A friend wrote a post in response to my post about coming out in 2007 versus 2017, waxing nostalgic about her coming out in the late 1990s. You may not agree with all--or any--of it, but I hope you'll read it and share your comments, especially if you're a BW reader who came out before 2000. Thank you, anonymous awesome friend for picking up the Butch Wonders slack during a helluva tough work week for yours truly.
I was struck by the recent post about what it is like to come out as a lesbian in 2007 vs 2017... I realize I’m dating myself, but it made me think back to when I came out (in high school, in 1998). This was right around when Ellen came out, the same year that Matthew Shepard was murdered, and the year before "Better than Chocolate" came out (if you can believe such a year existed)--way before gay was cool (or even passe, which I think we’re rapidly approaching). And yet, I still think it was a better year to come out than the two decades afterward, for the following reasons:
5 Comments
K.
9/27/2017 06:23:58 am
Hey check out these. MAJOR NOSTALGIA! Clues that Ellen was coming out.
Reply
I am going to go a bit farther back. In the 1980s there was so much more lesbian community that one could tap into. There were real live women (lesbian) bookstores in many cities where you could find the dykes. There were bulletin boards with notes for roommates, softball teams, dances, political events, etc. We have electronic rather than in person communities now and I think that leads to a strange kind of isolation. I really miss that community feeling.
Reply
Jami Everett
10/22/2017 10:45:44 am
Great article. It really took me back.
Reply
J Mitchell
12/25/2017 07:50:55 pm
Fun article! Made me nostalgic for the 90s, when times were tough but there was a stronger sense of lesbian community :-)
Reply
liz
8/18/2018 01:03:32 pm
hey, 1997 here too! I rented Gofish so many times... the video clerk started giving me looks. I do miss having more female only spaces.
Reply
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
|