Old Lesbians and their Brief Moments of Fame: An Anthology
From many parts of the USA, and from various walks of life, we are all old lesbians who want to tell our stories. Some of us have been lesbians all of our lives, and others later came out later in life. Many of our contributors thanked us for inviting them to tell their stories. We asked each woman to introduce herself, and select one moment in her life that stands out as her Brief Moment of Fame (their own definition of fame).
Why did we call ourselves Old lesbians and not older lesbians? We debated this for a while since some women in their 50s and 60s considered themselves either middle aged or older, but not old. They still fear the word old.
Ageism is another word added to the list that identifies hurt, fear, and discrimination. Sexism still holds power in Americas patriarchal society. Sexual orientation is on the bottom of the list. The history of our past still reaches out to culturally bind us as women earning less than me, nurturing children alone, and tending the home. However, within this list, we are feminists, lesbians, and now finally old. We are the many who have found our way, recognized who we are, and will celebrate our lives. We took charge of our lives, and embrace Old as a virtue of earned respect as we continue this celebration. We believe our country, too, will learn to respect Old by taking pride in our experience, knowledge, and especially our equal humanity.
Some of our stories touch on historical movements of the past 50 or 60 years in which lesbians have been involved: the anti-war movement, gay rights, AIDS care and awareness, lesbian voices, (gay authors, gay newspapers, and bookstores). Now we have civil unions, marriages, lesbians in sports, and lesbian musicians, etc, etc. There are obviously many more old lesbians out there with stories to tell. Maybe some of them will want to contribute to Volume 2. We hope you enjoy reading these colorful and varied stories as much as we did.
