Old Lesbians and Their Brief Moments of Fame

By J. Ross, Karen Gibson and Joy D. Griffith

Old Lesbians and their Brief Moments of Fame: An Anthology

From many parts of the USA, and from various walks of life, we are all old lesbians who want to tell our stories. Some of us have been lesbians all of our lives, and others later came out later in life. Many of our contributors thanked us for inviting them to tell their stories. We asked each woman to introduce herself, and select one moment in her life that stands out as her Brief Moment of Fame (their own definition of fame).

Why did we call ourselves Old lesbians and not older lesbians? We debated this for a while since some women in their 50s and 60s considered themselves either middle aged or older, but not old. They still fear the word old.

Ageism is another word added to the list that identifies hurt, fear, and discrimination. Sexism still holds power in Americas patriarchal society. Sexual orientation is on the bottom of the list. The history of our past still reaches out to culturally bind us as women earning less than me, nurturing children alone, and tending the home. However, within this list, we are feminists, lesbians, and now finally old. We are the many who have found our way, recognized who we are, and will celebrate our lives. We took charge of our lives, and embrace Old as a virtue of earned respect as we continue this celebration. We believe our country, too, will learn to respect Old by taking pride in our experience, knowledge, and especially our equal humanity.

Some of our stories touch on historical movements of the past 50 or 60 years in which lesbians have been involved: the anti-war movement, gay rights, AIDS care and awareness, lesbian voices, (gay authors, gay newspapers, and bookstores). Now we have civil unions, marriages, lesbians in sports, and lesbian musicians, etc, etc. There are obviously many more old lesbians out there with stories to tell. Maybe some of them will want to contribute to Volume 2. We hope you enjoy reading these colorful and varied stories as much as we did.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Aug 23, 2012
• ISBN: 9781477156506

Book preview

Old Lesbians and

Their Brief Moments

of Fame

A collection of BRIEF stories OF FAME

Joy D. Griffith,

Karen Gibson,

J. Ross

Copyright © 2012 by Joy D. Griffith, Karen Gibson, J. Ross.

Library of Congress Control Number:       2012914280

ISBN:         Hardcover                               978-1-4771-5649-0

                   Softcover                                 978-1-4771-5648-3

                   Ebook                                      978-1-4771-5650-6

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

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Contents

Closet Cramps By Mary Davidson

Helping a Sick Child Get Well

The last time I Saw Pop By Alix Dobkin

Special Moment with Joy and Pride By Sarah deRis

My Writing Career Certified—Forty-four Years Later: My Moment of Fame

I Heard the Call from Kennedy By Alice D’Souza

The Well of Happiness and Womyn’s Words By Doreen Brand

My Three Passions By Neena B. Schwartz

My Forever Moment of Fame By Linn Bencks

Moving People to Action By Miriam Carroll

Pens and Voices of Happiness By Joanna Michaels

Love, Gratitude, and Courage By Jeanne Arnold

Pay It Forward As A Real Estate Sales Model By Lucille Frey

My Brief Moment of Fame as Mama Kate By Karen Gibson

Graduation Day By Kim Hayes

Up in Times Square By Morrice Baer

How Gay Liberation Got Me Out of the Bars, Into the Streets, and Out at Work By Del Whan, M.A., M.S.W

North Carolina LWV By Margaret Mann

Americans with Disabilities Act By Kitty Cone

FAME (The condition of being very well known—Encarta World English Dictionary, Microsoft Word) By Jane E. Mara

One Of My Memorable Minutes In Time By Rose Tavano

Ever had a life-changing event? Yes! I Definitely Had One. By Rainbow Williams

Brief Moment From Media Interviews to Regular GLBT Events By Patricia Mayo

Cute! By D. Mariah

Steps to a New Life By Andy Jepson

Move Over, Basho! By C. Smith-Krause

National Moment of Fame By Jean Mountaingrove

The Launch of the Brazen Hussies By Jean Taylor

Those with No Voice to Protest for Themselves By Laura Slitt

A Life Well Lived with Honor By Lee Cartier

Harvests By Hawk Madrone

Absolutely Not! By Susan A. (Andy) Jepson

My Best Achievement: A Whole Family By Ellen Richards

Catching the Wave By Joan Spear

My Feminine Connection By JoAnne Demant

Ten Years into the Epidemic, and Counting By Rev. Dr. Joyce Crowder

Bio of Joy D. Griffith

Bio by Karen Gibson

Dedicated to

Reverend Dr. Joyce Crowder

September 5, 1935-April 5, 2010

And

Doreen Brand

March 27, 1928-July 26, 2011

Old Lesbians: An Anthology

Introduction

From many parts of the USA, and from various walks of life, we are all old lesbians who want to tell our stories. Some of us have been lesbians all of our lives, and others later came out later in life. Many of our contributors thanked us for inviting them to tell their stories. We asked each woman to introduce herself, and select one moment in her life that stands out as her Brief Moment of Fame (their own definition of fame).

