The Lesbian Feminist Liberation Collection, 1973-1982
New York: Lesbian Feminist Liberation, 1973-1982. Mimeograph, offset, and black-and-white photo prints. 27 items. Various sizes, 4 3/4 x 8 1/2 in. - 17 x 11 in. All very good to near fine. Item #10327
A significant collection of 27 newsletters, flyers, programs, and photographs from Lesbian Feminist Liberation (LFL), one of the first post-Stonewall lesbian political organizations. The Collections traces the trajectory of LFL from its origins as a committee in Gay Activists Alliance (GAA) to its development as a major force in lesbian-feminist political organizing.
LFL’s emergence from a split in GAA in 1973 is consequent with that of the broader cultural and political movement of lesbian feminism that grew in response to the dual homophobia of the feminist movement and sexism of the gay liberation movement: frustrated by the male dominance and condescension of some members of the Gay Liberation Front (GLF) and GAA, which by one estimate had a membership that was 80-90% male, the Lesbian Liberation Committee of the GAA decided to leave the organization and form LFL.
The materials gathered here track the emergence and first political activities of LFL. In early articulations of lesbian feminist credo, articles in the first three issues of LFL’s publication, The Lesbian Feminist, and an article by Jean O’Leary’s in the GAA’s newspaper announcing plans for the formation of LFL, make the case for specifically (and exclusively) lesbian organizations. Other topics covered in these early issues of The Lesbian Feminist include information on LFL’s structure, politics, and organizational history; report backs from zaps and demonstrations on The Natural History Museum, The New York Board of Education, The Stock Exchange, Merrill Lynch, and The State Unemployment Office; coverage of lesbian guerrilla theater performances, Women’s Liberation Day celebrations, the formation of various lesbian organizations, and other bits of community news; and a few personal essays, photographs, and artworks.
Of note in the collection are three original photographs of the LFL contingent at a 1973 gay liberation march, taken by an unknown photographer. The photos, one of which is backed, show LFL members promoting the Lesbian Switchboard, posing, and marching in a demonstration.
Also included are two items documenting of LFL’s first major action: a zap targeting the American Museum of Natural History. Picketing alongside Sapphasaura, an enormous lavender dinosaur, LFL members denounced the institution’s sexist hiring practices and exhibitions. Also of note are two communiques denouncing other political currents and organizations in the wider gay liberation movement; a flyer for a screenings of films by Tee Corinne and Barbara Hammer; an LFL promotional pamphlet; a flyer for a fundraising dance; the issue of the Gay Activists Alliance newspaper in which the formation of LFL was announced; a 1973 broadsheet announcing LFL programs on one side and advertising the 2nd Annual Women’s Olympics on verso; a 1975 spokeswoman’s report regarding LFL’s continued fight for the first anti-discrimination law of its kind, Intro 554 in the New York City Council; flyers and pamphlets advertising events during Lesbian Pride Week in 1973, 1979, 1980, 1982; and additional LFL communiques and ephemera.
A remarkable collection of broadsides, flyers, and photographs documenting the earliest days of Lesbian Feminist Liberation, a central node in post-Stonewall lesbian and political organizing and social life.
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