Lesbian Avengers Activist History with Kelly Cogswell

Journalist, activist and author Kelly Cogswell joins Tristan Taormino to talk about the history of Lesbian Avengers, queer activism and lots more. She talks about the inception, rabble rousing, direct actions, and ultimate end of the Lesbian Avengers. We discuss how the group internally grappled with race, class, culture as well as different goals; she shares her insight into social justice activism, what remains similar and what has changed. She shares her thoughts on the state of democracy and why we need free speech and fair media more than ever. She has an interesting take on the precarity of Roe v. Wade and the confirmation of ultra-conservative Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court. Why is the word lesbian important and what happens to lesbian visibility in a time of no labels and the proliferation of many more sexual orientations?

Prize-winning journalist and author Kelly Cogswell was awarded the Joan Heller-Diane Bernard Fellowship for her project documenting the Lesbian Avengers. Her book, Eating Fire: My Life as a Lesbian Avenger was a finalist for a Lambda Literary Award, a Publishing Triangle Award, and was also featured on The 2015 Over the Rainbow Project book list. Her most recent project is a new memoir, A Word of Our Own, which explores the word, lesbian, in stories about her body and life. She is locked down at the moment in Paris. Special thanks to Calm and Dipsea.