Herland Sister Resources: A lesbian feminist collective's changes to Oklahoma herstory

Abstract

Herland Sister Resources, a feminist and primarily lesbian collective, comprised a strong component of the Oklahoma City, Oklahoma queer community since 1982. Began as a feminist bookstore, first known as La Salle des Femmes, then Herland Bookstore persisted as a rarity. Herland stood as the only store of its typed in Oklahoma, one of less than a dozen in Bible Belt states, and part of a movement of no more than one hundred fifty stores nationwide. Within two years the store developed into a community center that hosted safe spaces for lesbians and other members of the 2SLGBTQUIA+ community, participated in activism to defend the rights of women, children and the queer community, created a hub of communication, and left a legacy that bettered their community, state, and nation. Herland’s historical significance stems from the expansion of queer history. This expansion further includes rural activism, emphasizes the importance of the communities outside of the prevailing urban-coastal narrative in queer history, and layers the discussion with the centering of Oklahoma’s queer community as influential and contemporary in their actions.