Interview with Sally Blevins
- Title
- Interview with Sally Blevins
- Description
- Sally reflects on her long involvement with Herland, a community space that has been central to the lesbian and LGBTQ+ community in Oklahoma for over 20 years. She describes various roles she held within the organization, including serving on the board and organizing events such as retreats and open mic nights. Sally shares stories about Herland’s early days, from its humble beginnings in a small storefront to its later expansion and establishment as a welcoming place for queer folk to gather and support each other. Sally discusses how Herland was a refuge for lesbians, providing a space where people could express themselves freely, particularly in a time when being open about one’s sexual orientation was difficult. She recalls her own experience of coming out in a small town in Oklahoma, a place she describes as conservative and not accepting of 2SLGBTQ+ individuals. Herland, in contrast, was a place where people could "drop all their fake faces" and be their authentic selves, offering a sense of community that was not available in bars or other public spaces at the time. Sally also talks about the structure of Herland, which was organized around a rotating board with positions such as "first sister" and "second sister" instead of traditional titles like president or vice president. She highlights the active and vibrant nature of the community, with events like movie nights featuring lesbian-themed films and discussions around awareness during the AIDS Crisis in the early 1980s. Herland was not just a social space but also a platform for activism, as women fought for recognition and equality in a society that largely ignored or marginalized them.
- interviewee
- Sally Blevins
- interviewer
- Jake Crystal
- Date
- 2018-02-03
- Language
- English
- uri
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHMUSYYnWTE&list=PLfobseV2uSi-XjCPXH3TsWYmJEnmvY1N6&index=12
- Item sets
- Herland Oral History Project
- Site pages
- Oral History Interviews
