Lesbian Strength: Paula Boulton’s speech, MC script and song lyrics
Welcome to Lesbian Strength Leeds
Hopefully the first of many.
We have come together to celebrate our strength as Sapphic Sisters united by our love of women.
This is Lesbian Revival.
I have 3 Rs for us.
Reclaim our Roots, Rebuild our Community, Resist Erasure.
Reclaim. Rebuild. Resist.
As is our way – we all do what we can. And what a lot that has been. Each contribution counts – however large or small.
Whatever part you have played and will continue to play – remember we are only as strong as our weakest link. So make those connections. Weave the web. Spin the Yarn because we are here to stay!
In case anyone is unsure what a Lesbian is – I invite you to join us singing Lesbian Singalong.
Lesbian Singalong
Wherever you travel wherever you go
You’ll find a lesbian keeping you in the flow
We drive buses and
We can mend cars
You’ll find a lot of us singing in choirs (fa la la)
Chorus: Lesbian singalong
Lesbians deserve to have some fun
Highlight our virtues, discover our pearls
Everyone benefits from a lesbian in their world
Wonderful teachers and marvellous mums
Providing the best for our daughters and sons
Excellent at tennis
And football, of course
Horseriding, badminton, all kinds of sports (tra la la)
Chorus:
Comforting, humorous, fun-loving friends
Sharing life’s journeys through twists and round bends
Offering sustenance, nurture and care
Walking together and using wheelchairs
Bridge: We climb up mountains
We sail on seas
Fly through the atmosphere as pilots or by trapeze
We maintain the health service practically on our own
Nurses and doctors or answering the phone, the phone ..
We write gripping novels
We act in stunning parts
We’re found everywhere
In media and the arts
We chanted Free Nelson Mandela
We marched with the Suffragettes
Opposed cruise missiles at Greenham
Your ain’t seen the last of us yet
Before we bring on our fabulous speakers I have 10 points to make.
Point 1:
Why are we in Leeds? Up North for a change where we say it like it is!
And it is only 5 hours from Glasgow!
Leeds has a proud Herstory of women’s activism – not least of which was WAVAW (Women against Violence against Women)
They know a thing or two about Lesbians in this part of the world.
There seems to be something in the water. So I say keep hydrated.
Not too far from here in Halifax a certain Anne Lister knew what a Lesbian was before the word was even used. To quote her, “I love and only love the fairer sex, and thus, beloved by them in turn, my heart revolts from any love but theirs”
Let’s channel the swagger of Anne Lister!
Point 2:
Why are we a threat to Patriarchy?
Looking out at you I don’t see a fierce or scary bunch.
We are a threat because we reject the phallus.
Point 3:
The L-word. Definitions matter. Words matter. We know what Lesbian means. Women In Iran, South Africa, Ukraine know what Lesbian means.
Point 4:
So refuse to use Newspeak. I read 1984 on holiday – read it or reread it as it is frighteningly contemporary. And remember – to quote Orwell
“Freedom is being able to say 2+2=4”
Point 5:
Reject the nonsense of the alphabet soup, which lets people wrap themselves in rainbows whilst feeling virtuous, and allows companies to grab cash from a newly-created, ever-expanding market.
Point 6:
Stonewall used to know what a Lesbian was but seems to have forgotten
Point 7:
Some of us have been around a long time and have long memories
We remember Clause 28
We are used to being incognito, being invisible. We know how to exist like that.
If needs be we can do it again. Not all of us have been assimilated.
Point 8:
We know how to network. 37 years ago, way before mobile phones, we managed to get 30,000 women to surround the base at Greenham common.
In those days we were up against a shoot to kill policy when stopping Cruise convoys. We were up against the American Military. In fact we were up against the entire military industrial complex.
So we understand threat. And we know a thing or two about the long game.
Point 9:
We know how to build movements.
To quote Marge Piercy, “It goes one at a time. It starts when you say we and know who you mean, and each day you mean one more!”
Point 10:
Looking out at the crowd I see the symbol of the double headed axe. We need to use the Labrys to cut through the crap. So let’s turn out the gaslights and turn on the torchlight of truth.
This march and Rally is dedicated to Magdalen Burns, a young Lesbian who has been shining that torch consistently.
Please welcome Nicole Jones who will speak about Magdalen and her work.