Why did we call ourselves Old lesbians and not older lesbians? We debated this for a while since some women in their 50’s and 60’s considered themselves either middle aged or older, but not old. They still fear the word old.

Ageism is another word added to the list that identifies hurt, fear, and discrimination. Sexism still holds power in America’s patriarchal society. Sexual orientation is on the bottom of the list. The history of our past still reaches out to culturally bind us as women earning less than me, nurturing children alone, and tending the home. However, within this list, we are feminists, lesbians, and now finally old. We are the many who have found our way, recognized who we are, and will celebrate our lives. We took charge of our lives, and embrace Old as a virtue of earned respect as we continue this celebration. We believe our country, too, will learn to respect Old by taking pride in our experience, knowledge, and especially our equal humanity.

Some of our stories touch on historical movements of the past 50 or 60 years in which lesbians have been involved: the anti-war movement, gay rights, AIDS care and awareness, lesbian voices, (gay authors, gay newspapers, and bookstores). Now we have civil unions, marriages, lesbians in sports, and lesbian musicians, etc, etc. There are obviously many more old lesbians out there with stories to tell. Maybe some of them will want to contribute to Volume 2. We hope you enjoy reading these colorful and varied stories as much as we did.

Joy, Karen, and J.

Closet Cramps

By Mary Davidson

What type of person are you when you stumble over homophobia, face to face and foot to foot? Are you the variety that gets angry, comes out, and jumps all over their case? Are you the variety who shrinks into your own personal intimidated and terrified hell? Are you the variety who just tries to ignore the whole thing? Or are you the variety that takes that opportunity to, hopefully, educate, even if a little bit?

Since realizing I was lesbian, at the tender age of 50, I seem to have metamorphosed into the latter garden variety lesbian. My personal experience has been that if you get confrontational, your subject becomes extremely defensive and doesn’t hear a word you are saying. You both stomp off in a huff and neither of you has accomplished a thing except raising your respective blood pressures. I had an experience recently that really brings my personal position in this into a very positive light.

I have been house shopping in the hills of North Georgia (in disguise as a heterosexual because of their rampant homophobia in that area) and the receptionist of the Realty Company has decided that I’m funny and quite a character and has begun to tell me jokes. Her first one was about homosexuality. I listened to its end and fortunately, it wasn’t one of the more insulting types of homophobic jokes, but I certainly considered it to be in rather poor taste. When she finished, I put a studied look on my face and said, You know, I don’t really find that type of joke funny because you are holding up to ridicule, a person who cannot help who and what she is. She began to back pedal and tell me that she didn’t really mind lesbians, but she just couldn’t (physical shudder) stand it when she saw two women in a lip lock.

I then mildly suggested that firstly, that was because she had been taught that way and secondly, that she was saying that women were not lovable. She immediately bridled and said that she certainly considered herself to be lovable. I agreed that she was and we then moved on to her experience with a local lesbian working at a Pizza Parlor.

She described to me someone cruising her, which I found to be hysterically funny but managed to maintain my composure. She didn’t recognize this until a friend of hers pointed it out and that the person winking at her was not a boy as she thought from appearances, but was a woman and definitely a dyke. Well! She was really uptight about that. I told her that it was really a compliment and then she said, But this woman looked like a man! Her tone of voice had such a range of emotions that I found it amusing. She was exasperated because she had been fooled and upset because she felt stupid for not seeing it herself. She asked, Why did women dress like that?

We then had a short and brief lesson about dress and sexual harassment that if a woman looked dainty, defenseless and very feminine, she received way too many sexual advances, most of them unwelcome. However, if she gave the appearance of being male, that she could walk the streets and do her job ignored and in peace. She thought about that for a minute and said she could see my point.

She then made another derogatory comment that I don’t recall and my rejoinder was, Well, if you had a woman for a partner rather than the man you have (and had complained about loudly and vociferously) you wouldn’t get the bullshit you are presently getting. She heartily agreed with me and I went on to say that men were alien creatures who didn’t think as women do, leaving out the obvious—to me—label of heterosexual in that description. That got another hearty agreement.

She then asked me if I’d ever eaten at Cracker Barrel. I don’t know if you in the north are aware of this chain, but they are a ubiquitous reminder of hillbilly-isms along southern interstates and have fired several gays and lesbians just for being gay saying that they did not fit our family oriented business. As if we didn’t have families of our own.

When I explained my reasons for NOT eating there, she was horrified and said that that was not right! Interesting isn’t it, to open another person’s eyes?

I feel that I have managed to at least get this young lady to think instead of giving rote answers. I also feel that I have made her see things from a slightly different viewpoint, without tipping my hand, and have definitely put her on notice that I won’t tolerate prejudice or bigotry in my presence. Sometimes, the gentle approach works wonders, where hitting over the head will not.

By Mary Davidson

Helping a Sick Child Get Well

My name is Chris Florky and