Sisters : (1973:Dec.)
- Title
- Sisters : (1973:Dec.)
- Description
- Sisters was "a magazine by and for gay women" published by the San Francisco chapter of the Daughters of Bilitis (DOB). It contained original art, poetry, articles, news, and photography and served as an alternative to DOB's main publication, The Ladder.
- Date Issued
- 1973-12
- Relation
- Sisters
- 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.
- Creator
- Martin, Donna
- Contributor
- Daughters of Bilitis
- Date
- 2025-04-28T15:39:55Z
- Date Available
- 2025-04-28T15:39:55Z
- Subject
- Lesbian art
- Lesbian
- Type
- Periodical
- extracted text
-
or6oyWomen
December
1973
SAN mPNCISCO DAl.ntlERS OF BILITIS
Statement of Purpose
••• a women's organization to aid the Lesbian in
discorering her place in societ!/ and to educate
societg to understand and accept her, without
prejudice, and •••
l. To encourage and support the Lesbian in
her searc:h for her social, economic, personal,
interpersonal and voc:ational identity withi n
society by maintaining and building a library
on the themes . of homosexualit;y and women , by
providing social functions where she can comrn.u:,i cate with others and expand her social world ~~ t side the bar 3cene, and by providing
orgar ized
structure through which she cari work to chan,;'!
society's limitations upon her· lifestyles , by
providing a forum for the interchange of idea ~
and constructive solutions to women's problems .
an
2. To educate the public to accept am~
understand the Lesbian as an individual, the reby
leading to ·the breakdown of taboos, prejudices ,
and l i mitations on her lifestyle by sponsoring
publi<: discussions, by providing individuals as
speakors and partici pants in various forums designed to educate the public, by disse1J.nating
educational and rati onal literature 01, the Lesbian.
3. To encourage, support and participate in
responsible nNarch dealing with homosexuality.
.
4. To inwstigate the penal code and to promote changes, in order to provide equitable handling of c:ues involvi~9 homosexuals, with due
proceH of law and without prejudice.
1'0 SAY 1UfD BBLilfVB 'l'BA'l' GAY IS GOOD
SAN l'RAllCISCO DAUGllffRS Or BILI'l'IS, AN AFFILIATE OF
' SAN FRN«:ISCO
~•s
CSfil:RS
1026 IWJOIIIC. S'l'RBB'l'
SAIi l'IWICISCO, ~10.RNIA
94117
&iM Jlf Mtf for&ly
11 issues
~11.T1C1.ti, .. aws.
$ 00
011.,G,-..- .. -'IT. POUttf.
•MoTo••""'"
I
5
IOOS Allollllln \T. • s.. ,1 f'Ol,SAII JHIICtKQ ' '· M1Q1
President••••••••••••••••••Liane
Vice-President .•••..••••••• Millie
correspondence .•.••..••.••• Pat & Lais
Treasurer ••••••.•.•..•••••• Melinda
Volunteer Coordinator .••••• Linda
Secretary•••••••••••••••• • •Paula
A NOTE TO 11-tE •LESBIAN INTELLECTUAL ELITE"
A Note t o the Lesbian I nte llectual Elite •••••••• 3
Helen Reddy in Person•••••••••••••••••••••••••••?
Censorship Exists•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••B
Quotations ••••.••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 9
Poetry Section••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••l0-15
CALENDAR••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••l6&17
Sisters it should be noted•••••••••••••••••••••lB
Ellen Swallow .•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 18
The Lesbian and God-the-Father or
All the Church Needs is a Good Lay--on Its
Side•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••l9
Gay Nurses' Alliance•••••••••••••••••••••••••••24
Task Force on Gay Liberation•••••••••••••••••••26
Thank you for Lesbian Woman••••••••••••••••••••27
Local Lesbian News by a Local Lesbian ••••••.•.. 28
A Sister ly Season ' s Greetings••••••••••••••••••31
INFORMATION PAGE• •••• • • ••••• • ••••••••••••••••••32
Dear Gang:
I hate to resort to lowlevel bardyke rhetoric, but.
in a word, your Founding Charter sucks . ("Sucks"
as even lowlevel bardykes know, is a quaint Elizabethan euphemism for a more obvious, though less
classical descriptive epithet). Actual ly;· it' s
not that I object to coexisting with intellectuals
(that is, "individuals having unusual mental capa- ·
city") but when they come on like rejects f rom
MENSA*, I get to feeling a bit nervous. It di dn't
help much, either, that you defined "elite" as a
"select group" and left out the more salient par t
of the definintion having to do with elitists being
"a group considered or treated as socially superior". I mean, isn't that where it's really at?
On the other hand, maybe what made me so sad was
the Charter's statement that you Intellectuals
are so fed up with us Anesthetized, Non-creative
Masses fucking up your head trips that you're
planning to turn your backs on us, wash your
hands of us, and laugh as we go down the tubes.
Some heavy rejection!
SI STERS MAGAZINE
0
December, 1973
Daughters o f Bilitis, San Francisco
Reproduction by permis s ion of SF DOB
Staff Members
by
(y
And, since this is an all-out-frank communique ,
your plan of being a "gadfly" on my ass didn't
set too well either. I honestly don't think that
my consciousness will be raised one whit by a bug
whose only claim to fame is its prediliction fo r
stinging "domesticated cattle."
What I'm really trying to say, I suppose, is t hat
while I readily acknowledge your right to form a
group based on shared interests, I don ' t for a
minute accept your right, in the absence of my
participation or permission, to impose your trip
on me. Arrogance really isn't such a
but if you have a need to exclude your
endowed Sisters, do remember that your
for contributing to the welfare of all
Women will be diminished accordingly.
I
hot thing,
less wellinfluence
Lesbian
.
Uc)_,~~
;.{u- (,Uu.. v
Donna Martin
*MENSA, for you LBs who don't know any better,
is that funny heteroseyual bunch of insecure
intellectuals who join 1:he Organization as a way
of publicly validating the fact that they have
an I.Q. in excess of 10 points and, thereby,
are Truly Something Else!
Please send me SISTERS for___year or years at
$5.00 per year . • • $7.00 for Canada and $10.00
for overseas, effective as of September 1973.
NAME:_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ ,
ADDRESS,_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _...,
City:__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _,
(Donna Martin is a Psy ~hotherapist in Hayward,
California.)
Statei----------------1
ZIP CODE_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___.
WOMEN'S WEEKEND WORKSHOP ON ANGER
December 14, 15 & 16
We believe that anger is a difficult feeling
for many women to express. The Hoilday Season is
the time of year when anger centers around religion,
family, friends, loneliness, etc. We want to provide a place where anger is a vaild feeling and
help women express it in a healthy safe and construtive way.
STARTS Friday at 7pm.
$25.00
10 Women maxium
CALL Jill at 647-4391 or leave message
at 864-8205 ex. 29 and she
will return your call.
Mail order form to
DOB Rm. *402
1005 Market Street
San Francisco, Calif.
HELEN REDDY IN PERSOO
5'131
'11 IS N•T IN TMI OIF'Hft6~E
WI FUIO TMI. l'.SSINC8 oF •
• I.IF& . . • IT IS lfA'TM&at. IH
,n sa•1~1ss.
LT
Whenever I think of a superstar I think of
ta lent which reaches off the stage and pulls the
l istener onto and into the performance wrapping
viewer and artist together. Talent is to the
artist what charisma is to the politician • • •
indispensable. One can have artistic ability,
a good voice filled with emotion thrilling to
a beautiful song on a record, or, a personality
which comes off well on T.V. but is lost without the gagetry and techniques, so much a part
of our contemporary electronic magik.
Unfortunately, it was the latter which
occured when Helen Reddy performed for the Bay
Area at the Circle Star Theatre. Indeed the
beautiful voice was there, when it could transcend the thunder of the musical accompliment.
But the true talent, that which makes an artist
a superstar, was not.
I got the impression that the audience sincerely desired to be pulled onto the stage and
wrapped up in that potentially beautiful personality; it was as though a shield separated us from
her. It saddened me to think that all any of us
wanted to hear really was THE song. It being the
last in the act made me aware that had it been
the first many people may have been tempted to
leave without seeing the remainder of the show.
Nevertheless, the show was good .•• not great.
If Ms. Reddy depends upon "I Am Woman" to help
her ascend to superstardom and hold her there, I
believe we will all find it just doesn't happen
that way. If she doesn't discover that indescribable combination of artistry and personality which
will help her break through the barrier between
her and the audience, we will all have missed the
opportunity of meeting and enjoying a truly
great superstar.
by Lois
©
G)
Cen■orahip
QOOTATIONS
Sxists
It seeaa our sisters and brother• at
Mississippi StatlUniwr■ity are having• difficult tille of it with the editor of •'ftl
Reflector•, th• university•• newspaper. Apparently the MiHi ■aippi Gay Alliance wanted
to place an ad in the paper to let gay sister•
and brother■ know about their COWl■elling and
legal uaistance. NO DICE wu the response
from !'he Reflector.
At laat report the MGA was preparing a
law ■uit against the newspaper for discrimination. Aside from the lawsuit we might all
like to send the editor a copy of the u.s.
constitution and underline Amendment I.
