Women's Liberation Radio News

In this extended interview, April talks with Danielle and Eileen of the Vancouver Lesbian Collective about their experiences at the 2018 Vancouver Dyke March and the climate for lesbians in an (ironically) increasingly sexist and lesbophobic queer culture.

Welcome back, sisters, to another hour of women's liberation music. This week I've gathered songs from my library that lend themselves to uplift. You know when you watch birds take flight and they catch the draft that pulls them effortlessly higher? Or if you watch pelicans over the waves in their V formation, how they lift up together, seemingly as one with the air currents? That's the effect I went seeking in this tapestry of songs this week. Not giving you a list to peruse ahead of time; just tune in and see where the V formation takes you. :-) I promise it will be entertaining and fun, uplifting. Hope you enjoy!

On October 25th, Thistle spoke with three lesbians by phone about their experiences at the San Francisco Dyke March on June 23rd. The march took place soon after the unveiling of the San Francisco Public Library's "art exhibit" featuring the Degenderettes' baseball bats and hatchets in barbed wire in addition to a red paint-stained t-shirt that said "I punch TERFs." The unveiling of this exhibit paved the way for anti-lesbian and anti-woman sentiment and harassment to thrive at the San Francisco Dyke March and also for anti-feminists around the world at other Gay Pride and Lesbian events to have a strong presence. Hear these three women share their personal stories and how they touched and influenced women across the globe. The song featured is "What's Up" by 4 Non-Blondes.

This show celebrates the authentic creative expression and powerful voices of womyn, undiluted by male interference. We hear about solidarity between womyn, mental illness and healing, the pure joy of female love and friendship, the pain of isolation that many lesbians experience, black butch life in 1920s America, the charisma of womyn who stand in their power, two luminous songs from womyn who are/were probably autistic, and a plea and a prayer from a working class womon that we can all wake up to our own power and empathy. 01 The Dresden Dolls - Girl Anachronism 02 Peaches - Boys Wanna Be Her 03 Bikini Kill - Rebel Girl 04 Robots In Disguise - Girl 05 Seven Year Bitch - Dead Men Don't Rape [Peel Session] 06 Natalie Prass - Sisters 07 Daphne Oram - Bird of Parallax [excerpt] 08 Cocteau Twins - Lorelei 09 Amy Winehouse - Valerie 10 Noisettes - Never Forget You 11 Eleanor Friedberger - Cathy With The Curly Hair 12 Corinne Bailey Rae - Put Your Records On 13 Gertrude 'Ma' Rainey - Prove It On Me Blues 14 Sarabeth Tucek - Get Well Soon 15 Lesley Gore - Better Angels 16 Kate Tempest - Tunnel Vision

If Halloween wasn't scary enough for you this year, listening to this podcast will send a chill down your spine as it is packed with stories from lesbians who marched in the streets and were met with violent harassment by fellow marchers at Gay Pride and Lesbian events around the world. Edition 31 starts off with Bikini Kill's "Rebel Girl", a spooky greeting from Jenna and then WLRN's world news as presented by Julia. "Welcome to Hell" an SNL skit is up next before the listener hears an excerpt of an interview WLRN's April did with Eileen & Danielle Cormier, two lesbians who marched in Vancouver at their regional Dyke March in August. That interview is followed by Pat Benatar's "Hit Me with Your Best Shot" before we turn to excerpts of an interview Thistle did with Sherri Golden, Giovanna Capone & Vanessa, three lesbians who marched in June at the San Francisco Dyke March. Finally, we hear Thistle's commentary on what the L is going on with the L in the LGBT and the personal targeting of her by trans activists in her local community. Thanks for tuning in to feminist community powered radio. Please consider a donation to WLRN to keep us blasting into the Femisphere and beyond.

Playlist: I Believe Her (acoustic and electric guitar) Emma's Revolution Cleanin' Out My Closet Trigger Warning! (Explicit rap) Angel Haze *You can read about this brave sister's story: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angel_Haze Casualty in My Own House (acoustic folk) Holly Near Abatina (reggae) Calypso Rose Me and A Gun (acoustic) Tori Amos Caleb Meyer (folk) Gillian Welsh Love is Blind **I chose the 'clean version' because I'm not comfortable (as a white woman) using a song that uses the 'n word' (Rap and Hip Hop) Eve Quarterback (country) Kira Isabella Liar (punk/heavy metal?) Bikini Kill Touch Me Again (Explicit punk/alternative rock) Petrol Girls The Body Electric (Alternative Rock) Hurray for the Riff Raff Closing song: We Will Carry Them Forever in Our Scars(shamanic) Carolyn Hillyer This week's music hour is intense, sisters. The theme in and of itself names an intense reality: male violence. The language/truth telling is brutal because it reflects the true brutality of male violence against women. Each of these female musicians bravely names the male agent of this violence and many of them describe it thru the telling of their stories via lyrics and sound. These stories stretch across the genres: acoustic, rap, punk, heavy metal, reggae, country, shamanic. Take care of yourselves, sisters. And, I hope you can find a way to listen, take the journey these women take us on. The words of Andrea Dworkin will accompany us too thru the rough rapids.

On June 23rd, the the afternoon of the San Francisco Dyke March this year, Bay Area author, filmmaker, and lesbian Giovanna Capone led a discussion on the herstory of butch lesbian culture present in the Bay Area in the 90s. On the call are Mel Stapper, Pippa Fleming, and Artemis Passionfire. We open the discussion with a poem written by Ms. Capone, titled Endangered Equals At Risk, read by WLRN's Sekhmet She-Owl.

This week, Phoenixx features Alix Dobkin in concert! Alix performed a sold out local house concert this past week! Phoenixx tried her skills at recording the concert, as well as interviews with attending dykes who had stories to share about Alix over the years. What a blast it was! Now we have these Lesbian songs, words and stories preserved with this week's Women's Liberation Music Hour! (actually it's more like an hour and a half!)Enjoy Lesbian Herstory being created and preserved! And thanks to all the dykes who contributed their beloved stories of such a beloved 'Dykon' as Alix Dobkin! That's her featured in the picture at the house concert. Thanks for staying tuned to WLRN.

Thanks for your patience. We are one day late so that we could make this WLRN podcast great! Our 30th edition features the world news read by April Neault, Julia's interview with Sheila Jeffreys and Thistle's interview with three young women who attended the Ohio Lesbian Festival last month and hung out at the WLRN table in the marketplace. The team at WLRN gives a special shout-out this October to our sisters in Great Britain who are coming out publicly and organizing with articulate arguments and good humor. Thanks for your work and for the inspiration! We focus in on the subject of Lesbian Feminism in this edition and are very grateful for the words of Sheila Jeffreys on this topic. Julia rounds off the podcast with her commentary about her experiences becoming a lesbian and why lesbianism is at the forefront of the women's liberation movement. Thanks for staying tuned to feminist powered community radio. Click on the donate button on our wordpress site to make a contribution to keep us blasting into the femisphere. To order Ms. Jeffreys' new book, follow the link below, but consider asking your local bookstore to order it so that you can get it at a lower price. https://www.routledge.com/The-Lesbian-Revolution-Lesbian-Feminism-in-the-UK-1970-1990/Jeffreys/p/book/9781138096578

WLRN's Julia Beck had the pleasure of interviewing Otep Shamaya, lead singer and namesake of the band Otep, about her experiences as a woman and out Lesbian in the rock scene. Otep was the first female-fronted band to headline Ozzfest. With politically inspired lyrics and heavy metal riffs, her music sends a message of revolution. You can find Otep's new album, Kult 45, online and in stores now.