Attorney, Estate Planning and Wills

Compassionately meeting complex
and often Emotionally charged client issues.

www.Lizarraga-Law.com
Rebecca D. Lizarraga Member

Email: Rebecca mailto:Rebecca@Lizarraga-Law.com
Practice Areas: Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility; Professional Malpractice; Judicial Defense; Attorney Discipline; Employee Discipline; Civil Service; Administrative Hearings and Appeals; Appellate Practice; Public Employee Retirement; Employer Intentional Torts; Retaliatory Discharge; Domestic Partnerships; Non-Traditional Family Law; Probate; Estate Planning, Wills and Trusts.
Admitted: 2003, California; U.S. District Court,

Northern, Eastern, Southern and Central Districts of California
Law School: Southwestern University, J.D., 2002
College: California State University, Northridge, B.A., Psychology, 1992
Member: Los Angeles County, American, Latina Lawyers, Mexican American and Beverly Hills Bar Associations; State Bar of California; Association of Southern California Defense Counsel.
Biography: Member: Southwestern Journal of Law and Trade in the Americas, 2001-2002; Moot Court Honors Program, 2000-2001. President, Latino Law Students Association, 2000-2001. Community Affairs Commissioner, 2000-2001. Recipient: CALI Excellence for the Future Awards in Torts II, Legal Research & Writing II, and Civil Rights and Civil Liberties; Exceptional Achievement Award, Constitutional Law Seminar; Community Service Award, 2000; Schumacher Minority Leadership Scholarship; Mexican American Bar Foundation's Hon. Manuel Martinez Memorial Scholarship and Public Interest 2000 Summer Grant. Summer Law Clerk, Protection & Advocacy, Inc., 2000. Judicial Extern, Honorable Edward Rafeedie, Senior U.S. District Judge, Central District, August 2001-December 2001. Associate Robie & Matthai APC, June 2003-May 2006 - Practice centered on judicial, attorney and legal malpractice defense; complex litigation; insurance coverage disputes and appellate work before the California Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and California Supreme Court.
Reported Cases: Estate of Spirtos v. One San Bernardino County Suprior Court Case Numbered SPR 02211, 443 F.3d 1172 (9th Cir. 2006); Mercury Insurance Company v. Allstate Insurance Company (2005) 123 Cal. App. 4th 1392.

In support of Professional Lesbians we Provide this Listing

www.Lizarraga-Law.com

Lesbian Adoption and Law

Featured Attorney

Lesbian Adoption and Family Law

www.SueDell.com

Sue Dell works as a Court Panel Attorney specializing in Adoption, Juvenile Dependency, and Legal Guardianship at Edelman Children's Court in Monterey Park. She maintains a private practice in those fields also, as well as handling simple Divorces, Probate Guardianships, Restraining Orders, and Paralegal Services. Sue is also a Certified Mediator. Sue has a passion for helping kids develop and maintain meaningful family relationships.Sue's practice in Adoption includes personalized legal services for families-to-be, including "Step-Parent" adoptions, Foster Parent Adoption Finalizations, and Independent Agency or Private Birth Parent adoptions, both domestically and internationally.A native of Los Angeles, Sue Dell graduated with high honors from UCLA with a degree in Sociology, a minor in Women's Studies, and an emphasis in Psychology. She graduated from Loyola Law School, serving as the Senior Editor of the International and Comparative Law Journal and as an Officer in Student Bar Associations.Attorney Dell works as an elected Board Member of the Juvenile Court Bar Association. Sue has a great rapport with children and has a good sense of humor. Ms. Dell has a unique, caring and funny way of being completely and totally direct. She has also served on the Board of Governors for the California Lawyers for Human Rights and was appointed to the Sexual Orientation Bias Committee of the Los Angeles County Bar Association.Paralegal Yolanda Butler brings to the firm over 18 years of legal and practical experience working with families. Yolanda enjoys helping families, whether during their most challenging times of divorcing or resolving custody issues, or expanding their families in joy with adoptions. Compassionate, patient, warm, and responsive, Yolanda looks forward to helping meet your legal needs.Sue is motivated, organized, and conscientious. She is sincere, as well as both sensitive and responsive to client needs. She is a blond by birth but, due to aging, is now a blond by choice. Her legal practice centers on the legal and emotional needs of families of all kinds.

Sue P. Dell, Esq.Law Office of Sue DellP. O.

Box 762Tujunga CA 91043-0762818/951-3578

Fax: 818/951-9010E-mail: Sue Dell

www.SueDell.com

Remember Gals
Support Lesbian Owned and Operated Businesses
and Lesbian Professionals.

Being Out

Commentary from Webmaster

Do you gals find that with all the media on Lesbians these days that it is easier to be OUT? I do not find it easier at all. I still am looked at as a second class citizen. I am still not taken serious with comments I make on things I know about if there is a straight person in the room talking about the same thing. I am a real estate Broker and for years the local agents brought me OUT to clients to get the client to work with them. I was not in the closet, I was simply doing my job and never made being a lesbian a factor, but the competition did. And in rural America it apparantley is still quite taboo to be a Professional Lesbian.

Anyway, just venting a bit of steam. It just seems to me that in today's media climate we seem to be getting more attention that makes being a lesbian more mainstream, I guess as long as it does not involve their town, coworkers or relatives than acceptance is on the rise.

Elsa Gidlow

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Marcelina Martin

Promote the Sacredness of being a Woman

Check out This gal's website, her pictures are awesome, her philosophy has depth and gratitude, she is a an authentic woman sharing her knowledge and experience on the web. I envy her ability to be free with her words and photos and they seem to show no fear of a societal eye. I love her passion for the life of Elsa Gidlow, it is an honor that a woman of such depth and true clarity met Elsa and can share a piece of her with us out here in cyberspace craving sensuality, truth, honor, and the sacred realm of loving women. Thank you Marcelina Martin for Being !!

Check Out her Website at
www.MarcelinaMartin.com

Women Artist

Photography, Retreat, Online Photography Course, Writing and Imagery

I nestle into the body of our Sacred Earth
The wisdom of marsh and sand enters me
I swim silently throughthe dark
and winding waters of the Ogeechee
The sky opens to reveal a universe without time
All this in one moment of touching your body
All this in one moment of breathing
your breathSuddenly drenched by the Divine
Marcelina Martin, 1994

The dominant view of sexuality in our society is anti-erotic. We are constantly overwhelmed by images that reinforce how the physical has been separated from the psychic, emotional, and spiritual connection. Our sense of the grace of sexuality becomes lost.
Restoring the erotic as wholesome is difficult because it has been distorted through power-over interactions, violence as sex, and lust without reverence. To experience dynamic relatedness and to integrate one's sexuality and spirituality are huge contributions to the evolution of life-affirming consciousness......
Read More at www.WildHeartsRanch.com

