LesbianPride Newsletter : v.7:no7(2002:Jul.)
- Title
- LesbianPride Newsletter : v.7:no7(2002:Jul.)
- Description
- LesbianPride Newsletter is a monthly publication by Makaw Press offering "good news, positive reminders and inspirational messages by, for and about Lesbians."
- Date Issued
- 2002-07
- Relation
- LesbianPride Newsletter
- Rights
- Contact UCO Chambers Library's Digital Initiatives Working Group at diwg@uco.edu for the permission policy on the use, reproduction or distribution of this material.
- Is Part Of
- LesbianPride Newsletter
- Creator
- Mel White
- Contributor
- Makaw Press
- Date
- 2025-04-28T21:40:43Z
- Date Available
- 2025-04-28T21:40:43Z
- Subject
- Lesbian authors
- Lesbian
- Type
- Periodical
- extracted text
-
over a fictional, inconsequential film; it's another thing to do it with
an important, real-life documentary. Is this what "Post-Gay" means?
That you don't mention that a film's central characters are gay, that
the motivation for the documentary was based on the death of a gay
man?
Newue:tt'er
Good, t'l.eWJ,, "P~LNl!/Y~
and,, l+,,f;plrax't-Ot'UU/
~
VOLUMNVII, ISSUE 7, July 2002
Must See Film; Must Ask Ad
The advisability of invisibility in marketing gay films
by Michael Alvear
I walked out of the best documentary film of the year and
straight into a quandary about how they're marketing it.
The film, QuestioningFaith: Confessionsof a Seminarian,is
about a gay seminarian who questions the religion he's supposed to
preach after a fellow gay seminarian dies of AIDS.
The film isn't gay in the ordinary sense of the word. It's the
journey of how a seminarian's crumbling spirituality got restored by
looking at how people of other faiths dealt with loss and suffering.
From Muslims to Buddhists to Jews to Christian fundamentalists, the
film explores how different religions approach a fundamental spiritual
question: Where is God when people suffer?
This film is a must-see, but the way they're marketing it is a
must-ask The ad doesn't have a single mention, not even a hint, that
the film is suffused with gay people or the issues we deal with.
The central character is gay, the story line centers on the death
of a gay man, and the most moving parts of the film are interviews
with the deceased gay man's mother and lover.
In some ways I feel cheated by the ad. It's dominated not by
the major character - a white, Christian gay male - but by a minor,
secondary one, a heterosexual, Black Muslim woman.
It feels like a bait-and-switch; it has a let's not tell anyonethe
two central charactersare gay or straightpeople won't wa!chfeel to
it. It's as if some Hollywood executive, faced with the dilemma of
getting male adolescents to a mushy love story, used a brief car crash
in the movie as the central focus of their advertising.
Of course, that happens all the time. But it's one thing to do it
2
In a way this is the old dilemma of the end justifying the
means. If leaving out the gay angle gets straight people to watch a
film they might not otherwise watch, then is it worth the sleight-ofhand?
It's a complicated question because in the end, Questioning
Faith is not about gay suffering, it's about suffering, period. In the
end, the film is not about gay spiritualitybut about spirituality, period.
Really, what's the difference between losing a straight friend to cancer or a gay friend to AIDS? Loss is loss and it often leads to a questioning of faith no matter whether you're gay or straight, Christian or
Buddhist, Muslim or Jewish. In many ways, the creator of the film,
Macky Alston, pulled off a masterful trick: he made a gay film that
has nothing to do with being gay.
Depending on your point of view, the marketing of Questioning Faith is either a cynically manipulative move, a sad but necessary
strategy in a homophobic world, or simply, the most accurate, honest
way of positioning the film.
We're entering a new, odd phase of our civil rights movement.
We want being gay not to matter but then some of us, like me, get
upset when the cloak of invisibility gets draped over us.
I'm torn, because on the one hand we need to move past our
sectarian sexual identity and into our full humanity. But on the other
hand, the only way we can move past it is to be visible, to state our
presence in our lives, in our films, and yes, even in the marketing of
our films.
