National March! On Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights: Official Souvenir Program Page: 15
44 p. : ill. ; 22 cm.View a full description of this pamphlet.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
No Man's Land: An Introduction
to Lesbian Culture
by Karla Jay
A Little Herstory
A people cannot exist without a culture-that is, a common set of
values and experience passed down from person to person, from
generation to generation. That is why conquering nations try either to
destroy the culture of those they wish to rule, as the Christians did to
the so-called heathens by forcing a new religion upon them, or by
absorbing the conquered culture into their own, as the Romans ab-
sorbed the Greek goddessess and gods.
Homosexuals and especially lesbians are in a unique position regard-
ing our culture. Unlike other groups which at least have memories of
having had their own culture at one time (however distant), homo-
sexuals and lesbians (all women, of course) have no memory of a time
in which we had a separate, viable culture, of a time when we have
not been subsumed into the heterosexual mainstream. Naturally, there
have been cultures in which homosexuals and lesbians were accepted,
and even honored (as in ancient Greece), but the homosexuality was
still incorporated into the mainstream culture and the people who
practiced it were not assigned a separate identity-i.e., homosexuality
was an act, not a lifestyle.
In the nineteenth century male homosexuality and lesbianism
emerged from a "sexual preference," isolated as a mere sexual inclina-
tion, to become a "way of life," a culture, and places where gay peo-
ple could meet one another, such as bars, formed. Lesbians and male
homosexuals first began to identify themselves as more than sexually
different.
We started to develop outward signs of a culture, such as language
to define types within our community, or sexual acts, for which there
was no "heterosexual equivalent." We also started to dress openly in
ways which were recognizable to other gay people, for clothing is a
cultural institution. When we think of certain peoples, such as Native
Americans or the Swiss, we immediately think of their "native
costumes." We also developed meeting places imitative of those
1978 by Karla Jay, exerpted from Lavender Culture, edited by Karla Jay and
Allen Young (Jove Books, 1979).
15
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This pamphlet can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Pamphlet.
D.C. Media Committee. National March! On Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights: Official Souvenir Program, pamphlet, 1979; Washington D.C.. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc276226/m1/17/: accessed June 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.