The Lesbian Avengers
By Deldelp Bernal Medina
I attended two meetings prior to this interview and found the Lesbian Avengers to be not only extremely well-organized but also a very open and energetic group of women trying to change the system in their own way. The interview took place during the "social committee" at Blondie's bar in a cozy booth while old fashioned blues strains played.
I've organized the interview by topic rather than chronologically to simplify the myriad of subjects we discussed. We once digressed into the media coverage of the Bobbit-que. Also at one point we began, for some unknown reason, to speak a number of foreign languages. Suddenly I found myself listening and participating in conversations in Spanish, French, German, Russian, and, if I remember correctly, Hungarian.
The women I talked to come from a variety of backgrounds. Sabrina Mazzoni, who has been a member since October, is an Italian emigree. Christine Layleur, a newer member, is a polyglot transgendered woman. Nora Gause has only been with the Avengers for a month and has enthusiasm written all over her. Tiffany Higgins wasn't able to talk much due to other pending engagements but did help on the Avengers'general info.
Past Actions
Sabrina Mazzoni: We had "Coming Out for the Holidays" in conjunction with W.A.C. (Women's Action Coalition) where we had dyke Santas. Also last summer we had a political funeral for a lesbian that died of AIDS - the Joan Baker march and rally - to say lesbians do get AIDS. It was what attracted me to the Avengers. It was a very dignified, elegant event. Not only that, but they've done a lot of work in the AIDS community and are not being counted in statistics. At the Bobbit-que (A weeny roast in honor of Lorena Bobbit), we had a lot discussion on whether or not we wanted to do this action, the reason being: is this a women's issue? Is it a lesbian issue? It got a lot of success just because of the media coverage of that case over all. But what really made us do it was the state of Virginia and the legal injustices to women on many counts. Sharon Bottom is a Virginia resident who is a lesbian that has been denied custody of her kid because she is a lesbian. Actions are not just visible but informed about why and what's behind the action. We have fact sheets: marital rape is legal in Virginia.
Tiffany Higgins: It was sensationalist; frying sausages up, we tried to bring attention to Lorena Bobbit as a immigrant woman and how the media treated her. S.M.: We planned this action out so that it wouldn't be misconstrued as a bunch of dykes wanting dicks to be cut off, because we got a lot of input from gay men calling our hot-line saying, "Stop hating men, stop hating men." And that was not at all our intent.
How to plan actions
S.M.: Doing an action is not just sitting back and thinking about it. It's a lot of work and planning. Some might call it "in your face" types of things. They raise awareness, raising the issue and being visible. We think strongly about how it is going to be perceived. We make sure they don't perceive something we don't want them to perceive. Even if they misconstrue an action next time they'll be talking about, "there was a lesbian action there." My main concern is that lesbian awareness has been raised, lesbian visibility is out there. Dyke, for that matter, because we are inclusive.
Nora Gause: No, I haven't planned an action...yet. Having been in other parts of the country and then moving to San Francisco it is really easy to become complacent. It is easy to say: there is a huge gay and lesbian population, it's really open, it's pretty much accepted, we don't have to worry about it. And that is not true. You can never be too "out," that's one of the things I believe. I don't always follow it, and that is something I'd like to work on. To me, the Lesbian Avengers really work because they work on their problems; they might not get solved immediately, but attention is focused on them. Burn out and how to prevent extinction
Christine Layleur: Look at what happened to queer nation and ACT-Up. The question - this is a rhetorical question - is how do we galvanize the people? How do we get them off their butts? The voice of activism is lost; look at what happened to Queer Nation. But it also has to do with the need to change over time. It needs to adapt in terms of a very overused word, environment. To be in tune with the political environment, not to change its politics but its style.
S.M.: Specifically in the Avengers, what I've witnessed is too few people doing too much of the work. In fact we are constantly making sure that doesn't happen, because we are aware of Queer Nation . There is a group 12-15 people who try to pass the ball around when they are feeling burnt out. She asked, how do we galvanize the people? Our idea is to do more actions so that people know about us.
Political Correctness vs. Inclusiveness
S.M.: I use the word dyke because it is easier. A lot of us would rather be defined as queer women. The reason we've addressed this issue of bi and transgendered women, for one thing we are that. The group has been very dynamic in its making.
C.L.: The very thing that attracted me to the Avengers besides their name - which is really hot, I've always totally loved Ms. Emma Peel, her and her leather - was their inclusiveness. It is not just words. They've had a transgendered woman as treasurer. They've had the courage to weather storms from less inclusive members of the women's community - such as separatists, who view transgendered folk as the enemy, as a tool of the patriarchy. Agent Christine reporting to Washington. Hello, J Edgar? Hello, Bubba? Reporting in - Hillary, are you there? My gender is not a democratic issue. It's my self-identity and that's something I've felt from a very early age. Just as we have felt we are lesbians from a very early age. So for me inclusiveness is when people aren't trying to oppose my identity .
S.M.: Going back to p.c./non-p.c., the Lesbian Avengers and its core group don't dwell on "is it this way or another?" We let out what we think, we pass around the room saying what we feel about an action, but we don't hold grudges.
C.T.: We don't have a party line.
S.M.: Exactly. We don't follow a P.C. line of only saying certain things because we are going to get people in the community angry.
C.T.: In the first place P.C. was a term coined by the F.B.I. in their Co-Intel probes back in the 60's. It was a term used for divisiveness, to send political groups squabbling internally. What makes the Avengers not P.C. is not developing a party line. A party line might need to be developed for a specific action. The Avengers are not a dictatorship. Some other groups that go with this P.C. line often end up being dominated by a few central personalities. One of the lessons that the Avengers have learned is the rotation of facilitators and offices on a regular basis, so that it doesn't become a club, so that it doesn't become a clique or a personality cult around a person or persons. S.M.: Actually, we've experienced that and have dealt with it. The Lesbian Avengers have set up this social committee where we air out things and discuss them further. We don't take them personally.
The last word
N.G.: There is a lot of joy. The meetings are a little tedious - everybody knows that. But there is a lot of joy in this group.
General Info on the Lesbian Avengers
The Lesbian Avengers was formed the summer of 1992 in New York city. It's concept is to repair the political inequities and the lack of lesbian visibility. While lesbians have contributed to many different political causes (i.e. the women's movement, A.I.D.S. coalitions etc..) not much work has been done on lesbians' issues. There are currently 20 chapters of the Lesbian Avengers nation wide. With new groups springing up everyday. The San Francisco chapter is "A direct action group of lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered women focused on issues vital to our survival and visibility." To contact them you may call their hot-line at (415)-267-6195. Meetings are currently being held at Build, 483 Guerrero St. between 16th and 17th, every Monday at 7:00 PM sharp.