Every day some hateful person calls us a fag or a dyke, every
day the church ex-communicates us, every day the military banishes
us for loving the wrong person, every day some family throws their
gay kid out the door. Why? Because nothing causes blindness as well
as those who are too scared to be seen. And that's why, if you're gay
or lesbian, invisibilityis another word for immorality.
Who knows? Maybe the marketers are doing exactly what we
need - to trick people into watching a film that shows our souls.
How bad can a bait-and-switch marketing tactic be if a general in the
Joint Chiefs of Staff, or a Cardinal in the archdiocese, or some conservative parent watches the movie by accident and realizes that the
"trash" they're continually throwing out turns out to be as human as
they are? A
Note: QuestioningFaith: Confessionsof a Seminarian
debuted on CinemaxJune 27 and will repeat July 13.
3
I am respectful
9999W99'tW99999999999999
I am a sew.al being. Society has tried to suppress my
sew.al urges, but instead I celebrate them in all their glory.
Today my challenge is to be responsible in how I satisfy my-
GOLDENTHREADS
is a worldwide network designed to end loneliness
and isolation among midlife and old~r Lesbians.
self sexually.
What doe.sit mean to be sexually responsible? My definition doesn't have to be the same as someone else's or what
is considered "poli:ticallyrorred," but I know I need to be safe
and I want to behave in a way that leaves me feeling good
about myself. In learning what sew.al behavi,or
feels respedful of me and my partner, I follow
my own higher self.
When I feel strong attractions, I may be
tempted to abandon my personal standard. I
know I can oontrol myself, though, and I remind
myself to stop and listen to my inner voice before
I act. My self-respect t is more important than. short-termSEOCual satisfaction.I make decisions that reflect.my lovefor myself and others.
GOLDENTHREADS
is a discreet con
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'. en over 50, and their
No one is excluded
Send a SASEto:
for Lesbian womyounger friends.
because of her age.
GOLDEN ...-..~,s, P. O. Box 1688
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Sample copy mailed discreetly $5 US and Canada
All other countries $10 U S funds or International
- Eleanor Ruth Wagner
99<tciW~99W ❖*W999'R9992
0
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Reminder:
Whatever it is you think you can do,
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Your belief in yourself is possibly
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uccessful Living
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Dear Savvy Sappho - I want to live as a lesbian separatist. Any advice? - Saffrron
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I
I
I
by and© Stacy Chandle
Cancer
June 21 - July 22
Soft and creamy on the inside,
Hard and crusty on the out;
Don't waste time
just mucking about.
Time to shine
and take a leading role,
Platinum lines your pockets,
While your heart Is made of gold.*
*BEWARNED- THE VIEWS EXPRESSEDABOVE DO NOT
NECESSARILYREFLECTTHE AURA OF THE COSMOS!
6
DearSaffrron - It canbe donewith surprisinglylittleeffort. Now thereare many all-womencommunitiesaround
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bewith you! - SS
This month'sSavvySapphicSuggestionsfor Successful
Lesbian Uving by and© StacyChandler.If you havea question,
sendit to SSo/oMakaw,PO Box 130, Tehachapi,CA 93561
Remembertngs,:m4Cefebt;Jtions,
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11
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by Lee Lynch
Sentimen~alShopper
It's funny what we find nostalgic years later. Five and
Ten Cent stores rate high on my list and no Wal-Mart or Dollar
Store will ever replace the romance of wooden-floored emporiums of cheap junk.
Woolworth's and Kresge's, Ben Franklin's and McCrory's
and J.J.Newberry's - what kind of person am I that I enshrine
in my heart such capitalist monuments? I'm an American who
lives in the land of the free to shop, in a consumer society that
is addicted to recreational shopping.
My acquisitive side developed under the tutelage of a
mother who was called a housewife, but who was actually a
shopper. So many of the stay-at-home-and-take-care-of-thekids women who reached maturity in the depression years had
no resistance to a shopping way of life. Nothing could have
seemed better on a hot summer day than sitting on a stool
(with a back) in the air-conditioned cool, chatting with the
waitresses and lunching on tuna on white toast (with a toothpick flag speared into pickle chips) and a wickedly expensive
milkshake. Nothing except sitting on that same stool in winter
comforted by the smell of wet wool mingled with a cup of hot
chocolate (with decadent marshmallows). All for well under a
dollar. Those women must have felt, after the lean years, like
they'd gone to heaven before their time.
