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I
OCT. 74
I
BOSTON DAUGHTERS of BILIT IS
FOCUS
a journal
for gay
women
60¢
�FOCUS: A JOURNAL FOR GAY WOMEN
OCTOBER 1974
FOCUS Staff
FOCUS is published monthly by
Boston Daughters of Bil it is
Room 323, 419 Boylston Street
Boston , Mass. 02116.
Copyright
1974 by Daughters of Bilitis ,
Boston, Mass.
Subscript ions are $6 /year, samples 60¢
Give us your zip number. If you
move, let us know; the post of-rice wil l
not forward 3rd class mai I to you.
This publication is on file at t he
International Women's History Archive ,
2325 Oak St ., Berkeley, Calif . 94708. It is
available on microfilm from Bell & Howell,
Wooster, Ohio to Octobe r 19 71 and fro m
IWHA from October 71 on .
reviews: J.S .
features: Wend y Bauman
editing: Janine Bern ier
poetry and fiction:
Gerry Azzat a, J.S.
layout: Lois Hur st
type: Lois Hurst, Gerry Azza ta
dist ribution: Gerry Azzata
produ ction: Geri Bid well
staff: Peg
FOCUS welcomes contributions from
everyone, including drawings. Include a
self -addressed, stamped envelope for return.
Al l letters must be signed, but names can
be withheld for publication.
I II this zssue
Features
NEWS
Some Second Thoughts
About Witches, by J.S. . . . . . . . 2
A Rap to Remember .. ......
6,7
Election ..............
Cont . 74 .................
11, 12, 13
. 13
REVIEWS
POETRY
FAIRY TALES
by Paula Bennett .....
......
.. 3
Summer Job by A.M.A. . . . . . . .
1
SYBIL, by Gerry Azzata ....
DIFFERENT, An Anthology
Homosexual Short Stories
by Janine Bernier . .- ..- ......
LETTER TO FOCUS .........
10, 11
oJ
..4
1
�LETTER TO FOCUS:
Dear Sisters,
September 5, 197 4
It is with deep sorrow that I heard the Amazon Expedition is so vehemently
trying to discourage lesbian mothers from bringing their children to the conference by
statements reminding us that for every child included one lesbian woman must be
excluded. It is not the hatred of men and children , especially male children , that will
bring us to our goal-the self determination of each and every individual to control
her own destiny. It is the love of women that will help us direct our energy to create
a loving, spontaneous world . A world where each individual will be able to be what
she wants to be, do what she wants to do, have all her needs met . A world where
our increasing awareness and abilities will be used to rebuild the harmony of
life forces.
To Jove ourselves we must accept and get in touch with all our feelings. Often
we have many angry feelings we can't expre ss. It certainly is a positive step to accept
and direct righteous anger, yet that is the first step. Locking ourselves in anger and
hatred does just that, Jocks us in. We must fact and repl ace these feelings with positive ,
loving feelings to change our intern al and external con ditions .
I am proud to be a woman , proud to be a lesbian and proud to be a mother.
It is with great joy that I have the opportunity to watch my sons grow with love,
dignity and strength so they will have no need to oppress themselves or others because
of hatred and fear.
In love and sisterhood,
Diane Mariechild
Summer Job
Sleep walkin g
through these
past three months
I've dro ned
with the strains of
"Rock-a-bye zombie,
bored at the switch,
you 're great at connecting
with phone calls-that' s all."
Straight women pass by, say hi.
I yawn a reply.
I wonder if the Sandman is
in the general habit of
burying
people
... alive ...
-
A.M.A.
I
I
�2
SOME SECOND THOUGHTS
ABOUT WITCHES
by J.S.
Witches have had very bad press .