Do what you can!
AMAZON QUARTERLY
A JOURNAL OF LESBIAN - FEMINISM
72 Pages of:
VISUAL ART
I will not <Jive to a woman an instrument to orocure
abortion.
Hi!"'?Ocrates:
lli9pocratic oath.
Wom.;m may be said to be an inferior man.
Aristotle
I
r
Despite my 30 years of research into the feminine
soul, I have not yet been able to answer
• the
great question that :,as never been ansv.·erec':: What
does a woman want?
Sigmund Freu<i:
IJUotcd by J;r. Ernest
Jones, Tile Life an(1
Works of Si<;munrl Freud.
Do you know that each of you women is a.n E;ve? The
sentence of God on this sex of yours lives in this
age: the guilt must necessarily live too. You ure
the gate of Hell, you are the temptress of the
forbidden tree i 1ou are the first deserter of the
divine law.
Tertullian:
De Cultu Feminarurn.
Women's Dress, c. 220
FICTION
POETRY
REVIEWS
EXPLORATION
There are two kinds of moral law, t\•10 1-:ind:; o: consciences, in men and women, und they arc nl trxietller
different. The two sexes dn not uncterstand each other.
But in practical life, the woman is judged b~, r:ian ' s
law, as if she were i'\ man, not a ·,,om,m.
Henrik Ihsen
$4 per year (inside
u.s.)
$5 per year (plain brown wrapper, outside U.S.)
$1 for sample issue
Amazon Quarterly, 554 Valle Vista, Oakland, California~ 94610
©
These quotations are tak en from the book, T!IF r;r:El'I'
;)CJOTATIONS "• • • a collection of man's best
thinking • • • " froia the Introduction by J. nona .16
and compiled by George Seldes
TO Sandra
Glances from dark eyes
Peering out from under kinky black bangs
LOoks lost to cave-dwelling gypsies
G
.
1
i
d
I
e
through those silent eyes.
DIALOGlE WITii MYSELF so, there you are
hiding in the clo■et.
Why
are you afraid of me,
or I of you?
Why are you
hiding then
in the lonely dark
of the closet?
What made you
think to look
in here for • ?
Linda Rothacker
1$5
Briefly our paths crossed: yours and mine
Mine seems emptier for having lost you,
Brought was I by you
To new frontiers of Understandin~
Feelings
Permeated my being
Taking me from self-satisfied awareness
To new Dawning horizons unknown.
You brought me,
showed me,
left me.
standing at the entrance of discoveryNEVER
before felt
•
NEVER yet to be feltBy your confusion and self-soul searching
@
LOVEGAS~~
Your
search left me
aware
Though you still grasp at the mgriad
Of mind's through swirling Time
Ungraspable-untenable,
Always m o v i n g
Your
soul and mine
searched the night
EACH
seeking its own star.
OK, So you're in love with her
and she's in love with another he r
and I'm hungry for more,
you know, this bed can't hold
all our ghosts. And
you're afraid of my ravishings:
don't be .' -God, you've such a lovely moan, let it out,
unfold ••.
come.
Deborah
Nine glowed bright
Yours
shown lost in clouded nebulae
Yet somehow
I
miss
you, mg partner
On '}Outh's search of Life's meanings I long again
for a dark glance
from those silent gypsy eyes.
by Shirin
BLESS YOU, MR, TOOlH DECAY
December 29, 1972
Your toothache evoking my kiss
And that was the dawn of our love .
Tender meeting of our lips,
It's earthquake concussion
Rending our marrow.
I feared you as I wanted you.
And you, like the Fox, pursued.
Now joy blankets our life
In the harmony of destined beings.
Judy, thank you for our year togethe r -we've only just begun!
Barbara - December 197 3
@
Can You Spare a Dime?
No, brother, I have no dime
My sisters are dY,ing in their chains
Fo~ you I haven't a dime.
My sisters are out in the streets
For you I haven't the time.
My sisters are Fighting throughout the land
Against you and all your kind.
My sister& are Fighting for their lives,
AND you uk if I have a dime.
Linda Rothacker
Lesbian Birth
I'm with her - and in love with her
With you - and in love with you
Torn
split
divided
screaming
It's not possible
There are two of me.
Sureness and certainty whichever I'm with.
My lifestyle ia sterile yet I've reproduced.
I've made two of me.
Sandy
for WonderWoman
Eyes' lite to hushed
rapture
nothing same turned to
different anything
upside down you
vessels flooowing
downside me up pretty
pretty Fine. fine & pretty
sight anythingoutof
mind into mind
crimson cranium cataclysm
sucking cells
MIND (youme) FUCKING
lElse something how be love
ration
al?
minutiae integrate 2
entities
nothing seem
SomeThing IS!
by FLASII
SUNDAY
MONDAY
TUESDAY
THURSDAY
WEDNESDAY
SATURDAY·~-
FRIDAY
1
HAPPY
BIR'!BDAY
DECEMBER
~ ·-
-l,
-
I
q?3
I
POOL TOURNMEN'l'
~
at Scott••
$20.00 for
winner
Women's
Art Center
@OPEN
HOUSE
at Scott's
2-6pm
Exhibit &
Introduction
16
EVERY
OTHBlt
<w
Cou.ATE
; SISffRS
s+
IEAILINE
~
~
N.o.w.
Meeting
. 7pm
Franklin &
Geary Open
to ALL WODl8n~
oom,~~...
: 6-8p1 Jill
~
7p111
Ever,
flednUdap
$1.00 for
--
KATIE
&
-Chri■tmaa
0
--
-
25
•
~
am-
for
Helllben or
'AIIPS
@
8
~
22
L• • u.
Me'11ting
7,JOpa
call 285-0392
'
27
28
29
I
r
.• SEE YOU
ALL
~FJtT
YE~!
~
I
-·
@0
SCOTT'S BAR
10 Sanchez st.
or 626-9534
L.M.U.
(Leabian Mother■
Union)
s.o.L.
(Slightly Older
Lellbiana 30+)
s.o.L.
PARTY
6pn
in Pacifica
call ahead
at 359-4094
,Page Pour
~
20
.
.so
POOD
-
SCOTTI ,
Non..,.mbers
$
-
EVERY FRIDAY
~
OPEN JAM SESSION
CHRISTMAS DAY
RAPS
TO DOB
with GLORIA
bring _~nst~!"'tl!
caroling
Party
at Scott••
S-7pn
NOW at DOB
~
~ME
~
18
--·
23
~.
<i?
Gay Women's
Rap Nite
at Scott's
8p!ft
8pm
in Olkland
bring toy or
call Jaclcie
door charge
865-1449
·- Berkeley
Weekend
7130
Workshop
Rap on
on Ang,• r
•What i ■ Femini ■t
■ t,irta
'lberapy?•
FME
7pm
info. 548-4343
MAGGIE RUBENSTEIN
SIS'rBRS
COLLBC'rIVE
Meeting at 8pm
Bert be on time!
2pm
L.M.u. 's
Jill
6-8p111
•DEA11.It£
Jod1
Toy
~ Happening
Ci)
4
at DOB
counseling
6t30pm
t
-•
M:>NDAY
■ tarts
·- ·-
'
lHE L.ESBIPN AND OOD-ntE-FAlHER
m
AU. lHE OiUR0-1 NEEDS IS A GOOD LAY~ ITS SIDE
SISTERS,
IT
by Sally Gearhart
SHOULD BE NOTED:
lHE AVERAGE MAJ.E HAS ~our 6G POUNDS
OF MUSCLE AND .5,2 POUNDS OF BRAINS,
lHAT EXPLAINS ALOT OF Trl INGS ,
ANONYr•'OUS
. Hs. Gearhart is a professor of speech communications at California State University, San
Francisco. She made these remarks in February
1972 at a pastors' conference at the Pacific School
of Religion in Berkeley. This article is reprinted
here by permission of the author.
Copyrighted, 1973, bg Sally Gearhart.
Of the host of things I'd like to share with
you, a few at leaat bear mentions
ELLE'\/ SWAI. LO\\ : Tht' W oman
W ho Founded Ecol og~. Rohl'rt Clari-I'
hillt:11. $7.9~
Thi, Ta,cihaflng nnok shou ld arreal tn
all 1<ho art: int c n.:,tcd 111 the ccnlng1cal
nwvt:mcnt and "ho al,o ";d. ,he advanccmt:nt of \\Onlt:n. Llkn S"allo" "a,
the lir,t 1Hi111an to be admitted to M.1.1.
and to t:arn a dq!rt:c in chcmistr). the
lirst fcmak facult) mt:mhcr of that In,tI
ttllIon One hundred )Car, aµn. this '\,.:"
l·ngland girl "·" ,L\\.Lrc 111 h.1sic nc:c,k
for clean air and \later ,111d nourishing
food, . ·\II hc.:r lift.: ,he fought l11r tht: cduca1I11n nf \\lllllt:n and fnr tht: rrott:ctIun
of the cm Ironmt:nt-a standard II h1c·h
she calkd "ot:~,1I0µ1. •• Rt:adt:r, 11 ill he
ah,orht:d as thc1 learn 11hat ont: 1111111a11
can .1cc,>mrlish and II hat 11c 11", tP hc.:r
rwncninµ. Prohahf1 the, 11 ill h, 1n -.
