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Over the last two decades, urban researchers have investigated how gender shapes gay and lesbian geographies in major post-industrial cities. These studies demonstrated that while gay men have often produced highly visible territorial enclaves in inner-city areas, lesbian forms of territoriality at the urban scale have been relatively 'invisible' since their communities are constituted through social networks rather than commercial sites. Contrasting the patterns produced by these two populations in the inner-city areas of post-industrial cities during the 'queer' 1990s has created a gender-polarized and historically specific interpretation of their patterns of territoriality and visibility that may differ significantly from those of earlier periods. This paper, therefore, provides a long-range historical geography of lesbians in a major metropolitan area through a case study of Montréal's lesbian bar cultures since 1950. The focus of the analysis is on the preconditions that led to the establishment of the city's lesbian commercial enclave in the 1980s and the factors that led to its decline in the 1990s. This case study, therefore, outlines the shifting character of lesbian territorial practices at the urban scale in Montréal since 1950. It illustrates that in Montréal lesbian territoriality and visibility have been strongly impacted by local neighbourhood dynamics, internal ideologies, and political and spatial relationships with gay men. Ultimately, these findings suggest that contemporary lesbian visibility at the urban scale may have been undermined by an increased identification with the 'queer' forms of community and their territorialization in Montréal's gay Village. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the narratives of 57 older gay women about their experiences in gay women's bars in the United States during the pre-Stonewall era (1945–1969). Cartier's (2010) concept of “theelogy” is used to develop two parallel theories that illustrate the meaning of the bars for these women. Christian rituals are used to outline the socioreligious significance of the bars, while achieving self-acceptance is expressed through language that illustrates interconnectedness (including “to see each other” and “to have each other”). The article closes by addressing the significance of these theories and this approach to spirituality for the field of gerontology. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Sydney's lesbian scene changed significantly between the 1940s and 1970s from mixed private social networks to a more gender segregated public scene. For many lesbians in the early post-war decades, private friendship networks defined patterns of socialising and this impacted on the development of lesbian identity, limiting the scope for the emergence of distinctive lesbian subcultures and styles. Increasing numbers of women joined camp men on the commercial scene in the 1960s but the emergence of feminism in the 1970s prompted the development of new women-only spaces and encouraged increasing gender segregation on the commercial scene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores queer Japanese women's narratives of their own histories and the history of the “Japanese lesbian community,” which has been constructed as a space outside the heterosexual mainstream, a space where queer women can find at least temporary refuge. It begins with the acknowledgment that the evolution and the shape of the community, along with the identities of the women who comprise it, are shifting and contested. This article specifically looks at the long history of the lesbian bar scene as well as more recent history of lesbian dance parties; the early role of lesbian feminism and activism; lesbian community-based and commercial publications, paying special attention to the critical role translation has played in Japanese lesbian discourse and the construction of multiple lesbian identities; and, finally, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) pride events and film festivals, through which the larger LGBT community has been gaining increasing visibility. This article argues that while some of the building blocks of the community are borrowed, from the “West” as well as from the Japanese gay community, there has also been creative translation, adaptation, and resistance to these imports. The resulting Japanese lesbian community is a complex and local construct, an innovative bricolage firmly sited in Japan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Feminist researchers have acknowledged that racial differences between researcher and researched impact on the research process; however, there has been little concern with how "race" is actually made in/through the research process. If we think "race" as performative and as always in the process of being made then this theoretical claim has crucial implications for research encounters. In this article the author draws on her own research, which focuses on processes of racialization. This ethnographic study was conducted in two lesbian bars in the North West of England. The article illustrates different ways of how "race," in particular Whiteness, operated during the research process. The author critically reflects on her role in "race making" during this process and highlights the importance of acknowledging that researchers are also complicit in this making when doing research where "race" is not the central focus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last two decades, urban researchers have investigated how gender shapes gay and lesbian geographies in major post-industrial cities. These studies demonstrated that while gay men have often produced highly visible territorial enclaves in inner-city areas, lesbian forms of territoriality at the urban scale have been relatively ‘invisible’ since their communities are constituted through social networks rather than commercial sites. Contrasting the patterns produced by these two populations in the inner-city areas of post-industrial cities during the ‘queer’ 1990s has created a gender-polarized and historically specific interpretation of their patterns of territoriality and visibility that may differ significantly from those of earlier periods. This paper, therefore, provides a long-range historical geography of lesbians in a major metropolitan area through a case study of Montréal's lesbian bar cultures since 1950. The focus of the analysis is on the preconditions that led to the establishment of the city's lesbian commercial enclave in the 1980s and the factors that led to its decline in the 1990s. This case study, therefore, outlines the shifting character of lesbian territorial practices at the urban scale in Montréal since 1950. It illustrates that in Montréal lesbian territoriality and visibility have been strongly impacted by local neighbourhood dynamics, internal ideologies, and political and spatial relationships with gay men. Ultimately, these findings suggest that contemporary lesbian visibility at the urban scale may have been undermined by an increased identification with the ‘queer’ forms of community and their territorialization in Montréal's gay Village. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]