They are everything a woman is not
supposed to be: old, ugly, ill-natured,
wicked, and powerful. Whereas we all
know a woman ought to be young,
beautiful, sweet-tempered, good, and
weak. A witch-and
I speak not of
the
actual
women
who
were
persecuted and burned as w;_
tches
during the past 2000 years, but of
the concept of witchiness that we all
carry around in our heads -a witch is
on one level the embodiment
of
men's worst fears about the female
sex. The cackling voice, long nose
and pointed chin, talon -like nails,
hunched back, and general all-around
loathsomeness are an exact inversion
of sexual appeal: the female creature
who ought to be soft and desirable
instead appears int imid ating an d
repulsive.
On a deeper level , witches are
stand-ins for the all-powerful an d
frightening Mother-figure who lurks
at the back of our collective
childhoo d nightmares. It is easy to
see why we associate witches with
magic and the supernatur al: To a
small child, a parent -particularly
a
mother-seems
omnipotent . She is
strong and powerful; she brings food
and warmth and comfort, and she
can also withhold these things . We all
have somewhere inside us an image
of a good, giving, nurturing mother ,
·but we also retain an image of a
dep riving mother-one
who thwarts
our desires and refuses to give us her
"magical"
comforts.
The harpy
mother, who nags, scolds, punishes,
and deprives, is the psychological
reality behind the evil old witch of
fairy-tale-land.
Add to all this a
child's very real fear of its mother's
adult sexuality, and the sinister
seductiv eness of fairy tale witche s
b ecomes
very
understandable.
("Ni bble, nibble, little mouse; who is
nibbling at my house?") And what is
the old witch going to do to you?
More often than not, she is going to
eat you up.
Your average witch is satisfyingly
grotesque and hideous. She is always
the bad guy; there is nothing good to
be said for her motives, her methods,
or her appearance. She is completely
and delightfully hateable. It fills
som e need in us to be ab le to hate
her and feel justified in our hatred.
In the world of fairy tales we get
back at the mother who punished
and nagged and deprived us by
making her into an ugly villainess. We
can set her up to be the loser. Ding
don g, the wicked witch is dead. Only
in such roundabout ways can we dare
reven ge ourselves on our mothers for
being
less
than
perfect.
The
traditi onal fairy tale witch provides a
very necessary outlet for feelings we
oth e rwise
cou ld
scarcely
acknowledge. Let her be, in all her
uglin ess-she serves a purpose.
Th ere is no male eq uival ent to the
witch. Wizards and warlocks simply
do not have the same psychological
fascin ation for us. A witch has to be
a woman. Our fear and hatred of her
is a measur e of her ability to hurt
us -and this is the fina l lesson we can
learn from her. Witches, with their
frigh tening sup erna tural and magical
gifts, are proof that deep down inside
we all believe women do have power.
In fact, women are so powerful they
scare everybody to death. It's time to
give women credit for power and
strength in the positive, loving sense
as well as in the hurtfu l, witchy
sense . The one is as real as the other.
We don't want the world to claim
that all womanpower
is witchy,
be cause we know better.
�3
FAIRY TALES
Once upon a time, they say,
there was a princessno, there were many
many princesses,
and every one was beautiful,
and every one was kind,
and everyone adored them
(except, of course,
some wicked witch or witchy mother.)
Their hair was black or sometimes blond,
their skin was white, white as egg,
and smooth as smooth as shell.
They were so delicate
you did not breathe
for fear that they might crack,
and yet, to tel I the truth,
they never didno, no matter what the witches tried,
what spells, what chants, what poisons,
they managed to survive,
victoriously at that.
0 it must have been quite awful,
when you think about it,
for those black and ill-bent hags,
curled within their castle corners,
peering from their attic slits,
knowing they would be defeated
not by powers deeper
or by those of greater might
but by prepubescent youngsters
pure as snow
and chaste as ice.
Paula Bennett
�4
Different: An Anthology of Homosexual Short Stories
edited and with an introduction
@ $1.95)
by Stephen Wright (Bantam Paperback
- Janine Bernier
The title of this peculiarly edited
collection of short stories suggests a
content
which is homosexual
in
nature, but Different is simply a
repetition
of
th e
same
old
thing-and,
at best, a strain ed
facsimile of the usual negatively
biased collection
of homosexual
literature.
