Also born today: Edith Eyde (who wrote under the pen name Lisa Ben) Eyde first identified as a lesbian in 1946, when she noticed that many of the other women in her apartment building did not spend time talking about boyfriends and breakups. One of the women asked Eyde if she was gay, and Eyde realized that she was. She began frequenting lesbian bars with her new friends and, while she was never directly caught up in one of the frequent police raids on such bars, was on one occasion questioned by police. Eyde began publishing Vice Versa in 1947 as a way of expanding her social circle. I was by myself, and I wanted to be able to meet others like me. I couldnt go down the street saying Im looking for lesbian friends...[Vice Versa] gave me a way of reaching out to other gay gals—a way of getting to know other gals....when I had something to hand out and when I tried to talk girls into writing for my magazine, I no longer had any trouble going up to new people. Eyde published nine issues of Vice Versa, from June 1947 through February 1948. She ceased publication after RKO was sold, forcing her to change jobs. Her new assignment left her no free time at work to type the magazine. She had also accomplished her goal of increasing her circle of friends, and she wanted to spend more time enjoying her new life rather than writing about it. Despite the short run of the magazine, Eyde is credited with set[ting] the agenda that has dominated lesbian and gay journalism for fifty years [by] introduc[ing] many of the characteristics that would define the myriad publications that would follow. n the 1950s, Eyde began writing for The Ladder, the first nationally-distributed lesbian magazine. The Ladder was published by early lesbian group the Daughters of Bilitis (DOB), of which she was a member. It was in writing for The Ladder that she began writing under the pseudonym Lisa Ben, an anagram of lesbian, when her first choice, Ima Spinster, was rejected. The Ladder also reprinted material from Vice Versa. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisa_Ben kcet.org/arts/artbound/counties/los-angeles/one-national-gay-lesbian-archives.html
Posted on: Thu, 07 Nov 2013 22:28:15 +0000
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