Marcelina speaks of her art this way:
My art evolved from the observation that America is primarily a visually oriented culture. The way we perceive reality is influenced by a complex range of imagery. Heroes and myths are intricately woven into our psyches. Our ideas of individual identity, social place, and interrelatedness coalesce from this matrix of images. Some of the most adverse effects of this visual information are submerged in the unconscious, leaving many of us adrift, unaware that we are in its undertow. Particularly I looked at how women are specially vulnerable to manipulation through imagery due to the degree of sexism in our culture. Over thousands of years, our experiences of authentic womanhood have been erased from the public domain and replaced by fabrications designed for exploitation. Even if we consciously reject negative images, their power can influence us subconsciously unless we change them at a deep level. If not brought to light and examined, our images evolve into private and eventually public myths and standards. Images we hold are the foundation for the content and action of our lives. Through inquiry into our inner imagery, we can expose outdated myths, produce life-affirming images, and cultivate a dynamic vision of wholeness. In consciously creating our imagery and mythologies, we affect our political, economic, and social attitudes which inspire change first in our inner world then eventually our outer world. From this philosophical base, I created Photomythology, creating images from the myths of our lives with an intention of integrating the fragments into a whole, dynamic vision of ourselves.The roots of art are in shamanism. The shaman was a healer in her/his community that worked with the individual and collective psyche through art. Today we see the horror, violence, conflict and negativity all around us. Many artists work directly with this knowledge of the power of imagery. This is the focus and drive behind my art. My journey is to create life-affirming, positive images, to create beauty and harmony , to focus on transformation into wholeness . My dear friend poet Elsa Gidlow believed that we are all artists, and definitely there are cultures like Bali where most people express themselves through art. I do not believe that we are all artists. I do believe we can all live life through our creativity; however, I believe the artist is called to art with a compelling force that draws her/his creativity into existence. There is no choice but to create.I passionately believe in art as a healing force and that art arises from well-being or from the innate force within all life to move towards wholeness. Ms.Martin's photography has been published in numerous periodicals such as The Great Speckled Bird, Frontiers, Heresies, Southern Exposure, Woman of Power, Sage Woman, The Advocate, On Our Backs, Motive Magazine, Calyx. Her work has been included in such books as: Southern Ethic, Women See Woman, Our Right To Love, Womanspirit: A Guide to Women's Wisdom, Women & Aging, Elsa: I Come With My Songs, Blue Calendar, The Womanspirit Sourcebook, The Once and Future Goddess, The Heart of the Goddess, Dear Sappho: Legacy of Lesbian Love Letters, Rebels, Rubyfruit and Rhinestones, The Box: Remembering the Gift , Women Artists of the American West and The Lesbian Sex Book. Her most recent project has been a book Literary Guide to Flannery O'Connor's South with Dr. Sarah Gordon for University of Georgia Press to be published in 2007. Her prints have been exhibited in Australia, Germany, Denmark, and throughout the United States. Ms. Martin's work is included in the Women's History Archives Collection at Harvard University and Brown University. Her images are also being used in courses at Columbia University, University of New Mexico, California Institute of Integral Studies, and Purdue University. From 1991-2001 she resided in the Southwest and New England. In 2001 Marcelina moved back to Milledgeville, Georgia to be close to her family.
A Multimedia Show of the book," Lesbian Sacred Sexuality" has been completed and is for sale in the store. Marcelina is also working on a second book "In The Blaze of Love". For more information on Marcelina's photography or her tutorials E-mail her at taoscowgirls@yahoo.com

________________________________

Marcelina Martin

Melissa Store

OutLesbian.com Melissa Etheridge Store

we at Out Lesbian honor Melissa for the path she has opened for us

Melissa Etheridge Music

Melissa Etheridge CD

Melissa Etheridge Books

Melissa Etheridge DVD's

Interviews

Melissa plays a song on this,
It is awesome and heart moving

Melissa sings on this
and she won an Oscar
as most of you already know.

Melissa

I am sure lots of blogs say this, I just want to put in my two cents, and say Thank You Melissa Etheridge for the Kiss at the Oscars. It was truly a gift to Lesbians everywhere.

the Scoop on the Oscar Kiss

Etheridge Agonized Over Oscars Kiss
Rocker Melissa Etheridge agonized over whether it was appropriate to kiss her wife at the Oscars -- because she isn't fond of public displays of affection.
The singer/songwriter knew she had an outside chance of winning gold at the Academy Awards Sunday night for her "An Inconvenient Truth" song "I Need To Wake Up," and she wanted to find the best way to thank Tammy Lynn Michaels.
But, when her name was called she didn't hesitate to lock lips with the actress.
She says, "I have not been one to kiss my partner in public just for sensationalism. I don't think I ever have, but she was so important to me; especially, with this project.
"She was the one who said, 'Just write what you feel,' when I was going, 'Well, how do you write about global warming?'"
Etheridge admits her Oscar win gave her the perfect opportunity to thank her partner on a grand scale for helping her battle cancer.
The rocker adds, "She meant so much to me, and she saved my life."

Out Lesbian Comic

Suzanne Westenhoefer is a very funny lesbian, Right?

An Interview with Lesbian Comedian Suzanne Westenhoefer
By Kathy Belge
Suzanne Westenhoefer is a groundbreaker. She is the first open lesbian to be on Comedy Central, Evening at the Improv., Caroline’s Comedy Hour, to have her own HBO special and to be on David Letterman.
She is really funny; probably the funniest I’ve ever seen. But somehow, our interview turned to some pretty deep, heavy topics. I called up Suzanne Westenhoefer the day after her 42nd birthday. We talked about gay bashing, abortion, the war and David Letterman.
KB: Let’s talk about Letterman. Tell me all about it.
SW: It was amazing… It was more work to do that five-minute stint than it is to do four months of shows.
KB: How so?
SW: I do a 90-minute show.

And I’ve probably done seven different ones over the course of about 10 years. I had to go through all that material and try to find sort of a mainstreamy lesbian… I was allowed to be out. I wasn’t going to be on if I wasn’t allowed to be out.
KB: I was wondering, out of all your material, how you picked what you did.
SW: The hardest part was, how are we going to start? We went round and round. Because you can’t come out and say, “I’m a lesbian. My dog…” So it was really tricky. Finally, the guy who hires the comics, he and I just came upon it. If you’ve ever seen me, you know that a whole lot of what I do is about Annie and I. So why not just go out as if I were a girl in a 10 and a half year relationship, which I am, and talk like I would at any show? We had a lot of stuff like, is she going to say dyke. But in the end, the Letterman people let me do it and I’m just really excited because, no matter what, we’re not going to go back now. That’s one little door broken down and that’s all that matters.
KB: You were the first out lesbian on Letterman.
SW: They never had a gay guy either… KB: So, were you disappointed that Dave wasn’t there? (Dave was out with shingles.)
SW: Interestingly enough, my girlfriend and I were talking afterward and for me it was better because I never had to focus on him. I didn’t have to worry, “What was Dave thinking?” Because he’s notorious for being stand-offish. So maybe for us it worked.
KB: I’ve heard you say before that your dream job would be to have Letterman’s job. So he wasn’t there, how tempting was it to…
SW: I did it! I sat in the chair… I sat in the chair and was like, “Meryl Streep, so, your latest movie…” I would bring Martina on all week. I would also have Candice Bergen on…

KB: Has it opened any new doors?
SW: I don’t know if it’s opened any new doors. It’s kind of hard to gage that. And of course, we went to war right after, 24 hours later. It’s hard to be all excited. What’s interesting is the first big thing that ever happened to me, I had only been doing stand up about five or six months, and I got asked to be on the Sally Jesse Raphael Show in January of 1991. “Lesbians Who Don’t Look Like Lesbians…”
KB: Did you do stand up?
SW: No, but she introduced me as a lesbian stand-up comedian… They started contacting her to find me. It was just like off the charts. And literally, we went to war with Saddam Hussein like 24 hours later. We attacked Iraq. Isn’t that bizarre? Two of the big milestones of my career and a Bush goes into Iraq and attacks.

