American Women — Lesbians

  • Lesbian images in literature

    Valerie Taylor talks about the history of lesbian literature in front of an audience at the West Coast Women’s Music Festival in September 1981, then we hear studio readings of three lesbian short stories. The first piece is Celia by Francine Krasno, part of a collection of short stories called Lesbian Fiction: An Anthology, published…

  • The Lesbian Show – October 23, 1978: Varied Voices of Black Women

    This episode of The Lesbian Show features a conversation among three of the four women from “Varied Voices of Black Women,” a poetry and music production touring the north East Coast, produced by Mud Productions. The guests are pianist Mary Watkins (b. 1939), singer and percussionist Linda Tillery (b.1948), and poet Pat Parker (1944-1989). Gwen…

  • The Lesbian Show: September 9, 1980 – GALA lesbian pride week poetry reading

    Recording of lesbian poets reading as part of Gay and Lesbian Alliance (GALA)’s Lesbian Pride Week celebrations, recorded on June 28th, 1980. Jane Creighton reads “Song for Love Has No Object”, “Ceres in an Open Field”, “Thinking About Her”, and “Naked and Rosy”; Fran Winant reads from her book “Looking at Women” two poems, “Happy…

  • Noretta Koertge: Who was that masked woman?

    Viv Sutherland interviews Noretta Koertge, author of “Who Was that Masked Woman?” recently published by St. Martin’s Press (1981). Koertge, who is also a professor in the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at Indiana University, talks about her process writing and publishing her novel, how her lesbianism has impacted her life and work,…

  • Author Alesia Kunz speaks at Womanbooks

    Novelist Alesia Kunz reads from her new book “Shangrila & Linda” and other works in progress at Womanbooks in New York City. She also talks to the audience about publishing one’s own work.

  • Lesbian non-mothers

    Katherine Davenport of KPFA explores the thoughts, feelings, and politics of lesbians who don’t have children. This tape is a re-broadcast from WBAI.

  • Lesbian purges in the military / produced by Karla Tonella

    Panel with four women who were in the military from 1946 until 1980 including Judy Grahn, author of “The Common Woman Poems”; Pat Bond from the film “Word is Out”; Sharon Isabel, author of “Yesterday’s Lessons”; Debra DeBont of the Women Veterans Information Network; and moderated by Sabrina Sojourner. Topics include inspiration to join the…

  • Lesbian-Feminist Dialogue / produced by Nanette Rainone.

    After two years of dispute during which lesbians accused various women’s groups of discriminating against them and attempting to bury the lesbian question, Jill Johnston, columnist for the Village Voice, and others called a conference at Columbia University in New York City on December 16, 1972 in order to make peace with straight women. In…

  • National march on Washington for lesbian and gay rights (BROADCAST)

    On October 14, 1979, ten years after the Stonewall riots, more than 100,000 people from the United States and ten other countries marched on Washington, D.C. for lesbian and gay rights. Pacifica producers in Washington recorded speeches and actualities from the rally, and parts were broadcast live. This first set in the series consists of…