BUILDING A LESBIAN COMMUNITY IN EDMONTON, ALBERTA ...

within certain perimeters.
This thesis records the history ofWomonspace, a social and recreational organization, and
recounts the struggles ofa lesbian community to assert a more visible presence from the 1970s to
the 1990s. In this instance, Edmonton serves as a case study in which to examine lesbian and
lesbian-feminist activity in a mid-sized community. Edmonton's gays and lesbians managed to
establish grass-roots organizations, some times having a political role and others having essentially
sociocultural meaning. The reason for choosing Womonspace over other such organizations has
to do with its.unique aim to connect political groups with its own social focus.
Womonspace chose social activities to build community. The organization provides
lesbians with the confidence to extend their social and political capabilities elsewhere in the gay
and lesbian community. Building community leads to a political outcome- the expansion ofsocial
spaces. All the same, Womonspace narrowly defines the political to mean high profile radical
feminist activism. My stance on what constitutes political action is more broadly-based. The
political concerns a collective's ability to affect social change. The politics ofan organization is
not necessarily made obvious or public. A tendency to minimize the impact ofcertain
developments indicates a political component. It is my position that Womonspace is political
despite its social mandate. Because the fear of "outing" hampers the kind ofpolitical participation
undertaken, Womonspace depreciates its political role.
My methodological approach combines the use oftwo types offindings, the contents of
Womonspace News: The Voice ofWomonspace to the Edmonton Lesbian Community and oral
interviews. Analysis ofrelevant details from these sources identifies evident trends and themes
borne out ofthe history ofWomonspace. The newsletter linked lesbians to the social possibilities
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