There’s something creepy about it.
KB: You say you’re politically active, with what?
SW: I have always been an activist. I started out starting a gay group on my campus… God that was hard!
KB: When was that?
SW: 1982. Then AIDS came and I moved to New York and I marched with ACT-UP. I marched in the first Queer Nation march when they split up from ACT-UP. I’ve always been a very vocal and financial supporter of Planned Parenthood and other Pro-Choice organizations.
KB: Why Planned Parenthood, as a lesbian?
SW: The biggest reason is that I got pregnant when I was 16 and I aborted a child. I know what it feels like to be poor, pregnant and 16 and scared. Had I known about Planned Parenthood and gotten the pill, it wouldn’t have even had to happen. I also think the abortion issue is a class issue and a race issue because rich white women will always be able to get abortions… I really like an organization that’s so pro-woman, too. I’m a lesbian girl and I’m not going to get pregnant. I don’t even have a uterus anymore, but it’s such a female issue, to be able to control whether or not you want to bring children into the world.
KB: Are you out about having had an abortion?
SW: Oh, yeah. I don’t have any shame about it. It’s not a choice I would have liked to made, but it’s a choice I did make and I feel extremely fortunate that the choice was available… I would probably be in the cycle that half the girls in my hometown, which is a factory town, are in. Which is, pregnant at 16 or 17, married, divorced by the time they’re 20… And as we see, I would have turned out lesbian. I would have been a lesbian with children, in the 70s and early 80s, which is a hard, hard thing, in Lancaster County, PA. My children could have maybe been taken from me, put in the foster care system…
KB: OK, Let’s change the topic here.
SW: This is so funny isn’t it? We’re cutting into all these intense heavy topics. So much for the comedy interview.
KB: Do you still love your job?
SW: I love my job! You have no idea. I have the greatest job in the world… Look at what I get to do for a living. I go around, I make people laugh, I get paid. Yo!
KB: What do you do for fun when you’re not working?
SW: New York Times crossword puzzle in ink, including the Sunday, thank-you. It’s my obsession. I do yoga… And I annoy my girlfriend. Still, 10 1/2 years and I still annoy her.

Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon

Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon

Two courageous women who became lovers during one of the most socially conservative eras in American history, Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon were among the founders of a lesbian liberation movement that developed and enlarged the very definition of lesbianism.
In their early influential book, Lesbian/Woman (1972), Lyon and Martin challenged any view of lesbians that focused only on sexuality by defining a lesbian as "as a woman whose primary erotic, psychological, emotional and social interest is in a member of her own sex, even though that interest might not be overtly expressed." This concept not only opened the door for women who had never been sexual with women to see themselves as lesbians, but it also laid the foundation for a woman-identified subculture that became the basis for the lesbian movement of the 1970s. Martin and Lyon have also become role models for lesbian couples by staying in a committed relationship for over fifty years.
Thank You Gals

Thank You Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon for all
you have done for Lesbian Rights. We honor
you both and wish you all good things.
You both are leaders and wonderful examples of Love.

www.Now.org article on the Gals

Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin Make History AgainActivists across the country celebrated as the couple, together for 51 years, became the first same-sex couple to obtain a marriage license and marry in the United States
February 13, 2004
by NOW Staff

Phyllis Lyon (left) and Del Martin (right) Pioneering lesbian rights activists and NOW members Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon made history Feb. 12 in San Francisco when they became the first same-sex couple in the United States to have their marriage recognized by a government entity.
Leaders of NOW, along with feminist activists everywhere, were thrilled to hear the news that the San Francisco city government had sanctioned marriage for lesbians and gays, and that Martin, 83, and Lyon, 79, were the first to marry in an impromptu ceremony.
"I wish them another 51 happy years," said NOW President Kim Gandy, who presented the couple with Women of Courage Awards at NOW's Lesbian Rights Summit in 1999.

In 1999, Kim Gandy, then NOW's executive vice president, presented Lyon and Martin with Women of Courage Awards at NOW's Lesbian Rights Summit. After forming the first national lesbian rights organization, Daughters of Bilitis, in 1955 and joining NOW in the 1960s as one of the few sources of community, Martin and Lyon left the organization over concerns about homophobia in 1979, but rejoined in 1988 and participated in that year's NOW Lesbian Rights Conference. At NOW's Lesbian Rights Summit in 1999, they stood before a standing-room-only crowd and noted how far we've come as a movement. Martin emphasized the need "to unite as never before and face the grip that the extreme right wing holds over our country."
Gandy called the San Francisco decision—which resulted in the city government issuing marriage licenses to hundreds of lesbian and gay couples—a significant turning point in the fight for equal marriage rights.
"The right to civil marriage for same-sex couples is an essential step on the road to full equality," Gandy said. "Every American, regardless of their sexual orientation, deserves access to the more than 1,000 legal protections and benefits in state and federal law that a legal marriage brings."
Among the hundreds of couples getting married in San Francisco last week were Thea Gray and Jeanine Mattson, who had already celebrated their relationship in the summer of 2002 with an elaborate wedding ceremony. They took time off work on Friday to get a marriage license.
Reached by phone at City Hall, Gray sounded positively giddy about the experience.
"We couldn't be more excited to be part of this historic moment," said Gray, who plans to frame the marriage certificate. "It's time for yet another discriminatory law to fall."

Frida Kahlo

Frida Kahlo

Kahlo, Frida (1907-1954)

Bisexual Mexican artist Frida Kahlo has become an international icon for the power and intensity of her art, and the extraordinary suffering that she experienced in life.
Born in Mexico on July 6, 1907 to a German photographer and his Mexican second wife, Kahlo became a central figure in revolutionary Mexican politics and twentieth-century art. When childhood polio damaged one leg, the six year-old's reaction was to become an athlete, an early indication of her courage and independence.

In 1925, at the age of eighteen, Kahlo suffered appalling injuries in a streetcar accident, when she was impaled by an iron handrail smashing through her pelvis. Multiple fractures to her spine, foot, and pelvic bones meant that the rest of her life was dominated by a struggle against severe pain and disability; she underwent thirty-two operations in thirty years. She died at the age of 47 on July 13, 1954, possibly a suicide.

Following her accident Kahlo started painting, becoming an important surrealist. Her paintings, mostly self-portraits, employ the iconography of ancient Mesoamerican cultures to depict both her physical suffering and her passion for Mexican politics and for the love of her life, Diego Rivera, whom she married in 1929.

