. . . Rediscovered after nearly two hundred years, the story of [Anne Lister's] desire--and of the comic, gallant ways in which she satisfied it--seems especially poignant . . . . What Lister's diary suggests is that . . . the passion women find together has always existed, and we have only now begun to uncover its remarkable, lyrical history."--The Women's Review of Books"An interesting historical record, edited with great sensitivity . . . . [Lister] reveals her lesbian affairs with remarkable honesty, offering a rare insight into the mores of the time."--Sunday Independent"As a document of one woman's revolt against convention and as a celebration of love between women, this is an uplifting book."--The IndependentUpon publication, the first volume of Anne Lister's diaries, I Know My Own Heart, met with celebration, delight, and some skepticism. How could an upper class Englishwoman, in the first half of the nineteenth century, fulfill her emotional and sexual needs when her sexual orientation was toward other women? How did an aristocratic lesbian manage to balance sexual fulfillment with social acceptability? Helena Whitbread, the editor of these diaries, here allows us an inside look at the long-running love affair between Anne Lister and Marianna Lawton, an affair complicated by Anne's infatuation with Maria Barlow. Anne travels to Paris where she discovers a new love interest that conflicts with her developing social aspirations. For the first time, she begins to question the nature of her identity and the various roles female lovers may play in the life of a gentrywoman. Though unequipped with a lesbian vocabulary with which to describe her erotic life, her emotional conflicts are contemporary enough to speak to us all. This book will satisfy the curiosity of the many who became acquainted with Lister through I Know My Own Heart and are eager to learn more about her revealing life and what it suggests about the history of sexuality.

    Based on thirteen years of research and drawing upon the oral histories of forty-five women, authors Kennedy and Davis explore butch-femme roles, coming out, women who passed as men, motherhood, aging, racism, and the courage and pride of the working-class lesbians of Buffalo who, by confronting incredible oppression and violence, helped to pave the way for the gay and lesbian liberation movements of the 1970s and 1980s. Boots of Leather, Slippers of Gold captures the full complexity of lesbian culture; it is a compassionate history of real people fighting for respect and a place to love without fear of persecution.

    A critique of the lesbian sex industry's efforts to profit from women's oppression.

    Angelita is the hurricane that brings down a plane carrying a team of star-quality swimmers, groomed from childhood to compete at the international level. Babe Delgado is a young Cuban-American woman, presumed dead, who is rescued from the crash. Fifty-one hours in the Atlantic have left her scarred in body and spirit, afraid to compete again. Brenna Allen is a tough, driven swim coach at a small university, grieving for a lover lost to cancer. She finds solace in building her own winning team, driving her overworked captain, Ellie Marks, ever harder. Ellie is a child of holocaust survivors, struggling to own herself and her sexuality as hard as she's working to win. Brenna recruits Babe, promising to help her rebuild her damaged body, strength, and will. The Sea of Light is a story of wins, losses, and passions in a world where destiny and magic interfere with victory, where families are forced to reconcile with private hurts and false dreams, and where a redemptive, healing love between women - erotic and overwhelmingly intimate - stands in stark contrast to the expectations of the world. A sensitive, powerful tale of self-discovery, sexual identity, and violent emotions unleashed by sudden disaster, this novel is sure to command attention and acclaim.

    In essays on literary images of lesbianism from Defoe and Diderot to Virginia Woolf and Djuna Barnes, on the homosexual reputation of Marie Antoinette, on the lesbian writings of Anne Lister, Sylvia Townsend Warner, and Janet Flanner, and on Henry James's The Bostonians, Castle shows how a lesbian presence can be identified in the literature, history, and culture of the past three centuries.

    When Royce's father, Sheriff Grady Madison, was killed, his murder went unsolved. Haunted by her father's death, Royce vowed that no other murder would go unsolved in Timber City, Colorado. In this first intriguing mystery, Royce explores the boundaries of sexuality, family loyalty, and town fear as she searches for the murderer of her lover's best friend. Possible suspects abound in the murder of the wealthy Trish Chandler-Sumner. Was it her no-good jealous husband Luther, who also happens to be the current sheriff's brother? Could it have been Ray, the gentle, guitar-playing young Native American implicated by one questionable witness? When Valeria, the object of Royce's obsession, reveals that she was sexually involved with the murdered woman, the tables tilt. But who knew the truth? What mask hides the real killer? Unsolved crimes means we haven't struggled hard enough for the truth. I hate being robbed of the truth. And if we accept the blank page and tag an innocent person, we're accepting a lie. When law enforcers do that, the law becomes neutralized. Our inaction can put us on the inside of a mask looking out. No better than the perpetrator. Royce Madison

    

    By holding up the ideal of a pure and happy inner core, psychotherapists refuse to acknowledge that a certain degree of unhappiness or dissatisfaction is a routine part of life and not necessarily a cause for therapy. Lesbians specifically are now guided to define themselves according to their frailties, inadequacies, and insecurities.An incisive critique of contemporary feminist psychology and therapy, Changing our Minds argues not just that the current practice of psychology is flawed, but that the whole idea of psychology runs counter to many tenets of lesbian feminist politics. Recognizing that many lesbians do feel unhappy and experience a range of problems that detract from their well-being, Changing Our Minds makes positive, prescriptive suggestions for non-psychological ways of understanding and dealing with emotional distress.Written in a lively and engaging style, Changing our Minds is required reading for anyone who has ever been in therapy or is close to someone who has, and for lesbians, feminists, psychologists, psychotherapists, students of psychology and women's studies, and anyone with an interest in the development of lesbian feminist theory, ethics, and practice.

    Homophobia, lesbophobia, heterosexism

    'Belly Songs' is a collection of poetry, short fiction and personal essays that examine fat oppression and celebrate the beauty, strength and sensuality of 'fat' women.

    New works and treasured classics blend to show different aspects and telling details of lesbian culture: dress, food, music, literature, spirituality, sports, dwellings, relationships, sexuality, and theory. The list of contributors is enormous and wide ranging. Just about all the important and popular lesbian writers in all their different categories are represented.

    Eleven women writers turn their vivid imaginations to faraway planets, erotic futures, and sensual fairy tales, to celebrate sexuality and explore what it means to be a woman who loves women.

    "A phenomenal literary experience awaits you here." - London Free Press

    Discover the struggles and the triumphs of the women whose books have shaped so many lives. Dorothy Allison, Minnie Bruce Platt Leslea Newman, Lee Lynch, Joan Nestle, Katherine V.

    Armetha, a 5 year-old girl, begins her search for the common bond among families, by asking her friends, "who is in your family?"

    Memory, desire, identity, community, subjectivity, self-image, love and survival are scrutinized in this anthology of self-portraits by lesbian artists.