BUILDING A LESBIAN COMMUNITY IN EDMONTON, ALBERTA ...

sexual acts and behaviours labeled a homosexual act. 24 Social construction theory emphasizes the
variability ofsexuality. As lesbian history writer Sheila Jeffreys observes, "There can never be a
fixed definition ofwhat it means to be a lesbian. 25 The socio-cultural meanings attached to sexual
behaviour are historically situated. Thus, social theorists question binaries such as homosexual/
heterosexual, male/female, gender roles, and patriarchal norms.
In recent years, evolving definitions oflesbianism have shifted the value and meaning of
what is socially acceptable. For example, homophile organizations active in the 1940s and 1950s
sought to educate the public by opening up their meetings to "experts" in the hope ofminimizing
differences between gays and straights. 26 These groups sought public understanding by
emphasizing their affinities to the dominant population to offset their sexual dissimilarities. In
contrast to the assimilation stance ofearly homophile groups, gay liberation propelled gays and
lesbians to publicly proclaim their sexual identity with a sense ofdefiance and personal pride. 27
Such a move towards self-determination radicalized the meaning ofcoming out ofthe "closet."
As Stein puts it, ''By the 1970s, lesbianism was viewed as a matter oftotal personal identity rather
than as primarily a sexual condition; it was regarded as subject to choice and changeable in
definition rather than as a given."28
24 Foucault, 101.
2SSheila Jeffreys, ''Does it Matter ifThey Did it?" in Not a Passing Phrase: Reclaiming
Lesbians in History, ed Lesbian History Group (London: Women's Press, Ltd., 1993), 14.
26 D'Emilio, 109.
27 Ross, 31.
28 Stein, 13.
7