A famous painter of heroic revolutionary murals, Rivera was much older than Kahlo and incapable of sexual fidelity. When he began an affair with her sister, Kahlo left Mexico. However, she forgave him this and other infidelities. She divorced Diego in 1940, but remarried him later the same year.
Both artists had numerous affairs. Among Kahlo's lovers were Leon Trotsky and other men, but they also included several women. Available evidence suggests that her male lovers were more important to Kahlo than her lesbian affairs. Her friend Lucienne Bloch recalled Rivera saying, "You know that Frida is a homosexual, don't you?" But the complexity of the artists' marriage warns against taking this statement at face value.

However, Kahlo's queer significance is greater than her few lesbian liaisons suggest or even her representations of women, some of which are homoerotic. She was a masterly and magical exponent of cross-dressing, deliberately using male "drag" to project power and independence.


A family photograph from 1926 shows her in full male attire, confronting the camera with a gaze best described as cocksure. So soon after her accident, this cockiness must have concealed unimaginable pain.

Clothes were extremely important to Kahlo. Although she was much more comfortable in slacks, she adopted ornate Mexican costumes on visits abroad and when at home with Rivera. Her "exotic" beauty was much admired; she was photographed by most of the leading art photographers of the time; and her visit to Paris led to the creation of the "Robe Madame Rivera," an haute couture version of her famous peasant costume.

If Kahlo used dress to make a nationalist political point, she also used it to make a statement about her own independence from feminine norms. Several photographic studies show her in men's clothing, and in one famous self-portrait she sits, shaven-headed, wearing a man's suit, surrounded by discarded tresses.

Heterosexual Freudian Laura Mulvey interprets this as mourning the wounded, castrated female body. A more positive feminist or queer reading recognizes the use of "butch drag" throughout her work to signify strength and independence.

Kahlo was troubling gender long before "lesbian boys" were invented.

Julie Taymor's recent film, Frida (2002), starring Salma Hayek as the artist, promises to enshrine Kahlo in the popular imagination as a bisexual icon.

Radclyffe Hall

'A gondola, the still lagoon;
A summer's night, an August moon,
The splash of oars, a distant song,
A little sigh, and - was it wrong?
A kiss, both passionate and long.'

"On the Lagoon" Radclyffe Hall, 1906

Radclyffe Hall

Marguerite Radclyffe Hall was born on the 12th of August 1880, in the Westcliff district of Bournemouth. Her father, Radclyffe Radclyffe Hall, had inherited a fortune from his great grandfather, a physician who opened a sanatorium for consumptives in Torquay which became so famous that it established the Devon town as a fashionable resort, and earned him a knighthood in the bargain. Her mother, Marie Sager, was the daughter of a successful American businessman. Despite their wealth, their marriage was not a happy one.
Her parents separated when Marguerite was still a babe-in-arms and her mother married Albert Visetti, a professor of singing at the Royal College of Music, and they moved to a stately house in Earls Court, London in 1883 .
Ignored by her mother and step-father and cared for by a succession of nannies, Marguerite grew into a solitary, self-absorded child, spending hours by herself in the large walled garden at the rear of the house. It was here, playing with her only true friends her pets, that she began to invent her own verses and rhymes.

In August 1901, Maguerite came of age. Her father, who she had seen no more than a half a dozen times in her life, had died a lonely death in a hotel room in Folkestone in 1898, but shortly before he had passed away, he had made a new will which named her as his sole beneficiary.
At the age of twenty-one, Marguerite spread her wings and flew the nest. She first went travelling, spending a year touring the Southern States of America with a cousin Jane Randolph.

They travelled in an old single-pistoned jalopy with, for protection, a fierce one-eyed bulldog named Charlie and a couple of six-shooters. Marguerite stopped using her Christian name, asking everyone to call her Radclyffe, and she started to smoke, cigars as well as cigarettes - a habit which she continued for the rest of her life. She also began to dress in men's clothing. In the process of finding her real self, she was also discovering her true sexuality.
In 1907, whilst on holiday in the German spa town of Homberg, Radclyffe met the woman who was to literally change her life. She was the Edwardian socialite and beauty Mabel Veronica Batten.
(Seen here in full vocal flight as painted by John Singer Sargent)
Their chance meeting was the start of a relationship which lasted more than nine years.

Encouraged by Mabel, or 'Ladye' as Radclyffe called her - 'John' as Mabel in turn called Radclyffe, published two volumes of poetry, both of which were greeted with acclaim and sold successfully.
Mabel Batten died in 1916 and Radclyffe set up home with Batten's cousin, Una Troubridge. The first of Radclyffe Hall's novels 'The Unlit Lamp' was published in 1924, swiftly followed eighteen months later by her second, 'Adams Breed', which won two major literary awards. It was her third, The Well of Loneliness', originally published in 1928 - which ensured Radclyffe Hall's place in literary history.
In her diary, Una recalled how the book could so easily have never been written.
26th June 1926.

'It was after the success of 'Adam's Breed' that John came to me one day with unusual gravity and asked my decision on a serious matter. She had long wanted to write a book on sexual inversion, a novel that would be accessible to the general public who did not have access to technical treaties. It was her absolute conviction that such a book could only be written by a sexual invert, who alone could be qualified by personal knowledge and experience to speak on behalf of the misunderstood and misjudged minority. She pointed out that in view of our union and all the years that we had shared a home, what affected her must also affect me and that I would be included in any condemnation. Therefore she placed the decision in my hands and would write or refrain as I should decide. My reply was made without so much as an instant's hesitation. I told her to write what was in her heart, that so far as any effect on myself was concerned, I was sick to death of ambiguities, and only wanted to be known for what I was and to dwell with her in the palace of truth.'

The book appeared on the bookshelves on the 26th June 1928, and sold steadily at first. Then on Sunday the 19th of August, the editor of the Sunday Express, James Douglas, climbed onto his high horse and declaimed:

'I am well aware that sexual inversion and perversion are horrors which exist among us today. The decadent apostles of the most hideous and loathsome vices no longer conceal their degeneracy. They do not shun publicity, on the contrary they take delight in their flamboyant notoriety. The consequence is that this pestilence is devastating young souls.'

Two days later Cape, the book's publisher, received a letter from the Home Secretary, Sir William Joynson-Hicks, saying that he had read 'The Well of Loneliness' and was in no doubt that it was obscene. Proceedings were brought under the Obscene Publications Act of 1861, and the case appeared before the Chief Magistrate of London, Sir Chartres Biron, at Bow Street Magistrates on the 14th of November 1928. The court found the case proven and despite the fact that it contained no profanities or graphic depictions of sex, the book was banned from sale.

Marguerite Radclyffe Hall - 'John' died of cancer at seven minutes past eight in the evening of the 7th October 1943. Una Troubridge, who had nursed her to the end, arranged for her burial in the vault at Highgate alongside Mabel Batten. 'The Well of Loneliness' was finally published seven years later and has since sold millions of copies and been translated into seven languages.

