America’s Amazons: Lesbian Separatist Communities Dying of Attrition
The New York Times has a great article on one of the remaining Lesbian Separatist communities still in existence, although their ranks are dwindling.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/01/fashion/01womyn.html?_r=3&pagewanted=1
As a child raised by lesbians, I was aware of the contentious debate between lesbians of the time as to what place men could have in their lives. Although I had my supportive pack of lesbians dubbed “the Moms group”, there were definitely times when I felt estranged due to my genitals.
But I had no idea that there were actually communities of lesbians living together, man-free, in the woods.
“THEY called it a lesbian paradise, the pioneering women who made their way to St. Augustine, Fla., in the 1970s to live together in cottages on the beach. Finding one another in the fever of the gay rights and women’s liberation movements, they built a matriarchal community, where no men were allowed, where even a male infant brought by visitors was cause for debate.”
“BEHIND the gate at Alapine, about five miles from the nearest town in the southern Appalachian mountains near Georgia, the women live in simple houses or double-wide trailers on roads they have named after goddesses, like Diana Drive. They meet for potluck dinners, movie and game nights and ‘community full moon circles’ during which they sing, read poems and share thoughts on topics like ‘Mercury in retrograde — how is it affecting our communication?’”
“There is strident debate within and across the womyn’s lands about who should be allowed to join. Many residents subscribe to strict lesbian separatism, meaning that men are permitted only as temporary visitors and that straight, bisexual and transsexual women are also excluded.”
The article also has a great audio slide containing interviews with the womyn, and describes the difficulties they are going through attempting to recruit younger women into their ranks.
Tags: , Queer