was reflected in what was published in older versions of The Ladder. Once Grier became the editor, she felt it was important to address topics like sexuality, saying “we began running material that deals with sex honestly and forthrightly.”Tags Barbara Grier, Coming Out, Daughters of Bilitis, Gay Activists Alliance (GAA), Interviews, Lesbian Musician, Lesbian Nation, Lesbian Writer, Literature, Martha Shelley, Music, Publications, Sex, Sexual Relationships, Sexuality, The Ladder, Women's Lesbian Liberation Committee, Women's Liberation Movement, Writing -
LHA Daughters of Bilitis Video Project: Barbara Grier, November 27, 1987 (Tape 5)
The majority of this video depicts Barbara and her partner, Donna McBride, going through photo albums and images of Barbara’s childhood, her family, and then her later years with Donna. Some topics that come up include Helen Bennett, Barbara’s relationship before Donna, and Naiad Press. The last 30 minutes or so of the video focus on Barbara as she discusses The Ladder and the various women who contributed to it and how publications helped shape social change for the gay and lesbian movement. -
Nikki Nichols, May 14, 1987 (Tape 1)
Nikki Nichols describes her coming out process, and experiences with older lesbian women as a teenager. Discusses changing views on butch/fem issue. Laments the lack of lesbian groups in Sacramento, as well as describing issues with and fears of gay bars. Talks about how the discovery of DOB saved her life – socially and otherwise. Describes first DOB convention in 1960. Discusses her research into Native American attitudes towards homosexuality, as well as Native American rights movement. -
Karen Ryer Anderson
Karen Anderson Ryer discusses her coming out process, and the acceptance of her parents. She talks about butch vs. fem, and changing generational attitudes. Discusses importance of feminism to lesbianism specifically, and differences from gay men’s movement. She details the split of “The Ladder” from the San Francisco chapter from DOB, and how she left to start a new magazine. Also mentions the integration of different lesbian communities – Oakland vs. San Francisco, and the impact of AIDS on the lesbian community. -
Kay O'Hara and Gerrie Morrison, October 20, 1988 (Tape 1)
Kay O'Hara and Gerrie Morrison are interviewed in 1988. They both talk about their family lives, when they realized they were lesbians, coming out, their relationship, and previous relationships. Kay mentions her engagement and marriage before she accepted she was a lesbian. They talk about the San Francisco DOB from the 1950s and the meeting's events that were held, as well as butch and femme roles. They talk about literature that was available, including the Ladder and the contributions they made to its design and distribution. -
Ruth Simpson, October 8, 1989 (Tape 1)
Ruth Simpson is interviewed in Woodstock, New York. She talks about her past experience dating men and falling in love. She discusses coming out and realizing her sexual orientation when she was doing theater in college. -
Renee Shapiro, April 1, 1989
Renee Shapiro is interviewed April 1, 1989. She discusses joining the Daughters of Bilitis and the various group activities they did. Renee talks about her hands on experience with putting together plays and different group events. -
Marilyn Lamkay, April 8, 1987
Marliyn Lamkay is interviewed in New York City in 1987 (it seems to continue from a previous video and is perhaps continued in another video). She talks about being a lesbian in New York and coming out to her family and professionally, her relationships and religious beliefs. She discusses lesbian roles and how she didn't fit into any of the existing roles, even in the DOB community. She discusses community building and CR groups when she was younger and how she went on to hold workshops about resources for gay and lesbian New Yorkers at Bronx Community College. She mentions New YorkDOB meetings and the influence that DOB had in the creation of subsequent lesbian groups and communities. -
Julie Lee, 1989
Julie Lee and her partner [Ginny] are interviewed in 1989. They discuss relationships, lesbian communities, activism and the civil rights movement. Julie talks about her role as secretary of the New York chapter of DOB and her roles in United Sisters, ACLU, etc. They both talk about police harassment and how 'out' lesbians lost their jobs. Julie also mentions her pseudonym. -
Barbara Emmerth, February 21, 1988
