A Queer History of the United States for Young People

sexuality in feminist discussions. “The Woman Identified Woman” played
as decisive a role as Carl Wittman’s “Refugees from Amerika: A Gay
Manifesto” did. It is still read and taught in courses about LGBTQ history.
Brown continued writing political essays and also began to write fiction.
In 1973, after moving to Los Angeles, Brown published the
semiautobiographical Rubyfruit Jungle. This was one of the first post-
Stonewall LGBTQ coming-of-age novels, a critical success that wound up
selling over a million copies.
Published by Daughters, Inc., a small feminist press, Rubyfruit Jungle
told the story of Molly Bolt, a refugee from the South, and her adventures
in New York City. Molly gets into scrapes, has love affairs, and finally
becomes a filmmaker. The book is filled with politics, humor, and explicit
lesbian sex scenes, which were shocking at the time. It became a model and
inspiration for many lesbian-themed novels that followed.
Brown went on to write for film and television and may be best-known as
the author of many bestselling mystery novels featuring the feline detective
Sneaky Pie Brown, a cunning cat who, because she knows humans so well,
is great at solving crimes.
Brown stopped being actively involved in the LGBTQ rights movement
in the 1970s. However, she continues to speak out on political topics,
including feminism, LGBTQ rights, AIDS, environmental issues, human
rights, and animal rights.
In “The Woman Identified Woman,” Brown and her coauthors caught a
truth at exactly the right moment. Lesbians were women but often had
different concerns than heterosexual women. They were homosexuals—a
word Brown would have used about herself growing up—but, as women,
had very different concerns than gay men. “LGBTQ” is a great acronym,
however, it is important to remember that each of those letters represents a
group that has specific, individual experiences that need to be articulated.
Working together—as the Lavender Menace knew—is important. Being
able to say who you are and what you need is equally important.