Stephen
Wright states m his
introduction : "Only some of the
writers in this collection are known
homosexuals,
others
are suspec t
( italics min e) or bisexuals, and not a
few are, as far as can be ascertained,
heterosexuals. My main conc ern, as
anthologist,
has been with the
quality of the stories, not with the
sexual habits of the wr iter." (pp.
ix-x). While no reader in a sane frame
of mind would insist that a writer
must be a homosexual to write a
story
which
pertains
to
homosexuality,
we would assume
that one anthologist's
choice of
material would indicate some criteria
for its selection.
If Wright's "quality" is meant to
allude to the alleged literary value of
the stories
included,
then
Phil
Andros' stories (four in number) miss
the mark badly. I see small literary
value
and
no
communicative
capability in this writer's work. If, on
the other hand, Wright has simply
thumbed through reams of paper to
amas s stories which appear to have a
homosexual
theme, Henry James'
"The Pupil" for one-cunceivably
the
most literary of the stories selected,
can be said to be homosexual in
nature only if we are homophobic
and tend to see homosexuality
in
everything.
The
only
other
legitimate
criterion I can conceive of would be
an uplifting (i.e., realistic) portraya l
of homosexuality-but,
like Marcus
Welby's recent blunder, Different
misses here again. A typical example
can be found in "Paul's Mistress," a
piece eliciting pathos for one M. Paul
whose girlfriend drives him to suicide
after she chooses to remain with a
female companion. In reference to
our hero, "If it had been a man, the
one
she
was
with ... but
that,
that .... He was spellbound by their
disgrace. He couldn't move, utterly
destroyed, as if he had discovered
suddenly the crime against nature,
monstrous, a limitless profanation."
(p.31). Wright, consistent with his
perspective
on sexuality
and his
"classical" theories about literature,
refers to "Paul's Mistress" as "the
tragedy of a bisexual woman." (p.
xi).
Another annoying aspect of the
anthology is that it promises to be
"more
than twenty controversial
classics by famous authors- 'Gay'
and 'Straight' ... male and female."
Actually, it contains 24 not-so-classic
stories, two of which are written by
women. Of these, Wilma Shore's
work
can be seen as having
hom osexual implications only if the
reader has internalized the theory
that a domineering mother produces
a faggot. If you haven't swallowed
the line, you'll
miss the point
completely.
Olivia Manning's
"A
Romantic Hero" is true to form,
depicting a man who returns to his
girlfriend
after
a
homosexual
encounter: "Whether she understood
him or not, it seemed to him then
that
Angela with
her feminine
warmth and sympathy was the most
desirable thing (italics mine) in the
world." (p. 273).
However available it may be, and
at whatever price, Wright's anthology
doesn't line up with any sane criteria,
and simply isn't worth
buying.
Different-just isn't.
�5
SO MUCH FOR SHOW
march, 1972
now i've waited hours for her,
she steps only in to say goodbyethe ointments of my preparation wasted
the tea the incense the house strewn
ever so casually with indu cements
littered like a petal-path for her.
i kissed my son goodnight and sighed
for the quiet we'd have when she came
set out a book where she might look at it
and ask why this one
lit candles and turned the radio to blues,
sounds to let the roundness out of our mouths by,
i even moved the kitchen chairs
so the table couldn't chasm off our words,
chanting away the while, a more blatant separationthat she wouldn't care t o stay.
my spells are losing powe r.
copyright 1973 by Sue Silvermarie
�8
O.O.B. CALENDAR OCTOBER 1974
419 Boylston
St., Rm 323, Boston, Mass. 02116 --
617 262-1592
A II even ts are open to all women regardless of their membership in D. 0. 8.
All raps are 50¢ for non-members, and 25¢ for members.
MONDAYS , TOPIC RAPS start at 8 p.m. in the D.O.B. office. Put
suggestions into the D.O.B. mailbox for topics. Sept.
