In the 1970s, Bay Area Lesbians Created Their Own Economy | KQED

"You have to remember that many women who were identifying as lesbians were excluded from mainstream society - they couldn't get jobs, couldn't really be in formal education spaces. Here we are once again, in the contemporary, needing to rely on each other and create these mutual aid networks."

"It was so much about having community. Lesbians had been so invisible for so long, and so harassed. We needed a place for women to go, to be able to talk with each other about this women's liberation stuff, gay liberation stuff."

The Bay Area Lesbian Archives exhibit at the GLBT Historical Society Museum documents how lesbians built organized, self-sustaining communities in the 1970s and beyond. Excluded from mainstream employment, education, and social spaces, lesbian women established their own businesses, bookstores, and support networks along Valencia Street. Spaces like Old Wives' Tales bookstore became gathering places for community connection and discussion. While the women's liberation movement achieved legal gains on paper, lesbians remained marginalized even within feminist spaces. Today, amid resurgent anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, this historical example demonstrates how queer communities can thrive through mutual aid and collective care networks.

Read at Kqed