Social Justice, Women’s Health, and Social Services - Southern Lesbian Feminist Activist Herstory Project

Saralyn Chesnut of the Atlanta Lesbian Feminist Alliance (ALFA)

Saralyn Chesnut is second from left in this photo from the 2013 Creating Change conference. Pat Hussain is at far right.

“ALFA’s lasting legacy is in women’s lives. The field of women’s studies was not just created by the feminist movement, but by the lesbian-feminist movement.”

Posted on May 19, 2022 Posted in Culture and the Arts, Publishing, Publications, and Booksellers, Social and Political Groups, Social Justice, Women’s Health, and Social Services Tagged with AIDS, Amanda Gable, Amy Darden (Estelle), Atalanta, butch and femme roles, Charis Books and More, Chris Carroll, communal households, Communist Party, dinner co-ops, drag queens, dyke march, EEOC, Eleanor Smith, Elizabeth Knowlton, Emory Office of LGBT Life, Feminary, Feminist Women’s Health Center, Gay and Lesbian Pride, gay liberation, gender, Georgians for the ERA, Hairy Hobbits, Hobbit Habit, Hummingbird Heights, Julia Penelope (Stanley), Lambda Legal, lesbian feminism, Little Five Points (L5P), Lorraine Fontana, mental illness, Moosewood Cookbook, National Gay Task Force, nonmonogamy, Our Bodies, Our Right to Love, Ourselves, patriarchy, pulp novels, racism, rap/Consciousness-raising groups, Reagan, Red Dyke Theatre, Rita Mae Brown, Rubyfruit Jungle, Sappho’s Quarry, Saralyn Chesnut, Sinister Wisdom, Southern Baptist, Stonewall riots, UGA, Vicki Gabriner, white southerner, woman-identified woman, Womansong Theatre, women in print movement, women’s movement, Women’s Policy Group, women’s softball, WRFG

Southerners on New Ground (SONG): Then and Now

SONG cofounders, left to right, Mandy Carter, Suzanne Pharr, Joan Garner, Pat Hussain, Mab Segrest, and Pam McMichael. Few pictures of the whole group together exist, and this picture, taken in 2013 by Edie Daly, is no exception. Mab Segrest has been added (with her permission).

Southerners on New Ground (SONG) is an organization formed in 1992 to establish coalitions for social change. Interviews with all six founders are online.

Posted on March 17, 2022 Posted in Social and Political Groups, Social Justice, Women’s Health, and Social Services Tagged with activism, Administrations of Lunacy: Racism and the Haunting of American Psychiatry, Alliance Against Women’s Oppression, antiracism, Bayard Rustin Commemoration Project, coalitions, Creating Change, Diary of a Race Traitor, Fund for Southern Communities, Highlander Research & Education Center, Homophobia: A Weapon of Sexism, intersectionality, Joan Garner, Kentucky’s Fairness Campaign, LGBTQ, Mab Segrest, Mandy Carter, National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC), National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF), North Carolinians Against Racist and Religious Violence (NCARRV), Pam McMichael, Pat Hussain, Poor People’s Campaign, Showing up for Racial Justice (SURJ), social justice, spotlight, Suzanne Pharr, Transformation: Toward a People's Democracy, War Resisters League

Beth Marschak: Lesbian Activist for Civil Rights and Human Rights

Mary Dean Carter, Beth Marschak, and Terrie Pendleton, left to right, members of Richmond Lesbian Feminists.

My feminism began in college. I started a women’s lib group, organized the first Earth Day in Richmond, and got in jail for antiwar and civil rights actions.

Posted on March 16, 2022 Posted in Culture and the Arts, Lesbian Land Groups, Lesbian-Owned Enterprises, Publishing, Publications, and Booksellers, Social and Political Groups, Social Justice, Women’s Health, and Social Services Tagged with American Civil Liberties Union ACLU, Barbara Weinstock, Bessida White, Beth Marschak, CampOut, coalition building, Diversity Richmond, Equality Virginia, Fare Share Food Co-op, Gay Awareness in Perspective, Girls Rolling in the South (GRITS), Harvey Fierstein, International Women’s Year, InTouch, Iridian Gallery, Jacqui Singleton, Janet Grubbs, JERA Productions, Labrys Books, Lesbian and Gay Rights Rally in Monroe Park, Lesbian Womyn of Color, Luise Farmer, National Black Feminist Organization (NBFO), National Women’s Political Caucus, Organization for Women’s Liberation at Westhampton, Our Own Community Press, Phoenix Rising bookstore, Pine Camp Arts & Community Center, Purple Lady Productions, Richmond Human Rights Coalition Human Rights Award, Richmond Lesbian and Gay Pride Coalition, Richmond Lesbian-Feminists (RLF), Richmond Triangle Players, Richmond VA, Richmond Women’s Center, Richmond Women’s Festival, Richmond YWCA, RLF Flyer, Safe Sex Triology, Sharon Bottoms and April Wade custody case, Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), Third District Women’s Political Caucus, University of Richmond, Virginia, Virginia Coalition for Lesbian and Gay Rights (VCLGR), Virginia Commonwealth University, Virginia Gay Alliance, Virginia Lesbian Feminists, Virginia Women’s Political Caucus, Wanda Fears, Westhampton College of University of Richmond, Wild Western Women’s Weekend, women’s festivals, women’s liberation movement, women’s music festivals, WomensBooks, Woody Guthrie Community Center

Barbara “Bobbie” Reaux (Richmond Lesbian Feminists – RLF)

Barbara “Bobbie” Reaux gives us a fascinating glimpse of her courage and life struggles. She begins her story with her search for her natal mother.

Posted on March 16, 2022 Posted in Culture and the Arts, Social and Political Groups, Social Justice, Women’s Health, and Social Services Tagged with “Two Street” Festival, 2nd St. Festival, adoptive mother, Alexander’s, Babe’s, Barbara Reaux, Beth Marschak, Black community, Black schools, Bobbie Reaux, Bon-Air, butch women, Esau, Fearless Fly, femme women, Flournoy, Friends Association for Children, gay and lesbian marches, Hippodrome Theater, Jackson Ward, John Marshall, Maggie L. Walker High School, Maresia Harris, MCC (Metropolitan Community Church), Methodist, Raoul’s, Richmond Lesbian Feminists, Richmond Room, Richmond Women of Color, RLF, SAGE (Services and Advocacy for GLBT Elders), scandals, segregated, Tarhammer’s department store, Terri Pendleton, Tidewater

Category: Social Justice, Women’s Health, and Social Services

Saralyn Chesnut of the Atlanta Lesbian Feminist Alliance (ALFA)

Southerners on New Ground (SONG): Then and Now

Beth Marschak: Lesbian Activist for Civil Rights and Human Rights

Barbara “Bobbie” Reaux (Richmond Lesbian Feminists – RLF)