Queer Places:
1134 N Valley St, Burbank, CA 91505
Forest Lawn Memorial-Parks & Mortuaries, 1712 S Glendale Ave, Glendale, CA 91205
Edythe
D. Eyde (November 7, 1921[1]
– December 22, 2015) better known by her pen name Lisa Ben, was an American
editor, author, and songwriter. She created the first known lesbian
publication in the world, Vice Versa. Ben produced the magazine for a
year and distributed it locally in Los Angeles, California in the late 1940s.
She was also active in lesbian bars as a musician in the years following her
involvement with Vice Versa. Eyde has been recognized as a pioneer in
the LGBT movement.
Edye was born in San Francisco in 1921 and grew up an only child on an
apricot ranch in Fremont Township, California. Her father, Oscar E. Edye
(1888–1968) was a Norwegian-born insurance agent and her mother, the former
Olive Elizabeth Colegrove (1888–1953), was a housewife.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]
Her father also served in civilian defense after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.[8]
She studied violin for eight years.[9]
Eyde developed her first crush on another girl when she was in high school,[10]
although she did not identify as lesbian until several years later.[11]
When her crush broke off the relationship, a devastated Eyde spoke with her
mother. Her mother's adverse reaction convinced Eyde not to discuss her
personal or romantic life with her parents again.[12]
After attending college for two years, Eyde acquiesced to her parents' demands
and took a secretarial course in 1942. After three years of saving her money,
she defied her parents and moved, first to Palo Alto,[12]
and then to Los Angeles in 1945.[9]
Photo by
Robert Giard, Rights Notice: Copyright Jonathan G. Silin (jsilin@optonline.net)
Eyde first identified as a lesbian in 1946,[9]
when she noticed that many of the other women in her apartment building did
not spend time talking about boyfriends and breakups. One of the women asked
Eyde if she was gay, and Eyde realized that she was.[13]
She began frequenting lesbian bars with her new friends and, while she was
never directly caught up in one of the frequent police raids on such bars, was
on one occasion questioned by police.[14]
Eyde began publishing Vice Versa in 1947 as a way of expanding her
social circle. "I was by myself, and I wanted to be able to meet others like
me. I couldn't go down the street saying 'I'm looking for lesbian friends'...[Vice
Versa] gave me a way of reaching out to other gay gals—a way of getting to
know other gals....when I had something to hand out and when I tried to talk
girls into writing for my magazine, I no longer had any trouble going up to
new people."[15]
While working as a secretary at RKO Studios, her boss advised her that
there would not be a lot of work for her to do but he wanted her to look busy,
so Eyde typed each issue of the magazine twice through with five carbon
copies, making a total of 12 copies of each issue. She initially mailed three
copies to friends and distributed the rest by hand, particularly at the If
Club, one of Los Angeles' first lesbian bars.[16]
encouraging her readers to pass their copies along to friends rather than
throwing them away.[17]
Eyde believes that several dozen people read each copy. Although scrupulous
about avoiding material that could be considered "dirty" or risqué, she
stopped mailing copies after a friend advised her that she could be arrested
for sending obscene material through the mail. Publications addressing
homosexuality were automatically deemed obscene under the Comstock Act until
1958.[18]
Eyde published nine issues of Vice Versa, from June 1947 through
February 1948. She ceased publication after RKO was sold, forcing her to
change jobs. Her new assignment left her no free time at work to type the
magazine. She had also accomplished her goal of increasing her circle of
friends, and she wanted to spend more time enjoying her new life rather than
writing about it.[19]
Despite the short run of the magazine, Eyde is credited with "set[ting] the
agenda that has dominated lesbian and gay journalism for fifty years [by]
introduc[ing] many of the characteristics that would define the myriad
publications that would follow".[9]
In the 1950s, Eyde began writing for The Ladder, the first
nationally-distributed lesbian magazine. The Ladder was published by
early lesbian group the Daughters of Bilitis (DOB), of which she was a member.
It was in writing for The Ladder that she began writing under the
pseudonym "Lisa Ben", an anagram of "lesbian", when her first choice, "Ima
Spinster", was rejected.[20]
The Ladder also reprinted material from Vice Versa.
While few copies survive of Ben's publication, a complete set can be found
at the ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives in Los Angeles. The ONE Archives
acquired Lisa Ben's personal collection of papers and photographs in 2015.[21]
Eyde resumed her earlier interest in music and began writing and performing
gay-themed parodies of popular songs at a local gay club called The Flamingo.
For example, "I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter" became "I'm
gonna sit right down and write my butch a letter".[22]
She was inspired to write her songs out of a determination to create gay
entertainment that was neither profane nor demeaning to gay people,
particularly after being discouraged by the self-deprecating jokes and songs
made by performers in gay clubs.[23][24]
The Daughters of Bilitis released a single of Eyde, as "Lisa Ben", as a
fundraiser. The record included her own composition, "Cruisin' Down the
Boulevard" with a lesbian version of "Frankie and Johnny" on the flip side.
DOB billed Eyde as "the first gay folk singer".[25]
Her music has appeared on the soundtracks of several documentary films.
At age 36, Eyde entered into her first and only long-term relationship.
They lived together for three years until her partner lost all of their money
gambling. Since then she dated casually but was not interested in pursuing
another serious relationship.[26]
In 1972, Eyde as "Lisa Ben" was honored by ONE, Inc. as "the father [sic] of
the homophile movement" for her creation of Vice Versa.[27]
She appeared in the 1984 documentary Before Stonewall, discussing her
life and work and performing several of her parody songs. Eyde continued to
work in a variety of secretarial positions until retiring. Eyde was honored in
1997 as a founder of the Los Angeles LGBT community.[26]
In 2010 the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association inducted Eyde
into its Hall of Fame.[28]
Eyde lived in Burbank, California.[29]
Although her real name is known, Eyde preferred to be known under her
pseudonym, saying that she feared being discovered by people who would "not
understand".[4]
Eyde died on December 22, 2015 at the age of 94. At the time, her death went
unnoticed and no obituaries were published.[30]
My published books:
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