_____________________________________________

Radclyffe Hall Born 12th. August, 1880, in Bournemouth, Dorset; died 7th. October, 1943, in Dolphin Square, London. Born Marguerite Radclyffe-Hall, the daughter of Radclyffe Radclyffe-Hall. She was known as Peter as a child but later called herself John, probably after her great-grandfather whom she strongly resembled.
She was educated at King's College, London, and then in Germany.
Between 1906 and 1915 she published five volumes of poetry, mostly about "that potent passion, that divine desire" which she felt for women. Several of her verses were set to music, some by Coleridge Taylor. Her most famous song was The Blind Ploughman, with music by Coningsby Clarke.
In 1907 the poetry brought her to the attention of the 50-year-old Mabel Batten, who was married with a grown-up daughter. They fell in love and set up home together when Batten's husband died.
In 1915 Radclyffe Hall fell in love with Mabel Batten's cousin, Una Troubridge (1887-1963), a sculptor who was married to an admiral and had a young daughter. Mabel Batten died in 1915, and in 1917 Radclyffe Hall and Una Troubridge began living together.
[. . .]
In the 1920s she began writing novels and writing under the name of Radclyffe Hall. Her Adam's Breed in 1926, was the only novel, apart from E. M. Forster's A Passage to India, to be awarded both the Prix Femina and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize.
In 1928 she wrote The Well of Loneliness, the first undisguised lesbian novel and largely autobiographical. This caused a storm and James Douglas, the editor of the Sunday Express, declared in a front-page article, "I would rather give a healthy boy or a healthy girl a phial of prussic acid than this novel. Poison kills the body, but moral poison kills the soul." [. . .] The book was banned in Britain but Jonathan Cape sent the type-moulds to Paris where Pegasus Press published it. Copies were sent all over the world including Britain where Customs seized copies on the way to Leonard Hill's bookshop in Great Russell Street. Leonard Hill was charged, and defense lawyers gathered support for the book from leading intellectuals including E. M. Forster, Virginia Woolf, and Laurence Housman. However, the magistrate disallowed the evidence as to the merit of the work and ruled that it was an "obscene libel" and it was suppressed. However the book continued to be published abroad and was very popular, particularly in America. It was translated into eleven languages and sold a million copies during the author's lifetime. [. . .]
She never repeated this success with her other novels. [. . .] All of her books were dedicated to "The three of us", the other two being Mabel Batten and Una Troubridge.
Ground-breaking as it was The Well of Loneliness, would now seem dated as it reflects the then current theories of "sexual inversion" to which Radclyffe Hall subscribed. She also cultivated the stereotype of the masculine lesbian. However the notoriety of her work brought lesbianism to the consciousness of the British public and the rest of the Anglo-Saxon world which had previously been able to largely ignore it.
Sam Goldwyn grabbed on of his producers and said: 'They're all talking about a book called the Well Of Loneliness. I'm going to make a film about it.' The man was incredulous. 'You can't do that, Sam,' he said earnestly. 'The book's all about lesbians.' 'What does it matter?' said Sam firmly. 'Make 'em Austrians.' (Letter in The Sunday Times, August 3, 1994.)
It supports a depraved practice and is gravely detrimental to the public interest. (Home Office papers of 1928 [released November, 1997] giving its opinion of The Well of Loneliness.)
Radclyffe Hall was listed at number 16 in the top 500 lesbian and gay heroes in The Pink Paper, 26th. September, 1997, issue 500, page 22.
Her The Well of Loneliness was number 7 of the list of the top 100 gay books compiled in the USA in 1999.

Natalie Barnes

Natalie Barnes

Born in 1876 to a wealthy and socially prominent Washington, D.C., family, Natalie Clifford Barney wasn't like most young women of her generation. For one thing, she had a deep, lifelong interest in literature and the arts encouraged by her mother, painter Alice Barney. For another, she was an unapologetic lesbian at a time when even educated people considered homosexuality a sickness.

Natalie made Paris her home not only because it was then the center of the cultural world, but because having an ocean between her and America helped keep her family from being embarrassed by her scandalous affairs. (She numbered among her lovers courtesan Liane de Pougy, poet Renee Vivien, and painter Romaine Brooks, none of whom distracted her from conducting dozens of flings of various durations.)

Although Barney published several volumes of poetry and other short works during her lifetime, her reputation rests primarily on the salon she founded in the 20s [sic] and continued to run almost until her death in 1972.

During its heyday between the wars, virtually every major literary figure who passed through Paris seems to have attended, including Colette, Anatole France, Pierre Louys, Gertrude Stein, Ezra Pound, and Djuna Barnes. Rodriguez describes Barney's life in a lively, if occasionally somewhat breathless manner. The impression of Barney that emerges seems less that of a prototypical feminist icon than of the high-spirited product of a privileged upbringing who, having been denied nothing as a child, saw in turn no reason to deny her own feelings as an adult.

It's a fascinating portrait of someone who, to paraphrase Oscar Wilde, put her talent into her work but her genius into her life.

A unique period in history viewed through the lens of a unique individual's life.

Rosie

Rosie O'Donnell

Lesbian Comedian

Childhood: Rosie was born in 1962 to Edward and Roseann O'Donnell. Rosie's mother died of breast cancer when she was 10 years old. She describes the time of her mother's death as extremely difficult.

Star Search: Rosie toured comedy clubs from 1979-1984. She was a comedy champion on the TV show Star Search and hosted Stand-Up Spotlight on VH1.

Movie Credits: Rosie has appeared in the following movies:

A League of Their Own -1992
Sleepless in Seattle - 1993
Beautiful Girls - 1996
A Very Brady Sequel - 1996

Talk Show Host: Rosie hosted The Rosie O'Donnell Show from 1996-2002. She won an Emmy in 1998 for Outstanding Talk Show.

Children:

Son Parker Jaren adopted in 1995
Daughter Chelsea Belle adopted in 1997
Son Blake Carpenter adopted in 1999
Vivienne Rose O'Donnell born to Rosie's partner Kelli Carpenter in 2002.

Married!: Rosie has been with her partner Kelli Carpenter since 1998. They married in San Francisco on 2/26/04 as one of more than 3,000 couples who tied the knot after Mayor Gavin Newsom declared gay unions legal in that County.

Coming Out: Rosie came out in March 2002
in an interview with Diane Sawyer on Primetime Thursday.

Magazine: Rosie walked away from Rosie
magazine in 2002 claiming she had lost editorial control.

Rosie the Activist: Rosie decided to come out as a lesbian after learning the plight of a gay couple from Florida who were not allowed to adopt the foster children they were raising. Steve Lofton and Roger Croteau have several foster children that they wish to adopt. The laws in Florida do not allow for same-sex couples to adopt. Rosie told Diane Sawyer, "I don't think America knows what a gay parent looks like. I am a gay parent."

Rosie was appalled during her trial with her magazine that her partner Kelli was called to testify against her. Married spouses are protected from testifying against each other. Rosie said, "We applied for spousal privilege and were denied it by the state. As a result, everything that I said to Kelli, every letter that I wrote her, every e-mail, every correspondence and conversation was entered into the record," O'Donnell said. "After the trial, I am now and will forever be a total proponent of gay marriage."

