Don’t call it “gay lib,” says Ginny Berson, a pivotal member of the Furies. “Gay lib” doesn’t justify it.
This episode is an oral history with Ginny Berson and her comrade in the lacking revolution, Coletta Reid. They were both members of the Furies, a lesbian “separatist” activist group based in Washington, D.C., active from 1971 to 1972. They lived collectively and published a widely circulated and influential newspaper until 1973.
After the Furies, Coletta founded Diana Press in 1972, a significant publisher that amplified women’s voices and lesbian literature. In 1973, Ginny founded Olivia Records, an early and consequential all-woman record label.
This is the story of the Furies, told by two women who lived it.