Photo credit: Benson Kua
With parts of our fair state already having experienced their first frost and your rainbow-thumbed gardener friends having given you yet another bag of late-harvest zucchini and oddly shaped but delicious tomatoes, you’re probably wondering, as I am, whatever happened to that plucky band of some 40 lesbian feminists who, in 1977, eschewed penthouse views for the dairy air of a rural town in southwest Wisconsin where they purchased 80 acres of land, replete with a farmhouse and barn, to create the Wisconsin Womyn’s Land Cooperative, also known as Daughters of the Earth (DOE) Campground for Womyn.
The mid-1970s was the time of a social upheaval after the Vietnam War. Black, LGBTQ and women’s liberation movements had found their momentum. For some, it was also a time to embrace enclave strategies. They formed communes, sanctuaries and cooperatives, both urban and in the countryside settings, with the intent of escaping the soullessness of capitalism and the constraints of patriarchy to find the succor of non-conformity in an environmentally sustainable utopian life. Among those, a number were founded by LGBTQ-based groups like the Radical Faeries. The DOE’s mission fits that framework with its exclusionary policy towards men and trans women. It also professed environmental consciousness and provided a healing redoubt for “womyn-born womyn.”
When Inclusion Isn’t Practical
I normally would criticize inter-LGBTQ exclusion. However, there are times when inclusion simply isn’t practical. Our strange bedfellow LGBTQ alliance is a pragmatic one when it comes to political matters. But same-sex attraction being precisely that, inclusion may not always be welcomed when it comes to more private forms of socializing. One can hardly imagine a Packer party co-hosted by the Lesbian Alliance and, say, Wisconsin Nude Men (WNM). Yes, both groups may be equally enthusiastic about the sport, but there’s an inherent situational awkwardness that probably could not be overcome by game talk. And even though WNM’s party etiquette requires guests bring a towel to sit on to protect the host’s upholstery (in this case, a football jersey would be appropriate, I suppose), that still might not suffice to redress such an imperfect pairing. I’ve also heard of lesbians, however butch, being barred from a local gay leather saloon. “And never the twain shall meet,” as my mother would say. But for that, we have many organizations that thrive on community integration like the athletic, spiritual, youth and senior groups.
Meanwhile, one has to admire the decades-long persistent longevity of DOE. According to a 2011 update on the Milwaukee LGBT History website, five womyn maintained the land with another 200 as members. Since then, DOE has a social media presence where an extensive description of the group’s purpose, activities and services are available to the casual site visitor, along with the contact information. Membership, however, is by invitation only. Currently, partners Jodie Baumgarter and Kathie Hartley live in the farmhouse as resident caretakers.
Obviously, a need is being fulfilled. In fact, there are hundreds of such enclaves throughout the country. That should be of little surprise. Sometimes, we all need a place to share experiences and visions. Apparently, that’s exactly what DOE continues to offer.
