Barbara Grier
Born: November 4, 1933
Died: November 10, 2011
Time in Colorado Springs: 1948-1950
Barbara Grier was a lesbian writer, publisher, and activist. She was the editor of the San Francisco lesbian magazine, The Ladder. In her essay in the 1980 anthology "The lesbian path," Barbara recounts the teenage years she spent living in Colorado Springs as a student at Colorado Springs High School (now called Palmer High School, from 1948-1950.
At the age of 12, Barbara came out to her mom, who took it incredibly well for the time. It was her mom that told her about the word "lesbian." Barbara used the term ever since. Her mom even wrote a letter to the magazine The Ladder about having a lesbian daughter, years before her daughter would become the editor of said publication.
I was a superior being, and I immediately felt that lesbianism explained why I had always felt superior.
Barbara went to Colorado Springs High School (now called Palmer High School) from 1948-1950. While there, she clashed with the school counselors over her identity.
I had a counselor in Colorado Springs High School, whose name I can't remember. She became very upset, not by the fact that I was a lesbian, but because I refused to keep it a secret. And I did upset her, to some extent. She would talk with me, then become so unnerved that she would cry and wring her hands and say, "Whatever will we do with you?
In 1948, when Barbara was 15, she met a woman in her 20's at a bus stop. After speaking a few times, the woman learned that Barbara was a lesbian. She went home to tell her mother about Barbara.
The next day, Barbara was confronted by two Colorado Springs Police Department officers at school, who brought her to the police station and proceeded to question her.
Things like "What do you do with your girl friends?" in reference to genitals and so on, and even some things I hadn't heard of, and some suggestions that hadn't occurred to me, which l remember thinking about with curiosity.
The police threatened her before taking her back to school with instructions to never speak to the young woman who reported her again, and to not go to said woman's place of work, the Peak Theater.
Now I had no interest in this young woman, which is rather remarkable, because I was interested in so many young women, but I was really annoyed by the ban on the Peak Theater, because I enjoyed that theater a lot. I resented having to give up one out of the five available theaters in downtown Colorado Springs.
Despite this unpleasant encounter with the police and the backlash from her counselors, Barbara continued being out and proud as a lesbian, often using her identity as a way to shock others.
I can't think of anything comparable today that would have the same effect. I did sort of create temporary catatonic states in people occasionally. But I enjoyed that. I mean that was like a weapon in the hands of a teenager. I was no different from any other teenager-that is to say, obnoxious, overbearing, arrogant, positive that I knew everything about everything.
Barbara went on to be an editor for The Ladder, the same lesbian magazine her mother wrote to when she was younger.
She went on to be a prominent member of the lesbian community,
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Key Dates
- 1948: Barbara Grier and her family move to Colorado Springs. She starts attending Colorado Springs High School (now called Palmer High School). She is frequently at-odds with her counselors, who are distressed by her open lesbianism.
- 1948: Barbara Grier is taken from school and questioned by two Colorado Springs police officers about her lesbianism. She is told to stay away from the young woman who reported her for being a lesbian.
Questions
References
Cruickshank, Margaret, ed. The Lesbian Path : 37 Lesbian Writers Share Their Personal Experiences, Viewpoints, Traumas and Joys. Monterey, Calif. : Angel Press, 1980. http://archive.org/details/lesbianpath37les0000unse. ↩︎