Making a Scene

Lesbians and Community across Canada, 1964-84

By Liz Millward
Categories: Political Science, Gender & Sexuality Studies, Women’s Studies, History, Canadian History, Geography, Geography
Series: Sexuality Studies
Publisher: UBC Press
Hardcover : 9780774830669, 328 pages, November 2015
Paperback : 9780774830676, 328 pages, June 2016
Ebook (PDF) : 9780774830683, 328 pages, November 2015
Ebook (EPUB) : 9780774830690, 328 pages, November 2015
Ebook (MobiPocket) : 9780774830706, 328 pages, December 2016

Table of contents

Introduction

 

Part 1: Creating Places

 

1 “The Lesbian, Drinking, Is Never at Her Best”: Beer Parlours, Taverns, and Bars

 

2 “No Drugs, No Straights”: Members-Only Clubs

 

3 “Let’s Decide What We Are – A Drop-In or a Café with Entertainment”: Buildings

 

Part 2: Overcoming Geography

 

4 “It Was an Incredible Conference”: Getting Together

 

5 “An Event That Is Talked About as Far Away as Toronto”: Claiming Public Space

 

6 “Be Daring – Live the Unbelievable and Challenging Life of a Rural Lesbian!”: Outside the Big City

 

Conclusion

 

Notes

 

Bibliography

 

Index

A celebratory history of how lesbians found one another and created a political and social scene across Canada.

Description

In the 1960s, a youthful and ambitious lesbian movement began taking shape in Canada. After decades of being pathologized, disparaged, or erased from public view, lesbians were ready to make a scene – both by calling attention to themselves and by creating places to come together and forge their own culture. Making a Scene tells this story, revisiting the spaces lesbians created across rural and urban Canada, from physical locations, such as bars, bookstores, and members’ clubs, to ephemeral sites, such as conferences, festivals, and protest marches. Enriched with interviews, this volume captures the exuberance and challenges of this transformational period.