,p1r.cd to read h1h1b h1 l·llc11 S"alln11
hcr,c l f. ,iii lish.:d i'n l\lr °cl.ir~,-, h1hl1ll)!
raph1. ,h arc• h,1t1~, h.1 lllh,r, ,111 n:l;11c,t
IO, 1,,hcrJ
,uh1c_-i,
184
PUBLISHERS WE.EKL Y
ELLEN SWALLOW
(Born, December 3, 1842,
Dunstable, Mass.
Died, March 30, 1911
Jamaica Plain, Mass.
Educated
at home to age 16
Westford AcadetmJ in
We$tford, Mass.,
Vassar College
FIRST Woman to enter
MIT 1871, B.S. 1873;
Denied graduate study
there but became first
woman faculty; Honorary
Doctor of Sci ence,
Smith College, 1910)
I could speak with you about the twelve
specific references to "homosexuality• in the
Bible, about the mi■ interpretations that have
been put upon them, about the fact that only
one of those references includes any suggestion
of female homosexuality.
or, I might use a feature-article approach on
"Lesbians I Have Known in the Church" (and still
know) . I doubt that many of you would be shocked
at personal or experiential estimates of the
number of lesbians in your congregations. I
would, though, assure you that you don't find
lesbians just among the single women in the
church, nor, of course, -.are all single women
lesbians. What ma:r come as a bit of surprise
is that lesbians are to be found in significant
numbers among heterosexually married women,
women trapped by their comittmant to familiea
and to husbands, women who know deep in them•
selves that their most authentic love relationships have been and perhaps even now are with
woman.
Perhaps more important might be a recounting
of the hundreds of lesbians I haw met in the
past year who have left the church. I could
"I
relate hair-raising stories of how the church
attempted to dehumanize them, of how much pain
they have suffered at its hands. I could tell
you of the rage that erupts- in some of them at
the suggestion of anything Christian and of the
tolerant laughter that springs from others at
the mention of such d6vitalized concepts as
"sin" or "salvation".
or I could fall into the old trap of trying
to define a lesbian by male standards, by the
same philosophy that says "All the lesbian
needs is a good lay with a real man to make her
normal." The male notion of the lesbian is the
sexual onea she is a lesbian simply because she
"has sex" with women. Nothing could be farther
from the truth. But if w•? were talking in manlanguage about lesbi~sm, I'd want to point out
that what lesbians and gay men do in bed is
technically no different f~om what mc.ny of y~u
do in bed with your wives or husbands (assuminJ
you have a healthy and vivid sexue,l relationship)•
The pain is that although heterosexual couples
do "it" and marriage manuals even recorrmen d ""t"
i
to buck up an otherwise dred and dull sexu~l
life, still you give lip service to the notion
that the "missionary po:1ition" is the only proper
mode of sexual expression. You support a hypocritical morality that sanctions only the sex
act that is potentially progenerative. By ~our
silence on any other mode of sexual expression
you continue to oppress gay people every minute
of every day.
But the main thing I want to share with you
is twofold.
First, I cannot separate the lesbian fro~ the
woman. This is not only because my oppression
has been more as a woman than as a lesbian
(though that of course is true), but also because
to me being a lesbian is what really being a
woman means. I like to think that the way politically conscious lesbians "are" ih the world.
today is the way all women were before the tyranny
of the patriarchy. To be a lesbian is to be
identified not by men or by a society made by
men, but by me, by a woman. And the more I am
identified by/for me, by/for my own experience,
by/for my own values, the more a full woman I
feel I become.
More and more woman-identified women are emerging every day. More and more lesbians. It's not
that more and more women are leaping into bed with
each other. That may be your fantasy--certainly it
is a common male fantasy--as to what lesbianism is
all about. And indeed, my understanding is that
astounding nwnbers of women are extending their
love relationships with other women into sexual
dimensions. But that's not the distinguishing
characteristic of a lesbian. Lesbianism is a lifestyle, a mind-set, a body of experiences. I would
like to call any woman-identified woman a lesbian,
and if she's really woman-identified, she'll feel
good about being called a lesbian, whether or not
she's had any sexual relationship with another
woman.
The woman-identified women who are being reborn
every day are those who are shaking off the chains
forged by thousands of years of ecclesiastical propaganda. Shaking off their definition as male
property, as male's helpmate, as the pure and empedestaled virtue-vessels that need chivalrous male
protection. They are the unladylike women, the
angry women, the ones who make you feel a little
uneasy with their freedom of body, with the way they
cross their legs or open their own car doors, or the
way they look as though they'll give you a karate
chop if you hassle them. They are the ones who
reach a deep and threatening place inside every man '
gut, the ones who can make your stomach turn over
because they represent a truth that your own stomach
has always secretly known. Particularly if you are
a man, you both hate and admire their independence,
their strength.
,I
I
I
I
l
The women being reborn today (that's the real
meaning of r e surrection) are the ones marching for
the rights to their own bodies at abortion demonstrations. Often they are women of witch-like
appearance, women in jeans and boots who have laid
away the girdles and garters that bound them into
the profiteering system. They are women whose faces
are honest, whose hair flies free, whose minds and
bodies are growing supple an a steady and sure in
their self-possession, whose l.ove is growing dee n
and wide in the realities of newly discovered re lationships with other women.
They don't need the church . The last thing t he y
think about now is the church. They have with in
themselves what the church h a s claimed as its own
and distorted so ironically for i ts own economi c
and psychological purposes these th ous ands of ye ~rs.
Second, being a lesbian involve s for me some
grow:Lng politic al consc iousness. That means I am
committed to assessing institutions like the chur ch ,
which, as far as women are concerned, takes the pri ze
as the most insidious l y oppressive ins ti tution i n
Western society. The matter of its influence needs
no elaborating. Its insidiousness lies most obviously in the fact that it has made women (particularly white women) not only victims but murderers
in a complex and e xploitative economic system. One
of the greatest marks of women's oppression is our
convic tion that we are not oppressed.
I look forwar d with great anticipation to the
death of the church. The sooner it dies, the sooner
we can be about the business of living the gospel.
That living cannot take place in the church, and I
suspect that most of us here have known that for a
long time. But if we count on "renewal" or "reform,"
t hen we unders t and neither the depth of the church's
cri me nor the nature of the women's movement. If we
coun t on " renewal " o r " reform," then clearly we have
not heard the voice s o f Third World peoples here
and abroad.
Renewa l and re f o rm are not enough. Renewal and
reform are more often sops, liber al cop- outs and
'
@
tokeni sm in the face of real and harder tuks . For
example, with grit ted teeth ao119 denomination■ offer
to ordain women. They then expect • to r ejoice in
this, light bonfi res on the hillside, and dance
around the sacred flame. Far frca rejoicing, I
really feel sick, sick that woman energy shall now
officially be made captive to the inatitution■,
sick that in the very act of ordination a woman hu
separated herself fram me and frOlll others. She has
played the church's game for good reason•• in order to
to secure her survival. But in doing ao, aha hun•t
challenged the church. She ha■ only mounted another
pedastal.
••••• to be continued,
Sisters, J&aua~ 1974
@THE
bESBIAN
'IEE~
A VOICE OF THE
LESBIAN/FEMINIST
COMMUNITY
sisters subscribe now !
S5.00 on ca l1forn1.1
$6.00 elsewhere
, $ .50 sample copy
send to : tide collective
1124 ,,, n. ogden
los ange les. ca 90046
bulk rates avatlable upon
request .
GAY NURSES' ALLIANCE
Dear Sisters:
we are nurses in the Philadelphia area who are
- active in the American Nurses' Association and
who have recently formed a group called the Gay
Nurses' Alliance (G.N.A.) . Current objectives
of the Alliance area to provide a forum where
gay nurses can talk together, to raise the consciousness of all nurses to the existence of
discrimination against peers and pa~ients who
are gay, and to make information and current
literature that refute the homophobic, middle
class, stereotypic, Judeo-Christian views of
homosexuality which continue to cause such discrimination and oppression. G.N.A . is a very
young organization and its membership quite
small at present. Membership is comprised of
gay and straight Registered Nurses, Licensed
Practical Nurses and Student Nurses. Most G.N.A.
members are already active in their respective
professional organizations and those who are not
are encouraged to become so.
we feel that a group like the Gay Nurses' Alliance
is long overdue within professional nursing. All
too often nurses tend to make erroneous and unfair value judgements about gay people.
The
prevailing myth that gay people exist only o~tside the profession is oppressive and prohibits
gay nurses from achieving their full h':11"an
.
Potential in their professional and private lives.
just as oppressive is society's unwarranted but
continued reference to gay people as sexual
beings rather than human beings. Failure by the
nursing profession to recognize the depth and
true meaning of gay love relationships continues
to antagonize and distress gay patients. Nurses
should not deny any group of people the support
they find necessary to combat the devastating
loneliness and terror of hospitalizationt It is
'
the firm conviction of G.N.A. that nur■e ■ have a
profeaaional and h\111&1\ re■pon■ ibility to eMrge
from the darkneas of prjudicial payc:hiatric
theori••, oppreasive myths and vindictive ■tereo•
type■ into the light of reaponaibl• truth ■
and
freer expreasion• of haan potential without
regard for Hxual preference. We further feel
that being in the vanguard of any re ■ponaible
effort aimed at liberating human potential i•
110at appropriate tor nur■ing.
