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Heap me roar
Lesbian Community Project
reconnects with women
by
ingle
L isa B radshaw
h-ch-ch-changes. Portland s Lesbian Com
munity Project has gone through them as it
continually has worked to reinvent itself to
meet the changing needs and wishes of its
community.
Since 1986, LCP has been “building commu
nity, fighting for justice,” as it says above its logo.
But the community comes and goes in waves, and
LCP has had to learn to roll with it.
Having watched LCP rise from the ashes more
than once, current leaders are not just hopeful but
positive that the organization is wanted and nec
essary, no matter what the political or social cli
mate. Several of LCP s leaders were eager to talk
about where the organization is headed during a
recent interview at 3 Friends Coffeehouse.
At the end of last year, the organization had
no staff director, a dwindling board and a low
membership. Enter Amazon Knightly. Down to
three board members including herself, she
encouraged— or “begged,” as she puts it— friends
with an interest in the project to join the board
on an interim basis, while she worked tirelessly to
raise money, keep the newsletter going and staff
the office.
Enter Kristan Aspen. Having served as inter
im director for LCP previously, she agreed in
January to step into that role again until the
organization found a permanent replacement.
She since has become that replacement.
During her first couple of months, Aspen
learned many women were out of touch with
LCP’s goals and the organization in general.
Going with the theory that LCP must reflect
what the members want, she spearheaded a sur
vey project, and questionnaires were mailed to
past and present members. “We needed to figure
out what women saw as the value of LCP,” she
explained.
The survey gave multiple suggestions as to
what they could be doing and the chance to
respond with any idea or concern participants
might have had. The results indicated the most
popular aspects of LCP were its social groups,
political work and forums on various issues.
nr
Thoughts
on overcoming
holiday blahs
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Continued on Page 1 7
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ILLUSTRATION BY KEVIN M OORE
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