I was an apprentice Five and Ten shopper, roaming the
aisles wearing (horrors) a sun dress or (horrors) a snowsuit.
Occasionally I got to stay in the toy aisle while my mother explored the cosmetics and perfumes. A well-behaved child, I
didn't touch, only longed for the guns and holsters, the toy
cowboys, the tiny trucks and red wagons. If I was lucky, I
might get a book of paper dolls to take home. If I was very
lucky, one of the dolls would be a boy; they were more fun to
dress than the girls.
Eventually I grew into my teens and could meander
downtown on my own. It was on one such early excursion to a
Five and Ten that I lost my first transistor radio, my constant
companion, my personal rock and roll concert hall. The trauma
of that day is still with me. "Transistors" were hot new items
then and I'd left mine in a photo booth, one of those machines
where you got three shots for a quarter. One of the sales clerks
put it carefully behind her counter. This was no small town, but
the anonymous clerk looked as pleased as I felt by the reunion.
That photo machine was to figure more prominently in
my life a couple of years later when I had another first, a girlfriend. I still have one of the pictures Suzy and I took, selfconsciously squeezed as close as we dared inside the booth.
When we weren't documenting our defiant love I hung out in
the hardware aisle while Suzy, rather than my mother, lingered
over the makeup and jewelry. How I yearned for a set of screwdrivers, a wood-handled hammer of my own.
You could say I grew up in Five and Tens. My pet turtle
Klem Kadiddlehopper, coloring books, a child-sized trap drum
set, my collection of 45s (those ancient disks that played one
song on each side - I still want to flip my CDs for the rest of
the music), pads of paper, ballpoint pens and clunky mechanical pencils galore, my first tie, my first t-shirts (back when they
were not fashion statements but underwear), my first Zippo
lighter - all came from the Five and Ten. Suzy and I got our
engraved I.D. bracelets, sort of like lesbian engagement rings,
there.
Even a queer kid could find what she needed at the Five
and Ten.
Later, when these relics were no longer to be found in the
cities, I came across one in tiny Lee, Massachusetts. It was small
but dense with goods, and an essential part of every visit to my
in-laws' vacation place. All the women in the family would
crowd the aisles, exclaiming over doodads and gewgaws.
Laughing, we'd buy ultimately useless stuff - three generations of us, my girlfriend, her mom and her grandmother - for
the memories invoked.
Maybe gay kids born in the twenty-first century will get
sentimental over Wal-Marts and malls in the same way. Do
young femmes ever get busted for ripping off lipsticks from
Wal-Mart? Are there young butch mall rats roaming J.C. Penney's in packs? I'll watch for young queer couples sitting far
back in the food courts, sharing an Orange Julius. Making
memories. ©
<Cl2002 LeeLynch2002
8
9
l,!I beBfieMcGirf
Just another interesting experience
So here's what's going on here in m.y neck of the
woods. We were hit by very severe weather. I watched it
from. up at Mom's and it looked like a tornado to m.e. I was
in one in Iowa once. That's what it looked like.
White out. Can't see anything. Trees flying past.
That's what we saw from. Mom's window. I was trying to
get her to the basement, but we were so excited that we just
stood in the window and giggled and squealed about
whether we should run now. Little did I know what was
happening to m.yown house.
So when I drove home later I started noticing a lot of
tree dam.age on the way to the cemetery. Then I tried to pull
in m.y drive but there was something very big laying across
it. My shed! The roof of m.y shed! I got out of the car and
was m.etby the duck. No chicken. Just a duck.
Oh no! Pleasegod, no. Not the chook.Not the braveand
daringchook.Duck is screaming at m.e,"Where the fuck have
you been?"
It begins to pour again as I follow the duck trying to
pick her up. That's when I arrive at m.y back porch and see
there is no back door. Think I'll stop a minute and survey
that situation. Storm.door screen is blown inside and laying
up against the new stove. Leaf fragments cover the walls.
Floor in an inch in water. New carpet is too.