16 - Our Religious Beliefs. what / where / is God,
morality, purpose of life, religion & being gay, etc.
TUESDAYS , 7:30 pm Rap session on being gay for women. Share
feelings abou t being gay, eve ryone welcome. There
are always many new people every week. At the DOB
office, near the Arlington MBT A stop, betw . en
e
Arlington and Berkeley Streets.
WEDNESDAYS , 7: 30 pm Rap session for lesbian mothers, and
phone-in time for lesbian mothers. Moth ers with
grown children invite d to share with other mothers.
At DOB office.
WEDNESDAYS, 1st & 3rd GAYBREAK radio program,
AMHERST, WMUA-FM 91.9
THU RSDAYS , 8 pm Rap session for older gay women. No ages
are defined . Come if it sounds right for you.
THURSDAYS, 9-10 pm GAY WAY RADIO program. WBUR 90. 9
FM.
FRIDAYS,
WOMENS ' BASKETBALL , 7:00 SHARP at Cambridge
YWCA FOR RIDES TO HARVARD U.
SUNDAYS, 10:30-11 am CLOSET SPACE radio program,
WCAS-AM 740 .
SUNDAYS, 1 pm, SOFTBALL. Bring bat , ball, glove and/or self;
informal games. Magazine Beach Field, Cambridge,
acros s Charles River from Cadillac-Olds and along
Memorial Drive west of the Boston Univ. bridge.
RAIN OR SHINE.
Wed. Oct.
2 Training Session for persons interest in becoming
speakers with the Gay Speakers Bureau. Call 547-1451
for location of meeting. Discussions, role-playing, and
facts.
�9
DOB Membersh ip includes a subscription
to FOCUS. You must be 18 years or older .
Single Membership S 12 Joint Membership $18
Send Your Name(s) and address to DOB.
Sat., Oct. 5, Dance at CSMH, 8 pm with THE NEW HA VEN
WOMEN'S LIBERATION ROCK BAND sponsored by
CONF. '74 , $3 .00 suggested donation.
Sun. Oct. 6, Training Session for potential gay speakers, see Wed.
Oct. 2.
Monday, Oct. 7 FOCUS Meeting , D.O.B. office at 7:30 pm. New
people invited.
Monday, Oct. 7, Topic Rap: GAY MEDIA ACTION. Videotapes of
news coverage of legislative hearings, excerpts from
"Nana" series, from the "Good Morning Show" with
John Willis, and a sound tape of the first television
program in Boston featuring gays - Dr. Socarides vs. the
presidents of D.O.B. and H.U.B. in 1970. Donation to
benefit G.M.A.
Sunday, Oct. 13 - DOB PICNIC AT COCHITUATE STATE PARK
NATICK. Ask at Raps about Rides!! There is a fireplace
- bring fuel; do no t depend on others to feed you.
Bring your own food unless you want concession things
- (expensive). Bring sports things. There is swimming.
Turnpike west to exit 13, Route 30 east 1½ miles. Park
is on right. By bicycl e from Boston 1½ hours on routes
16 and 30. Admission is $1/car, 25¢ bicycle. RAIN OR
SHINE.
Friday, Oct. 18, DANCE AT CSMH $2.00 donation to benefit
D.O .B. DEADLY NIGHTSHADE performing. Masquerade for the
entire community, men and women, 2 prizes for best
costumes.
Sun. Oct. 20 DOB ELECTIONS See pages 11,12,13 this issue. Don't
miss this exciting night - it only happens once a year!
Mon. Oct. 21, FOCUS Business Meeting, 7:30 pm DOB office, New
people are invited!
�10
REVIEW:
SYBIL
by Flora Rheta Schreiber
paperback .).
(Henry Regnery Co., Chicago,
1973. Also available in
- by Gerry Azzata
Everywhere I look these days, I see Sybil staring back at me . On
subways, even on grocery store bookracks - the jigsaw puzzle face of Sybil
is all over the city. And, almost always, the person reading Sybil is a
woman. When I finally gave in to cu riosity and read Sybil, I understood
why it has become so popular . It is one of the most frightening and
fascinating stories I have ever read.
