Looking for GCish lesbian groups

[JoanOgden]

Have namechanged for obvious reasons but have been on this board on and off for years.

After 20 years of being a crap, intermittent heterosexual, I have come to the realisation that I really do want to explore the possibility of shagging other women. Internet dating feels too full on, so really I would much prefer to get to know more lesbians and see if anything happens. However, from other recent threads it sounds like the whole scene has become very divided given the whole trans debate. I don't want to join any groups which are bound up in TWAW-type rhetoric.

Any views/experiences would be really welcome. I live in London and do have a couple of lesbian friends, but they are pretty settled and not really part of a wider scene. Thank you!

That is really sad and angry-making, @Shedbuilder. I imagine this is one of the reasons venues like the Glass Bar closed down (it was women only - including TW IIRC, but I imagine there weren't many pre-2008ish and they generally wanted to fit in with women, so presumably integrating them was manageable).

That's terrible Shed. I left London in 2000, and I remember very occasionally discussing the possibility of transwomen in lesbian spaces, but it never actually happened.

I guess it doesn't affect gay men in the same way. Maybe saunas is one way around single sex provision, though there was an incident a couple of years ago about one excluding a transman.

I guess it doesn't affect gay men in the same way. Maybe saunas is one way around single sex provision, though there was an incident a couple of years ago about one excluding a transman.

I imagine OJ & his friends would be much more understanding about a gay sauna remaining single sex than a lesbian bar.

Thanks for the sympathy. There is nothing better than a really good night where women can relax, out of the male gaze, and enjoy dancing and talking freely. I love the fact that the events I've helped organise have been multi-generational — women in their 20s all the way through to their 70s, all getting together because they enjoy being with other women — whether they're straight or not. Wear what you want, dance how you like — no competition, no need to impress. Very liberating!

This resonates with me. I am North East based and looking to meet a woman like this for the first time in a casual way.

I have tried and looked at dating apps and just not for me - I guess COVID has made things like this even harder. Anyone else in same boat?

I started to reply in what I hope was a supportive manner but couldn't get over the phrase "possibility of shagging other women" so gave up.

But I think there is quite a long conversation to be had about how women who are celibate, are in fact on the start of a journey towards becoming lesbian.

Again in the 70s there were discussions around this, far more than what is talked about ie "political lesbianism".

Anyhow have nothing really to add because lockdown, and social media makes me think it is hard to know how anyone can meet up and get to know others even on a purely platonic basis to start with.

But the BBC have posted this - a celebration of Lesbian Bars. Haven't dared watch it as being the BBC you wonder what their definition of lesbian is! www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-56866034

Just started on facebook:

Lesbian Strength Leeds – Lesbian Day of Visibility 2021 – Panel Discussion:
Julia Beck, Uma Conti, Lin Farley, Jodie Ray – Chair: Lauren Hamstead
26 April 2021 7pm (UK time)
Live on the Lesbian Strength Facebook Page
www.facebook.com/womanlovingwomen/posts/1908537632637283

Sorry for putting you off with my flippant phrasing, @stumbledin

The BBC piece about lesbian bars is actually really nice, though it evades any discussion of why they are so rare now, which makes it ring slightly hollow in the light of the posts above on this issue.

Visible lesbians on the BBC on Lesbian Visibilty Day? Whatever next!

shedbuilder your post said it all and I too am angry and sad about what we had and did which we can no longer do, I remember in the 70s the women’s monthly events when we could all be together, straight and lesbian having a good time, the place in Camden too in the eighties with live acts sometimes. The men have spoiled it all, and I’m y heart aches for w9men and young lesbians especially in these times. But thank you for all you did...