Lynn Ballen

Angela Brinskele interviews longtime lesbian activist and radio journalist Lynn Ballen about lesbian and queer community spaces along Santa Monica Boulevard and the Route 66 corridor in Los Angeles. Ballen begins with A Different Light in Silver Lake, where she attended Jeanne Córdova’s December 1989 launch of Kicking the Habit, an evening they later considered their first date. She also describes Córdova’s later proposal in the bookstore’s lesbian nonfiction section.

She then discusses the French Market as a central gathering place for lesbians from across Los Angeles. She and Córdova met journalist and activist Sallie Fiske there nearly every Friday while organizing Square Peg magazine. Ballen recounts Fiske’s story of coming out live on television while opposing the Briggs Initiative, and losing her job as a result.

The conversation moves to other places in West Hollywood and Los Angeles at large. Ballen mentions watching lesbians cheer in honor of Córdova in front of The Palms during Pride, and the Sunset Junction Festival as an effort by gay and lesbian organizers to connect with the neighborhood’s Latinx community. Ballen and Brinskele also discuss an Ogden address used by The Lesbian Tide, Ivy Bottini’s homes, and MACHA Theatre, which hosted Outlaws on Stage, a staged reading based on Córdova’s memoir.