Page 1

Title

Page 1

extracted text

Page 1

[redacted]
August 26, 1980

Dear Dick,

I am enclosing in the large envelope an official letter of resignation as GLAD co-director for you to accept or return as you think best. I hope you will believe me when I say that I only want what is best for GLAD, and for you personally, and for other people in the organization that I care about, and all those others it is there to help in the future. I am sorry that personal feelings came up in a general meeting, and am offering to resign because I don’t want the organization torn up by dissension. You and the others in the CR group are the heart of GLAD and I wanted you to have this before the meeting tonight as I fear the events of last Wednesday may be discussed and I don’t want anyone to think he has to get out of GLAD to avoid me, or because of not sharing a belief of mine that I cannot compromise.

When the issue of single-gender social activities arose in the winter with the women’s coffee-house and beer party, I made it very clear to the women that I could not be a part of an organization which separate peoples rather than bringing them together; I said the same thing in regard to John Bode’s move–brought about by some of the women, I believe–to have the co-directors elected by their own gender. I felt I could fight these because the majority of the men also opposed separatism. If this is not true, as it seems not to be, I don’t want to fight the battle any longer. However, I do, just for your own information and understanding, want you to know some of the reasons I feel so strongly about this:

1) One of the main ways women have traditionally been made ineffective in business and professional life is that the “old boys network” operates over lunch and in the locker room and on the golf course, so women never know about the jobs or the inside information or the contracts till everything has already been arranged. Even in an organization, social meetings are the occasion for much of the most important business and contacts–just think about after DGCP meetings at the Bronx or Bell Pepper. If women are left out of social activities, they are left out of leadership possibilities.
2) I believe that all of us spend way over 90% of our time–97 or 98%, I’d say–in ways that essentially have very little to do with gender. It really doesn’t make much difference whether one puts on a skirt or pants in the morning, and a hamburger doesn’t care whether a man or woman cooks and eats it. However, we can make a big thing out of sex roles if we want to, and many people do so without realizing it. Example: at a recent reading group, a very well-meaning young man, slightly tipsy, went on for some time about how wonderful it was that there I was at the meeting, and taking part of the discussion and making good comments and–basically what he was saying was acting like a human being, rather than is concept of a female. I strongly believe that anything which takes away changes for men and women, old and young, black and white, gay or non-gay, to relate as human beings is crippling to both parties. Of course one has ones [sic] friends, but that isn’t an organized group. And of course sometimes one protects oneself by only opening up to people like oneself, as in a CR group. However, when such groups lead to shutting others out rather than to increased willingness to seek understanding, I wonder if they are fulfilling their purpose.

[remaining pages could not be located]