And all this and m.y best buddy from. New Zealand
arrives on Wednesday. We're way behind with the house.
We're a bit panicked, but not really. I've explained to
Girlfriend all along that Pip could care less if the house is
finished, though we did want to get blinds on her bedroom.
windows. Shit.
So now I have to go get ready for the insurance adjuster person who will survey the dam.age, and then I'll
spend the rest of the day tearing down the big structure in
the driveway.
If there was anyone around who didn't have their
12
I
own mess to clean up, I'd put them. to work. I'd ask them. to
go to Home Depot and pick up some pull down shades. I
have the dimensions.
I worked till 9 pm. last night and the house is back in
order. I got the basement dried out, and I put the dehumidifier in the bedroom. on the new carpet. An entire window
was blown out in that room..
I moved kittens to the back of the house. By the way,
the mama Tallulah was out in the storm.and didn't show up
till late that night. I was not happy about that, and neither
were the kittens. We were all happy, though, when she
showed up.
All told I lost three windows, had a major leak around
m.y chimney, lost a shed, had water everywhere, lost a back
door. Shocking
The back porch is still there. And oh! - the chook
was found in the shed, drenched, bedraggled. I picked her
scrawniness up and put her in a trough of dry straw - her
and ducky. I'm.so glad to not have a broken heart.
Interesting, I'll say that. It
strikes me that I think that often
these days whenever shit is hitting
the fan around here - Interesting!
But really, I think I'm. just
fucking thankful it's not a broken
heart - roofs can be fixed; windows
replaced.
Hearts that are broken suck. I
can't work when m.yheart is broken.
Might as well just shoot m.e.
InterestingI can handle. ©
© 2002 LesterMcGirl
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- Sa.rcu-vS~
13
S'mores and Show TunesAround the Campfire
A rainbowflag will fly over one comer of Kezar Falls, Maine
(45minutesoutside Portland),beginningAugust 19. That is the day
200+ gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendermen and women converge on the village for a decidedlyqueer twist on summer camp.
Thinkbunkhousesnamedafter RuPauland MartinaNavratilova.
'Camp' Camp is more than crafts and canoeing- it's the experience of authenticcommunity. "Whereelse do you find men and
women of all ages, races and persuasionsrejoicing in each other's
company?"asks Eden Stone, 43, a Boston resident. She has been
comingto 'Camp'Campsince it openedin 1997."Forone weekin the
summer,the words'gay community'ring true.," she says.
'Camp'Campis the brainchildof Bill Cole, whoselong experience with summercamp taughthim how powerfulit can be for people
with similarvalues to work and play together in a beautiful setting.
The opennessof 'Camp' Camp is the other part of the equation.Typical summercamp fare - includinga ropes adventurecourse,waterfront activities,potterymakingand theatergames- is augmentedby
activitiessuch as journal writing,yoga, stargazingand even cooking
classes. Evening activitieshave includedan all-Camp square dance
and the ever-popularTalent/NoTalentShow.
The $898 camp tuitioncoverslodging,meals and all activities.
Facilities include a theater, sound studio, tennis, basketballand volleyball courts, hot tub, and arts and crafts studios.Cabins,which accommodateeight to 25 campers,have electricityand runningwater.A
large centrallodgeservesas a dininghall, meetingplaceand activities
center.
The camp is locatedon Lake Stanleyin a secludedwilderness
area two and a half hours north of Boston. Shuttleserviceis available
from Bostonand New York City.For more information:call 888-9248380 (toll free) or go to www.campcamp.com
or e-mail Bill Cole at
info@campcamp.com L\
-·
W·
w.
~:
LL
HAPPILYEVER AFTER
y
OK
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© 2002 All Rights Reserved
For permission to reprint or use any of the content, contact:
Mel White, PO Box 130, Tehachapi, California 93561
morningland@msn.com
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~ul1,,, ,IImlI,,I,11,,J,
ImIll,1, u ,/1,,,/I,,I,II,"II
-
over a fictional, inconsequential film; it's another thing to do it with
an important, real-life documentary. Is this what "Post-Gay" means?
