Magic Chickens
They hide in large closets
BY
A L L I A H
A N N ODY NE
hile I did not know it at the time, my
first “coming out” was when I was
about six years old. My natural father had
rented a room in the house of a gay friend
named Jon. During one of my visits, I told Jon
that I thought he was gay. Shocked, he
questioned my knowledge of the word. I told
him that it was good to be gay, but I left out
the part about knowing that he loved men. I
said that he was gay because he sang happy
songs in the shower. Everyone seemed upset,
suspicious that some had actually told me. But
I don’t recall being told. I may have sensed
that I would grow up and love women in the
same way.
W
hidden only from a hateful, ignorant society.
It was not something to hide from friends, it
was not a shameful thing. I was staying at the
house one night and my dad had gone out
with his future wife. Jon cooked dinner for
me and we had a long talk before we ate. My
recollection is hazy, but I know that I hinted
at by lesbian identity. I had no conscious
awareness of it, but I knew I wanted to talk.
It may have been obvious to him as I sat
explaining what a horrible time I had with
guys at a party the previous evening.
It was only about six months later that I
fell in love with one of my girlfriends from
school. I have never been so happy as the day
that I kissed my first girlfriend. After months
of being in love with her, I finally realized
who I was. I danced home with my new
lesbian identity. I was blown away at how I
had let myself overlook all of the signs. I
know now that it was possible for me to grow
up and be a successful person. I had worried
that I would make a horrible wife, that I was
too head strong to be involved in a traditional
marriage. I no longer worry.
I’d like to thank Jon and all the other gays
and lesbians who were open about
themselves, in and out of the home. This
gave me the message early in my life that
gays functioned positively in the world.
Because they were real people to me, I never
fell for the horrible lies society tells about us.
Real information outweighs fiction. Positive
role models are what led me to be
comfortable with being a lesbian. I wear a
pink triangle on my coat, and I ’ve seen
people look relieved to know for certain that
they were not the only gay people in the area.
I wear this button because I know my
reaction is the same. S o .. .let’s let the magic
chickens out!
▼
Recently, I remembered a running joke
that Jon and I had. I was too young to take it
for anything but face value. I ’m sure this only
added to the hilarity of it all. The joke was
that chickens were living in the large clothes
closet in his bedroom. I would walk in and
examine the shelves, looking for nests and
feathers. I would question, “where are the
chickens? 1 can’t find them.” He would
explain that these were magic chickens and
they hid from people other than him. They
could disappear at will. I was in absolute awe;
I ’ve always loved the presence of magic.
When I was 14, my father broke up with
his girlfriend. Needing a place to stay, he went
back to Jon’s house. By now, there were about
four single men living in the rooms of this
huge elegant house. They all trusted that I
would be discreet about the fact that they were
gay. I knew being gay was something to be
: R •■»/>!»« .
esbian Lists author, Dell Richards, will
be in Portland to discuss her new book on
Wednesday, April 18. The talk will be held at
7:30 pm at A W oman’s Place, 1431 NE
Broadway, and be followed by a book
signing.
Richards will be in the Pacific Northwest
as part of the Northwest Regional Gay and
Lesbian Student Conference at the University
of Washington, where she is giving a
presentation on lesbians throughout history.
Lesbian Lists, from Alyson Publications,
has more than 100 lists of people, places and
things that cover lesbian history from the
early Amazon era to modem times.
Richards has taken a wealth of information
and turned it into a fascinating look at
lesbianism through the centuries with more
than 1,000 names and short biographies,
ranging from lesbian writers and artists to
rulers and aristocrats, actresses and directors,
theorists and politicians, witches and nuns,
on-screen kisses and slow dances, torrid love
O P E N T U E S D A Y -S U N D A Y
( 503 ) 547-3329
N t.V t 1
LESBIAN
LISTS
A look at lesbian
culture, history,
and personalities
by
DELL RICHARDS
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Richards also has published the rape
journal and been anthologized in poetry and
small magazines nationwide, including Judy
Grahn’s True to Life Adventure Stories. She
also contributed a chapter to the book. You
Can Do Something About AIDS.
In 1987, Richards began syndicating
profiles of gay men and lesbians to gay
newspapers all over the U.S. The monthly
features currently are seen by more than
350,000 people in the U.S. and the
Netherlands.
▼
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942SS Hwy. 101 Y a o h ats, O tt 9749S
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TREK • PEUGEOT
MASI
Mountains, Forost, Sandy Boach,
Cavas, TIdo Pools, Trails, Suttos,
Studios, Kltchons, Hroplacos.
affairs, famous switch-hitters and lesbians
who passed as men.
“I felt compelled to write this book
because so much of our lesbian history has
been deliberately suppressed,” said Richards.
‘T o understand the present, we must know the
struggle our foremothers fought in the past.”
A fascinating look
at lesbianism
through the
centuries
L
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11 V April 199 C