ABSTRACT
In the late 1960s there began in academic circles—both on campuses and in professional associations—a slow and painful awakening to the presence of women in higher education. Admitting that some of these women are lesbian has been an even slower and more painful process for many—in spite of the polemics and fact-finding of academic feminists. Since higher education opened to women in the 1800s, however, lesbians have been present in force. Hopefully the existence of Gay Academic Union and National Gay Task Force and their commitment to lesbian concerns will make it easier for Women's Equity Action League and Committee W of the AAUP to face up to the patterns of discrimination and instances of individual injustice their lesbian members experience. Local academic women's rights groups and their state or regional equivalents should familiarize themselves with state laws, court cases, professional licensing criteria, the ethical codes of their professions, and criminal codes that affect lesbians.