That you don't mention that a film's central characters are gay, that
the motivation for the documentary was based on the death of a gay
man?
Newue:tt'er
Good, t'l.eWJ,, "P~LNl!/Y~
and,, l+,,f;plrax't-Ot'UU/
~
VOLUMNVII, ISSUE 7, July 2002
Must See Film; Must Ask Ad
The advisability of invisibility in marketing gay films
by Michael Alvear
I walked out of the best documentary film of the year and
straight into a quandary about how they're marketing it.
The film, QuestioningFaith: Confessionsof a Seminarian,is
about a gay seminarian who questions the religion he's supposed to
preach after a fellow gay seminarian dies of AIDS.
The film isn't gay in the ordinary sense of the word. It's the
journey of how a seminarian's crumbling spirituality got restored by
looking at how people of other faiths dealt with loss and suffering.
From Muslims to Buddhists to Jews to Christian fundamentalists, the
film explores how different religions approach a fundamental spiritual
question: Where is God when people suffer?
This film is a must-see, but the way they're marketing it is a
must-ask The ad doesn't have a single mention, not even a hint, that
the film is suffused with gay people or the issues we deal with.
The central character is gay, the story line centers on the death
of a gay man, and the most moving parts of the film are interviews
with the deceased gay man's mother and lover.
In some ways I feel cheated by the ad. It's dominated not by
the major character - a white, Christian gay male - but by a minor,
secondary one, a heterosexual, Black Muslim woman.
It feels like a bait-and-switch; it has a let's not tell anyonethe
two central charactersare gay or straightpeople won't wa!chfeel to
it. It's as if some Hollywood executive, faced with the dilemma of
getting male adolescents to a mushy love story, used a brief car crash
in the movie as the central focus of their advertising.
Of course, that happens all the time. But it's one thing to do it
2
In a way this is the old dilemma of the end justifying the
means. If leaving out the gay angle gets straight people to watch a
film they might not otherwise watch, then is it worth the sleight-ofhand?
It's a complicated question because in the end, Questioning
Faith is not about gay suffering, it's about suffering, period. In the
end, the film is not about gay spiritualitybut about spirituality, period.
Really, what's the difference between losing a straight friend to cancer or a gay friend to AIDS? Loss is loss and it often leads to a questioning of faith no matter whether you're gay or straight, Christian or
Buddhist, Muslim or Jewish. In many ways, the creator of the film,
Macky Alston, pulled off a masterful trick: he made a gay film that
has nothing to do with being gay.
Depending on your point of view, the marketing of Questioning Faith is either a cynically manipulative move, a sad but necessary
strategy in a homophobic world, or simply, the most accurate, honest
way of positioning the film.
We're entering a new, odd phase of our civil rights movement.
We want being gay not to matter but then some of us, like me, get
upset when the cloak of invisibility gets draped over us.
I'm torn, because on the one hand we need to move past our
sectarian sexual identity and into our full humanity. But on the other
hand, the only way we can move past it is to be visible, to state our
presence in our lives, in our films, and yes, even in the marketing of
our films.
Every day some hateful person calls us a fag or a dyke, every
day the church ex-communicates us, every day the military banishes
us for loving the wrong person, every day some family throws their
gay kid out the door. Why? Because nothing causes blindness as well
as those who are too scared to be seen. And that's why, if you're gay
or lesbian, invisibilityis another word for immorality.
Who knows? Maybe the marketers are doing exactly what we
need - to trick people into watching a film that shows our souls.
How bad can a bait-and-switch marketing tactic be if a general in the
Joint Chiefs of Staff, or a Cardinal in the archdiocese, or some conservative parent watches the movie by accident and realizes that the
"trash" they're continually throwing out turns out to be as human as
they are? A
Note: QuestioningFaith: Confessionsof a Seminarian
debuted on CinemaxJune 27 and will repeat July 13.
3
I am respectful
9999W99'tW99999999999999
I am a sew.al being. Society has tried to suppress my
sew.al urges, but instead I celebrate them in all their glory.
Today my challenge is to be responsible in how I satisfy my-
GOLDENTHREADS
is a worldwide network designed to end loneliness
and isolation among midlife and old~r Lesbians.
self sexually.