We will be recruiting Nmber■ and making plans
for workahop■ and conference• during the oClllling
year to ua•• ■upport for our effort to gain
national recognition by the American Nurse••
A■■ociation at it■ Annual Convention in
San
Franci■ co in June 1974.
A• stated earlier, G.N.A. ia very young and very
saall and the letitimate reason• for the reluc•
tance of many nurae■ to becOM viaible active
member■ should be obvious to you. Ju■t u obvious
are the financial realities of organizing and the
■evere limitation■ on the work of the Alliance due
to a ■mall number of people bein9 un$l• to
shoulder the entire finaacial burden. mis letter,
then, i■ an announcement of our exiiltence and i■
al■o
an appeal for help and financial aupport
from interffted individual• and group■ in both
the gay and ■ traight C0111Duniti••• The Alliance
must have money now if it ia to •cce■ afully
meet its objectivea. In addition to financial
■upport, there is a need for vcalunteers to a■ai ■t
with preparing exhibit ■, anawering letters and
general offive work. We al ■<> welcoa and en•
courage letters of enquiry, aupport, suggestion■
or other re■ponaible commentary.
Ga'J Nur•es' Alliance
P.O. J1ti1r 5687
Philadelph.ta, Pa • . 19129-
October 26, 1973
TASK FORCE ON GAY LIBERATION
Hi:
If you are interested in uncovering what
literature exists on the topic of homosexuality,
POSITIVE literature, that is••• the Task Force
on Gay Liberation of the American Library Association has composed a bibliography "to raise and
help resolve issues of discrimination against
gays as librarians and as library clients."
The bibliography is being updated and will
contain some information on gay periodicals as
well as books.
To obtain a copy of the updated bibliography
when it is released write toa
Task Force on Gay Liberation
P. o. Box 2383
Philadelphia, PA 19103
To let the Task Force know that they are
reaching gay people, tell them you found out
about the bibliography in "Sisters".
To help keep their costs down you may also
send a stamped, self-addressed envelope.
Pat Hardman
Thank you both for Lesbian/Woman. The
compassion and intelligence of your book makes
me feel a great pride in humanity, and in my womanhood. It's a rare book that makes me feel a bigger
person.
I've been scanning the gay literature for two
months, since the coming out of my brother-in-law.
In the '60's his parents were rather cruelly treated
by several misbegotten analysts, not to mention the
fellow himself. I've been hoping to help undo some
of the misconceptions. So far I've excerpted
several books for them, Freedman, Weinberg, Altman,
etc., but yours is the first book I've found of
sufficient warmth and tact to reach them in an
unthreatening wag. Too much of what I've read lacks
compassion both for straights and for varying styles
of gayness. Understandable, of course, but hardly
suitable for parents whose self esteem has been so
needlessly diminished. So--thanks again.
The contribution enclosed is about all I can
afford right now, since I'm living on a fellowship,
but I did want to express my respect for what qou're
doing. If you ever need a member of the straight
world to pass out propaganda, take part in a letter
campaign, etc., feel free to add me to •1our list
of volunteers.
/kJC'£L...__
Madeline Denman
Sexual ignorance is not bliss
SAN FRANCISCO SEX INFORMATION
A Non-Profit Community Phone Service
(415) 665-7300
@
Phone hours: 3 to 9 p.m. Mon. through Fri.
.LOCAL LfSBIAN NEWS BY A
~
,,d',,,_
-q
-~
This year for the first time the Bay Area has a
Lesbian Basketball League.
It is called the
Bay Area Women's Basketball League, BAWBL, pronounced "Bobble". It's being sponsored by Scott
from Scott's Pit, Rickey from Maud's Study and
Kelly from Kelly's Saloon.
League games began Nov. 23rd and will continue
every Friday evening at 7:45 pm at Everett
Gymnasium, Church Street between 16th and 17th
Streets.
If you want to play, or just watch, call one of
the bars for more information. It should be a
classical gas! Do plan to attend at least one
game • . •
Please note: Since Basketball is an indoor game
the floors must be protected. NO SMOKING and
NO DRINKING are permitted in the gym.
Since this is our first indoor Lesbian League,
the Department of Education, whose facilities
we are using, will be watching our behavior
closely. If this comes off as well as expected
we should be able to secure facilities for lots
of other indoor sports, such as volleyball,
badminton, or whatever your sweet hearts desire!
CRISIS CFNIER FOR MIOORS
\il-j()
NEED HEIP
ARE YOU A MI NOR AND A R~AvlAY?
PROOLEM.S l'lllH DRUG ABUSE?
fo YOU HAVE
HUCKLEBERRY HOUSE CAN HELP,
liAS
24
HR, ANSWERING SERVICE
731-!321
HAS FACILITIES
CRASHING
COUNSELING
r-1:m CAL HELP
FoR:
DRUt, ABUSE
REFERRALS
<iENERAL INFOPMATION ETC,
HUCKLEBERRY HOUSE
3830 JUDAH
STREET, SAN FRANCISCO, CALIF 94122
$!0~
L,L, NEWS (CCNTINUED)
A SI STERLY
We have been working collectively for almost a
year to publish this portfolio. It is a result
of a small women's artist discussion group . We
hope you will be as excited to own and display
the variety of drawings and prints in the
portfolio, as we are to make women's art avail able to you. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION write or
call us.
Women's Portfolio
P.O. BOX 40596
S.F. California 94140
Our phone no.
(415) 824•7239
*
*
*
*
*
A sister in Canada has recently donated $25.00
for the House Fund. We,OOB want to thank Mary
for her donation.
*
*
*
*
*
David Goodstein, legal director of SIR is forming
a coop group of lawyers who will work with the
Society to offer Gay Community the finest &
broadest range of legal services possible.
Phone no. 781-1570
*
*
*
*
*
Musicians needed for gay night at Bi ■hop's Coffeehouse. Contact East Bay Gay, leave message for
Tony at 893-1019
*
*
*
*
*
Ministry of Concern, special Greek Orthodox
ministry to all Gay men and women, prisoners,
hospitalized persons and military
Phone no. 864-8205
GREET I N GS
FROM m E DOJ ~T/lff)
TiE SISTERS CGLLECTIVE
, ,..
NlD
/~1~)11,~rl ~i1ll~~ii1 li{~~~)il~~li.
1
Univilf
INFORMATION PAGE
OK
M 001 111 658
M~..-i;-r,-,
Suggestions for Reading or Possible Christmas Gifts
- OOB San Francisco
1005 i•arket Street, 11402
San Franci~co, California
94103
(415) BGl-8609
nel ;.Jartin & Pnylli!:; Lyon, Lesbian/Woman
(Bantan Paper)
Sidney Jlbbott & Barbara Love, Sa_r,pho Nas a Pi9ht-On
Woman (1'.von Paper)
"The Lesbian" in Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex
(Bantam Paper)
- DOB Boston
:19 Boylston Street, ff406
oston, Massachusetts
02116
PSYCHOLOGY , PSYCHihTRY & GAY PEOPLE
(617) 262-1592
George Weinoe r g , Society and the Healtny Homosexual
(St . 1-:artin' s)
Mark rreedman , Homosexuality and Psychological
Functioninq (Brooks/Co l e Pacer)
- DOD Ne1<1 JersetJ
P.O. Box G2 Fanwood, ::e ...: Jer5'!:,
07023
(201) 674-1111
GAY PEOPLE
&
THE LAW
- WB Dallas
c/o Roi> Shivers
Box 5944
Dallas, 1'!:!xas
75222
Walter Barne t t , Sexual Freedom and the Constitution
(University of ~e w Mexico Pre3s)
The Chal l enge anc1 Proaress of Homosexual Law r..efom
(Counci l on Religion and the 1-i omosexual, CRH)
The l, rmed For ces and Honosexuality
(Society for Individual Rights)
,"embcrsni ,? in San Francisco
Dawrhters oF ~iliti .r;
P.ELIGION & no;,10SEXUALITY
Baroara r,i tt:i'n93 , "T:1e Church ana t.1-ie Hor.asexual,"
in Falph Weltgc , ed . , Ti1e Sar,1e Sex
(l'nitetl C'h ur cil o f Ch r ist 'Pape r)
Troy Pe rry , The Lord i s t,;y Sh~r,her<l uncl He Knows
SinCYle mcr::1.><:!rs."li •.•: ,;7 00
• •
($9.00 Canad,1 anrJ
overseas)
Coup le r.ie ,r0er5hi[>: $10.00 ($12 .oo ran.::i .-/;,i anrJ
ove r:c;eas)
I 'rr. Gay ( Nazh )
OTHERS
Jil l J ohnston, Les~ian Nat ion
(Simon and S chus t er)
Isa;)e l i•lil l e r, Patience and Sarah
(1-icG r a•:,- H i 11)
- :;er:ihershlr,
·
.
