Paulaemmalaize - Paula Du Sud

This woman's name, or more like her pseudo, is

Lisa Ben !

(yes, it's the anagram of the word lesbian)

Lisa Ben, real name Edythe Eyde, was born in 1921 and died in 2015. She was an American editor, fantasy author, fanzine contributor and songwriter. She created the world's first known lesbian publication, Vice Versa.

In high school, she fell in love with a girl for the first time. When this girl left her, the young Edythe, devastated, spoke about it to her mother, and her reaction was so violent that she decided to never again talk about her personal and romantic life with her parents.

After attending university for two years, and after saving for three years, she left her parents and moved, first to Palo Alto and then to Los Angeles in 1945.

By this time, she was already well known to science fiction fans for her involvement in fandom since 1941, with her numerous publications (cartoons, reviews) mainly under the pseudonym Tigrina (although we also know her real name) in various fanzines.

In 1946, she began frequenting lesbian bars, and although she was never caught by the police during one of their many raids, she was questioned several times by them.

She began publishing Vice Versa in 1947 to widen her social circle.

"I was lonely and I wanted to be able to meet other people like me. I couldn't just walk down the street and say: "I'm looking for lesbian friends". Vice Versa gave me a way to reach out to other gay girls - a way to get to know other girls ... when I had something to give away and was trying to convince girls to write for my magazine, I no longer had trouble finding new people."

While working as a secretary for RKO Pictures, she typed each issue of the magazine twice with five carbon copies, making a total of 12 copies of each issue (a technique that had been used for science fiction fanzines, of which she had extensive experience). She initially sent three copies to friends and distributed the rest by hand, in particular at the If Club, one of the first lesbian bars in Los Angeles and encouraged her readers to pass on their copies to friends rather than throwing them away. She estimates that dozens of people read each copy. Although careful to avoid anything that might be considered 'dirty' or risqué, she stopped sending copies after a friend told her she could be arrested for sending obscene material through the post. Publications dealing with homosexuality were automatically considered obscene under the Comstock Act until 1958.

Edythe Eyde published nine issues of Vice Versa, from June 1947 to February 1948. She stopped publishing it after the sale of RKO, forcing her to change jobs. Her new assignment left her with no free time at work to type the magazine. She had also achieved her goal of increasing her circle of friends, and wanted to spend more time enjoying her new life rather than writing about it. Despite the magazine's short run, she is credited with "setting the agenda that dominated lesbian and gay journalism for fifty years introducing many of the features that would define the myriad publications that would follow.""

In the 1950s, Edythe Eyde began writing for The Ladder, the first nationally distributed lesbian magazine. The Ladder was published by Daughters of Bilitis (DOB), the first lesbian group, of which she was a member. It was while writing for The Ladder that she began using the pseudonym Lisa Ben, an anagram of lesbian, when her first choice, Ima Spinster, was rejected. The Ladder has also reprinted content from Vice Versa.

Edythe Eyde rekindled her interest in music and began writing and performing parodies based on popular songs in a local gay club called The Flamingo. For example, I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter became I'm gonna sit right down and write my butch a letter. She was inspired to write her songs by a determination to create gay entertainment that was neither profane nor degrading to homosexuals, particularly after being put off by the jokes and self-deprecating songs made by performers in gay clubs. The Daughters of Bilitis released a single by Eyde, signed Lisa Ben, after fundraising. The record featured her own composition, Cruisin' Down the Boulevard with a lesbian version of Frankie and Johnny on the other side. Her music has been used in several documentary films.

At the age of 36, Edythe Eyde entered into her first and only long-term relationship, which lasted three years, until her partner gambled away all her money. Since then, she decided not to pursue another serious relationship.

She appeared in the 1984 documentary Before Stonewall, discussing her life and work and performing several of her parody songs. She continued to work in various secretarial positions until her retirement. She was honoured in 1997 as a founder of the Los Angeles LGBT community. In 2010, the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association inducted Edythe Eyde into its Hall of Fame.

She died on 22 December 2015 at the age of 94.

She left behind her a huge legacy and had a big importance for the gay culture and the gay community. For example, the National Association of Lesbian and Gay Journalists' Lisa Ben Award for Reporting is "designed to honor a journalist whose work stands out for its insight and impact through interesting features about LGBTQ people, the LGBTQ community or LGBTQ issues."

Her work for the lesbian community was very important and will never be forgotten.

Hope you enjoyed it and see you tomorrow !

1940’s - 1950’s ~ Two women on the beach