What doe.sit mean to be sexually responsible? My definition doesn't have to be the same as someone else's or what
is considered "poli:ticallyrorred," but I know I need to be safe
and I want to behave in a way that leaves me feeling good
about myself. In learning what sew.al behavi,or
feels respedful of me and my partner, I follow
my own higher self.
When I feel strong attractions, I may be
tempted to abandon my personal standard. I
know I can oontrol myself, though, and I remind
myself to stop and listen to my inner voice before
I act. My self-respect t is more important than. short-termSEOCual satisfaction.I make decisions that reflect.my lovefor myself and others.
GOLDENTHREADS
is a discreet con
. tact publication
'. en over 50, and their
No one is excluded
Send a SASEto:
for Lesbian womyounger friends.
because of her age.
GOLDEN ...-..~,s, P. O. Box 1688
Demorest, GA 50535-1688
for information and application.
e-mail - wHdiris@america.net
http://america.net/,..,wildiris/goldenthreads.html
Sample copy mailed discreetly $5 US and Canada
All other countries $10 U S funds or International
- Eleanor Ruth Wagner
99<tciW~99W ❖*W999'R9992
0
in Lavender Reflections
...._..._••.4•••••••
..••-....._..__!.!~
...~-•-•-...-"•A•"-•"-~,..
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NOW AVAILABLE: Timelessclassicsby Lee Lynch.
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of myself and others
fn my sexuality
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Reminder:
Whatever it is you think you can do,
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Whatever it is you say you will do,
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Whatever it is you believe
you will accomplish
you will accomplish.
Your belief in yourself is possibly
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5
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uccessful Living
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Dear Savvy Sappho - I want to live as a lesbian separatist. Any advice? - Saffrron
GAYELLOWPAGES, informing the lesbian, gay, bisexual &
transgender community since 1973, Includes Women's Section and Ethnic/Multicultural section "You won't find a more
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1
I
I
I
by and© Stacy Chandle
Cancer
June 21 - July 22
Soft and creamy on the inside,
Hard and crusty on the out;
Don't waste time
just mucking about.
Time to shine
and take a leading role,
Platinum lines your pockets,
While your heart Is made of gold.*
*BEWARNED- THE VIEWS EXPRESSEDABOVE DO NOT
NECESSARILYREFLECTTHE AURA OF THE COSMOS!
6
DearSaffrron - It canbe donewith surprisinglylittleeffort. Now thereare many all-womencommunitiesaround
the world,if that's the directionyou want to go, and of
coursetherearemanywomen-owned
and women-operated
businessesto meetyourneedsif you decideto bea separatist
whilestayingin the mainstream.Goodluck,and may the
Goddesses
bewith you! - SS
This month'sSavvySapphicSuggestionsfor Successful
Lesbian Uving by and© StacyChandler.If you havea question,
sendit to SSo/oMakaw,PO Box 130, Tehachapi,CA 93561
Remembertngs,:m4Cefebt;Jtions,
a 64-carq cieckof
Loving Remln</er.;
of the Gre,1tMother's Voice
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through R.obynPesin,
Box725, Ojai, CA 93024
805-646-4518
www.forthelittleonesinsiqe.rom
Ask fot A Cqfq/og of Tteqsutes
11
LAVENDERREFLECTIONS
by EleanorRuth Wagner,
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great gift for yourselfand for thoseyou love.
Personallyautographedby request;
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7
~~ ~ ,~l~~ lrii
by Lee Lynch
Sentimen~alShopper
It's funny what we find nostalgic years later. Five and
Ten Cent stores rate high on my list and no Wal-Mart or Dollar
Store will ever replace the romance of wooden-floored emporiums of cheap junk.
Woolworth's and Kresge's, Ben Franklin's and McCrory's
and J.J.Newberry's - what kind of person am I that I enshrine
in my heart such capitalist monuments? I'm an American who
lives in the land of the free to shop, in a consumer society that
is addicted to recreational shopping.
