It was an enthusiasm that boiled over into those pages. — Edythe Eyde (image via University of Southern California) Before "The L-Word," before The Advocate, before Autostraddle -- Edythe Eyde wanted to make art for lesbians, by lesbians. In 1947, when she was just a 25-year-old woman working a day job as a secretary at RKO Movie Studios, Edythe brainstormed a way to kill her desk job boredom: she'd write and print a weekly newsletter for her own community of queer women living in Los Angeles. She knew a traditional printer wouldn't dare help her produce something so scandalous, so she meticulously typed and copied her pages on the office machines. She also knew that California law forbid sending "mail about lesbians," so she wrote under a pen name, Lisa Ben (get it? "lesbian" ... "Lisa Ben" ...). She distributed her work by hand in gay clubs and queer spaces, with simple instructions: "when you're through with it, please pass on to another lesbian."
A Woman to Know: Edythe Eyde
A Woman to Know: Edythe Eyde
A Woman to Know: Edythe Eyde
It was an enthusiasm that boiled over into those pages. — Edythe Eyde (image via University of Southern California) Before "The L-Word," before The Advocate, before Autostraddle -- Edythe Eyde wanted to make art for lesbians, by lesbians. In 1947, when she was just a 25-year-old woman working a day job as a secretary at RKO Movie Studios, Edythe brainstormed a way to kill her desk job boredom: she'd write and print a weekly newsletter for her own community of queer women living in Los Angeles. She knew a traditional printer wouldn't dare help her produce something so scandalous, so she meticulously typed and copied her pages on the office machines. She also knew that California law forbid sending "mail about lesbians," so she wrote under a pen name, Lisa Ben (get it? "lesbian" ... "Lisa Ben" ...). She distributed her work by hand in gay clubs and queer spaces, with simple instructions: "when you're through with it, please pass on to another lesbian."