For a list of Sapphic Circle meeting dates this fall, please click here.
We meet on specified Sundays at 12-1:30pm PT/3-4:30pm ET/7-8:30pm UTC.

Sapphic Circle is a space for lesbians to come together for thoughtful discussions on a variety of topics. We seek to build lesbian community through engaging in lesbian ideas, politics, media, and more!

Meaning Through Music

In 1973, Alix Dobkin (1940-2021) and Kay Gardner (1941-2002) formed "Lavender Jane" and co-created and recorded the groundbreaking album, Lavender Jane Loves Women. It was one of the earliest and most accessible recordings featuring an explicitly lesbian voice, for a lesbian audience. It put words to the experiences and dreams of lesbians, in a way that had never been done before.

They are making their lives with women work
Like it's never been done before
There are more in town: Many more around
That I've never met, I know
And we have friends in the cities, in the centers of men
Where the women can toughen up so
(Talking Lesbian, 1973)

Alix Dobkin recorded several more albums and went on to tour all over the world, both as a solo act and alongside other lesbian artists. Kay Gardner went on to work with well known lesbian artists and record her own albums, but her true passion was composition. Not only did she compose orchestral, chamber and choral works, she also organized and led several female only orchestras for festivals and concerts.

A Very Short List

By the mid 1980s, the women's music movement was in full swing. Festivals and tours by lesbian artists were happening constantly, women's bookstores were selling cassettes and LPs. The booming women's music movement resulted in women owned, women run production companies, record labels, distributors and more. The existence of Paid My Dues: A Journal of Women and Music (1974-1980) and HOT WIRE: The Journal of Women's Music and Culture (1984-1994) are fabulous demonstration of how large this movement was.

For many women, the music listed here was the soundtrack of their coming out. Today, much of the lesbian music from the women's music movement grounds us in our culture and our herstory. It gives us that precious connection to lesbian consciousness. Here is a list of some influential lesbian artists and groups. They are listed in order of the publication of their first album.

Cris Williamson (active 1964-present)

Margie Adam (active 1973-present)

Meg Christian (active 1974-present)

Indigo Girls (active 1987-present)

Tracy Chapman (active 1988-present)

Melissa Etheridge (active 1988-present)

Toshi Reagon (active 1990-present)

Gaye Adegbalola (active 1999-present)

Emma's Revolution (active 2004-present)

Nedra Johnson - The Big Mouth Girl (active 2005-present)

IndigieFemme (active 2010-present)

Big Bad Gina (active 2011-present)

Canadian Artists

The US was the epicenter of the women's music movement, but a considerable number of the lesbians recording and touring, were from Canada.

Dr. Bonnie Morris and Jamie Anderson reading a copy of HOT WIRE Image Source: JamieAnderson.com

Ferron (active 1977-present)

Faith Nolan (active 1986-present)

Jamie Anderson (active 1987-present)

K D Land (active 1981-present)

Tegan and Sara (active 1999-present)

Questions To Consider

  • What was the first lesbian song you listened to and what did it mean to you?
  • Who are your favourite lesbian artists?
  • Have you ever been to a lesbian music concert or festival? What was it like?
  • If you could recommend one artist or song to another lesbian, what would it be?

Hot Licks: Lesbian Musicians of Note, Edited by Lee Fleming (1996)

Backstage Pass: Interviews With Women in Music, Edited by Laura Post (1997)

Eden Built by Eves: The Culture of Women's Music Festivals by Bonnie J. Morris (1999)

Girls Rock!: Fifty Years of Women Making Music by Mina Carson, Tisa Lewis, Susan M. Shaw (2004)

My Red Blood: A Memoir of Growing Up Communist, Coming Onto the Greenwich Village Folk Scene, and Coming Out in the Feminist Movement by Alix Dobkin (2009)

Songs in Black and Lavender: Race, Sexual Politics, and Women's Music by Eileen M. Hayes (2010)

Drive All Night by Jamie Anderson (2014)

Land of a Thousand Bridges: Island Girl in a Rock & Roll World by June Millington (2015)

The Disappearing L: Erasure of Lesbian Spaces and Culture by Bonnie J. Morris (2016)

An Army of Lovers: Women's Music of the 70s and 80s by Jamie Anderson (2019)

Drive All Day: Because I'm Too Old to Drive All Night by Jamie Anderson (2022)

FAQs & Code of Participation

If you have questions, please read over Sapphic Circle's Frequently Asked Questions and review our Feminist Code Of Participation.