The Importance Of Community

Nov
2008

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For a long time I have not been active in the lesbian community in my area. Recently I have begun to miss that. A few weeks ago, I decided to get involved and start socializing more. I am lucky in that there is a very active lesbian club that meets less than a mile from my house. They sponsor all kinds of activities, from a bowling league, to singles dances, to community service events.

I wanted to start a book club. It was great. All I had to do was post a two line notice on the club message board and within a couple of weeks there were 20 members interested in attending the group. That is one thing I love about being a lesbian. After several years of not being involved, a simple post on a message board yielded a whole new group of women interested in the same thing I was.

It’s important to have a sense of community as a lesbian. It prevents you from feeling isolated. It gives you a chance to be with people that think like you do. It provides a place to meet other women. It is safe. It is comforting.

I’ve heard some gay people say that our real goal as homosexuals should be complete integration in society so that it is not necessary to have “gayborgoods” or same-sex clubs or segregated housing. But I’m not so sure. Yes, I want to be able to live anywhere, go anywhere and do anything with my lesbian partner. But I also like having a community experience with women who think and live like I do. My own preference. I guess I want to have my cake and to eat it too!

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Author: Pat Cheney
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Posted in Coming Out, GLBT, Girlfriends, Lesbian, Life, Living, Our Stories, Stereotypes
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2 Responses to The Importance Of Community

Less than a mile away–? How awesome is that!?!? Maybe I need to get out more, too, haha.
Have fun with the book club! <3

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by Tabby on November 12th, 2008 at 1:42 AM

Good thoughts, Pat…I often go back and forth about integration vs. having a community, and I think you can have them both. I think that by and large we find relief and relation in living in gay areas, going to gay bars, etc…because of social rejection and finding comfort in sameness, or the feeling that we share a commonality. What I often find to my surprise, is though we share a commonality in our oppression – experiences at work, society, etc…aside from that, I don’t necessarily have more in common with a gay woman than a straight one. So, it leads me to wonder, when the oppression ever ends, and there is no remains of it (should such a day ever come), would I still feel that connection to community?

I’m also Italian/hungarian by ethnicity. My relatives lived in Italian neighborhoods, spoke a common language and were equally rejected/stereotyped by society. Now that being italian isn’t considered much different than irish or anything else…it’s cool to be around others, and I’m even a member of an Italian society, but I don’t feel much pull otherwise.

We’ll see. Cool post though.

Jul´s last blog post..Mickey Rourke uses the “F” word…and it’s not the one I like doing.

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by Jul on November 12th, 2008 at 6:43 PM