Sybil is the true story of a woman who, in her late twenties, discovers
(with the help of her psychiatrist) that she suffers from an extremely rare
form of neurosis. She is a true "split personal ity." Within the body of this
one woman exist sixteen totally different personalities, whose presence she
had never suspected. They include: Ruthie , an infant; two young boys;
and Peggy Lou, an adult who often has childish , violent tantrums.
All through Sybil's life, there have been periods of time which she
cannot remember, some of them lasting as long as two years. Any time
quiet, meek Sybil cannot deal with a situation, one of the other
personalities takes over. Following her grandmothe r's death, when Sybil
was nine, she became Peggy for two years. Sybil then returned suddenly
one day, in a classroom which was totally strange to her (although not to
Peggy):
Her eyes descended to her dre ss.... She hadn't owned it, didn't
remember her mother buying it for her ....She was wearing a dress that
didn't belong to her in a classroom in which she didn't belong ... .There
was no yesterday. Sybil remembered nothing since being at the cemetery.
Gradually, all of the personalities are revealed in ten years of therapy
sessions. The first additional personality, Peggy Lou, had been "born"
when Sybil was only three, in response to the sadistic abuse of her mother.
When Sybil could not escape physically, she literally faded away, and
Peggy Lou would take her place. Eventually, a personality appeared to fill
every need - one to express anger , another to be assertive, etc. And Sybil
would remember nothing.
Amazingly, even with these frequent blackouts, Sybil manages to lead
a relatively normal life, working as an art instructor at a New York City
college. The story of how her sixteen personalities finally merge into one
complete person is almost unbelievable, and yet it is true.
Unfortunately for Sybil, Schreiber does not have a very appealing
literary style. She tends to be melodramatic and superficial when dealing
with the emotions of Sybil and company. Her writing takes a lot of the
suspense out of the therapy process, by oversimplifying the sixteen people
involved . You don't really miss most of them when they finally are
�11
absorbed into Sybil. Beyond this, Schreiber deals pretty dismally with
lesbianism . Sybil's mother, in add ition to being brutal to baby Sybil, also
molests the little girls she babysits for, and conducts secret lesbian orgies
in a nearby forest. The only real friend the adult Sybil has is Teddy, who is
aware of the personalit ies and helps Sybil fill in the gaps in her life. Teddy
also is a lesb ian, and Schreiber takes great joy in describing how Sybil
valiant ly rejects Teddy's advances and reta ins her virtue. When Teddy
finally leaves Sybil, though, Schreiber sees this as a real loss for Sybil, who
never let anyone else but her psych iatrist get so close to her.
But, beyond its admittedly large faults, Sybil is still a fascinating
book . The story itself , and the meaning of the story, are too strong to be
destroyed by bad style . The parallels with the lives of " normal" women
are very obvious . We are all Sybils in one way or another. Some of us push
anger at sexism totally out of our minds, and assume a pseudo-identity as
"happy" suburban housewives. Some of us are lesbians who have one
personality while at work or with our families , and then we become
completely different people when with our lesbian sisters. Sybil offers us
all a choice. We can do this identity -hopping only for so long, before the
blackouts take over and we lose part of our selves forever. Or we can
struggle to become whole people, able to express anger without feeling
guilty, able to be honest about all parts of our lives. I think that this is the
lesson we can pick up from Sybil, and it's a good one.
DOB ELECTIONS
DOB elections will be held at the
office, Sunday, October 20, at 7 :30
p.m. The final data for announcing
candidacy
will be October
5.
Candidates for office as of this date
are: President - Lois Johnson, Vice
President - Judy S., Treasurer - Peggy
Wilson, Corresponding
Secretary Laura Robin, Recording Secretary Janine Bernier. (See platforms on pp.
11, 12, and 13) of this issue.)
Election will be by secret ballot.
If you are unable to attend on the
20th, please fill out the absentee
ballot on page 13 and mail or bring
it to the office before election night.