,:- . incl11de~_, .."- alf -;>rice
tn ,_;or::i r1 l
unc~ions, library !)ri vileges and nnP. Y"!ar
12 issues) of Sisters naaazine.
f
*
*
*
-
or6oyWomen
December
1973
SAN mPNCISCO DAl.ntlERS OF BILITIS
Statement of Purpose
••• a women's organization to aid the Lesbian in
discorering her place in societ!/ and to educate
societg to understand and accept her, without
prejudice, and •••
l. To encourage and support the Lesbian in
her searc:h for her social, economic, personal,
interpersonal and voc:ational identity withi n
society by maintaining and building a library
on the themes . of homosexualit;y and women , by
providing social functions where she can comrn.u:,i cate with others and expand her social world ~~ t side the bar 3cene, and by providing
orgar ized
structure through which she cari work to chan,;'!
society's limitations upon her· lifestyles , by
providing a forum for the interchange of idea ~
and constructive solutions to women's problems .
an
2. To educate the public to accept am~
understand the Lesbian as an individual, the reby
leading to ·the breakdown of taboos, prejudices ,
and l i mitations on her lifestyle by sponsoring
publi<: discussions, by providing individuals as
speakors and partici pants in various forums designed to educate the public, by disse1J.nating
educational and rati onal literature 01, the Lesbian.
3. To encourage, support and participate in
responsible nNarch dealing with homosexuality.
.
4. To inwstigate the penal code and to promote changes, in order to provide equitable handling of c:ues involvi~9 homosexuals, with due
proceH of law and without prejudice.
1'0 SAY 1UfD BBLilfVB 'l'BA'l' GAY IS GOOD
SAN l'RAllCISCO DAUGllffRS Or BILI'l'IS, AN AFFILIATE OF
' SAN FRN«:ISCO
~•s
CSfil:RS
1026 IWJOIIIC. S'l'RBB'l'
SAIi l'IWICISCO, ~10.RNIA
94117
&iM Jlf Mtf for&ly
11 issues
~11.T1C1.ti, .. aws.
$ 00
011.,G,-..- .. -'IT. POUttf.
•MoTo••""'"
I
5
IOOS Allollllln \T. • s.. ,1 f'Ol,SAII JHIICtKQ ' '· M1Q1
President••••••••••••••••••Liane
Vice-President .•••..••••••• Millie
correspondence .•.••..••.••• Pat & Lais
Treasurer ••••••.•.•..•••••• Melinda
Volunteer Coordinator .••••• Linda
Secretary•••••••••••••••• • •Paula
A NOTE TO 11-tE •LESBIAN INTELLECTUAL ELITE"
A Note t o the Lesbian I nte llectual Elite •••••••• 3
Helen Reddy in Person•••••••••••••••••••••••••••?
Censorship Exists•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••B
Quotations ••••.••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 9
Poetry Section••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••l0-15
CALENDAR••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••l6&17
Sisters it should be noted•••••••••••••••••••••lB
Ellen Swallow .•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 18
The Lesbian and God-the-Father or
All the Church Needs is a Good Lay--on Its
Side•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••l9
Gay Nurses' Alliance•••••••••••••••••••••••••••24
Task Force on Gay Liberation•••••••••••••••••••26
Thank you for Lesbian Woman••••••••••••••••••••27
Local Lesbian News by a Local Lesbian ••••••.•.. 28
A Sister ly Season ' s Greetings••••••••••••••••••31
INFORMATION PAGE• •••• • • ••••• • ••••••••••••••••••32
Dear Gang:
I hate to resort to lowlevel bardyke rhetoric, but.
in a word, your Founding Charter sucks . ("Sucks"
as even lowlevel bardykes know, is a quaint Elizabethan euphemism for a more obvious, though less
classical descriptive epithet). Actual ly;· it' s
not that I object to coexisting with intellectuals
(that is, "individuals having unusual mental capa- ·
city") but when they come on like rejects f rom
MENSA*, I get to feeling a bit nervous. It di dn't
help much, either, that you defined "elite" as a
"select group" and left out the more salient par t
of the definintion having to do with elitists being
"a group considered or treated as socially superior". I mean, isn't that where it's really at?
On the other hand, maybe what made me so sad was
the Charter's statement that you Intellectuals
are so fed up with us Anesthetized, Non-creative
Masses fucking up your head trips that you're
planning to turn your backs on us, wash your
hands of us, and laugh as we go down the tubes.
Some heavy rejection!
SI STERS MAGAZINE
0
December, 1973
Daughters o f Bilitis, San Francisco
Reproduction by permis s ion of SF DOB
Staff Members
by
(y
And, since this is an all-out-frank communique ,
your plan of being a "gadfly" on my ass didn't
set too well either. I honestly don't think that
my consciousness will be raised one whit by a bug
whose only claim to fame is its prediliction fo r
stinging "domesticated cattle."
What I'm really trying to say, I suppose, is t hat
while I readily acknowledge your right to form a
group based on shared interests, I don ' t for a
minute accept your right, in the absence of my
participation or permission, to impose your trip
on me. Arrogance really isn't such a
but if you have a need to exclude your
endowed Sisters, do remember that your
for contributing to the welfare of all
Women will be diminished accordingly.
I
hot thing,
less wellinfluence
Lesbian
.
Uc)_,~~
;.{u- (,Uu.. v
Donna Martin
*MENSA, for you LBs who don't know any better,
is that funny heteroseyual bunch of insecure
intellectuals who join 1:he Organization as a way
of publicly validating the fact that they have
an I.Q. in excess of 10 points and, thereby,
are Truly Something Else!
Please send me SISTERS for___year or years at
$5.00 per year . • • $7.00 for Canada and $10.00
for overseas, effective as of September 1973.
NAME:_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ ,
ADDRESS,_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _...,
City:__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _,
(Donna Martin is a Psy ~hotherapist in Hayward,
California.)
Statei----------------1
ZIP CODE_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___.
WOMEN'S WEEKEND WORKSHOP ON ANGER
December 14, 15 & 16
We believe that anger is a difficult feeling
for many women to express. The Hoilday Season is
the time of year when anger centers around religion,
family, friends, loneliness, etc. We want to provide a place where anger is a vaild feeling and
help women express it in a healthy safe and construtive way.
STARTS Friday at 7pm.
$25.00
10 Women maxium
CALL Jill at 647-4391 or leave message
at 864-8205 ex. 29 and she
will return your call.
Mail order form to
DOB Rm. *402
1005 Market Street
San Francisco, Calif.
HELEN REDDY IN PERSOO
5'131
'11 IS N•T IN TMI OIF'Hft6~E
WI FUIO TMI. l'.SSINC8 oF •
• I.IF& . . • IT IS lfA'TM&at. IH
,n sa•1~1ss.
LT
Whenever I think of a superstar I think of
ta lent which reaches off the stage and pulls the
l istener onto and into the performance wrapping
viewer and artist together. Talent is to the
artist what charisma is to the politician • • •
indispensable. One can have artistic ability,
a good voice filled with emotion thrilling to
a beautiful song on a record, or, a personality
which comes off well on T.V. but is lost without the gagetry and techniques, so much a part
of our contemporary electronic magik.
Unfortunately, it was the latter which
occured when Helen Reddy performed for the Bay
Area at the Circle Star Theatre. Indeed the
beautiful voice was there, when it could transcend the thunder of the musical accompliment.
But the true talent, that which makes an artist
a superstar, was not.
I got the impression that the audience sincerely desired to be pulled onto the stage and
wrapped up in that potentially beautiful personality; it was as though a shield separated us from
her. It saddened me to think that all any of us
wanted to hear really was THE song. It being the
last in the act made me aware that had it been
the first many people may have been tempted to
leave without seeing the remainder of the show.
Nevertheless, the show was good .•• not great.
If Ms. Reddy depends upon "I Am Woman" to help
her ascend to superstardom and hold her there, I
believe we will all find it just doesn't happen
that way. If she doesn't discover that indescribable combination of artistry and personality which
will help her break through the barrier between
her and the audience, we will all have missed the
opportunity of meeting and enjoying a truly
great superstar.
by Lois
©
G)
Cen■orahip
QOOTATIONS
Sxists
It seeaa our sisters and brother• at
Mississippi StatlUniwr■ity are having• difficult tille of it with the editor of •'ftl
Reflector•, th• university•• newspaper. Apparently the MiHi ■aippi Gay Alliance wanted
to place an ad in the paper to let gay sister•
and brother■ know about their COWl■elling and
legal uaistance. NO DICE wu the response
from !'he Reflector.
At laat report the MGA was preparing a
law ■uit against the newspaper for discrimination. Aside from the lawsuit we might all
like to send the editor a copy of the u.s.
constitution and underline Amendment I.
Do what you can!
AMAZON QUARTERLY
A JOURNAL OF LESBIAN - FEMINISM
72 Pages of:
VISUAL ART
I will not <Jive to a woman an instrument to orocure
abortion.
Hi!"'?Ocrates:
lli9pocratic oath.
Wom.;m may be said to be an inferior man.