Check Out My Rosie Blog at
www.MyRosieBlog.com

Margaret Cho

Margaret Cho

Margaret Cho was born Dec. 5, 1968 and raised in San Francisco. "It was different than any other place on Earth," she says. "I grew up and went to grammar school on Haight Street during the '70s. There were old hippies, ex-druggies, burnouts from the '60s, drag queens, and Chinese people. To say it was a melting pot - that's the least of it. It was a really confusing, enlightening, wonderful time."

Her grandfather was a Methodist minister who ran an orphanage in Seoul during the Korean War. Ignoring the traditions of her patriarchal culture, her mother bravely resisted an arranged marriage in Korea and married Margaret's father who writes joke books - in Korean. "Books like 1001 Jokes for Public Speakers - real corny stuff," Cho says. "I guess we're in the same line of work. But we don't understand each other that way. I don't know why the things he says are funny and the same for him."

Cho started performing stand-up at age 16 in a comedy club called The Rose & Thistle above a bookstore her parents ran. Soon after, she won a comedy contest where first prize was opening for Jerry Seinfeld.

She moved to Los Angeles in the early '90s and lived in a house with several other young performers.
I moved out because I wasn't the most famous. If the Manson Family had come, I wouldn't have been Sharon Tate; I would have been one of the supporting victims, and who wants that? Janeane Garofalo moved into my old room. Anyway, 'Cho' written in blood on the wall doesn't look as cool as 'Garofalo.'
Still in her early twenties, Margaret hit the college circuit, where she immediately became the most booked act in the market and garnered a nomination for Campus Comedian of The Year. Arsenio Hall introduced her to late night audiences, Bob Hope put her on a prime time special and, seemingly overnight, Margaret Cho became a national celebrity.
In 1994, Margaret starred in a short-lived ABC sitcom called All-American Girl. Says Cho:
There were just so many people involved in that show, and so much importance put on the fact that it was an ethnic show. It's hard to pin down what "ethnic" is without appearing to be racist. And then, for fear of being too "ethnic," it got so watered down for television that by the end, it was completely lacking in the essence of what I am and what I do. I learned a lot, though. It was a good experience as far as finding myself, knowing who I was and what direction I wanted to take with my comedy.
In 1999, Margaret chronicled her experience on the sitcom in an off Broadway one-woman show called I'm The One That I Want. The show was extremely well received, toured the U.S, and was made into a concert film and a best-selling book of the same name. The film, which garnered incredible reviews, broke the record for the most money grossed per print in movie history. After the success of her first show, Cho launched Notorious C.H.O. in 2001, a smash-hit 37-city national tour that culminated in a sold-out concert at Carnegie Hall. Notorious C.H.O. was also recorded and released as a feature film, hailed by the New York Times as "Brilliant!" Both films were acquired by Showtime Cable Networks in 2004 and are currently airing on their channels.

Margaret embarked on her third sold-out national tour, Revolution, in 2003. The tour ultimately grossed 4.4M and was heralded as "Her strongest show yet!" by the Chicago Sun Times. The concert film premiered on the Sundance Channel in 2004 and was released on DVD later that year. The CD of Revolution was nominated for a Grammy for best comedy album of the year for 2003.

In 2004, Margaret took her politically charged State of Emergency tour through the swing states of the Presidential election. Lauded as "Murderously funny!" by the New York Times, State of Emergency eventually evolved into Margaret's fourth national show, Assassin. Her most political and topical work to date, Assassin toured the US, Canada and Australia and was filmed at the Warner Theatre in Washington D.C. The concert film premiered in select theatres and on the gay and lesbian premium channel Here! TV in late 2005. It was recently released on CD by Nettwerk records and on DVD by Koch Entertainment.

Cho has also completed her first narrative feature, Bam Bam and Celeste, which she has described as a fag and fag hag "Dumb and Dumber." Bam Bam and Celeste, directed by Lorene Machado and written by and starring Cho, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in late 2005 and has since played at the AFI Fest and at Fusion, the Los Angeles LGBT People of Color Film Festival.

Margaret's second book, I Have Chosen to Stay and Fight, is a collection of Margaret's essays on all subjects political and pop. A deft mix of Margaret's trademark acerbic wit and artful wordplay, I Have Chosen to Stay and Fight was released by Riverhead Books, a division of Penguin Group (USA) in October of 2005, and has been praised as "Raw. Blunt. Passionate. Empathetic, yet no-holds-barred," by the Star-Telegram.

Next year may see the return of Cho to the small screen, in a role she took on in Bam Bam and Celeste. She is currently developing a new sitcom with Fox and Regency Television, revolving around the character of her "Mommy," treasured by fans of her stand-up. Says Cho, "I am very excited because I finally have actually become my mother."

Margaret recently received a First Amendment Award from the ACLU of Southern California. Said Ramona Ripston: "In these very troubled times, when the rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution are in jeopardy, we applaud your courage to speak out about the dangerous policies of the Bush administration and your commitment to organizing others to do the same.

More than ever before, this country needs activists and artists like you to stand up and let their voices be heard." She has also been honored by GLAAD, American Women in Radio and Television, the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF), the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF), PFLAG and the National Organization for Women (NOW) for "making a significant difference in promoting equal rights for all, regardless of race, sexual orientation or gender identity."
I didn't mean to be a role model. I just speak my truth. I guess speaking from your heart really creates a huge impact, and if I can encourage people to do that, then I would love to be a role model. If I could encourage people to use their voices loudly, then that's my reward. I don't care about winning an academy award; I don't care about mainstream acceptance, because it's never going to be what I want it to be. I just want to do my work and love it.
Source: Margaretcho.com
Margaret Cho

Synopsis:

The incomparable Margaret Cho roars back with her latest concert, Assassin, recorded live in May of 2005 at the WarnerTheater in Washington D.C. Uproariously funny, poignant and scathing, this is one event movie you won't want to miss! Assassin features fresh doses of Cho's ground-breaking, controversial and hilarious brand of humor. "It's a raw interpretation of what's happening daily in our ever-evolving or devolving state of the union." said Cho. The show will include some of the crowd pleasing routines from her critically acclaimed, Fall 2004, State of Emergency Tour, that kicked off at The Apollo Theatre then visited swing states prior to the election. Reviews:"'Margaret Cho: The Assassin Tour,' a deft filming of the corrosive comedian's latest concert performance, finds Cho angrier and funnier than ever. She may be a blowtorch to the extreme Christian right, but for many she's a breath of fresh air. That she's standing in front of a mike, speaking her mind to packed houses, is in itself a ray of hope in dark times." "Equal parts inspired clown, committed advocate and ferocious Republican-baiter, the comedian Margaret Cho explains why she chose "Assassin" as the title of her latest tour. "I wanted a name that would drive the right crazy," chortles the Korean-American, whose very existence - she is also outspokenly liberal, feminist and bisexual - is probably sufficient to accomplish that particular goal."

Melissa

Melissa Etheridge

Melissa Etheridge
Lesbian Rocker

All American Girl: Melissa was born in Leavenworth, Kansas in 1961.

She got her first guitar at age 8 and wrote her song at age 10. At 17 Melissa had her first relationship with another girl.

Nowhere to Go: After high school Melissa left Kansas behind and moved to Boston to attend the Berklee School of Music. She dropped out after a year, but spent the next few years performing at local clubs and coffee houses.