Mark
the
envelope
"Attention
Election Committee."
Candidate for President:
Lois Johrtson
My name is Lois Johnson and I
am running
for the offi ce of
Pre sident of Boston Daughters of
Bi!itis . I have been a member of DOB
for nearly thr ee years and for the
past year have sePied as Recording
Secreta ry. During practically all of
the last three years I have been active
as a Rap Leader in both the Tuesday
and Thursday Night Raps . I also
chaired
the
By-Law
Revision
Committee.
In addition
to my
activities within DOB this last year, I
was an active part of the . Committee
whi ch put together
the Second
Annual
New
England
Gay
Con feren ce and Chairperson of the
(cont . page 12)
�12
Gay Pride 74 Festival.
My aims for DOB are:
Increase our membership and
activities. If the Kinsey statistic
is right that there are more than
10,000 lesbians in the Boston
Metropolitan area, then there are
many people we have not yet
reached who might need the help
our organization can give them.
Build up our finances . Some
good work in this regard has
been done this past year. I would
like to see a lot of effort put into
fund-raising activities .
Keep up our participation in
activities which encompass the
whole ! ky Community such as
lobbying for law changes, the N.
E. Gay Conference , and Gay
Pride Week, to name a few. It is
important
for us not to be
insular in our thinking since it is
my opinion that brothers and
sisters alike must cooperate if we
are to continue the momentum
of the Gay Movement and
achieve our liberation.
I would like the opportunity to
serve as President of DOB and ask for
your vote .
Candidate for Vice-President:
Judy
s.
For the past year I have been an
active member of Boston D.O.B.,
working in particular with FOCUS
and the rap committee . I plan to
continue these activities, and would
· consider the office of Vice-President
primarily an opportunity
to take
more
responsibility
in
the
organizational
set-up of DOB. It
seems to me the V.P.'s chief
functions are to take charge in the
absence
of the president,
and
generally fill in whenever there are
things that need doing.
Candidate for
Corresponding Secretary:
Laura Robin
I am a candidate for re-election.
Treasurer
Paula Bennett has withdrawn
candidacy for this office.
her
Peggy Wilson
I am running for Treasurer and
my qualifications are:
I. Associate of Arts degree, majoring
in Accounting.
2. Working as a Fund Accountant,
with full responsibility for two sets
of books.
3. Can prepare a Cash Flow Chart.
4. Can prepare an Estimated Income
and Expense Sta teme nt.
5. Can prepare certain other financial
statements
necessary
to
any
organization.
6. An active member of DOB for
over a year and a strong desire to see
DOB reach its full potential in the
gay community.
I am sure you know how
important
a treasurer is to any
organization. The treasurer is just as
important an officer as President and
should be more than a recorder of
income and expenses. A treasurer
should be able to show the direction
an organization is taking.
DOB needs funds to operate
properly and to fulfill all our goals.
The revised By-laws show we have
changed our ideas and direction we
wish to take as an organization.
Along with this change, I feel we
should take a closer look at our
financial priorities and re-evaluate
the
direction
we
are
taking
financially.
A portion of our financial plans
should be with the future in mind.
DOB should also have two types of
financial plans, short and long
�13
ranged.
Our short ranged plans would
consist of events planned in the next
3 months or less. Long ranged plans
would be events planned 4 mos. or
more in the future .
Every individual has some form of
financial plan. It only stands to
reason if individuals need a financial
plan than so would Daughters of
Bilitis.
I want DOB to grow and I feel
financial planning is one way.
When it's time to vote please
consider my qualifications and views.
WANT TO ADVERTISE
Recording Secretary:
IN FOCUS
Janine Bernier
I will be running for Recording
Secretary in October. In addition to
preparing monthly minutes, I would
like to see FOCUS used more fully as
a forum for DOB's business meetings ,
activities, and events.
ABSENTEE BALLOT-
?