Aristotle
I
r
Despite my 30 years of research into the feminine
soul, I have not yet been able to answer
• the
great question that :,as never been ansv.·erec':: What
does a woman want?
Sigmund Freu<i:
IJUotcd by J;r. Ernest
Jones, Tile Life an(1
Works of Si<;munrl Freud.
Do you know that each of you women is a.n E;ve? The
sentence of God on this sex of yours lives in this
age: the guilt must necessarily live too. You ure
the gate of Hell, you are the temptress of the
forbidden tree i 1ou are the first deserter of the
divine law.
Tertullian:
De Cultu Feminarurn.
Women's Dress, c. 220
FICTION
POETRY
REVIEWS
EXPLORATION
There are two kinds of moral law, t\•10 1-:ind:; o: consciences, in men and women, und they arc nl trxietller
different. The two sexes dn not uncterstand each other.
But in practical life, the woman is judged b~, r:ian ' s
law, as if she were i'\ man, not a ·,,om,m.
Henrik Ihsen
$4 per year (inside
u.s.)
$5 per year (plain brown wrapper, outside U.S.)
$1 for sample issue
Amazon Quarterly, 554 Valle Vista, Oakland, California~ 94610
©
These quotations are tak en from the book, T!IF r;r:El'I'
;)CJOTATIONS "• • • a collection of man's best
thinking • • • " froia the Introduction by J. nona .16
and compiled by George Seldes
TO Sandra
Glances from dark eyes
Peering out from under kinky black bangs
LOoks lost to cave-dwelling gypsies
G
.
1
i
d
I
e
through those silent eyes.
DIALOGlE WITii MYSELF so, there you are
hiding in the clo■et.
Why
are you afraid of me,
or I of you?
Why are you
hiding then
in the lonely dark
of the closet?
What made you
think to look
in here for • ?
Linda Rothacker
1$5
Briefly our paths crossed: yours and mine
Mine seems emptier for having lost you,
Brought was I by you
To new frontiers of Understandin~
Feelings
Permeated my being
Taking me from self-satisfied awareness
To new Dawning horizons unknown.
You brought me,
showed me,
left me.
standing at the entrance of discoveryNEVER
before felt
•
NEVER yet to be feltBy your confusion and self-soul searching
@
LOVEGAS~~
Your
search left me
aware
Though you still grasp at the mgriad
Of mind's through swirling Time
Ungraspable-untenable,
Always m o v i n g
Your
soul and mine
searched the night
EACH
seeking its own star.
OK, So you're in love with her
and she's in love with another he r
and I'm hungry for more,
you know, this bed can't hold
all our ghosts. And
you're afraid of my ravishings:
don't be .' -God, you've such a lovely moan, let it out,
unfold ••.
come.
Deborah
Nine glowed bright
Yours
shown lost in clouded nebulae
Yet somehow
I
miss
you, mg partner
On '}Outh's search of Life's meanings I long again
for a dark glance
from those silent gypsy eyes.
by Shirin
BLESS YOU, MR, TOOlH DECAY
December 29, 1972
Your toothache evoking my kiss
And that was the dawn of our love .
Tender meeting of our lips,
It's earthquake concussion
Rending our marrow.
I feared you as I wanted you.
And you, like the Fox, pursued.
Now joy blankets our life
In the harmony of destined beings.
Judy, thank you for our year togethe r -we've only just begun!
Barbara - December 197 3
@
Can You Spare a Dime?
No, brother, I have no dime
My sisters are dY,ing in their chains
Fo~ you I haven't a dime.
My sisters are out in the streets
For you I haven't the time.
My sisters are Fighting throughout the land
Against you and all your kind.
My sister& are Fighting for their lives,
AND you uk if I have a dime.
Linda Rothacker
Lesbian Birth
I'm with her - and in love with her
With you - and in love with you
Torn
split
divided
screaming
It's not possible
There are two of me.
Sureness and certainty whichever I'm with.
My lifestyle ia sterile yet I've reproduced.
I've made two of me.
Sandy
for WonderWoman
Eyes' lite to hushed
rapture
nothing same turned to
different anything
upside down you
vessels flooowing
downside me up pretty
pretty Fine. fine & pretty
sight anythingoutof
mind into mind
crimson cranium cataclysm
sucking cells
MIND (youme) FUCKING
lElse something how be love
ration
al?
minutiae integrate 2
entities
nothing seem
SomeThing IS!
by FLASII
SUNDAY
MONDAY
TUESDAY
THURSDAY
WEDNESDAY
SATURDAY·~-
FRIDAY
1
HAPPY
BIR'!BDAY
DECEMBER
~ ·-
-l,
-
I
q?3
I
POOL TOURNMEN'l'
~
at Scott••
$20.00 for
winner
Women's
Art Center
@OPEN
HOUSE
at Scott's
2-6pm
Exhibit &
Introduction
16
EVERY
OTHBlt
<w
Cou.ATE
; SISffRS
s+
IEAILINE
~
~
N.o.w.
Meeting
. 7pm
Franklin &
Geary Open
to ALL WODl8n~
oom,~~...
: 6-8p1 Jill
~
7p111
Ever,
flednUdap
$1.00 for
--
KATIE
&
-Chri■tmaa
0
--
-
25
•
~
am-
for
Helllben or
'AIIPS
@
8
~
22
L• • u.
Me'11ting
7,JOpa
call 285-0392
'
27
28
29
I
r
.• SEE YOU
ALL
~FJtT
YE~!
~
I
-·
@0
SCOTT'S BAR
10 Sanchez st.
or 626-9534
L.M.U.
(Leabian Mother■
Union)
s.o.L.
(Slightly Older
Lellbiana 30+)
s.o.L.
PARTY
6pn
in Pacifica
call ahead
at 359-4094
,Page Pour
~
20
.
.so
POOD
-
SCOTTI ,
Non..,.mbers
$
-
EVERY FRIDAY
~
OPEN JAM SESSION
CHRISTMAS DAY
RAPS
TO DOB
with GLORIA
bring _~nst~!"'tl!
caroling
Party
at Scott••
S-7pn
NOW at DOB
~
~ME
~
18
--·
23
~.
<i?
Gay Women's
Rap Nite
at Scott's
8p!ft
8pm
in Olkland
bring toy or
call Jaclcie
door charge
865-1449
·- Berkeley
Weekend
7130
Workshop
Rap on
on Ang,• r
•What i ■ Femini ■t
■ t,irta
'lberapy?•
FME
7pm
info. 548-4343
MAGGIE RUBENSTEIN
SIS'rBRS
COLLBC'rIVE
Meeting at 8pm
Bert be on time!
2pm
L.M.u. 's
Jill
6-8p111
•DEA11.It£
Jod1
Toy
~ Happening
Ci)
4
at DOB
counseling
6t30pm
t
-•
M:>NDAY
■ tarts
·- ·-
'
lHE L.ESBIPN AND OOD-ntE-FAlHER
m
AU. lHE OiUR0-1 NEEDS IS A GOOD LAY~ ITS SIDE
SISTERS,
IT
by Sally Gearhart
SHOULD BE NOTED:
lHE AVERAGE MAJ.E HAS ~our 6G POUNDS
OF MUSCLE AND .5,2 POUNDS OF BRAINS,
lHAT EXPLAINS ALOT OF Trl INGS ,
ANONYr•'OUS
. Hs. Gearhart is a professor of speech communications at California State University, San
Francisco. She made these remarks in February
1972 at a pastors' conference at the Pacific School
of Religion in Berkeley. This article is reprinted
here by permission of the author.
Copyrighted, 1973, bg Sally Gearhart.
Of the host of things I'd like to share with
you, a few at leaat bear mentions
ELLE'\/ SWAI. LO\\ : Tht' W oman
W ho Founded Ecol og~. Rohl'rt Clari-I'
hillt:11. $7.9~
Thi, Ta,cihaflng nnok shou ld arreal tn
all 1<ho art: int c n.:,tcd 111 the ccnlng1cal
nwvt:mcnt and "ho al,o ";d. ,he advanccmt:nt of \\Onlt:n. Llkn S"allo" "a,
the lir,t 1Hi111an to be admitted to M.1.1.
and to t:arn a dq!rt:c in chcmistr). the
lirst fcmak facult) mt:mhcr of that In,tI
ttllIon One hundred )Car, aµn. this '\,.:"
l·ngland girl "·" ,L\\.Lrc 111 h.1sic nc:c,k
for clean air and \later ,111d nourishing
food, . ·\II hc.:r lift.: ,he fought l11r tht: cduca1I11n nf \\lllllt:n and fnr tht: rrott:ctIun
of the cm Ironmt:nt-a standard II h1c·h
she calkd "ot:~,1I0µ1. •• Rt:adt:r, 11 ill he
ah,orht:d as thc1 learn 11hat ont: 1111111a11
can .1cc,>mrlish and II hat 11c 11", tP hc.:r
rwncninµ. Prohahf1 the, 11 ill h, 1n -.
