Lesbians In The News

[Kobi]

Transgressive lesbian photographer addressed the Lesbian Gaze.

[Kobi]

A Letter About Dying, to My LGBT Communities

by Jeanne Cordova, September 23, 2015

This letter is meant as a notification and thank you to the thousands of members of the national lesbian community whose activism, lives, and Ioves have touched my own. Especially those dykes who have become family and siblings of choice over the last 40 years. Yes, the rumors are true, I have metastasized to-the-brain cancer. I am dying from it in my cerebellum.

I have had cancer since 2008. Colon cancer. For the first four years I brushed it off, as I’ve done many times with physical illness or difficulties. I continued my activism with the Lesbian Exploratory project and I finished my third book, When We Were Outlaws. The cancer came back in 2013. Metastasized first to my lungs and then to my cerebellum. Yes, my head. With brain and back-of-the-neck cancer it has been a downhill experience the last three years, with multiple operations, radiation and Chemo. This February I had Chemotherapy. Among a host of side-effects, it’s given me “chemo brain,” which amounts, basically, to “getting stupid.” Just saying. This month’s so-called side effect is peripheral neuropathy. That’s from Chemo, they say, and it makes your feet, fingers and hands feel tingling and numb like when you fall asleep on your leg or hands. Only, it doesn’t go away. I can’t stand up without holding onto a wall or background support. I can’t feel where my feet are. Yeek! I freak myself out talkin’ about it! How about you?

A guru once told me, “We die in increments, one piece at a time.” She meant one part of our body suddenly ceases to work, an elbow or a tongue. Seemingly for no reason, like a worn out knee. This came as a surprise. I thought we get old or die…suddenly, and all at once. Not so!

Many of us have gotten cancer and died. I write publicly to the women who have defined my life because I want to share this last journey, as I have shared so much of my activist life with you. You gave me a life’s cause. It is wonderful to have had a life’s cause: freedom and dignity for lesbians. I believe that’s what lesbian feminism is really about, sharing. We built a movement by telling each other our lives and thoughts about the way life should be. We cut against the grain and re-thought almost everything. With just enough left undone for our daughters to re-invent themselves. Death should be a part of life. Not hidden, not a secret, something we never said out loud.

Being an organizer and journalist in the lesbian, gay, feminist, and women of color communities—and loving it–has been the focal point, of my life. It has been a wild joyous ride. I feel more than adequately thanked by the many awards I have received from all the queer communities, and through all the descriptions and quotes in history books that have documented my role as an organizer, publisher, speaker, and author. Thanks to all of you who have given me a place in our history.

From the age of 18 to 21, I painfully looked everywhere for Lesbian Nation. On October 3, 1970, a day I celebrate as my political birthday, I found Her in a small DOB (Daughters of Bilitis) meeting. That’s when my life’s work became clear. Shortly thereafter I became a core organizer for two national lesbian conferences, one of which re-directed my path to create The Lesbian Tide newsmagazine, a national paper of record, as the historians say, for the lesbian feminist generation. And on it went for multiple decades of marches and later online organizing–this time intersectionally, to include all of me and my Latina identity.

Somewhere in the middle of all that I, somewhat accidentally, invented the Gay & Lesbian Community Yellow Pages, a first for our by-then national tribe. This Los Angeles 400-page guide that helped us still-half-hidden people to connect, politically I thought initially, with businesses and professionals that spoke to us within our own identities. That it did, but this directory and lucky timing in life-long real estate, also enabled me to fulfill an early personal vow to give back half of my estate to our movement. I do this with Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice (out of New York City) and other organizations. I believe it so critical to our transforming movements to leave our estates to our LBGTQ charities, not some errant heterosexual relation we hardly know! More on this political news and views to follow. (*1)

I believe that cancer or any terminal disease is the luck of the draw. As my mother used to say of my Aunt who was also a nun of 90 years, “At that age, you got to die of something.” I have read the obituaries in Lesbian Connection (*2) these last years as they chronicle the passage of my 2nd wave generation. The one message that rings out clearly is that so many, many in these pages were activists who articulated social justice in their local or regional spaces. Many dykes making change. So many of you or loved ones have gone through death rituals these last years. It makes me feel like one-of-the gang … again!