¼ page $5
½ page $10
Full page $20
Send
to:
0 .0 .8. Room 323
419 Boylston Street
Boston, Mass: 02116
DOB ELECTIONS, FALL,
1974
Write in the names of the candidates for whom you are voting:
President _________________________
_
Vice President _______________________
_
Treasurer
Corresponding Secretary ____________________
_
Recording Secretary
Voter's Signature
This ballot (properly filled in and signed) must be received by the Election Committee in a sealed envelope by 7:30 p.m. , October 20.
�14
Conference '74 Postponed
the CONFERENCE '74 account to
be utilized
for the upcoming
confe renc e-celeb ration in the Spring
of 1975.
Women from the planning sessions
are
c hecking
into
possible
countrysites. If you have suggestions ,
have already offere d to lead a
workshop either individually or with
a group, please maintain contact with
us at our Box 2000 address.
Minutes of planning sessions are
available upon request and women
and groups already on the mailing list
will receive continued information
unless requesting otherwise.
To all our Sisters - we thank you
for your energies, time, support, and
love. While we could not maintain
"Camp Amazonia" we ask you to
continue
you r support
for the
success
of
the
Spring
1975
conferen ce-celebration.
Dear Sisters:
At the Sept. 11th general meeting,
the women of the Boston planning
sessio n
agreed
to
po stpone
CON F ERENCE '74: AN AMAZON
EXPEDITION un til the Spring of
I 975.
We arrived at this decision after
recognizing that: (I) lack of funds,
(2) lack of response in registratio n
fees by the middle of Sep t ember , and
(3) lack of sufficient publicity on our
part made it impossib le for us to
hold "Camp Amazonia"
for t he
October
11-14
conference celebration according t o the term s
we established
with the camp
directors.
All registration fees ( partial and
total) , all co ntribution s to the
Sisterhood Fund will be ret urned
post-haste to those women who paid
fees/contributed to the fund.
CONFERENCE '74 will hold a
dance with the NEW NEW HA VEN
WOMEN'S LIBERATION
ROCK
BAND October 5th at 8:00 pm , the
Cha rles St. Meeting Hou se, suggested
donation $3. 00 . Funds will remain in
Application:
In sisterhood Women of the
Boston planning session
Box 2000, c/ o GCN
22 Bromfield St , Boston 02108
DOB lvlemb ersnip o r subscription to f'OCUS
(FOCUS subscription inc. with membership)
Membership : $12 /ye ar
$18 for couples
FOCUS Subscription: $6 /year
Single Sustaining Membership: $25
~
ENC .____
Name __
C ENC .
for membership
_ ______
___
for FOCUS
_ _ _
Address ____________
_
Signature - I am a woman 18 years of age or o Ider:
Oate: ____
_
--
--
-----
-----
---
- --
�15
JOIN
DIGNITY
...
GOODGAYBUTTONS&BOOKS
A
at
NATIONAL
ORGANIZATION
Everybody's Autobiography
OF
The HCHS Bookstore
419 Boylston Boston, Ma. 02116
GAY
CATHOLICS
Send Self Addr . Stamped Envelop fo; mail order list.
Write:
755 Boylston St.
OPEN,
Boston, Mass
Rm.514
02116
~ARTOFA
1succESS
STORY
2 F Beginning Craft Store &
low on capital. High in initiative
but HOMELESS. If you have a
business w/xtra space we could
pay % of our sales. If community
organ. w/space we could pay fee.
Basement, garages, etc. considered. Backers welcomed. Advantages tremendous response has
shown us crafts women want &
need this outlet please help. Contact Pat 628-3986 or Jeanne
935-0117 eves.
MON D AY -THURS.
6-9 PM
(RING THE BELL
4 TIMES FOR
FOURTH FLOOR)
gay
liberator
Box631-A
Detroit 48232
12 issues $4 in US
for
$5 outside US, $8 supporting.
�~~W.lrcH
U )00:flTCH
11WICAL
PROBLEMS?