,p1r.cd to read h1h1b h1 l·llc11 S"alln11
hcr,c l f. ,iii lish.:d i'n l\lr °cl.ir~,-, h1hl1ll)!
raph1. ,h arc• h,1t1~, h.1 lllh,r, ,111 n:l;11c,t
IO, 1,,hcrJ
,uh1c_-i,
184
PUBLISHERS WE.EKL Y
ELLEN SWALLOW
(Born, December 3, 1842,
Dunstable, Mass.
Died, March 30, 1911
Jamaica Plain, Mass.
Educated
at home to age 16
Westford AcadetmJ in
We$tford, Mass.,
Vassar College
FIRST Woman to enter
MIT 1871, B.S. 1873;
Denied graduate study
there but became first
woman faculty; Honorary
Doctor of Sci ence,
Smith College, 1910)
I could speak with you about the twelve
specific references to "homosexuality• in the
Bible, about the mi■ interpretations that have
been put upon them, about the fact that only
one of those references includes any suggestion
of female homosexuality.
or, I might use a feature-article approach on
"Lesbians I Have Known in the Church" (and still
know) . I doubt that many of you would be shocked
at personal or experiential estimates of the
number of lesbians in your congregations. I
would, though, assure you that you don't find
lesbians just among the single women in the
church, nor, of course, -.are all single women
lesbians. What ma:r come as a bit of surprise
is that lesbians are to be found in significant
numbers among heterosexually married women,
women trapped by their comittmant to familiea
and to husbands, women who know deep in them•
selves that their most authentic love relationships have been and perhaps even now are with
woman.
Perhaps more important might be a recounting
of the hundreds of lesbians I haw met in the
past year who have left the church. I could
"I
relate hair-raising stories of how the church
attempted to dehumanize them, of how much pain
they have suffered at its hands. I could tell
you of the rage that erupts- in some of them at
the suggestion of anything Christian and of the
tolerant laughter that springs from others at
the mention of such d6vitalized concepts as
"sin" or "salvation".
or I could fall into the old trap of trying
to define a lesbian by male standards, by the
same philosophy that says "All the lesbian
needs is a good lay with a real man to make her
normal." The male notion of the lesbian is the
sexual onea she is a lesbian simply because she
"has sex" with women. Nothing could be farther
from the truth. But if w•? were talking in manlanguage about lesbi~sm, I'd want to point out
that what lesbians and gay men do in bed is
technically no different f~om what mc.ny of y~u
do in bed with your wives or husbands (assuminJ
you have a healthy and vivid sexue,l relationship)•
The pain is that although heterosexual couples
do "it" and marriage manuals even recorrmen d ""t"
i
to buck up an otherwise dred and dull sexu~l
life, still you give lip service to the notion
that the "missionary po:1ition" is the only proper
mode of sexual expression. You support a hypocritical morality that sanctions only the sex
act that is potentially progenerative. By ~our
silence on any other mode of sexual expression
you continue to oppress gay people every minute
of every day.
But the main thing I want to share with you
is twofold.
First, I cannot separate the lesbian fro~ the
woman. This is not only because my oppression
has been more as a woman than as a lesbian
(though that of course is true), but also because
to me being a lesbian is what really being a
woman means. I like to think that the way politically conscious lesbians "are" ih the world.
today is the way all women were before the tyranny
of the patriarchy. To be a lesbian is to be
identified not by men or by a society made by
men, but by me, by a woman. And the more I am
identified by/for me, by/for my own experience,
by/for my own values, the more a full woman I
feel I become.
More and more woman-identified women are emerging every day. More and more lesbians. It's not
that more and more women are leaping into bed with
each other. That may be your fantasy--certainly it
is a common male fantasy--as to what lesbianism is
all about. And indeed, my understanding is that
astounding nwnbers of women are extending their
love relationships with other women into sexual
dimensions. But that's not the distinguishing
characteristic of a lesbian. Lesbianism is a lifestyle, a mind-set, a body of experiences. I would
like to call any woman-identified woman a lesbian,
and if she's really woman-identified, she'll feel
good about being called a lesbian, whether or not
she's had any sexual relationship with another
woman.
The woman-identified women who are being reborn
every day are those who are shaking off the chains
forged by thousands of years of ecclesiastical propaganda. Shaking off their definition as male
property, as male's helpmate, as the pure and empedestaled virtue-vessels that need chivalrous male
protection. They are the unladylike women, the
angry women, the ones who make you feel a little
uneasy with their freedom of body, with the way they
cross their legs or open their own car doors, or the
way they look as though they'll give you a karate
chop if you hassle them. They are the ones who
reach a deep and threatening place inside every man '
gut, the ones who can make your stomach turn over
because they represent a truth that your own stomach
has always secretly known. Particularly if you are
a man, you both hate and admire their independence,
their strength.
,I
I
I
I
l
The women being reborn today (that's the real
meaning of r e surrection) are the ones marching for
the rights to their own bodies at abortion demonstrations. Often they are women of witch-like
appearance, women in jeans and boots who have laid
away the girdles and garters that bound them into
the profiteering system. They are women whose faces
are honest, whose hair flies free, whose minds and
bodies are growing supple an a steady and sure in
their self-possession, whose l.ove is growing dee n
and wide in the realities of newly discovered re lationships with other women.
They don't need the church . The last thing t he y
think about now is the church. They have with in
themselves what the church h a s claimed as its own
and distorted so ironically for i ts own economi c
and psychological purposes these th ous ands of ye ~rs.
Second, being a lesbian involve s for me some
grow:Lng politic al consc iousness. That means I am
committed to assessing institutions like the chur ch ,
which, as far as women are concerned, takes the pri ze
as the most insidious l y oppressive ins ti tution i n
Western society. The matter of its influence needs
no elaborating. Its insidiousness lies most obviously in the fact that it has made women (particularly white women) not only victims but murderers
in a complex and e xploitative economic system. One
of the greatest marks of women's oppression is our
convic tion that we are not oppressed.
I look forwar d with great anticipation to the
death of the church. The sooner it dies, the sooner
we can be about the business of living the gospel.
That living cannot take place in the church, and I
suspect that most of us here have known that for a
long time. But if we count on "renewal" or "reform,"
t hen we unders t and neither the depth of the church's
cri me nor the nature of the women's movement. If we
coun t on " renewal " o r " reform," then clearly we have
not heard the voice s o f Third World peoples here
and abroad.
Renewa l and re f o rm are not enough. Renewal and
reform are more often sops, liber al cop- outs and
'
@
tokeni sm in the face of real and harder tuks . For
example, with grit ted teeth ao119 denomination■ offer
to ordain women. They then expect • to r ejoice in
this, light bonfi res on the hillside, and dance
around the sacred flame. Far frca rejoicing, I
really feel sick, sick that woman energy shall now
officially be made captive to the inatitution■,
sick that in the very act of ordination a woman hu
separated herself fram me and frOlll others. She has
played the church's game for good reason•• in order to
to secure her survival. But in doing ao, aha hun•t
challenged the church. She ha■ only mounted another
pedastal.
••••• to be continued,
Sisters, J&aua~ 1974
@THE
bESBIAN
'IEE~
A VOICE OF THE
LESBIAN/FEMINIST
COMMUNITY
sisters subscribe now !
S5.00 on ca l1forn1.1
$6.00 elsewhere
, $ .50 sample copy
send to : tide collective
1124 ,,, n. ogden
los ange les. ca 90046
bulk rates avatlable upon
request .
GAY NURSES' ALLIANCE
Dear Sisters:
we are nurses in the Philadelphia area who are
- active in the American Nurses' Association and
who have recently formed a group called the Gay
Nurses' Alliance (G.N.A.) . Current objectives
of the Alliance area to provide a forum where
gay nurses can talk together, to raise the consciousness of all nurses to the existence of
discrimination against peers and pa~ients who
are gay, and to make information and current
literature that refute the homophobic, middle
class, stereotypic, Judeo-Christian views of
homosexuality which continue to cause such discrimination and oppression. G.N.A . is a very
young organization and its membership quite
small at present. Membership is comprised of
gay and straight Registered Nurses, Licensed
Practical Nurses and Student Nurses. Most G.N.A.
members are already active in their respective
professional organizations and those who are not
are encouraged to become so.
we feel that a group like the Gay Nurses' Alliance
is long overdue within professional nursing. All
too often nurses tend to make erroneous and unfair value judgements about gay people.
The
prevailing myth that gay people exist only o~tside the profession is oppressive and prohibits
gay nurses from achieving their full h':11"an
.
Potential in their professional and private lives.
just as oppressive is society's unwarranted but
continued reference to gay people as sexual
beings rather than human beings. Failure by the
nursing profession to recognize the depth and
true meaning of gay love relationships continues
to antagonize and distress gay patients. Nurses
should not deny any group of people the support
they find necessary to combat the devastating
loneliness and terror of hospitalizationt It is
'
the firm conviction of G.N.A. that nur■e ■ have a
profeaaional and h\111&1\ re■pon■ ibility to eMrge
from the darkneas of prjudicial payc:hiatric
theori••, oppreasive myths and vindictive ■tereo•
type■ into the light of reaponaibl• truth ■
and
freer expreasion• of haan potential without
regard for Hxual preference. We further feel
that being in the vanguard of any re ■ponaible
effort aimed at liberating human potential i•
110at appropriate tor nur■ing.