All the Way to Heaven: In 1982 Melissa moved to Los Angeles to try and make it as a rock-n-roll star. She played for years in lesbian bars before being discovered by Island Records. Her self-titled debut album was released in 1988. It went platinum.

Must be Crazy for Me: Melissa won a Grammy for Ain't it Heavy off her 1992 album Never Enough.

Yes I Am: Melissa came out about her sexual orientation at Bill Clinton's Presidential inauguration celebration. Since then she has been an advocate for gay rights.

Similar Features: Melissa and her partner Julie Cypher had two children: Bailey and Beckett. Julie was the birth mother and David Crosby the sperm donor. She and Julie share custody of the children.

The Angels won't Have It: In September 2000, Melissa and Julie ended their relationship. Melissa released her seventh album, Skin and a tell all biography The Truth is: My Life in Love and Music.

I Want To Be in Love: Melissa fell in love again, this time with actress Tammy Lynn Michaels. They held a commitment ceremony in September 2003.

Brave and Crazy: When Melissa Etheridge came out in 1992, some feared it would be the end of her career. Instead, Melissa's popularity only grew. She continues to advocate for gay and lesbian rights and wrote the song Scarecrow about the death of gay college student Matthew Shepherd.

Melissa Ethridge remains one of the most visible lesbian role models.


Can You Name all of Melissa's albums?

1988 Melissa Etheridge
1989 Must be Crazy
1992 Never Enough
1993 Yes I Am
1995 Your Little Secret
1999 Breakdown
2001 Skin
2004 Lucky

Ellen

Ellen DeGeneres

Ellen DeGeneres: Lesbian Icon? Like it or not.

Ellen DeGeneres: First to Come Out: Ellen DeGeneres' claim to fame is that she came out in 1997, the same time her sit-com character, Ellen Morgan came out on the TV show Ellen.

Ellen the Spokesperson: Ellen came out on the cover of Time magazine, proclaiming, "Yep, I'm gay." This historic event caused both praise and scorn and cast Ellen into a limelight she never wanted. "I never wanted to be a spokesperson for the gay community," she said in Time.

All Good Things Must End: Ellen's show, Ellen was cancelled in 1998, despite good ratings. There was simply too much backlash toward the network and advertisers about the gay content.

If These Walls Could Talk Two: Ellen starred in another short-lived sitcom, The Ellen Show, in which she again played a lesbian. It was pulled after one season. But in 2000, Ellen starred and produced the hit HBO special. If These Walls Could Talk Two, where she shares a loving and sexy scene with Sharon Stone.

Ellen's Loves: Shortly after her break-up with Anne Heche, Ellen began dating photographer Alexandra Hedison in 2001. Alex and Ellen broke-up in late 2004 and Ellen began dating Portia de Rossi.

Something Fishy: Although Ellen was always popular with her gay and lesbian fans, she earned her way back into mainstream America's hearts with her portrayal of Dory a ditzy fish in the hit animated comedy, Finding Nemo.

The Ellen DeGeneres Show: Ellen's true staying power has been tested in her super hit talk show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Now entering its second year, The Ellen DeGeneres Show has become popular with middle American women, who tune in daily to watch a lesbian-next-door chit-chat with some of Hollywood's most famous celebrities.

A True Lesbian Icon:
Although she never wanted to be a political figure or a spokesperson for the gay community, Ellen has walked through the fire and blazed a path for all gay and lesbian actors to come after her. She went through a period of intense depression, but has risen to be one of the most popular women on television.

Feminism

Lesbian feminism had a tremendous impact
on the personal and political experiences of more than one generation of women.
In 1972 a woman could be institutionalized for having sex with another woman;
by 1973 she could buy lesbian music, read lesbian books, and attend women-only lesbian events.
It is little wonder that many continue to identify with
lesbian feminism.

This web site Celebrates and Honors the existence of Lesbians who are OUT bravely and boldly challenging the meaning of "freedom and justice for all", through their expression of individualism in persuit of life's passions. Join us on this journey of discovery and celebration of life.


Does It Matter?

The eagerness on the part of lesbians to know the truth about the sexual orientation of public figures has little to do with prurience, but rather with a desire for honesty and a need for self-validation.

The need for validation makes coming out an important issue to the Queer public. For lesbians, particularly those living in oppressive locales, Queer public figures can provide much-needed representation.

Because such public figures are often looked up to as role models, the visibility of lesbians--- is a crucial step toward more widespread gay acceptance. Conversely, the failure to come out on the part of figures in the public eye sends a message that homosexuality or bisexuality is something shameful that needs to be hidden.

This web site Celebrates and Honors the existence of Lesbians who are OUT bravely and boldly challenging the meaning of "freedom and justice for all", through their expression of individualism in persuit of life's passions. Join us on this journey of discovery and celebration of life.

Mission Statement

This web site Celebrates and Honors the existence of Lesbians who are OUT bravely and boldly challenging the meaning of "freedom and justice for all", through their expression of individualism in persuit of life's passions. Join us on this journey of discovery and celebration of life.

I MIGHT BE A LESBIAN

THINK I MIGHT BE A LESBIAN ... NOW WHAT DO I DO?
A Brochure for Young Women Information written by lesbian youth for lesbian youth and young women questioning their sexuality.

What does it mean to be a lesbian?

Lesbians are women-loving-women. We are women who are sexually attracted to other women. We are women who may feel emotionally and spiritually closer to women. We are women who prefer women as our partners.

As lesbians, we are not alone. One out of ten teenagers is lesbian or gay. Many famous women in history were lesbians. Lesbians are teachers, doctors, lawyers, factory workers, police officers, politicians, ministers, movie stars, artists, mothers, nuns, truck drivers, models, novelists. You name it, we do it.


Lesbians are White, Black, Asian, Hispanic, Native American, Jewish, Catholic, Protestant, Buddhist. Lesbians are rich, poor, working class, and middle class. Some lesbians are in heterosexual marriages. Some lesbians are disabled. Lesbians are young women and old women. You name it, we are it.

Lesbians live in cities and in the country. We are everywhere.

NOW WHAT ?

How do I know if I'm a lesbian?

Tips for your first lesbian sexual experience
First Time Lesbian Sex Tips for your first lesbian sexual experience
Theres a lot wrapped up in your first time lesbian sexual experience. Whether its your first time having sex at all, or your first time having sex with another woman, being nervous is normal. Theres so much cultural hype about "your first time" and "losing your virginity." One thing is true, you never do forget your first time.

Heres some tips to get you through your first time lesbian sexual experience.

1. Get to know your own body. Before you can even think about turning someone else on, its good to know what excites you. Yes, Im talking about masturbation. Spend some time one-on-one with yourself. As you touch yourself and find the places that feel good, youll know where to touch her. And more importantly, how to tell her what turns you on.

2. Go sober. You want to remember your first lesbian sex. Sometimes alcohol or drugs can lower your inhibitions and make the first move easier, but youre not as likely to do or say something regrettable if youre sober.

3. Go Safe. Yes, lesbians need to worry about sexually transmitted diseases including HIV and AIDS. Read up on lesbian safer sex and be prepared to bring the topic up with your partner. Unfortunately, safe sex is still not talked about very often in the lesbian community.

