VICE VERSA
America’s Gayest Magazine
America’s Gayest Magazine
Copy of front page of the third issue.
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In 1947 Edyth Eyde was a secretary for an executive at RKO Studios, one of the Big Five motion pictures companies that ran Hollywood at that time. A lesbian from northern California, Eyde moved to Los Angeles for the freedom to be a lesbian, away from parental control. She was a very fast typist with not enough work to keep her occupied. The executive ordered her to always look busy, as he wanted people to know what an important man he was, no reading or knitting at her desk. “I don’t care what you type, as long as you are typing something,” he said.[1] Eyde liked to read but was frustrated by the lack of access to interesting material, observing that if a library had any books “on That Subject they were kept in locked cabinets.”[2] So she decided to use her downtime at work to write her own simple magazine, nine to fourteen pages, typed on a manual typewriter with carbons. This meant she “put in an original plus five sheets of carbon paper. That made a total of six copies.” Then she did it again, for a total of twelve copies. “There were no duplicating machines in those days, and, of course, I couldn’t go to a printer.”[3]
[1] Rodger Streitmatter, Unspeakable: The Rise of the Gay and Lesbian Press in America. Boston: Faber & Faber, 1995, 4. [2] Kate Brandt, “Lisa Ben: A Lesbian Pioneer,” Visibilities January/February 1990, 8. [3] Streitmatter, Unspeakable, 4. |
"The Gopher Girls," by Lisa Ben Among Lisa Ben's other talents were songwriting and parodies. Reportedly, she performed this at a Daughters of Billitis event.
Some girls drink and some girls smoke
Some will tell a naughty joke
Some girls work and some girls play
And some girls lie in bed all day
Some wear skirts and some wear pants
Some go topless when they dance
Some like dogs and some like cats
But let me tell you where it's at:
We are the Gopher Girls
We only go for girls
We never go for men So here we go again
Have you had yours today
I had mine yesterday
That's why I walk this way
Ta ra ra boom de ay!