Barbara Emmerth is interviewed in New York City in 1988. She discusses the uniqueness of coming out on West Virginia in the 1950s where there was little stigma attached to homosexuality because there was so little understanding or awareness of it. She speaks about her relationships, moving to New York City in the 1960s and her involvement with DOB (including a brief stint as the VP of the New York chapter) and with SAGE (Services & Advocacy for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual & Transgender Elders). -
Anne MacKay, April 24, 1988
Anne MacKay is interviewed in Orient Point, New York in 1988. She discusses the early days of the DOB, lesbian conventions, coming out to her family, socializing, theatrical productions to help fund the Lesbian Herstory Archives, and relationships between lesbians. -
Alma Routsong, January 20, 1990 (Tape 1)
Alma Routsong is interviewed in New York in 1990. She discusses her early experiences of being a lesbian and coming out. She explains how lesbian literature of the time informed her about DOB and influenced her to leave her husband and move to New York with her lover. Alma also discusses her writing career and use of a pseudonym. -
LHA Daughters of Bilitis Video Project: Pat Helin and Barbara Deming, May 10, 1987 (Tape 1)
Pat Helin and Barbara Deming discuss their childhood in Iowa, their involvement with the Daughters of Bilitis in San Francisco and their friendship with Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon. -
LHA Daughters of Bilitis Video Project: Edythe D. Eyde aka Lisa Ben , October 25, 1988 (Tape 1)
Edith Eyde talks about her life growing up in rural southern California, moving to Los Angelos and discovering the lesbian culture there. She discusses publishing Vice Versa, one of the first lesbian magazines, and her music career. -
Andy, April 20, 1982 (Tape 2)
Andy further discusses how she came to construct her butch image. She recalls getting into fights with men and having to give up good jobs because she refused to give up her queer image and identity. She discusses her clash with a teacher when she was in school in the 1950s. She describes her relationship with a prostitute and other close relationships. On side B she talks about breaking into the butch scene and coming out. Andy talks about gay bars and places queer women were welcome or not. She discusses fashion and explains why they wore their t-shirts backward. -
DJ, January 6, 1980 (Tape 2)
DJ discusses her early experiences with women as a teenager, her feelings of being a tomboy, and her coming-out experience. She discusses her experiences in the bar scene in Buffalo in the 1950s, and describes ways in which women would interact with each other, but publicly and privately. DJ also discusses roles in relationships, particularly the butch and the femme. -
Cheryl, October 4, 1978 (Tape 1)
Side A: Cheryl discusses her experiences and the stereotypes that were associated with lesbians in college when she first first came out.
Side B: Cheryl discusses her relationships, including sexual relationships and partnerships. She shares her experiences and opinions about affairs, and monogamous and non-monogamous relationships. Generational differences within the lesbian community are also discussed. -
Andy, March 30, 1982 (Tape 1)
Andy discusses the history of gay rights in Buffalo, New York, and describes how it feels like to be open about her sexual identity. She shares some of her childhood and early adulthood experiences in the 1950s and 60s –her first relationships and confronting the risk of losing her job. Other topics discussed include the gay and lesbian bar scene, raids, prostitution, butch and femme roles, and Andy’s experience within the African American gay community. -
DJ, January 6, 1980 (Tape 1)
DJ discusses the time she went to the hospital and was diagnosed as a homosexual. She remembers that the doctor suggested she try going out with a man to determine the extent of her feelings toward women. She also recalls that the doctor told her she must learn to live with society and to control her emotions in public. -
Windsor, July 17, 1980
Windsor talks about what it was like coming out and her relationships, the death of her partner and how that affected her. She also talks about the changes in gay community and what it was like being single or in love. -
Portia, September 24, 1978 (Tape 1)
The gay movement has taken the lesbian community out of the bars or the "gay underworld," as compared to when she came out in the late 1960s, about 10 years prior to the interview. Portia, age 26, is not out at her job, but is known as a feminist and civil rights activist; her sister is openly homosexual. She talks about her early sexual experiences with girls and how she never felt guilty or different, but felt guilty with boys because of her Catholic upbringing. Her father beat Portia after she went out with her lover, and then she moved out of home at 18. She attended university and discusses her relationships and friendships in college, as well as her relationship with her first lover, who is still her partner, and their infidelities. -
