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PHOTO BY K.H KIMBALL
Lesbian Avengers test the activism waters once again— and the group
is ready to strike at a moment's oppression by Katy Davidson
Deborah Betron
Charis Palmer
Karen Bilsing
Broker, CRB, GRI
Broker
Scott Bottaro
Associate Broker, GRI
GRI
Lesbian Avengers member
Alison r^agKma«) h<*at**d
things up at last year's
L
Dyke March
Bridgetown
Realty
Gerry Federico
Kathleen Ira
GRI
Associate Broker
Chris Hardy
Congratulates
its Million
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Producers for
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Matt Bahr
George Marvin
GRI
U T T T
y e need more women—
%
m/
/ not for our own amuse-
% JL
/ ment— but we can’t take
% / % /
over the world with 10
▼ ▼
people.”
So notes Item No. 6 on the agenda of a
recent Lesbian Avengers meeting.
A glance around the somewhat stark Port­
land State University classroom shows there are,
as the agenda accurately describes, exactly 10
people present. -
Given that one of the Lesbian Avengers’
main objectives is to “subvert the dominant par­
adigm,” this bunch is— ironically— pretty sub­
dued, at least on this particular night.
The Lesbian Avengers is a national organiza­
tion founded as a direct-action group in the
early 1990s. Though the group is known for its
theatrics in trying to subvert the dominant par­
adigm, the Lesbian Avengers’ mission statement
is a serious one that expresses a desire for the sur­
vival and visibility of lesbians, bisexual women
and trans dykes.
The organization has grown exponentially
since it was formed, and now there are chapters
in cities and towns across the United States.
Because of the Lesbian Avengers’ outward
nature and no-fear policies and protests, mem­
bers of the group are often stereotyped as big,
scary dykes. This PSU classroom, however, is
filled with an array of folks, wearing ball caps
and carpenter jeans, work boots and skateboard
shoes; some sport groovy-colored hairdos.
Though the official purpose of the meeting is
to plan this June’s Dyke March, these young
women have also come together to end the hia­
tus the group has been enduring since last year.
(A Portland-area Lesbian Avengers group has
sprouted and then seemingly evaporated a few
times over the years.)
One girl suggests a reason for the Lesbian
Avengers’ more recent inactivity: “People just
aren’t being oppressive enough.”
The group snickers in reply.
Erin Sexton, a deceptively innocent-looking
Avenger who joined the group in October 1998,
backs up this analysis and says it is one of the
reasons the group hasn’t been as much a public
presence as usual.
“Living in Portland, there aren’t many things
to protest," she says.
In a spurt of activity two years ago, the Les­
bian Avengers went high-profile by protesting,
among other things, the Eugene gathering of
the Christian men’s group Promise Keepers, as
well as Exodus International, a group that aims
to help gay men and lesbians exit the so-called
“homosexual lifestyle.”
T he Lesbian Avengers of Portland also
became known for fire eating.
“We like to do attention-getting things,”
explains Sarah Barnard, a spiky-haired dyke
who has been a member of the group since 1997.
Lack of fuel hasn’t been the only cause of the
group’s downtime. Both Barnard and Sexton say
several active members moved away at the same
time last year, just as some other members were
busy and burning out.
Says Barnard: “We stopped meeting because
people got busy with work, school and other
activism.”
Sexton adds: “W e’re such a loose-knit group,
we don’t have any officers or anything. It takes
people a lot of energy and commitment to get
things going.”
Now that the coming Dyke March has poked
its head up over the horizon, however, some of
the old-school Lesbian Avengers are raring to
get back into business.
According to Sexton, the Dyke March,
which is traditionally held the night before Port­
land’s pride parade, is the biggest lesbian event
of the year.
“It’s such a visibility march— people feel
empowered just marching through the streets,”
she says. “Some people like it better than the
pride parade, because there’s people eating fire
and Dykes on Bikes and stuff.”
Last month, the Lesbian Avengers decided
the planning of the Dyke March was a good way
to increase participation. To get things going,
the group advertised its recent meeting across
Portland in hopes of bringing in some new faces.
And to light a spark of interest in everyone who
showed up, the members ended the meeting by
going outside and eating fire.
“W e’re testing the activism waters," Barnard
says. “W e’re looking for something to piss us off
so we’ll get off our asses.”
■ To help plan the D yke M arch or for more infor­
mation about upcoming L esbian A vengers m eet­
ings and activities, call (503) 452-5408.
1999 ...
BRI
JayPevney
Tamie Brown
Tracy Thomas
a*
503 / 287.9370
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