Four "Lesbian Connection " Issues Documenting the Publications Early Expansion of Lesbian Feminist Networks, 1977 to 1979

Lesbian Connection

Periodical

Early publications of the Lesbian Connection, 1977 to 1979, four periodicals documenting the publication's emergence as the principal reader written forum linking isolated lesbian communities across the United States before the internet. Founded in 1974 by the Ambitious Amazons at the Helen Diner Memorial Women's Center in East Lansing, Michigan, Lesbian Connection became the longest running grassroots periodical created by and for lesbians in the United States, functioning largely without editorial staff, relying almost entirely upon subscriber contributions, correspondence, and community reporting. These four early run issues show the publication while its national network was still being established through Contact Dykes listings and reader letters, and the contents document early intersectional debates over race within lesbian feminism, and hold references and recommendations to other materials produced by the lesbian feminist movement during the late 1970s.

Lesbian Connection. East Lansing, Michigan: Ambitious Amazons, Helen Diner Memorial Women's Center, 1977-1980. Four staple bound issues, approximately 8½ × 11 inches.
[1] Vol. III, No. 3 (July 1977), 26 pp. Includes editorial discussion of sustaining the publication through volunteer labor, nationwide Contact Dykes listings, community announcements, reports from readers across the United States, and an extensive directory of lesbian organizations and events.
[2] Vol. IV, No. 1 (May 1978), 24 pp. Contains reader responses to earlier issues, reports on the closing of the Chicago Lesbian Feminist Center, announcements for women's music festivals and conferences, classified advertisements, and expanded Contact Dykes listings.
[3] Vol. IV, No. 7 (November 1979), 26 pp. Features Barbara Smith's "Towards an Awareness of the Black Feminist's Dilemma," a discussion of Black feminism, racism, and lesbian politics; reports on the Florida Coyote Organization and ERA campaigns; and additional articles including "Armenian Lesbians," advocating the organization of Armenian lesbian support networks within broader struggles against racism and genocide.
[4] Vol. IV, No. 8, Winter Catalog (1979-80), 17 pp. A special issue devoted to the publication's annual catalog, documenting the commercial and organizational infrastructure of lesbian feminist culture through advertisements for bookstores, presses, musicians, craftspeople, women's lands, conferences, travel resources, community centers, publications, and political organizations. Three issues retain their original mailing labels; one marked "dupe" in pencil on the front cover.

Lesbian Connection functioned as a decentralized communication system through which readers exchanged housing, travel assistance, political organizing, personal correspondence, employment information, conferences, and local news. The Contact Dykes directory became one of the publication's defining features, connecting volunteer hosts across North America and beyond who offered travelers lodging, transportation, and introductions to local communities. The November 1979 issue captures another turning point within lesbian feminism through Barbara Smith's essay on Black feminist politics, published during the same period she and Lorraine Bethel were editing Conditions and helping articulate what would become Black feminist intersectional thought. The accompanying article "Armenian Lesbians" documents another emerging effort to organize around ethnicity, genocide, and lesbian identity, illustrating the widening political scope of the publication by the end of the decade. Light toning and handling wear, original mailing labels on three rear covers, occasional pencil notation, staples sound. Overall good condition. The archive documents lesbian communities and how the Lesbian Connection helped to build national networks of communication, political debate, travel, publishing, and mutual aid during the formative years of the American lesbian feminist movement.

Item #23632

Price: $680.00