I really don’t know when or if I can write again. Mental competency and all that. The choice appears to be living with chemo forever off and on, or dying. I will make that choice soon enough. In the meantime, please write or speak your own truth in living with dying (*3) to your lesbian newspaper or my blog below(*4).

I want to say THANK YOU to all of you who have loved another woman-identified-woman, who have loved me, or have loved Lesbian Nation. I wish I could still write about this kind of love more eloquently. Lesbians do have a special love for one another. I have felt it many times when women are with each other. I am happy and content to have participated in it for most of my very full and happy life. Least you be too sad, know that I have this kind of love not only with my family of choice, but with a straight arrow spouse with whom I have journeyed these last 26 years.

https://www.frontiersmedia.com/front...dbye-photos/3/

[*Anya*]

Thank you Kobi for posting this:

"A Letter About Dying, to My LGBT Communities

by Jeanne Cordova, September 23, 2015"

As someone that came out in the late 70's and also has read all of her books; I feel as though I know her.

This makes me profoundly sad.

The "old timers" are dying out and the younger lesbians will never know the early days of marches, protests and sisterhood in the same way.

I recently found an old picture of my first women's festival in the early 80's. There were so many bare-breasted women surounding a drumming circle- I thought I had died and gone to heaven.

Jeanne was one of many women that preceded me and made it easier for me to come out as a lesbian. I have never regretted doing so.

If you have not read her third book, "When we were Outlaws", you will love it.

Bye to Jeanne,

from another resident of Lesbian Nation.

[Kobi]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday overturned an Alabama judicial ruling that had refused to recognize a gay woman's parental rights over three children she adopted with her lesbian partner and raised from birth.

The court took the relatively unusual step of reversing the Alabama Supreme Court without hearing oral arguments in the case. Cases are decided in that fashion when a lower court ruling is considered to be particularly counter to Supreme Court precedents. None of the eight justices dissented.

The adoptive mother, identified in court papers as V.L, said she was overjoyed with the ruling.

"When the Alabama court said my adoption was invalid and I wasn't their mother, I didn't think I could go on. The Supreme Court has done what's right for my family," she said in a statement.

The court said in an unsigned opinion that the Alabama court was required to recognize the woman's parental rights because they had been legally endorsed by a court in Georgia.

The ruling said the Alabama court's interpretation of the law was "not consistent" with prior Supreme Court decisions. Under the U.S. Constitution, state courts are required to recognize judgments issued by courts in other states.

The Alabama Supreme Court, led by outspoken conservative Chief Justice Roy Moore, has a history of hostility to gay rights. For example, it dragged its feet in implementing the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark ruling last June legalizing gay marriage nationwide.

The Supreme Court had already intervened in the case once before. In December, the court ordered that the Alabama ruling be put on hold while the woman filed a formal appeal of Alabama Supreme Court's September ruling.

Lawyers for the woman say the Alabama ruling had "effectively stripped V.L. of parental rights over the children she had raised since they were born."

V.L. was formerly in a relationship with a woman identified as E.L., who is the birth mother of the three children, a 13-year-old and 11-year-old twins.

In 2007, a court in Georgia granted V.L.'s petition to adopt the children in a move that E.L. agreed to at the time. The couple split in 2011 and disagreed over custody arrangements.

V.L. filed papers in Alabama seeking joint custody. Lower courts ruled in her favor before the state's high court ruled in favor of her former partner.

The state appeals court said it did not have to endorse the Georgia court's adoption order. But the Alabama Supreme Court said that the Georgia court did not have jurisdiction to issue the adoption order.

