ABSTRACT
The early twentieth century saw an increase in lesbian visibility in some parts of Europe, notably Paris, where there was a community of artists like Gertrude Stein, Djuna Barnes, and Collette who hosted salons where lesbian women could socialize. Lesbian community building and political activism, like that of gay men, began in earnest in the 1970s after the Stonewall Riots of 1969. Lesbian feminism was a powerful force that united many gay women for the first time in the 1970s. Lesbian women and gay men worked together to form the first National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights in 1979. Bisexual and transgender people did not become part of this movement until later. The Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome epidemic that exploded in the 1980s eroded the separation that had existed between lesbian women and gay men and their organizations. While younger lesbian women may have come out to their parents and family, they still grapple with post-coming-out problems.