Lauren Hamstead will speak about her experience as a young lesbian.
Charlie will speak about detransitioning.
Louise Moody will speak about Acadaemia.
Sandra McNeill will speak about life for Lesbians in the 70s and 80s
Eilean Mulligan:
Paula and I are part of an eco-feminist lesbian theatre collective called “Keeping Earth Company”. Back in the time Sandra just spoke about we were not concerned for the environment. This song is called Frequency and it is a song for our time.
Frequency:
The alarm bells are sounding
‘Cause something is wrong
Deep in the waters
Hear it in the whale’s song
In the cries of the curlews
In the howling of the wolves
There’s a dangerous disturbance
As the Planet Earth evolves
But!
We are the carrier wave
Of the frequency
Ending patriarchy
We are the carrier wave
Of the frequency
Ending patriarchy!
We are the Women who refuse to conform
We’re part of the web of life and the Earth we live on
It’s in our nature, we’re of Woman born
We’re taking back control and this is our song!
We are the carrier wave
Of the frequency
Ending patriarchy ( x 2 )
We are the Lesbians who have never conformed
We love Women, we’re proud and we’re strong
It’s in our nature, we’re of Woman born
Lesbians around the world are singing this song:
We are the carrier wave
Of the frequency
Ending patriarchy ( x several )
Paula: Please contact us if you are interested in being part of the collective as we need culture, song, photos, films, books, paintings, sculpture – oh and TV series!
Gentleman Jack:
Behind her back she’s Gentleman Jack
A Yorkshire lady of renown
Ever so fine
Won’t toe the line
Speak her name the gentlemen frown
At Shibden Hall she had them all
The fairer sex fell under her spell
Dapper and bright
She held them tight
Handsome Anne seduced them well
Gentleman Jack
Oh Gentleman Jack
Watch your back you’re under attack
Their husbands are coming
You’d better start running
For nobody likes a Jack-the-lass
Jack-the-lass
Jack-the-lass
No-one likes a Jack-the-lass
The code is cracked
Your bags are packed
The knives are out for Gentleman Jack
Proud and stout
And full of clout
She played the fellas at their game
Sharp of mind
She’s one of a kind
Devilish ways the men couldn’t tame
Hidden away
Revealed today
Loaded words in diaries found
Wants exposed in a baffling code
Lusty letters all leather bound
Chorus
Linda Bellos is our final speaker
Paula: To finish the rally we are going to sing the Vagina Anthem by the Hungry Hearts. They sent us their blessing. Tonje said she wrote it for women speaking out. The video that is projected behind them as they perform changes all the time and it includes Magdalen Burns.
Vagina Anthem by Hungry Hearts
Chorus 1:
(‘cause)We are women
With vaginas
We gave birth to all you fools
We are women
With vaginas
We are here to change the rules
We are your mothers
Your sisters, your daughters
What the fuck is wrong with you?
We are your mothers, sisters, daughters
So what the fuck is wrong with you?
Chorus 2:
’Cause we are sheroes
With vaginas
And the guts to bring it on
We are sheroes
With vaginas
And the strength to carry on
We are your mothers
Your sisters, your daughters
We protect, we love and fight
We are your mothers, sisters, daughters
And we will fight to make it right
Spoken: We are smart, we are strong
We have the guts to bring it on
We are smart, we are strong
We have the strength to carry on
All that shaming, blaming
And shitty mansplaining
**To silence women ****
I have opinions
I speak my mind
You want a silent girl?
I’m not that kind
I have a choice
I use my voice
You can’t ignore this thing
That you call noise**
Chorus 1+2
’Cause we are women!
Paula: And finally to close the rally:
Woman am I
Spirit am I
I am the infinite within myself
I can find no beginning
I can find no end
Oh yes I am.
It’s not just the web,
It’s the way that we spin it
It’s not just the world,
It’s the women that’s in it
It’s not just the struggle,
It’s the way that we win it
That’s what makes us strong.
It’s not just the power,
It’s the sense of direction
It’s not just the love,
It’s the warmth and affection
It’s not that we’re good,
We’re just bloody perfection
That’s what makes us strong.
Lesbians like us,
Join hands together
Lesbians all over the world
Rise up and shout dyke – DYKE!
September 7th 2019
Paula Boulton
