BUILDING A LESBIAN COMMUNITY IN EDMONTON, ALBERTA ...

lesbian rights movement that led to the politicizing of lesbian groups in general.
In 1979 Toronto held the National Lesbian Conference with over 400 women from across
Canada. Attendance included ten representatives from Saskatoon. The objective ofthe meeting
was to establish a binational lesbian movement with a social and political base. Workshops
covered topics from lesbian mothers to lesbian culture and politics. At one point members
proposed a lesbian bill ofrights for job security, custody rights, child care, and non-sexist
education. 36 As a result, conference participants took the proposal back to their representative
groups to promote discussion ofsubsequent rights.
Even so, the equality measures taken by central organizations did not satisfy all female
participants ofthe CLGRC and NGRC. Because ofcharges ofbuilt-in sexism within gay
organizations, some lesbians sought answers on their own or looked to feminist organizing.
Others continued to work alongside gay men to spearhead lesbian and gay rights into the public
forum. Lesbian organizations raised important issues on behalfofthemselves and all women.
Though gay liberation groups critiqued dominant sex and gender roles, the masculine relation to
sexuality was set apart from the feminine. Thus, some lesbians began to challenge sexism in gay
liberation circles and formed autonomous groups.
On the local scene, lesbian communities in Edmonton devised unique ways ofdealing with
challenges in both the gay community and "straight" society. The Edmonton Journal reported on
a new "gay" self-realization course planned by women. The 10 March 1972 issue described a "gay
women's liberation as opposed to gay women who wish to create an isolated lesbian
36 ''Binational Lesbian Conference," Prairie Woman 3, no. 1 (August/September,1979): 12.
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