So, here are some more questions from that Lesbian/Gay History Questionnaire:
4) If you are GLBT, please describe when you first "knew":
I was bi-curious, even as a teen, and went to the University of Chicago
Gay Discussion Groups. It was more for men than for me.
In 1971 I fell in love. It happened to be with a woman. I "knew" the
first time she kissed me that I'd been waiting for a kiss like that my
whole life. She remains the most gentle being I have ever known.
15) To Whom did you first "come out" and what year? Please write a short
narrative about your experience in coming out, whether one time or over
many years. For example, did you ever use a pseudonym.
I first came out to my mother, in 1971. Mama was delighted that I was
happy. My older sister and her partner had already been together for
many years. They knew about me before my mom. She liked my lover.
She liked them all. I was in the Lavender Woman Newspaper Publishing
Collective for two years and some. Mother was very pleased to see me
doing that work. She had been a civil rights worker her whole life in
spite of, no, because of, being from Florida. My Father was born in 1899
and died in 1965, his goal for me was to be an intelligent, openhearted,
articulate, educated woman.
In 1984 - 86 I used a pseudonym for the Pride Parade committee, because
of personal legal issues that made it necessary to be less visible.
16) What troubles did you face as a GLBT person? Describe any incidents in
school, at home, at work, or in the community?
Fired from my job as a bank teller (because the vice-president of the
bank where I worked was also at the Pride Parade. He was gay, and saw
me, and saw that I saw him).
I was unceremoniously dumped by my best friend, Christine (Gus) Schneiders, (nee Kirsch) for
being "sick and perverted and unnatural" when I called to tell her I was
in love. Thirty-five years later, it still hurts.
Living as a woman in a subculture is a very difficult thing. It requires
a sense of self, a spine of steel, a certain degree of courage, and a
fearlessness that hides the horror of being shunned by one's culture. I
have been beaten by strangers, verbally abused by men on the street and
in passing cars, and as I mentioned, lost a long time friend because I
love women. To sum up: I have lost jobs, been skipped over for
promotions, been battered and ridiculed.
Eventually I chose to drop out of mainstream culture for
many decades, to live exclusively within the Lesbian and Gay communities.
Making my way back was a years-long journey. Only changes in my attitudes
and the attitudes of heterosexuals has made that possible. There is more
of a "Live and let live" attitude in this new Millennium, which sometimes
looks like change. Looks can be deceiving. I go more carefully now, disabled.
