Kat chats to Nic who has a project called “Lost Lesbian Spaces” tracking spaces that have been erased around Australia and Susan Hawthorne, author and co-founder of Spinifex Press on feminist, lesbian and women’s books. We discuss the loss of large conferences and small due to trans inclusion, the impact on young lesbians and lesbian culture in general.

Lost Lesbian Spaces project
– https://lgballiance.org.au/lost-lesbian-space/

Les Fest
– https://www.noconflicttheysaid.org/post/lesfest-2004-cancelled
– https://www.greenleft.org.au/content/womans-place-struggle-lesfest-restricts-attendance-sparks-debate

Sapphos Party
-https://www.femininebyte.org/sapphos_party/
– https://www.noconflicttheysaid.org/post/lesbian-organizing-fear-of-being-taken-to-court

Women’s circus
-https://www.noconflicttheysaid.org/post/melbourne-women-s-circus-exclusion-as-the-cost-of-defending-women-s-space

Susan Hawthorne is the author of In Defence of Separatism and examination of why women’s spaces are important. Written in 1976 and finally published in 2019. Also, the book Vortex which includes a critical chapter on the ways in which women’s spaces are being affected.
She’s Adjunct Professor in the School of Humanities, James Cook University and on the CoAL Committee.

Here are some links:
Spinifex Press: https://www.spinifexpress.com.au/
In Defence of Separatism https://www.spinifexpress.com.au/shop/p/9781925950045

Vortex: The Crisis of Patriarchy https://www.spinifexpress.com.au/shop/p/9781925950168

Detransition: Beyond Before and After by Max Robinson https://www.spinifexpress.com.au/shop/p/9781925950403

Doublethink: A Feminist Challenge to Transgenderism by Janice Raymond https://www.spinifexpress.com.au/shop/p/9781925950380
Transgender Body Politics Heather Brunskell-Evans https://www.spinifexpress.com.au/shop/p/9781925950229
The Women’s Pool edited by Lynne Spender https://www.spinifexpress.com.au/shop/p/9781925950458

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