Old Lesbians Organizing for Change

The book Look Me in the Eye: Old Women, Aging and Ageism by Barbara Macdonald and Cynthia Rich (1983), which exposed the harsh realities of ageism on old women, was the inspiration for the founding of Old Lesbians Organizing for Change. In April 1987, the First West Coast Conference by and for Old Lesbians in Southern California was held at the California State University Dominguez Campus in Carson, California. It was so successful that in August 1989, Old Lesbians in Northern California sponsored The Second West Coast Conference. Out of the larger group of Old Lesbians attending these two events came a smaller group of sixteen that wished to concentrate their efforts on challenging ageism. This group founded The Old Lesbian Organizing Committee, which was later renamed Old Lesbians Organizing for Change. Participation was strictly limited to lesbians sixty years of age and older, although OLOC has always welcomed the support of younger lesbians, encouraging them to work against ageism while respecting the need for separate space for Old Lesbians. To minimize travel expenses for committee members, most meetings during the first two years were held in California. A concerted effort was then made to expand the geographic representation by moving the meetings around the country; frequency of meetings was later changed from quarterly to twice a year.

OLOC quickly established a newsletter to reach Old Lesbians around the country and began enrolling subscribers. Committee members focused early efforts on development of educational materials on ageism, using the familiar and effective format of consciousness raising sessions. These materials were pooled and published in The Facilitator's Handbook: Confronting Ageism: Consciousness Raising for Lesbians 60 and Over (early 1990s). Much of OLOC's early work was done within both the women's and LGBT communities, since ageism was as entrenched in those communities as it was in society at large. Often at its own expense, OLOC provided speakers and presentations to dozens of workshops and conferences, challenging the status quo and demanding to be a part of the process. OLOC felt strongly that younger people couldn't effectively speak for Old Lesbians and insisted that Old Lesbians be allowed to represent themselves. OLOC was a strong and highly visible part of the National Lesbian Conference in Atlanta in 1991 as well as the March on Washington in 1993. By 1992, OLOC sought and gained non-profit status, incorporating in the state of Texas, and in 1994 also achieved tax-exempt status. In 1996, OLOC held its first National Gathering, bringing together Old Lesbians from coast to coast, at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. Hundreds of Old Lesbians gathered in San Francisco, California in 1999. In 2002, OLOC held it's third Gathering, again in Minnesota. Old Lesbians at the Gatherings expressed a strong desire for more frequent opportunities to get together, so the schedule was switched from once every three years to every other year. In 2004, the fourth National OLOC Gathering was held in Houston, Texas and in 2006, the group convened in Durham, North Carolina. The 2008 Gathering, held in Los Angeles, California, will be followed by future Gatherings on each even-numbered year.

In addition to a quarterly newsletter, The OLOC Reporter, and biennial Gatherings, OLOC confronts ageism wherever it is found. OLOC has also been associated with the Old Lesbian Oral Herstory Project, which gathers the unique stories of lesbians who are seventy years of age and older. OLOC operates both as a national organization and through local chapters that have formed across the country.

[source: OLOC Website ]