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The article begins by describing Columbus as a city set in the 19408, "architecturally and psychologically." Cowtown 18 pictured as a bulltown where on dominate women, freely calling the girls, and, "I have never acon another woman apeak up for herself in the face of such shit." The Riggs-King match is Boon as taking procedence over the ERA here.

After painting a picture of Columbus, the author reluctantly adite there is a gay community in the midst of this desert. She describes how, "So:.ctime in the past the women (ali four of them) got tired of being put down by the men and broke away fro. GAL. The result of this split is stated to be GWS. And what did the author find in thie "basis"? "Here woek after week you can meet woon who are just peeping out of the closet." The author implies that none of the Women in Columbus are open about their gayness, that everyone is intimidated by the fact that they are gay, and we are all too frightoned to put up posters for a Women's dance.

The author concludee with, "What is nowhere to be found i women giving eachother support, giving eachother recognition for being right on. and here, where there is so little else that feels good, it would feel great.

We would be the last to argue that Columbus is not an oppressive city in which to live. Columbus always sccns to be the last to adopt progressive ideae, and progressive in regards to gay people it ain't. But what we do take great issue with in Sandra's article, is her great disservice to the atruggling gay community here, and to the woon who have fought extra hard to survive in the very ato8phere the author describes, one of great oppression.

Bandra is looking at Columbus through very narrow, biased lenses. For example, she states that four women broke from Gil to for GWS. This statement ia inaccurate both The history f in fact and figure.

this split goes back to 1971 when a group of women (many more than 4, Lore like 204) left GAL for a Sote of those variety of reasons. reasons were a ex: 1tent to fainia, a desire to support women and their activities while not being drained of useful energy by dealing with the Boxia of the en in GL, and other political philosophies.

It thie tine, the gay woon in Columbus formed Padicalesbians and from that point a series of groups and political thought have sterged, culinating in the fomation of GWG and the CG, which exist today, three years after the split. Since the time that gay liberation hit Columbus, (which has never been the same) there have always been individuals/groups of gay women actively and openly working for liberation.

From the state.ents made in Sandra's article, you have the 12pression of a city where love an pon support of women dare not be expressed, but, to the contrary, there have been any brave women shouting those words out loud and clear and acting on the openly. The question is not one of a lack of support between open, gay women but of the deafness of the community at large. We feel that it is the lack of recognition and support from the majority of the straight community and any gaya alike that Lake it s difficult for us living in the all-erican city and not the lack of support from our Sisters who are cut there working with us every day. Sandra's lack of support and recognition in her article is no exception. We find her concluding remarks a rip-off in that it disregards three of us working to

continued.