“It’s so important to preserve lesbian history because we’ve lost far more history than we’ve ever preserved and the roadmap to our future is knowing our history.”
– Angela Brinskele, June L. Mazer Lesbian Archives
Itchy Bee Productions has announced a special free screening of the newly completed documentary LESBIANS IN BOYSTOWN at the Mazer Lesbian Archives in West Hollywood on Sunday, July 13 from 2:00–4:00 p.m.
LESBIANS IN BOYSTOWN explores the history of lesbians and queer women in West Hollywood. Following the screening, there will be a Q&A and discussion with filmmakers Betsy Kalin and Chris Chew, Angela Brinskele from the Mazer Lesbian Archives, Marna Deitch, and other participants in the short film as we explore our history and how to build a lasting queer women’s community today.
The film reveals the forgotten history of lesbians and queer women in West Hollywood, the first “gay city” in the U.S. The documentary honors lesbians and queer women through the history of Dyke Marches, the AIDS crisis, lesbian bars and cafes, and lesbian activism from the 1980s to the present day.
However, since the late 1990s, lesbian businesses and social gathering places like cafes, bars, and bookstores have been disappearing across the U.S. Sociologist Ray Oldenburg coined the term “third place” (home and work being the first and second) that neighborhoods need to thrive and, in many cases, survive.
In her book LESBIAN DEATH: DESIRE AND DANGER BETWEEN LESBIAN AND QUEER, Mairead Sullivan writes,
“The recent loss of lesbian space, specifically bars, bookstores, and music festivals, has led to an increasing anxiety that the lesbian is reaching extinction…”
Despite our culture’s predilection toward lesbian invisibility, the documentary proves that lesbian and queer women’s identities, politics, and world-building were clearly visible then as well as today. Queer women are invested in creating new physical and online third places. They are empowered by taking action, making their voices heard, and forging connections in their community.
This is a message that can inspire ordinary people to advocate for communities that they value and can benefit many in the LGBTQ community whose very identities are currently under attack across the U.S. The documentary ensures that West Hollywood lesbians and queer women will be visible for future generations.
This program is presented in part with the support of an arts grant from the City of West Hollywood and co-presented by the June L. Mazer Lesbian Archives.
LESBIANS IN BOYSTOWN features interviews with Diane Abbitt, Lynn Ballen, Angela Brinskele, Claudette Colbert, Lauren Costine, Marna Deitch, John Duran, John Heilman, MoJen Jenkins, Sheri Lunn, Alana Roshay, Nadia Sutton, Sepi Shyne, and Zekiah Wright — as well as original music by Shannon Hayden.
Angela Brinskele of the Mazer Lesbian Archives says in the film:
“I think that knowing this history is so important because we, as older people, fought for these rights. Women were never given anything. They fought for everything they got. And if you’re a young person and you don’t know all that, you don’t know why you need to fight, and you don’t know that you’re going to lose those rights if you don’t pay attention and you don’t fight for them. And that’s exactly what’s happening now in the world.”
LESBIANS IN BOYSTOWN will screen on Sunday, July 13 at 2:00 p.m. at the Mazer Lesbian Archives, 626 N. Robertson Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069.
Free validated parking is available at the West Hollywood Library Parking Structure.
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About the Filmmaker
Betsy Kalin is an award-winning filmmaker at Itchy Bee Productions. She was awarded an ITVS Humanities Documentary Development Fellowship for DREAMING IN SOMALI. Her documentaries VISION 2030: FUTURE OF SOCAL and its follow-up VISION 2021 were both Emmy-nominated. Her films EAST LA INTERCHANGE, ROOF, CHAINED!, and HEARTS CRACKED OPEN have been honored with multiple awards at festivals around the world.
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