My acquisitive side developed under the tutelage of a
mother who was called a housewife, but who was actually a
shopper. So many of the stay-at-home-and-take-care-of-thekids women who reached maturity in the depression years had
no resistance to a shopping way of life. Nothing could have
seemed better on a hot summer day than sitting on a stool
(with a back) in the air-conditioned cool, chatting with the
waitresses and lunching on tuna on white toast (with a toothpick flag speared into pickle chips) and a wickedly expensive
milkshake. Nothing except sitting on that same stool in winter
comforted by the smell of wet wool mingled with a cup of hot
chocolate (with decadent marshmallows). All for well under a
dollar. Those women must have felt, after the lean years, like
they'd gone to heaven before their time.
I was an apprentice Five and Ten shopper, roaming the
aisles wearing (horrors) a sun dress or (horrors) a snowsuit.
Occasionally I got to stay in the toy aisle while my mother explored the cosmetics and perfumes. A well-behaved child, I
didn't touch, only longed for the guns and holsters, the toy
cowboys, the tiny trucks and red wagons. If I was lucky, I
might get a book of paper dolls to take home. If I was very
lucky, one of the dolls would be a boy; they were more fun to
dress than the girls.
Eventually I grew into my teens and could meander
downtown on my own. It was on one such early excursion to a
Five and Ten that I lost my first transistor radio, my constant
companion, my personal rock and roll concert hall. The trauma
of that day is still with me. "Transistors" were hot new items
then and I'd left mine in a photo booth, one of those machines
where you got three shots for a quarter. One of the sales clerks
put it carefully behind her counter. This was no small town, but
the anonymous clerk looked as pleased as I felt by the reunion.
That photo machine was to figure more prominently in
my life a couple of years later when I had another first, a girlfriend. I still have one of the pictures Suzy and I took, selfconsciously squeezed as close as we dared inside the booth.
When we weren't documenting our defiant love I hung out in
the hardware aisle while Suzy, rather than my mother, lingered
over the makeup and jewelry. How I yearned for a set of screwdrivers, a wood-handled hammer of my own.
You could say I grew up in Five and Tens. My pet turtle
Klem Kadiddlehopper, coloring books, a child-sized trap drum
set, my collection of 45s (those ancient disks that played one
song on each side - I still want to flip my CDs for the rest of
the music), pads of paper, ballpoint pens and clunky mechanical pencils galore, my first tie, my first t-shirts (back when they
were not fashion statements but underwear), my first Zippo
lighter - all came from the Five and Ten. Suzy and I got our
engraved I.D. bracelets, sort of like lesbian engagement rings,
there.
Even a queer kid could find what she needed at the Five
and Ten.
Later, when these relics were no longer to be found in the
cities, I came across one in tiny Lee, Massachusetts. It was small
but dense with goods, and an essential part of every visit to my
in-laws' vacation place. All the women in the family would
crowd the aisles, exclaiming over doodads and gewgaws.
Laughing, we'd buy ultimately useless stuff - three generations of us, my girlfriend, her mom and her grandmother - for
the memories invoked.
Maybe gay kids born in the twenty-first century will get
sentimental over Wal-Marts and malls in the same way. Do
young femmes ever get busted for ripping off lipsticks from
Wal-Mart? Are there young butch mall rats roaming J.C. Penney's in packs? I'll watch for young queer couples sitting far
back in the food courts, sharing an Orange Julius. Making
memories. ©
<Cl2002 LeeLynch2002
8
9
l,!I beBfieMcGirf
Just another interesting experience
So here's what's going on here in m.y neck of the
woods. We were hit by very severe weather. I watched it
from. up at Mom's and it looked like a tornado to m.e. I was
in one in Iowa once. That's what it looked like.
White out. Can't see anything. Trees flying past.
That's what we saw from. Mom's window. I was trying to
get her to the basement, but we were so excited that we just
stood in the window and giggled and squealed about
whether we should run now. Little did I know what was
happening to m.yown house.
So when I drove home later I started noticing a lot of
tree dam.age on the way to the cemetery. Then I tried to pull
in m.y drive but there was something very big laying across
it. My shed! The roof of m.y shed! I got out of the car and
was m.etby the duck. No chicken. Just a duck.
Oh no! Pleasegod, no. Not the chook.Not the braveand
daringchook.Duck is screaming at m.e,"Where the fuck have
you been?"
