Carol Przybycien

Angela Brinskele interviews Carol Przybycien, an original board member of Connexxus/Centro de Mujeres, about the organization’s early years and lesbian life in Los Angeles. Przybycien recalls being recruited by Adel Martinez, whom she knew through United Way while serving as executive director of the YWCA of Santa Monica/Malibu. Przybycien served on the Connexxus board from its founding in January 1985 to October 1987. She remembers proofreading organizational documents, advising the staff, and helping establish the stable nonprofit agency. Counseling was one of Connexxus’s most important early services, and she describes Sharon Siegel, who she believes was one of the volunteer counselors, as a wonderful advocate. She also describes Adel Martinez and Lauren Jardine as dedicated leaders who assembled a board with varied professional backgrounds and created an inclusive agency that served lesbians with access to few other resources.

Although Connexxus avoided formal political activity, Przybycien recalls going from bar to bar with fellow board member Lisa Ulrich Marsh to collect donations for the campaign against LaRouche. The interview concludes with Przybycien’s memories of June Mazer and Bunny MacCulloch. She describes how members of Connexxus and Southern California Women for Understanding organized overnight care while Mazer was dying of cancer and recalls being present on the night she died. Her respect for the couple influenced Przybycien’s continuing support for the June L. Mazer Lesbian Archives.