We will be recruiting Nmber■ and making plans
for workahop■ and conference• during the oClllling
year to ua•• ■upport for our effort to gain
national recognition by the American Nurse••
A■■ociation at it■ Annual Convention in
San
Franci■ co in June 1974.
A• stated earlier, G.N.A. ia very young and very
saall and the letitimate reason• for the reluc•
tance of many nurae■ to becOM viaible active
member■ should be obvious to you. Ju■t u obvious
are the financial realities of organizing and the
■evere limitation■ on the work of the Alliance due
to a ■mall number of people bein9 un$l• to
shoulder the entire finaacial burden. mis letter,
then, i■ an announcement of our exiiltence and i■
al■o
an appeal for help and financial aupport
from interffted individual• and group■ in both
the gay and ■ traight C0111Duniti••• The Alliance
must have money now if it ia to •cce■ afully
meet its objectivea. In addition to financial
■upport, there is a need for vcalunteers to a■ai ■t
with preparing exhibit ■, anawering letters and
general offive work. We al ■<> welcoa and en•
courage letters of enquiry, aupport, suggestion■
or other re■ponaible commentary.
Ga'J Nur•es' Alliance
P.O. J1ti1r 5687
Philadelph.ta, Pa • . 19129-
October 26, 1973
TASK FORCE ON GAY LIBERATION
Hi:
If you are interested in uncovering what
literature exists on the topic of homosexuality,
POSITIVE literature, that is••• the Task Force
on Gay Liberation of the American Library Association has composed a bibliography "to raise and
help resolve issues of discrimination against
gays as librarians and as library clients."
The bibliography is being updated and will
contain some information on gay periodicals as
well as books.
To obtain a copy of the updated bibliography
when it is released write toa
Task Force on Gay Liberation
P. o. Box 2383
Philadelphia, PA 19103
To let the Task Force know that they are
reaching gay people, tell them you found out
about the bibliography in "Sisters".
To help keep their costs down you may also
send a stamped, self-addressed envelope.
Pat Hardman
Thank you both for Lesbian/Woman. The
compassion and intelligence of your book makes
me feel a great pride in humanity, and in my womanhood. It's a rare book that makes me feel a bigger
person.
I've been scanning the gay literature for two
months, since the coming out of my brother-in-law.
In the '60's his parents were rather cruelly treated
by several misbegotten analysts, not to mention the
fellow himself. I've been hoping to help undo some
of the misconceptions. So far I've excerpted
several books for them, Freedman, Weinberg, Altman,
etc., but yours is the first book I've found of
sufficient warmth and tact to reach them in an
unthreatening wag. Too much of what I've read lacks
compassion both for straights and for varying styles
of gayness. Understandable, of course, but hardly
suitable for parents whose self esteem has been so
needlessly diminished. So--thanks again.
The contribution enclosed is about all I can
afford right now, since I'm living on a fellowship,
but I did want to express my respect for what qou're
doing. If you ever need a member of the straight
world to pass out propaganda, take part in a letter
campaign, etc., feel free to add me to •1our list
of volunteers.
/kJC'£L...__
Madeline Denman
Sexual ignorance is not bliss
SAN FRANCISCO SEX INFORMATION
A Non-Profit Community Phone Service
(415) 665-7300
@
Phone hours: 3 to 9 p.m. Mon. through Fri.
.LOCAL LfSBIAN NEWS BY A
~
,,d',,,_
-q
-~
This year for the first time the Bay Area has a
Lesbian Basketball League.
It is called the
Bay Area Women's Basketball League, BAWBL, pronounced "Bobble". It's being sponsored by Scott
from Scott's Pit, Rickey from Maud's Study and
Kelly from Kelly's Saloon.
League games began Nov. 23rd and will continue
every Friday evening at 7:45 pm at Everett
Gymnasium, Church Street between 16th and 17th
Streets.
If you want to play, or just watch, call one of
the bars for more information. It should be a
classical gas! Do plan to attend at least one
game • . •
Please note: Since Basketball is an indoor game
the floors must be protected. NO SMOKING and
NO DRINKING are permitted in the gym.
Since this is our first indoor Lesbian League,
the Department of Education, whose facilities
we are using, will be watching our behavior
closely. If this comes off as well as expected
we should be able to secure facilities for lots
of other indoor sports, such as volleyball,
badminton, or whatever your sweet hearts desire!
CRISIS CFNIER FOR MIOORS
\il-j()
NEED HEIP
ARE YOU A MI NOR AND A R~AvlAY?
PROOLEM.S l'lllH DRUG ABUSE?
fo YOU HAVE
HUCKLEBERRY HOUSE CAN HELP,
liAS
24
HR, ANSWERING SERVICE
731-!321
HAS FACILITIES
CRASHING
COUNSELING
r-1:m CAL HELP
FoR:
DRUt, ABUSE
REFERRALS
<iENERAL INFOPMATION ETC,
HUCKLEBERRY HOUSE
3830 JUDAH
STREET, SAN FRANCISCO, CALIF 94122
$!0~
L,L, NEWS (CCNTINUED)
A SI STERLY
We have been working collectively for almost a
year to publish this portfolio. It is a result
of a small women's artist discussion group . We
hope you will be as excited to own and display
the variety of drawings and prints in the
portfolio, as we are to make women's art avail able to you. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION write or
call us.
Women's Portfolio
P.O. BOX 40596
S.F. California 94140
Our phone no.
(415) 824•7239
*
*
*
*
*
A sister in Canada has recently donated $25.00
for the House Fund. We,OOB want to thank Mary
for her donation.
*
*
*
*
*
David Goodstein, legal director of SIR is forming
a coop group of lawyers who will work with the
Society to offer Gay Community the finest &
broadest range of legal services possible.
Phone no. 781-1570
*
*
*
*
*
Musicians needed for gay night at Bi ■hop's Coffeehouse. Contact East Bay Gay, leave message for
Tony at 893-1019
*
*
*
*
*
Ministry of Concern, special Greek Orthodox
ministry to all Gay men and women, prisoners,
hospitalized persons and military
Phone no. 864-8205
GREET I N GS
FROM m E DOJ ~T/lff)
TiE SISTERS CGLLECTIVE
, ,..
NlD
/~1~)11,~rl ~i1ll~~ii1 li{~~~)il~~li.
1
Univilf
INFORMATION PAGE
OK
M 001 111 658
M~..-i;-r,-,
Suggestions for Reading or Possible Christmas Gifts
- OOB San Francisco
1005 i•arket Street, 11402
San Franci~co, California
94103
(415) BGl-8609
nel ;.Jartin & Pnylli!:; Lyon, Lesbian/Woman
(Bantan Paper)
Sidney Jlbbott & Barbara Love, Sa_r,pho Nas a Pi9ht-On
Woman (1'.von Paper)
"The Lesbian" in Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex
(Bantam Paper)
- DOB Boston
:19 Boylston Street, ff406
oston, Massachusetts
02116
PSYCHOLOGY , PSYCHihTRY & GAY PEOPLE
(617) 262-1592
George Weinoe r g , Society and the Healtny Homosexual
(St . 1-:artin' s)
Mark rreedman , Homosexuality and Psychological
Functioninq (Brooks/Co l e Pacer)
- DOD Ne1<1 JersetJ
P.O. Box G2 Fanwood, ::e ...: Jer5'!:,
07023
(201) 674-1111
GAY PEOPLE
&
THE LAW
- WB Dallas
c/o Roi> Shivers
Box 5944
Dallas, 1'!:!xas
75222
Walter Barne t t , Sexual Freedom and the Constitution
(University of ~e w Mexico Pre3s)
The Chal l enge anc1 Proaress of Homosexual Law r..efom
(Counci l on Religion and the 1-i omosexual, CRH)
The l, rmed For ces and Honosexuality
(Society for Individual Rights)
,"embcrsni ,? in San Francisco
Dawrhters oF ~iliti .r;
P.ELIGION & no;,10SEXUALITY
Baroara r,i tt:i'n93 , "T:1e Church ana t.1-ie Hor.asexual,"
in Falph Weltgc , ed . , Ti1e Sar,1e Sex
(l'nitetl C'h ur cil o f Ch r ist 'Pape r)
Troy Pe rry , The Lord i s t,;y Sh~r,her<l uncl He Knows
SinCYle mcr::1.><:!rs."li •.•: ,;7 00
• •
($9.00 Canad,1 anrJ
overseas)
Coup le r.ie ,r0er5hi[>: $10.00 ($12 .oo ran.::i .-/;,i anrJ
ove r:c;eas)
I 'rr. Gay ( Nazh )
OTHERS
Jil l J ohnston, Les~ian Nat ion
(Simon and S chus t er)
Isa;)e l i•lil l e r, Patience and Sarah
(1-icG r a•:,- H i 11)
- :;er:ihershlr,
·
.
,:- . incl11de~_, .."- alf -;>rice
tn ,_;or::i r1 l
unc~ions, library !)ri vileges and nnP. Y"!ar
12 issues) of Sisters naaazine.
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- 1970-1979
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Sisters_1973.12.pdf
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