Everyday Mutinies: Funding Lesbian Activism by Esther D. Rothblum & Nanette Gartrell

Author:Esther D. Rothblum & Nanette Gartrell [Rothblum, Esther D. & Gartrell, Nanette]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Public Policy, General, LGBTQ+ Studies, Gay Studies, Human Services, Fiction, Lgbtq+, Social Policy, Social Science, Lesbian, Political Science, Sociology, Women's Studies, Gay
ISBN: 9781317992646
Google: _a_aAAAAQBAJ
Goodreads: 18565007
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2001-11-15T00:00:00+00:00

Rhonda J. Factor

Photo by Tage Lilja. Used by permission.

While Grier was exploring lesbian culture through collecting books in Denver, Colorado, and the Kansas City area, women in California were forming the first national lesbian organization in America, Daughters of Bilitis (DOB). Beginning as a social alternative to the bar scene, it subsequently became political through challenging negative images of lesbians and demanding lesbian rights (Faderman, 1991). Thus, when Grier came across The Ladder, the official magazine of Daughters of Bilitis, she was immediately drawn to it. She began subscribing in 1957 with its fifth issue. “I remember looking at that little magazine,” she recalled, “and thinking, ‘this is what I’m going to spend the rest of my life doing.’”

Given her passion for lesbian books, Grier was perfectly suited to write book reviews for The Ladder’s “Lesbiana” column. She then went on to become, first, the Ladder’s fiction and poetry editor, then the magazine’s editor, and finally its publisher. In her work with The Ladder, she corresponded with Marion Zimmer Bradley, with whom she assembled several early bibliographies of gay and lesbian literature—what they called “checklists.”

Running a magazine solely on volunteer labor was quite a challenge. All the time and energy that went into the magazine was done on top of a full-time workweek. Not doing the work she most enjoyed was out of the question for Grier, and making a living at it was equally out of the question. There was no funding from any outside source. The women who worked on the magazine had no choice but to rely on their own resources. “You wanted to get something done, you figured out a way to get it done.” Occasionally, a note in The Ladder would ask for donations: stamps or pens or typewriter ribbon. “Once a young woman sent us a box of pens,” Grier recalled. “We were just astonished. It was like somebody had sent us gold bars!”

The efforts and resources of the volunteers and the money from subscriptions were able to sustain The Ladder through the early ’70s. In 1972, The Ladder had 3,800 paid subscriptions but no advertising. At that time, no companies were willing to risk an association with a lesbian publication. Neither liquor companies nor tobacco companies even considered it. As the magazine grew, subscription costs no longer covered the cost of publication, and, without another way to increase income, the magazine could no longer survive.

The creativity and resourcefulness of Grier and the other women in the print media movement, however, meant that lesbian publishing would continue, albeit in a different form. The last issue of The Ladder came out in October of 1972. Soon afterwards, a woman approached Grier wanting to get her lesbian book published and distributed. Fortunately, this woman had a few thousand dollars to make that happen, and Naiad Press was started. Fliers were sent to The Ladder’s mailing list advertising the upcoming publication. Naiad was founded on January 1, 1973 and, one year later, Naiad’s first book was published.

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