Reggie, September 21, 1980
Discusses growing up in Buffalo, when she realized she was first gay at a young age, and going to clubs -
Enit, October 3, 1978 (Tape 2)
Enit discusses how her perception of Lesbian oppression has changed over time. She also talks about acceptance in the work place and how professionals view Lesbians. Enit explains that her personal interests have changed with age and that her hobby is dance. She finishes by discussing her interactions with straight women and the support she gets from her Lesbian friends. -
Enit, October 3, 1978 (Tape 1)
Enit discusses facing her sexuality at the age of 12 and coming out to her family despite her frustration at their lack of acceptance. She goes on to discuss her social life and dating in Buffalo, NY, noting how she used to meet women at bars but that her social activities have changed with age. She discusses her participation in the Erie Picnics held for gay men and women in Pennsylvania. She is 47 at the time of the interview. -
Pat and DJ, November 11, 1986 (Tape 3)
Side A: Pat and DJ discuss the characteristics of femme identity. The interviewers say they are looking to interview more femmes, which leads to a discussion of the names and locations of lesbians who were a part of the community in the 1940s. The interviewers also mention the difficulties of interviewing lesbians who have not come out. The group discusses why butches are more willing to talk. Pat talks about her time at the Good Shepherd home. There is a brief discussion about the role of lesbians in World War II.
Cut off at 0:14:55
Side B: The group continues their discussion of the interview process, including who is willing to talk and who is not, as well as who will use their names and who will not. There is more discussion about beatings. Pat tells of coming out to her mother. Her mother only worries about the violence Pat is subjected to, on account of being butch. There is a long discussion about the nature of breakups and their aftermath. The group discusses the role of third parties in most breakups and the way a butch or femme reacts to a breakup. The issue of "passing" comes up, and Pat talks about working as a cab driver and passing as a man. Often, the children of femmes did not know that their mothers' partners were actually women. The interview concludes with a description of the rules for asking other butches' girlfriends to dance, and the fights that sometimes ensued. This point in the discussion highlights the difference between the generation of the interviewees and the generation of the interviewers. -
Mary K., December 12, 1981
Side A: Mary discusses her experiences in the gay community in Buffalo in the 1950s. She discusses in detail the gay bar scene and describes the clientele at the Carousel, Bingo's, and the Chesterfield. The interviewee also describes the dynamic of the relationships she experienced and observed in terms of both race and gender identity. Mary also discusses prostitution in the Buffalo community during the 1950s. She describes some of her own sexual and relationship experiences.
Side B: Continuing the conversation from Side A, Mary discusses in more detail the types of people she observed in the various bars in Buffalo, as well as her family. She explains that she got along with her family, but never came out to them, in spite of which her father never questioned her about her relationships or pressured her to get married. She also discusses the socio-economic status of various gay communities throughout Buffalo. Both the interviewer and the interviewee discuss butch and femme identities within the larger context of the lesbian community in Buffalo. Mary speaks in more detail about her social experiences. -
Joan, September 11, 1978 (Tape 1)
Side A: Joan discusses the distinction between butch and femme lesbians, the differences between the white and black gay communities, the Buffalo lesbian bar scene, and coming out in the 1960s.
Side B: Joan discusses the class divisions in the lesbian community, the university gay scene, and her personal, professional, and romantic history. -
Linda, November 19, 1978 (Tape 1)
Linda talks about her relationships and the idea there are no longer clearly defined lesbian roles (i.e. butch and femme) in relationships, as there were when she first came out in the 1960s. She describes her family life growing up and when she came out to her family.