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Tales of an American Lesbian - The Best of the Straight and Narrow 1986 - 1993
By Holly Valero
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Valero's Tales of an American Lesbian: a humorous poignant look at the past and indicator of the work remaining. Make waves!
It was the late 1980s. A time before email, the World Wide Web, desktop publishing, cell phones, and sadly, spellcheck. Today's LGBTQIA+ was missing more than a few letters and symbols.
I was a 21-year-old lesbian in search of a normal life working as the night shift disc jockey at WTTC radio, a 500-watt AM/FM station in the rural Pennsylvania town of Towanda.
My dreams of making more than $3 an hour and maybe even finding at least one lesbian my age took me to Concord, New Hampshire. It was there, in my mid 20s, that I began writing The Straight and Narrow, a monthly column series documenting the politically turbulent 1980s. The global AIDS epidemic coincided with early LGBTQ activism. The result was widespread fear, a lot of intolerance, and internal community strife.
Despite AIDS casting a national spotlight on the gay community, the lesbian population in the face of that epidemic simply disappeared. I wanted to remind the world – and lesbians – that we were still here, still queer, and still trying to get used to it.
Holly Valero's Tales of an American Lesbian: The Best of the Straight and Narrow 1986-1993 is a bit of a time capsule to me. Valero is about eight years my senior, so when she was in her mid-twenties and writing for The Straight and Narrow I was finishing high school and still unaware of my own identity as a lesbian. Now a few decades later, I find these essays bittersweet.
On one hand, now that my own marriage is recognized, it's nostalgic to look back at where we've been and think about our progress. On the other hand, after those victories during the Obama administration it is disheartening and scary to think about how we are in danger of returning to square one.
While LGBTQIA+ battles have been won since these essays were written, there is still much work to be done. And, many of the issues like our families and marriages not being recognized, being taxed without representation, and striving to really understand what it means to be a non-invisible lesbian are all still relevant. After all, it would take another 20 years past these essays before the US gained (technically) marriage equality.
Ultimately, there may not be a safety net for me. Or maybe we all have to learn to weave our own, using the past as a thread.--July 100- from "Image for sale--Slightly Used."
Even after marriage equality, we're still having to weave our own safety nets--just this year (2020) the Supreme Court ruled the Civil Rights Act of 1964 applies to sexual orientation and gender identity. Similarly, our government keeps pushing religious freedom in attempts to legitimize discrimination based on orientation and identity.
Like making waves in a pool of water, we work constantly just to see the waves. We can't take a break and enjoy what we have accomplished. As soon as we stop making waves, the water's surface closes in and quietly erases all that effort. --October 1990 from "A Boy Named Sue"
Valero's is right--we can't be complacent as we head into the election. While this is a collection of older articles, it could serve as a call to action. While Valero does a tiny bit of reflection in her final essay here from 2020, I would love to see a fully developed piece that ties all of the themes together and shows how we can't forget the past and sit on our laurels. We have to keep making those waves.
Angelic Rodgers
Angelic Rodgers lives in L.A. (Lower Arkansas) with her wife, two unruly cats, and two codependent dogs. Elegant Freefall is her fourth novel.
You can keep up with her at www.angelicrodgers.com and on social media (contact points are on her site).
Written by Holly Valero
Dropping By and Coming Out to Your Grandparents
Old people are fragile. Delicate. They don't understand these things. And for those children who get too pushy, "Don't tell your Grandfather/Grandmother. It'll kill him/her!"
In a word: baloney.
I'll grant you that grandparents can be a big challenge, but I can almost guarantee that if it's going to kill anyone it will be you.
On my Father's side of the family, my Grandmother was the original southern belle. First one on the hay wagon, ukulele in tune and vocal chords just itching for a rousing chorus of "I Got a Gal I Do." Lemonade always chilling in the fridge for any gentlemen callers and a porch swing well-oiled so as not to creak. She worried about me as only a southern grandma can.
What? Pushing eleven and still not interested in boys? She used to enquire in every letter about the status of my dance card and in person would recall her young swains, always assuring me that my attitude problem would radically change. Overnight, perhaps. Just keep reading Tiger Beat and everything will be fine.
Overnight? The thought of this wolfman-like transformation horrified me as I saw the day when my individuality would be suddenly but quietly erased. I'd wake up humming "I Got a Gal I Do," toss out my high tops and start squeezing lemons. I already had my own ukulele.
The attempt at imprinting did not work, however, and I found myself living two or three different lives depending on current company. At age fourteen my ulcer was alive and growing. Wanting to tell people who I was and deciding against it because they may not be able to handle the news. By the time I had screwed up my courage it was too late to tell my grandmother anything without the help of a Ouija Board.
My Grandfather was the true southern gentleman. In school he majored in martinis with an elective in barbecue. He did not know where anything was in the kitchen, but the lawns were meticulously well groomed. For years our only contact had been the usual birthday card with a crisp ten-dollar bill tucked inside.
As I got older, I made the effort to get to know him. He was set in his ways, but cute as a pin nonetheless. As we corresponded he became more and more interested in my marital plans. What's wrong with all the men up there? (Got a week?) Okay, here goes. I wrote him an honest, though delicate, letter trying to put lesbianism into larger, more bland terminology... mindful of the ever-warned impact this could have.
I sat at home picturing his crumpled body slumped over the mailbox, turning blue... one large vein standing out on his forehead near the left temple... and my opened letter clutched in his hand.
The letter I got back was basically "glad to hear you're happy and gay." He didn't get it. Subsequent letters were less delicate, but still did not contain the dangerous word "lesbian." Still no luck. Finally, I wrote a letter with the words "woman" and "sex" in the same sentence. I mailed it, palms sweating and heart pounding.
His answer? Are you a lesbian, dear? Why didn't you just say so? It's okay with me. Whatever makes you happy, sweetheart.
So much for the news killing him. The process had come close to wiping me out.
On my Mother's side of the family? My Finnish Grandmother had only lived in America for 60 years and naturally had never really bothered to pick up the language. I spent a year just learning the Finnish word for "coffee cake" and still had the pronunciation wrong. How would I ever translate lesbian?
Hanna Aiti (Finnish for Grandmother) had always held a special place in my heart. What little I knew of her personal history told me the story of a courageous woman overcoming incredible odds. I wanted to know her and wanted her to know me.
With my Mother acting as interpreter I managed to tell her. Her answer was a shrug and a "big deal," in Finnish, of course. I thought back on the many times I'd been told, "Don't tell your Grandmother!"
Of course, your Grandparents may be a different story. But, if you're interested in telling them the truth, try sitting down and sifting through all the misinformation you've collected over the years. Physical vigor may deteriorate over the years, but mental stability and a sense of live and let live seem to increase. Though I didn't write to my Grandparents as often as I should, I can at least share with them my joy of falling in love, fun with friends, work in CAGLR, you name it.
There's nothing drearier than writing an empty, I-am-fine-how-are-you letter. Except receiving one.
Holly Valero
Born in Miami, Florida in the early 1960's, Holly Valero grew up on a sheep farm in rural Pennsylvania. She became involved with LGBTQ rights in New Hampshire in the mid-80s, working for various LGBTQ newspapers, documenting the times. Holly lives in Southern Maine with her partner, Janet McKenney. view profile
Genre: LGBTQ (non fiction)
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