4. Fantasize. It all begins with fantasy. If youre ready to sleep with another woman, you must have thought about it. What are those thoughts? Does she throw you down on the bed and have her way with you? Or do you go skinny dipping in your backyard pool? Theres a saying, you must imagine it before you can do it.

5. Leave the toys in the drawer. There will be plenty of time to learn about and play with sex toys. Let your first time be simple flesh-on-flesh love.

6. Relax. Take your time. Touch her all over. Dont got straight for her crotch. Undress her slowly, appreciating every newly exposed piece of flesh. Kiss her elbows. Touch her breasts. Blow softly in her ear. Kiss her neck. Caress her belly, her inner thighs. Kiss behind her knees. Smell under her arms. Massage her buttocks. Slowly suck on her fingers. Get naked and lay your body on top of hers. Theres so much erotic fun you can have before you ever even touch her pubic area. Enjoy.

7. Communicate. Ask her what she wants. Ask her if what youre doing feels good. Tell her where you want to be touched. Communication is key to any good sexual relationship. If shes doing something you like, moan or purr to let her know that feels good.

8. Have realistic expectations. Your first time with a lover should be about getting to know her body, getting to know how to turn her on and learning what your chemistry is. Orgasm may or may not happen the first time. Thats okay. The point is to get physical, get close, express your feelings of love or desire.

Celebrity Sex Outing

What about this sex with Jane Pratt thing?

Why is she publicly yapping about sex with Drew Barrymore, like some teenage boy conquest story. And she can't wait to go on the Howard Stern show and talk about it. It would be one thing to do this if Drew was in the closet and trashing lesbian rights and Jane really was a Lesbian, but she is straight and must need money, attention or both or why do this. Is is all about ratings to her radio show. I say we trash her show and protect the real Lesbian Rights. She has no right to disgrace love between two consenting adult women to gain her own importance. Apparantley, she has a show for public therapy of sorts, come on. She needs a whole lot of therapy and is a disgrace to women everywhere.

Her quote ""It was someone famous. I did have sex with Drew Barrymore. "One of my dreams is to return to Howard's show and tell him the truth about Drew Barrymore and me." , I am so glad I have much bigger dreams than this pathetic attempt to use lesbian sex and celebrity status to better myself.

Careful out there ladies. It is a Cruel world at times. I hope you can rise above it all. Have a Great Spring and Speak true where you can.

Lesbian Persecusion

Are Lesbian still being persecuted ?

Did you hear last week in the news about the Lesbian who says her own family, ashamed (I think we can all relate to that), they pummeled her and held her down while a stranger raped her. I, obviously find this disturbing on all levels. Did the family think this would somehow purify her or make her want to be with a man? They used sex with a man as punishment to her. And this was to make her stop wanting to love women.

If we can let our men and women go to war to protect Iraq and all the issues surrounding that, in the name of helping these people than their should not be a doubt in the mind of US agencies to bring this women out of the arms of her “loving family”.

I suppose this is all progress and bringing more light into the darkest of places, I just find it deeply disturbing and wish I could help her. I try very hard to not let anger and hate rise in me over people such as her family.

Google “Olivia Nabulwala” to read more about her sad story.

Gay Rights: Hate Crimes

Autopsy Shows Gay Activist's Death Not Hate Crime;

Family Rejects Findings 04.01.07 By Anthony Cuesta

The family of the 72-year-old gay man whose death became a national focus for gay rights advocates said Thursday they reject an autopsy report stating that he died of natural causes.
According to the Associated Press, Wayne County Medical Examiner Dr. Carl Schmidt said Wednesday that Andrew Anthos died of injuries likely suffered in a fall, and that the evidence did not support reports that he had been the victim of a hate crime. Detroit police announced that they were closing the case. Anthos died Feb. 23, 10 days after relatives say he was beaten by a young man who called him a gay slur, followed him off a city bus and hit him in the back of the head with what Anthos thought was a pipe. "If you want to say he wasn't murdered, OK. But you can't say he wasn't attacked, that it wasn't a hate crime," Anthos' cousin Athena Fedenis told the AP. Anthos’ death had been widely reported by the news media as a hate crime.
On March 2, U.S. Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., promoting new legislation, recounted on the Senate floor how an assailant "struck Anthos in the back with a metal pipe, leaving him critically injured, lying in the snow," reports the Detroit Free Press.
Matt Foreman, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, implicated religious conservatives soon after the death, reports the Free Press.
"The hatred and loathing that led to the vicious murder of Andrew Anthos only because he was gay is not innate," Foreman said in a statement. "Instead it is being taught every day by leaders of the so-called Christian right and their political allies."
But it was likely a simple movement, not a whack on the head, that felled the man, Schmidt said.
"He probably just flexed his neck," which caused arthritic spurs to compress his spinal cord enough to cause paralysis of his legs. After spinal surgery in the hospital, that numbness later spread to his upper body and caused Anthos to stop breathing, the Free Press quotes Schmidt saying. The only injury noted in the autopsy was a 2-inch-wide bruise on the back of Anthos' head, which likely came when he fell, Schmidt said. The injury was minor, he said.
According to the AP, the Triangle Foundation, a gay-rights advocacy group based in Detroit that has been counseling the family, said the case should remain open. It said that the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the case. "We absolutely believe that there was an attack based on (statements), especially Mr. Anthos' account," said Melissa Pope, the group's director of victim services, reports the AP. "It was based on the fact that he was gay, and therefore, a hate crime."

This website will mostly focus on Lesbian issues, However, HATE is
and issue for us all.

Family Judgements

Sometime, I forget that people do not "approve" of me. I go about my life in a consistancy of my own and do not reall stop and wonder who likes me, who is talking about me. And when it comes up, it sometimes blind sides me that now in 2007 that people seem to still feel threatened and somehow disapproving of "MY Lifestyle". One of my cousins told me the other day that another cousin, who has had a very very hard life-with lots of drugs and alcohol - multiple husbands and men in and out of her house and life like a revolving door. Apparantly, she calls here daughter, who is 8 years old, a Dyke and tells her that she looks like me. So a drug addict who is basically unsuccessful at life, abuses her children with her words and lifestyle, and is sexually over-active, judges me and tells her daughter not to be like me. I am a college graduate, a business owner, I am relatively healthy, I care about people and help people and consider my self to be a pretty decent person. I am not saying this to "toot my horn" I am saying this because I am shocked that all I am or ever do is based and judged on the fact that I am a Lesbian. It is painfully obvious that society has learned to tolerate us in their presence but that they do not get, nor want to get what it is we Really do, nor do they care of our accomplishments. It is sad that children of these kinds of people are subject to their belief. I am tearful that an 8 year old girl has to go through such things. And it makes me aware of the La La land I live in sometimes where I guess I either pretend, or don't care if people are judging me.

Stay Safe out there gals, and keep on doing what your doing. I approve of you and I am proud of you. Write the words ladies, take those photos, give love to all you can and know that you are walking in the white light and their judgement cannot hurt you unless you give your constant thoughts over to it or seek their approval.

take care