A Defining Moment…

You’d never guess it from my freshman year that I was going to be popular in college. I certainly didn’t plan on it or even plot it. It was just 1982, and I came out to myself and everyone else (except my family). And then there was an open position (or rather a huge vacancy) for a radical lesbian feminist student at UCLA. It was a wide open opportunity. I don’t think I had any competition except my girlfriend, who worked a different angle than I did.

At UCLA in those days we had special interest papers for ethnic, Jewish, LGBT and women’s issues. As a feminist I worked on the women’s newsmagazine, Together. I worked my way up from reporter to editor-in-chief. Finally, as a journalist I had become a BDOC (Big Dyke on Campus) and popular, at least with some people. But being a BDOC wasn’t all fun and games. The position had responsibilities too.

The LGBT student publication, Ten Percent (as it was known then) had lost its Business Manager, and if it couldn’t recruit another one, was facing shut-down. I struck a deal with the Chair of the Communications Board that if we could show support for Ten Percent in the form of a petition and a rally, the Communications Board would extend the deadline for finding a Business Manager and keep the paper alive.

I asked everyone to sign that petition to keep Ten Percent alive. People signed and signed. In a week I had close to 200 signatures. The campus Gay and Lesbian Association (GALA) got into the act and organized the rally for Ten Percent. We mobilized. Now remember this was 1983…it was UCLA but still it was 1983.

GALA got at least 12 different speakers for the rally. A crowd of at least 100 people gathered. Finally, my turn came to speak. All I could think to say was a rallying cry. So I raised my fist in front of that crowd and shouted “We’re gay and we’re not going away.” The other gays and lesbians in the crowd picked up the rallying cry and repeated it several times. Before long the whole crowd was chanting it.

From that moment onward, I knew what my heart’s mission would be in my lifetime. I had experienced my defining moment.

By the way, Ten Percent did get a Business Manager and is still thriving (albeit under a different name) today.