The two women were not married.

story

[*Anya*]

Lesbians Suing New Jersey Over Law Requiring Heterosexual Sex Before Insurance Covers Medical Procedure

August 12, 2016 By Allen Clifton

A great way to see how utterly ignorant parts of our nation have been (and continue to be) is to look at some older state and local laws – many of which are still, technically, in practice today. Such as a law in New Jersey concerning insurance companies and the legal requirements for covering fertility treatments for couples.

As reported by NJ.com: State law requires large insurance providers to cover costly fertility treatments for patients medically unable to have children. The couples take issue with how the law defines infertility, which includes the inability to become pregnant after one or two years of unprotected sex, depending on a woman’s age.

Basically the law requires any female who wants her health insurance to cover fertility treatments to have sex with a male for one to two years before they will approve paying for the procedure. Which poses a slight problem when you’re a lesbian.

Because for a lesbian to abide by this law means that they would be required to have sex with a gender to which they aren’t sexually attracted. Well, at least if they wanted their health insurance to cover fertility treatments — which is a completely and totally ridiculous requirement.

Well, two lesbian couples are challenging the New Jersey law as unconstitutional for essentially preventing same-sex couples from receiving fertility treatments based on sexual orientation. While the law doesn’t specifically ban health insurance companies from providing fertility treatments to lesbian women, being that lesbians aren’t attracted to men, it sets a “rule” that’s clearly discriminatory toward the LGBT community.

To its credit, Horton Blue Cross Blue Shield released a statement that seemed to be trying to one-up the idiocy of the 2001 New Jersey law: Horizon covers infertility services equally regardless of sexual orientation. We interpret the 2001 New Jersey law defining infertility in a gender and orientation neutral manner and our coverage standard complies with federal non-discrimination requirements.

Members unable to conceive due to medical or biological reasons are covered for the specific infertility benefits included in their policy. Horizon is committed to equality, values our LGBTQ members, and is sensitive to their unique healthcare challenges and needs. We regularly review our standards and procedures to ensure parity and fairness for all of our members. So, the health insurance company is claiming that it is “committed to equality” and “values” its LGBT members — yet doesn’t seem to think that requiring lesbians to have sex with men for one to two years prior to approving fertility treatments is pathetically wrong and a gross violation of their rights.

At what point in any other situation — anywhere — would requiring anyone to have sex with someone they’re not sexually attracted to and/or don’t want to have sex with be an acceptable requirement for approving a medical procedure? What I would like to see is Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield answer is this: If they’re not discriminating against same-sex couples, and they care about equality, then how, exactly, would a lesbian couple be approved for fertility treatments since they don’t have sex with males?

I get that their argument is that they’re simply “interpreting the law,” but by ignoring the reality that lesbians don’t have sex with men, you choose to ignore the fact that this law is highly discriminatory. Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield has the ability to do the right thing here, but they’re simply choosing not to, using this antiquated law as their excuse to discriminate.

This entire situation is simply asinine. In a normal world where reality mattered, New Jersey lawmakers would quickly move to repeal this outdated law which would pave the way for same-sex couples to be treated equally, or Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield would do the right thing by using common sense in these matters. Instead, we’re looking at a state where Governor Chris Christie certainly won’t allow this law to be repealed and the insurance company is hiding behind this law because they simply don’t want to pay for something they don’t have to — even if that means outright discriminating against homosexuals.

This is a great reminder that, even though it’s 2016, we still have a long way to go in the fight for true equality for the LGBT community.



Read more at: http://www.forwardprogressives.com/l...ual-sex-video/

[homoe]

Kristen Stewart, currently promoting her Woody Allen flick Cafe Society and the sci-fi movie Equals opposite Nicholas Hoult, finally spoke about her private life. She is very much in love with her girlfriend and former personal assistant, Alicia Cargile.

[~ocean]

Originally Posted by homoe

Kristen Stewart, currently promoting her Woody Allen flick Cafe Society and the sci-fi movie Equals opposite Nicholas Hoult, finally spoke about her private life. She is very much in love with her girlfriend and former personal assistant, Alicia Cargile.

I wonder if they got married if she would be Kristen Cargile < too sweater'ish lol Alicia Stewart would be better on a mailbox. lol