Chicago Tribune from Chicago, Illinois • Page TAB-12

Ill CHICAGO FREE PRESS June 4, 2009 Lakeview was almost Girlstown Feminists and gays cope with the 70s By Amy Wooten STAFF WRITER Two incredibly important equal rights movements just happened to explode around the same time. In 1969, both the women's and gay liberation movements gained significant momentum, and throughout the decade that followed, the relationship between these two movements, which often intersected, was complicated, at best. There was no doubt homophobia existed within the women's liberation movement, and sexism existed within the gay liberation movement. But many individuals worked hard to bridge both movements and made significant contributions within both in order to help work towards equal rights for all. "The Lavendar Menace" Many lesbians were prominent in the feminist movement, but they weren't always welcome.

Not all feminists wanted to accept out lesbians within their ranks. In 1970, National Organization for Women (NOW) president Betty Friedan famously called feminists who advocated for the inclusion of gay rights issues in the national organization's platform a "lavender menace." The words of Friedan and others frustrated many lesbians working hard for women's rights. In 1970, lesbian Rita Mae Brown (author of the classic gay novel "Rubyfruit and her group the Radicalesbians took over the Congress to Unite Women conference held in New York City in response to Friedan's homophobia. They wore shirts that read "Lavender Menace" and read an essay titled "The Woman-Identified Woman," an early example of lesbian feminist theory. This group later attended several women's conferences, encouraging feminists to support gay rights.

But in 1971 NOW members adopted a resolution that recognized gay rights as a "concern of feminism," and then, in 1973, established a sexuality and lesbianism task force. Tentative co-existence Lesbians were in a unique position because they not only dealt with homophobic feminists, but also with the mostly white male leaders of the mainstream gay liberation movement, who could be incredibly sexist. In the early 1970s, the lesbian feminist movement came about largely in part because of lesbians' frustration with misogynist gay activists and homophobic feminists. Many lesbians felt invisible in both movements. That doesn't mean, however, that these movements didn't occasionally work well together to accomplish goals.

For example, feminists, lesbians and gay men worked together to successfully get the American Psychological Association to remove homosexuality from its list of mental disorders in 1975. There were also many feminists, regardless of sexual orientation, working together to create projects that fostered a women's culture. For example, in 1975, Chicago feminists created Mountain Moving Coffeehouse for Womyn and Children, a women-only space where women and lesbian culture intertwined until its 2005 closing. Many lesbians were involved in its creation. Around the country, feminists from all walks of life worked together to create other projects like the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival (created in 1976), publishing houses and more.

Chicago Lesbian Liberation In Chicago, University of Chicago students and other activists from the Gay Liberation Front founded Chicago Gay Liberation in 1969. The group created a women's caucus. But within Chicago Gay Liberation, tensions between lesbians Breakdown But the lesbian feminists involved in CWLU continued to express frustration with Chicago's mainstream gay liberation movement. In a 1976 report that appeared in CWLU's Blazing Star newsletter, published by its lesbian work group of the same name, women wrote that while Blazing Star worked with the Gay Rights Task Force and the Gay Lesbian Coalition of Metropolitan Chicago (of which the Chicago NOW chapter was a founding member), involvement was minimal because "We've often had a hard time dealing with the sexism and racism." CWLU eventually fell pray to the same divisions other organizations dealt with. In 1976, a small group of CWLU members passed out a leaflet rejecting some of the group's core principals, such as fighting for gay rights and the Equal Rights Amendment.

These women were expelled, and not many members were happy with how the situation was handled. CWLU couldn't deal with the internal crisis and disbanded the following year. Girlstown D'Emilio said that while considering the history of both movements in Chicago, it's interesting to note that many lesbian feminists during the 1970s set up shop in Lakeview. The neighborhood lined with rainbow pylons and lovingly referred to as "Boystown" is a product of individuals working within both movements. "It seems lesbians were the real pioneers in Lakeview," D'Emilio said.

Lesbian feminists helped open a women's health center, bookstores, bars and more, helping pave the way for what the area would later become. It wasn't until later that Lakeview became the gay Mecca it is today. Now, the streets of Broadway and Halsted and lined with gay bars and agencies. "The girls were really there before the boys," D'Emilio said with a laugh. "We tend to forget that." and gay men led to divisions among its members, and in 1970, the women's caucus splintered off and created the Chicago Lesbian Liberation.

The fate of this group was similar to gay liberation groups in cities across the U.S., where women felt that such organizations were misogynist and not in tune to feminist issues. Local GLBT historian and University of Illinois at Chicago professor John D'Emilio said that such splintering was a "normal part" of life in the 1970s. "Today, with the institutions that we have, we kind of assume that these institutions were created by men and women together and catered to both men and women," D'Emilio said. But he added that full inclusiveness wasn't always the case. "Gay men formed organizations and mounted campaigns that were desperately needed, but without taking in account that what they were doing was no concern to lesbian women," according to D'Emilio.

Naturally, many lesbian feminists splintered off and worked to fill the gap. Gay Grusaders and Lavendar Women One example of this tension could be found in the early GLBT press. While the Gay Crusader, a community publication, aimed to represent the entire GLBT community "it was clearly about gay men if you looked through the pages," D'Emilio said. So lesbian feminists created Lavender Woman, an important publication that helped give women a voice. There were some examples of successful groups that had individuals involved in both movements in its ranks, like the Chicago Women's Liberation Union (CWLU), a feminist group that was interested in women's liberation, as well as many other issues.

In 1972, CWLU formed a Gay Group, and then, in 1974, created a lesbian group known as Blazing Star. CWLUs Secret Storm sports group, which aimed to end discrimination in Chicago's parks, and its Liberation School had a large lesbian involvement, too. ROBERTS CYCLE SALES SERVICE PARTS ACCESORIES FREE assembly, kickstand, water bottle cage, with purchase of a NEW bike. Hybrid Gary Fishers Tiburon $399 Wingra Zebrano Monona $475 $499 $599 Limited to stock on hand $55 Tune Up: ENDS 61209. Coupon must be present Not valid with other discounts 1 WWW.R0BERTSCYCLE.COM.