Connexxus Women's Center/Centro de Mujeres

Connexxus Women's Center/Centro de Mujeres was a non-profit community organization established in January 1985 in West Hollywood, California. The organization was co-founded by Adel Martinez and Lauren Jardine[1][2][3] in 1984 as a women-run center in Los Angeles, and provided services that catered to women, particularly lesbians and a space in which lesbians could thrive professionally, personally, and socially.[4] In January 1988, it opened an additional facility in East Los Angeles named Connexxus East/Centro de Mujeres[4][5] made for outreach to the Latina and Chicana communities. The new facility provided services primarily to lesbians in Los Angeles County, and facilitated information about and access to various human service agencies. It also provided counseling in developing and operating small businesses. The facility also sponsored and hosted cultural and educational activities. The 1,400 square-foot center contained space for a library, workshops, rap groups, counseling meetings, and social activities.[6]

Connexxus Women's Center/Centro de Mujeres
Formation1985
Dissolved1991
Type
  • Non-Profit Organization
  • Lesbian Services
HeadquartersWest Hollywood, California, United States
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History

Connexxus ran from May 1984 to June 1990. When it was open, the organization was led by members of the lesbian community, such as Jeanne Córdova,[7][8] Jodi Curlee, Judy Doyle,[9] Lauren Jardine, Bunny MacCulloch, Del Martinez, June Mazer, Yolanda Retter, and Jane Wagner. In order to sustain the organization the board raised over $20,000 for its operations. It received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the California Arts Council, Colling Higgins Foundation, and the Liberty Hill Foundation.

The Connexxus Women's Center/Centro de Mujeres was officially dissolved in 1991. In a letter to the community on January 18, 1990, they shared that as Connexxus expanded and their work surpassed their intended goals, more human service organizations followed their lead and expanded their services too. Due to the increasing number of specialized groups, services, and businesses, fewer lesbians accessed the center's services. Due to this fall in numbers and an imminent financial crisis, Connexxus closed its doors on June 30, 1990.

Programs

Economic Empowerment

In May 1998, the then-President of the United States, Bill Clinton, issued Executive Order 13087, banning discrimination in federal civilian employment on the basis of sexual orientation.[10] Six years earlier in 1992, governor Pete Wilson signed AB 2601, which outlawed employment discrimination against gays and lesbians in California (he vetoed a similar bill, AB 101, the year before).[11][12]

June Mazer Collection

June Mazer and her partner Bunny MacCulloch started the West Coast Lesbian Collections in their home. The collection, a “Lesbian Herstory Collection”, contained archives about notable lesbian women, organizations like the Daughters of Bilitis, media materials such as the Lesbian Love Records (a radio show targeted towards the lesbian community), information on lesbian events, publications, organizations, and lesbian spaces in the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles County. It was later moved to Connexxus Women's Center as the June Mazer Collection.[13][14]

After Connexxus dissolved, the collection traveled to various repositories until it was given a permanent home in the Werle Building, a property owned by the City of West Hollywood at 626 N. Robertson Boulevard.[15] The collection was rebranded as the June L. Mazer Lesbian Archives. Through an equitable partnership with the UCLA Library Special Collections, the Mazer Archives retained rights to its collection while increasing public access through digitization.

The Alliance (Connexxus Business & Professional Women's Alliance)

Beginning January 1985, Connexxus published a newsletter by its Connexxus Business & Professional Women's Alliance. The newsletter ceased publication in June 1990.[16][17]

Community events

Because the center was intended to be a community space, as well as social-based fundraisers, Connexxus hosted a variety of events. It hosted economic empowerment workshops to support women's skill development. Social groups based on identities, such as black lesbians, singles, Latinas, and mixers were common. The most popular one was All Around Town in 1988, which doubled as a fundraiser. Another popular event was a gallery show of long-time support Laura Aguilar, a Chicana lesbian photographer, called the Chicana Lesbians Series.[18]

References
  1. Williams, Bob (February 18, 2020). "Adel M. 'Del' Martinez". Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
  2. Love, Barbara J., ed. (2006). "Jardine, Lauren Lovett". Feminists Who Changed America, 1963–1975 (1st ed.). Urbana, Illinois: University of Illinois Press. p. 234. ISBN 978-0252031892. LCCN 2006020759.
  3. Pomerleau, Clark A. (2013). Califia Women: Feminist Education against Sexism, Classism, and Racism (1st ed.). Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press. pp. 162–163. ISBN 978-0292752948. LCCN 2013021090.
  4. Sangwand, Tiffany-Kay (2009). "Connexxus/Centro de Mujeres collection, 1985–1991" (PDF). Online Archive of California. p. 2. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
  5. Stein, Marc, ed. (2004). Encyclopedia of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender History in America. Vol. 2 (1st ed.). New York, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. pp. 146, 209. ISBN 978-0684312613. LCCN 2003017434.
  6. McHugh, Kathleen A.; Johnson-Grau, Brenda; Sher, Ben Raphael, eds. (2014). The June L. Mazer Lesbian Archives: Making Invisible Histories Visible: A Resource Guide to the Collections. Los Angeles, California: UCLA Center for the Study of Women. p. 119. ISBN 978-0615990842.
  7. Stein, Marc, ed. (2004). Encyclopedia of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender History in America. Vol. 1 (1st ed.). New York, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. p. 259. ISBN 978-0684312613. LCCN 2003017434.
  8. Córdova, Jeanne (2011). When We Were Outlaws: A Memoir of Love & Revolution (1st ed.). Midway, Florida: Spinster's Ink. ISBN 978-1935226512. LCCN 2014381642.
  9. Judy Doyle Southern California Women for Understanding (SCWU) collection, 1975-1999 includes the Judy Doyle Papers which are housed at the UCLA Library Special Collections
  10. Stein, Marc, ed. (2004). "Antidiscrimination Law and Policy". Encyclopedia of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender History in America. Vol. 1 (1st ed.). New York, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. p. 69. ISBN 978-0684312613. LCCN 2003017434.
  11. Skelton, George (September 26, 1992). "Wilson Signs Bill on Gay Job Rights : Legislation: Governor OKs compromise measure after his veto of a similar bill last year sparked statewide protests. Homosexual community is 'surprised, relieved.'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
  12. Gross, Jane (September 26, 1992). "California Governor, in Reversal, Signs a Bill on Gay Rights in Jobs". The New York Times. p. sec. 1; p. 1. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
  13. "Bunny MacCulloch papers, 1928–1989" (PDF). Online Archive of California.
  14. "Herstory". Mazer Lesbian Archives. 2021.
  15. "Minutes: City Council Meeting". City of West Hollywood. November 21, 1988. p. 8. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
  16. "Connexxus". UCB Library Catalog. University of California, Berkeley. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
  17. "Connexxus (Center)". Library of Congress. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
  18. Zepeda, Susy (2012-01-01). "Tracing Queer Latina Diasporas: Escarvando Historical Narratives Of Ancestries And Silences" (PDF). UC Santa Cruz Electronic Theses and Dissertations: 200–202.
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