We look forward to the emergence of a lesbian liberation voice. The existence of a lesbian caucus within the New York City Liberation Front has been very helpful in challenging male chauvinism among gay guys, and antigay feelings among women's lib.

Male Chauvinism: All men are infected with male chauvinism-we were brought up that way. It means we assume that women play subordinate roles and are less human than ourselves. (At an early gay liberation meeting one guy said. "Why don't we invite women's liberation, and they can bring sandwiches and coffee"). It is no wonder that so few gay women have become active in our groups.

Male chauvinism, however, is not central to us. We can junk it much cashier than straight men can. For we understand oppression. We have largely opted out of a system which oppresses women daily-our egos are not built on putting women down and having them build us up. Also, living in a mostly male world we have become used to playing different roles, doing our own shitwork. And finally, we have a common enemy: the big male chauvinists are also the big antigays.

But we need to purge male chauvinism, both in behavior and in thought among us. Chick equals nigger equals queer.

Women's liberation: They are assuming their equality and dignity and in doing so are challenging the same things we are: the roles, the exploitation of minorities by capitalism, the arrogant smugness of straight white male middle-class America. They are our sisters in struggle.

Problems and differences will become clearer when we begin to work together. One major problem is our own male chauvinism. Another is uptightness and hostility to homosexuality that many women have-that is the straight in them. A third problem is differing views on sex: sex for them has meant oppression, while for us it has been a symbol of our freedom. We must come to know and understand each other's style, jargon and humor.

We want to begin more intensive discussions with women's liberation. And in any case we must support their demands and understand their viewpoint.

Roles

We've lived in role-creating institutions all our lives. Naturally we mimic the roles. For too long we mimicked these roles to protect ourselves-a survial mechanism. Now we are becoming free enough to shed the roles which we've picked up from the institutions which have imprisoned us.

Marriage: Marriage is a prime example of a straight institution fraught with role playing. Traditional marriage is a rotten, oppressive institution. Those of us who have been in heterosexual marriages too often have blamed our gayness on the breakup of the marriage. No. They broke up because marriage is a contract which smothers both people. And we had the strength, again, to refuse to capitulate to the roles which were demanded of us.

Gay people must stop gauging their self respect by how well they mimic straight marriages. Gay marriages will have the same problems as straight ones except in burlesque. For the usual legitimacy and pressures which keep straight marriages together are absent, e.g. kids, what parents think, what neighbors think.

To accept that happiness comes through finding a groovy spouse and settling down, showing the world that "we're just the same as you" is avoiding the real issues, and is an expression of self hatred.

Alternatives to Marriage: People want to get married for lots of good reasons, although marriage won't often meet those needs or desires. We're all looking for security, a flow of love, and a feeling of belonging and being needed.

These needs can be met through a number of social relationships and living situations. Things we want to get away from are: 1) exclusiveness, propertied attitudes toward each other, a mutual pact against the rest of the world; 2) promises about the future, which we have no right to make and which prevent us from, or make us feel guilty about, growing; 3) inflexible roles, roles which do not reflect us at the moment but are inherited through mimicry and inability to define equalitarian relationships.

We have to define for ourselves a new pluralistic role-free social structure for ourselves. It must contain both the freedom and physical space for people to live alone, live together for a while, live together for a long time, either as couples or in larger numbers; and the ability to flow easily from one of these states to another as our needs change.

Gay "stereotypes": The straights' image of the gay world is defined largely by those of us who have violated straight roles. There is a tendency among "homophile" groups to deplore guys who play visible roles-the queens and nellies. As liberated gays, we must take a clear stand. 1) Gays who stand out have become our first martyrs. They came out and withstood disapproval before the rest of us did. 2) If they have suffered from being open, it is straight society whom we must indict, not the queen.