One night Sylvia and I were talking about this and that, when Shakespeare’s sonnet #55 came up–where he brags about how his poem will live until the end of time; that is, until Judgment Day: “Not marble nor the gilded monuments/Of princes shall outlive this powerful rhyme…” I submit this humble response: Not sonnets […]
My Escape from New York
When I was in high school, my best friend Yehudit repeated a sarcastic line about New Yorkers’ provincialism: “The world ends west of the Hudson.” At that time I hadn’t been west of the Hudson River before and had no idea what the rest of the country was like. Ten years later, in February 1968, […]
Deals with the Devil
The other day a young friend expressed shock at Trump’s half-assed attempt at a coup. I’ve read comments in the news expressing shock at the attempt to overturn a legitimate election, at the attack on democracy. But anyone paying close attention to our would-be dictator over the last few years could have predicted it, as […]
In the Eye of the Beholder
In the case of Aileen Wuornos, the basic facts aren’t disputed. The question is one of interpretation. In her latest—and very provocative—book, Requiem for a Female Serial Killer, Phyllis Chesler presents a complex picture of this complex woman. Born in 1956, Wuornos was abandoned by her parents, beaten viciously by her adoptive grandfather, and raped […]
Backpack, Mic, and Tampons
I’d just started producing Lesbian Nation at WBAI when a student group at Arizona State U. invited me to speak. They were paying my air fare! I bought a one-way ticket, packed my mic and cassette, and flew out. My plan was to use the other half of the money for a hitchhiking trip around […]
A Brawl on a Boat
“I’ve got tickets to the Ms. party tomorrow night, but I’m not going,” Phyllis told me. “They’re yours if you want them.” I did. It was July 1973, and the first anniversary of Ms. Magazine. They’d rented a Circle Line boat for the celebration. Phyllis Chesler was a big name in the feminist literary world—Women […]
My Brief Radio Career
Early in 1972 Nanette Rainone, program director at WBAI-FM, asked me if I’d be interested in doing a lesbian show. Would I ever! I knew nothing about radio production but jumped at the chance. She told me to come in for training. WBAI—for those who’ve never lived in NYC—is a member of the Pacifica network […]
Sitting In, Getting Busted – III
1970 was drawing to a close when I got the call. A woman who I knew as a member of a radical feminist group summoned me to a meeting at their office. We were to gather on New Years Eve, wearing warm clothes and bringing sleeping bags if we had them. She wouldn’t say what […]
Sitting In, Getting Busted – II
On September 20, 1970, a pleasant Sunday evening, we were holding our regular Gay Liberation Front (GLF) meeting at the Church of the Holy Apostles when Ellen Broidy burst into the room and asked for help. Broidy was president of the Student Homophile League (SHL) at New York University. She had run the two miles […]
Sitting In, Getting Busted – Part I
1970 was a busy year for me. In addition to working on Come Out!, the Gay Liberation Front newspaper, and on RAT newspaper after we women took it over, I participated in numerous actions, including three building occupations. The first of these was on April 13, 1970, when I and eight other women barricaded ourselves […]