The ''Lesbian Tide'' (1971-1980) was a lesbian periodical published in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

by the

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

chapter of the

Daughters of Bilitis The Daughters of Bilitis , also called the DOB or the Daughters, was the first lesbian civil and political rights organization in the United States. The organization, formed in San Francisco in 1955, was conceived as a social alternative to lesb ...

. It was the first lesbian periodical in the US to reach a national audience and the first US magazine to use the word "lesbian" in the title.

History

The ''Lesbian Tide'' originated in 1971 as the newsletter for the

chapter of the

(DOB), a national lesbian rights organization, and was called the ''LA DOB Newsletter''. The newsletter was run by young members of the DOB and their radical political stance created a rift between the editors and older, less radical members of the DOB. In December 1972, the newspaper formally split from the DOB and, with a change in title to the ''Lesbian Tide'', it became an independent publication with

Jeanne Córdova Jeanne Córdova (July 18, 1948 – January 10, 2016) was an American trailblazer of the lesbian and gay rights movement, founder of ''The Lesbian Tide'', and a founder of the West Coast LGBT movement. Córdova was a second-wave femini ...

(a former DOB member) as editor. When the ''Tide'' expanded its distribution from the Los Angeles region to other U.S. cities, it became the first national lesbian newspaper. Córdova's ambition was to create a newspaper that was as widely circulated as '' The Advocate'', which at the time was targeted towards a gay male audience. The ''Lesbian Tide'' struggled financially, however, and at one point its editors published a message to their readers: "WE ARE FLAT BROKE! PLEASE SEND MONEY!" Ultimately, the newspaper ceased publication in 1980. The ''Tide'' content was not purely lesbian-related; it also appealed to the broader

feminist movement The feminist movement (also known as the women's movement, or feminism) refers to a series of social movements and political campaigns for Radical politics, radical and Liberalism, liberal reforms on women's issues created by the inequality b ...

of the time and advertised services such as the Alcoholism Center for Women and

sex therapy Sex therapy is a strategy for the improvement of sexual function and treatment of sexual dysfunction. This includes sexual dysfunctions such as premature ejaculation or delayed ejaculation, erectile dysfunction, lack of sexual interest or arousal ...

workshops. Wiccan feminist

Cerridwen Fallingstar Cerridwen Fallingstar (born Cheri Lesh, November 15, 1952), is an American Wiccan priestess, shamanic Wiccan, witch, and author. Since the late 1970s she has written, taught, and lectured about magic, ritual, and metaphysics, and is considered a l ...

contributed to the magazine in the late 1970s, under her birth name Cheri Lesh.

Importance

The ''Lesbian Tide'' was the United States' first national lesbian newspaper. Writing for ''The Advocate'', Diane Anderson-Minshall said that Córdova and the newspaper's other writers "helped usher in the era of advocacy journalism ... It wasn't propaganda, but it wasn't quiet, just-the-facts-ma'am reporting either." In April 1973, the staff of the ''Lesbian Tide'' organized and hosted the

West Coast Lesbian Conference West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some R ...

in Los Angeles. The magazine's writers were also outspoken in their opposition of proposed censorship and obscenity laws in California, which they felt were

homophobic Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred or antipathy, m ...

and

antifeminist Antifeminism, also spelled anti-feminism, is opposition to some or all forms of feminism. In the late 19th century and early 20th century, antifeminists opposed particular policy proposals for women's rights, such as the right to vote, educat ...

. ''Lesbian Tide'' was "the newspaper of record for the

lesbian feminist Lesbian feminism is a cultural movement and critical perspective that encourages women to focus their efforts, attentions, relationships, and activities towards their fellow women rather than men, and often advocates lesbianism as the logica ...

decade" (1970–1980), ranked "highest in the criteria of journalistic excellence," and notable as the first American magazine to use the word "lesbian" in its title.

References

{{reflist, 30em Magazines published in California Magazines established in 1971 Magazines disestablished in 1980 Defunct women's magazines published in the United States 1971 in LGBT history Lesbian culture in California Lesbian history in the United States Lesbian-related magazines LGBT-related magazines published in the United States 1971 establishments in California 1980 disestablishments in California Biweekly magazines published in the United States