Elizabeth Lapovsky Kennedy

Madeline D. Davis

"Soars on the plain yet eloquent voices of the women...A necessary and overdue addition to the archives of lesbian and gay history."—The Boston Globe. Chronicles working-class lesbians in Buffalo, New York from the 1930s through the 60s.

The History of a Lesbian Community

Boots of Leather, Slippers of Gold

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In the 1950s, despite the witch-hunts of gays and lesbians, the rigidification of sex roles, and the general cold-war atmosphere, the lesbian community became more defiant and continued its pursuit of sexual autonomy for women. The community also became more complex. The relatively autonomous African-American and European-American communities became integrated to the extent that each had some contact with the other, and certain bars and house parties were frequented by a racially mixed crowd.

Butches defied convention by usurping male privilege in appearance and sexuality, and with their fems, outraged society by creating a romantic and sexual unit within which women were not under male control. At a time when lesbian communities were developing solidarity and consciousness, but had not yet formed political groups, butch-fem roles were the key structure for organizing against heterosexual dominance. They were the central prepolitical form of resistance. From this perspective, butch-fem roles cannot be viewed simply as an imitation of heterosexual, sexist society. 

Rich’s work is not intended to be an historical study; nevertheless, it proposes a framework for lesbian history. She establishes a “lesbian continuum” that consists of woman-identified resistance to patriarchal oppression throughout history. The lesbian transcends time periods and cultures in her common links to all women who have dared to affirm themselves as activists, warriors, or passionate friends. 

Faderman emphasizes the historical continuity of women’s passionate friendships in the middle and upper classes throughout history. She reclaims this hidden dimension of the lesbian past, which is particularly important in the late twentieth century, when the dominant culture admits little possibility of connection between women. At the same time, she gives minimal attention to the explicitly sexual lesbian communities of the turn of the century, treating their sexuality as problematic. She argues that the sexualizing of relationships between women was the result of the medical profession’s diagnosis of love between women as pathological. In her analysis, the nineteenth-century women’s movement’s achievement of some autonomy for women in the public world, coupled with the tradition of female passionate friendships, gave women the potential for self-sufficiency. Patriarchy responded to the severe threat by characterizing close ties between women as sexual and therefore suspect.

The bleakness born from oppression and the energy that emerges from resistance were at the core of their lives, and they wanted us to convey this as fully as possible.

Often saloon owners would not allow women, single or escorted, at the bar, but would serve them in a room in the back.8 The fragile relation of women to bars continued through World War II, when several cities, including Chicago, passed laws prohibiting women’s entrance into bars, in an attempt to limit the spread of venereal disease. (Buffalo seriously considered such a move but did not undertake it.)10 In this situation, most bars which catered to lesbians were usually located in areas known for moral permissiveness, and the availability of women for male pleasure. Such areas were therefore extremely dangerous for unescorted women.

Arden, a gallant butch, who was more than willing to please a distinguished lady, would always say “it wasn’t necessary.” Ann Montgomery was a dynamic woman with a colorful reputation. One night she even referred publicly to Arden as a lesbian, indicating that she was fully aware of who patronized her bar. Arden still remembers this event vividly with pride and embarrassment forty-five years later.

“There was a whole slew of people at the bar and Ann came in and told the bartender to give everyone a drink. They were all Black at the bar. I was the only white. The bartender hesitated when he got to me and Ann said, ‘Yes, give that lesbian a drink too.’ I nearly died. There I was with all those Black racketeers. They never bothered you though.”

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Other bars became gay more gradually, however. When business was bad, a couple of lesbians would go in, and if they were accepted a few more would, until eventually enough people would be going that it would become gay.

Lesbian history provides a new perspective on women in the 1930s and 1940s. It highlights that World War II not only provided jobs for women, but created a social atmosphere which encouraged women’s independence. More women could socialize together outside of the home without endangering their reputations. They also could decide how they would spend their money, using it for leisure as well as necessities. In addition, the absence of sixteen million men actually made work and neighborhoods safer and more congenial for women. These changes were instrumental in the movement of white lesbian social life from private networks to bars in the 1940s.

By coming together in public places, lesbians began to challenge the sexist and homophobic structures of U.S. society. They expanded the possibilities for women to live independent lives away from their families without men. They made it easier for lesbians to find others like themselves and to develop a sense of camaraderie and support.

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