Who Inspired You?

Tell us who inspired you to lesbian feminist activism. Who is one lesbian or woman who sparked the flame of lesbian-feminist activism in you? Maybe she was responsible for you attending a women’s rights march, or running for office, etc.

* Send us the name of your most significant shero.
* Add a sentence or two to briefly describe the reason(s) why and/or how she inspires you.

Both your shero and you can remain anonymous—just say so—since we will PUBLISH these here on our SLFAHP website.

Send your inspirational sheroes today to:
slfainspired@gmail.com

Rose Norman wrote:

I got my inspiration from Nancy Finley. At the time, Nancy Finley was the chair of the Sociology Department at my university.
Nancy said, “Let’s see who might be interested in starting a women’s studies program.”
She made feminism seductive, and she opened my eyes to structural causes of oppression. She walks the talk in all aspects of her life.

Merril Mushroom: My Most Significant Shero

Julia Penelope brought me out as a lesbian in 1958, carefully teaching me the rules, roles, and lingo of the gay subculture. Three years later, she raised my consciousness as a lesbian feminist. She taught me the power of words — to read and listen critically; to speak and write carefully; and to use language responsibly. 

B. Leaf Cronewrite wrote:

Here’s my feminist inspiration tale. In 1972, I was 25, not long out of graduate school, and I was newly hired at Shelby State Community College in Memphis, Mississippi. Ms Magazine was just published. Two of my “older,” thirty-something, straight women, teaching colleagues, Mina Johnson and Kathy Cowan, were constantly talking about Ms. Magazine.

I began to see women’s oppression for the first time. A few years later. we were all divorced! Those women also encouraged me to join NOW (National Organization for Women), where I found CR groups (consciousness raising). I also found there the Lesbian Task Force. Moving beyond theory and discussion groups, a few years later, I came out; and I became an activist.

In Memphis, Tennessee, I joined a picket line against smut movies. Then, I went to workshops in California, learning tactics to protest at nuclear power plants. By 1979, I rode a bus to Washington, D.C. for the National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights. Then…so much more!

Susa Silvermarie: My First Inspiration to Lesbian Feminism

My first inspiration to lesbian feminism: It was our musicians! In 1975, hearing Holly Near, Chris Williamson, and Meg Christian in a huge, Harvard auditorium, pulsing full of passionate and newly-awakened women, we were hearing for the first time the lyrics of our own lives!

An anonymous lesbian wrote:

I the 1970s, I loved the Black, lesbian music duo, Casselberry and Duprée. Jaqué Duprée and J. Casselberry were inspirations to us all.