It begins to pour again as I follow the duck trying to
pick her up. That's when I arrive at m.y back porch and see
there is no back door. Think I'll stop a minute and survey
that situation. Storm.door screen is blown inside and laying
up against the new stove. Leaf fragments cover the walls.
Floor in an inch in water. New carpet is too.
And all this and m.y best buddy from. New Zealand
arrives on Wednesday. We're way behind with the house.
We're a bit panicked, but not really. I've explained to
Girlfriend all along that Pip could care less if the house is
finished, though we did want to get blinds on her bedroom.
windows. Shit.
So now I have to go get ready for the insurance adjuster person who will survey the dam.age, and then I'll
spend the rest of the day tearing down the big structure in
the driveway.
If there was anyone around who didn't have their
12
I
own mess to clean up, I'd put them. to work. I'd ask them. to
go to Home Depot and pick up some pull down shades. I
have the dimensions.
I worked till 9 pm. last night and the house is back in
order. I got the basement dried out, and I put the dehumidifier in the bedroom. on the new carpet. An entire window
was blown out in that room..
I moved kittens to the back of the house. By the way,
the mama Tallulah was out in the storm.and didn't show up
till late that night. I was not happy about that, and neither
were the kittens. We were all happy, though, when she
showed up.
All told I lost three windows, had a major leak around
m.y chimney, lost a shed, had water everywhere, lost a back
door. Shocking
The back porch is still there. And oh! - the chook
was found in the shed, drenched, bedraggled. I picked her
scrawniness up and put her in a trough of dry straw - her
and ducky. I'm.so glad to not have a broken heart.
Interesting, I'll say that. It
strikes me that I think that often
these days whenever shit is hitting
the fan around here - Interesting!
But really, I think I'm. just
fucking thankful it's not a broken
heart - roofs can be fixed; windows
replaced.
Hearts that are broken suck. I
can't work when m.yheart is broken.
Might as well just shoot m.e.
InterestingI can handle. ©
© 2002 LesterMcGirl
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- Sa.rcu-vS~
13
S'mores and Show TunesAround the Campfire
A rainbowflag will fly over one comer of Kezar Falls, Maine
(45minutesoutside Portland),beginningAugust 19. That is the day
200+ gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendermen and women converge on the village for a decidedlyqueer twist on summer camp.
Thinkbunkhousesnamedafter RuPauland MartinaNavratilova.
'Camp' Camp is more than crafts and canoeing- it's the experience of authenticcommunity. "Whereelse do you find men and
women of all ages, races and persuasionsrejoicing in each other's
company?"asks Eden Stone, 43, a Boston resident. She has been
comingto 'Camp'Campsince it openedin 1997."Forone weekin the
summer,the words'gay community'ring true.," she says.
'Camp'Campis the brainchildof Bill Cole, whoselong experience with summercamp taughthim how powerfulit can be for people
with similarvalues to work and play together in a beautiful setting.
The opennessof 'Camp' Camp is the other part of the equation.Typical summercamp fare - includinga ropes adventurecourse,waterfront activities,potterymakingand theatergames- is augmentedby
activitiessuch as journal writing,yoga, stargazingand even cooking
classes. Evening activitieshave includedan all-Camp square dance
and the ever-popularTalent/NoTalentShow.
The $898 camp tuitioncoverslodging,meals and all activities.
Facilities include a theater, sound studio, tennis, basketballand volleyball courts, hot tub, and arts and crafts studios.Cabins,which accommodateeight to 25 campers,have electricityand runningwater.A
large centrallodgeservesas a dininghall, meetingplaceand activities
center.
The camp is locatedon Lake Stanleyin a secludedwilderness
area two and a half hours north of Boston. Shuttleserviceis available
from Bostonand New York City.For more information:call 888-9248380 (toll free) or go to www.campcamp.com
or e-mail Bill Cole at
info@campcamp.com L\
-·
W·
w.
~:
LL
HAPPILYEVER AFTER
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(sometime to be called LesbianPride Monthly)
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© 2002 All Rights Reserved
For permission to reprint or use any of the content, contact:
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