F-WHl+B~
J;
I
Come to •••
>
THE All Women's Rock Band
I
u
WENDY
:~~~
KAREN
t:
J;
s.
C.11 ELAINE 289-8363
\/\/HITCH
1
at Fenway Community
Health Center
16 Haviland St.
Boston, Hass.
Phone: 267-7573
2:very Wedne
sday
For Booking Informat ion
CONFERENCE
I
GAYHEALTH
NIGHT
6:30-9:30 Pm
for Medical help - (inc.VD )
for Gay women& men
Co-sponsored by H.C.H.S.
266-5477
'74 presents ...
THE NEW
NEW HAVEN
WOMEN'S
LIBERATION
ROCK BAND
Charles Street Meeting House
Suggested Donation $3.00
A Dance By & For Women
DANCE, October 5, 8p.m.
�-- - ----
--
DAUGHTERS OF BILITIS PRESENTS...
,W1fl}IM
@Jfu~~
AND
f EJSTDME
PARTY
for the GAY COMMUNITY (men and women)
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 18th, 9P.M.-1A.M.
AT THE CHARLES ST. MEETING HOUSE
70 CHARLES ST., BOSTON
ENTERTAINMENT BY:
IEADLYHIOIII BADE
$2.00
DONATION
;
---
-----·
·-
- ····· - · ·- - -
-
••.••
• • •••
-
·- -
- -
•
I
�The History Project
http://www.historyproject.org/
info@historyproject.org
Thank you for using the manuscript collections of The History Project.
Copyright restrictions may apply. If you have questions or wish to request removal of a
document in this collection from our digital repository, please contact The History
Project.
This PDF file contains images of an issue of the publication Maiden Voyage, produced
by the Boston chapter of the Daughters of Bilitis from
The Daughters of Bilitis (Boston chapter) records
Collection #0011
Recommended Citation:
[Item description including title, author, and date if known], Daughters of Bilitis
(Boston chapter) records, The History Project: Documenting LGBTQ Boston.
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Focus/Maiden Voyage, a publication of the Boston chapter of the Daughters of Bilitis, 1969-1983
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1969-1983
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Daughers of Bilitis (Boston, Mass.)
Description
An account of the resource
The Daughters of Bilitis (DOB) was a lesbian organization founded in 1955 in San Francisco by Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon for the purpose of self-knowledge and self-acceptance, public education, involvement in research, and lobbying to change the laws criminalizing homosexuality. Starting primarily as a private social group for lesbians focused on the integration of the lesbian into mainstream society, the aims of the group shifted during the 1960s due to the changing political, social and economic conditions of the decade. The DOB took up political activism to lobby for the rights of lesbians, promoting individualism with a decreased emphasis on societal conformity. During the 1960s many regional chapters were chartered around the country and globally, continuing the organization even after the closing of the San Francisco national office in 1978.<br /><br />The Boston chapter was founded in 1969 during a period when many homophile organizations were forming in Boston. Early leaders of the Boston DOB included Lois Johnson, Shari Barden, and Laura Robin/McMurry, who were prominent promoters of the group and its activities.<br /><br />The Boston chapter published a newsletter, originally entitled <em>Maiden Voyage</em>, until 1971 when it was renamed <em>Focus</em>. The publication runs from December 1969 to October 1983.
Document
A resource containing textual data. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre text.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Focus: A Journal for Gay Women, 1974 October
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1974-10
Description
An account of the resource
An issue of the newsletter of the Boston chapter of the Daughters of Bilitis. Pages 6 and 7 of the newsletter are missing.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Daughters of Bilitis (Boston chapter)
Subject
The topic of the resource
Lesbian newsletters; Newsletters (LGBTQ); Boston (Mass.); Cambridge (Mass.); Daughters of Bilitis
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
The History Project: Documenting LGBTQ Boston
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
Copyright restrictions may apply. Visit https://historyproject.omeka.net/rights-and-reproductions for more information and to review The History Project's takedown policy.
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
application/pdf
Language
A language of the resource
English
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
THP-0011-focus-197410