1972-1978

1972-1978: Lilith

Alice Van Evera

Lilith (active 1972-1978) was a pioneering all-women band originating in Northampton, MA. The band stands out not only as one of the first all-women bands, but also in terms of genre: While the growing world of “women’s music” in the 1970s was dominated by folk artists, Lilith leaned toward jazz-funk. Lilith was also politically active. The band played in a National Organization for Women (NOW) convention in the late 1970s.¹ At the Saints, a lesbian bar in Boston, Lilith played a benefit concert in the mid-1970s for radical lesbian activist Susan Saxe’s defense fund. ²Founding member Beth Caurant has described Lilith as not only a band, but an early site where lesbians in the Northampton area would gather.³ 

May 15, 1982

The First Northampton Gay and Lesbian Liberation March

Syd D Levine

May 15, 1982 was the day that the Pride March came to Northampton. After over a decade of traveling to Boston to participate in the marches, a local Gay and Lesbian Liberation March took to Main Street. Participants marched from the Bridge Street School, down Main Street, and into Pulaski Park. Once the March reached Pulaski Park, a two hour rally was held, where activists from all over the Valley and New England spoke. The Daily Hampshire Gazette from the Monday after stated that over “500 homosexuals” participated, although multiple news sources reported anywhere from 300-800 participants. The March was organized by the Gay and Lesbian Activists (GALA) in protest of the Family Protection Act and the Reagan Administration. The Family Protection Act threatened people of color, immigrants, and LGBTQ+ people. The 1982 Gay and Lesbian Liberation March was the first pride protest to take place in the greater Western Massachusetts area.⁴ 

~1980

Pioneer Valley Gay Alliance

Madison Julio

The Pioneer Valley Gay Alliance—later renamed the Pioneer Valley People’s Gay Alliance—was an activist organization founded around 1980 to serve gay men in the Valley who were not affiliated with local colleges.⁵ As one of the earliest known gay men’s advocacy groups in the Pioneer Valley, the Alliance was groundbreaking for the area, and it was known for its educational outreach, social programming, and most notably, its newsletter The Gayzette.⁶ The Gayzette not only reported on LGBTQ+ news in the Valley and beyond, but also promoted events and cultivated a sense of community and solidarity (Kaymarion Raymond, “Ending the Campaign of Terror,” From Wicked To Wedded, July 31, 2020, https://fromwickedtowedded.com/tag/pioneer-valley-peoples-gay-alliance/, 1.) Beyond its organizing behind the scenes, the Alliance was deeply engaged in direct action, maintaining a political action committee as early as 1983 and participating in local and national protests, including the early Northampton Pride Marches and the 1987 March on Washington.

1984-1986

“Oh No! Noho” March 1985 Issue

Colleen Lynch

“Oh No! Noho” was a monthly alternative arts and music publication from 1984 to 1986 in Northampton, MA. The theme of their March 1985 issue was gentrification. At the time in Northampton, many creatives were feeling the pressures of their town becoming increasingly expensive. In an interview given to “Oh No! Noho” for their gentrification issue, Northampton’s Mayor at the time, David Musante, assessed the situation bluntly, saying, “Well, gentrification has happened” and “a city can’t change the cost of material, labor or money.” In situations where gentrification becomes an issue, it is often spurred by creatives moving to an area and making it more desirable for wealthier individuals before being priced out themselves. In the satirical Nohopoly board, also in the March 1985 issue, artist Hayman expresses frustration with the absurdity of gentrification, depicting things like Fate Cards poking fun at the trust funds of wealthy Noho residents and tiles highlighting the high costs at seemingly frivolous local businesses.⁷

1987

“The Lesbian Calendar” in Western New England

Molly Seneker

In the year 1987, “The Lesbian Calendar” was created in Northampton, Massachusetts as “A Monthly Listing of Events By, For, and About LESBIANS in Western New England.” The calendar is a physical copy, shared throughout the Northampton and Western MA communities, that spreads awareness of current events, advertisements, comics, and event information in the area. Each copy is priced at $3 and is available for purchase at local shops throughout New England, and organizations are allowed to advertise their businesses and events within the calendar. One of the most unique and community-based pieces within each Lesbian Calendar is the events calendar for each month, located within the middle of the paper. The calendar highlights events all over the area throughout the month, sharing information about readings, performances, forums, potlucks, lectures, protests, festivals, workshops, retreats, and much more. Larger events are able to be highlighted within the calendar, too, and have the option to pay extra to advertise their event. “The Lesbian Calendar” is a useful guide for Lesbians and ally’s within New England to help continue building community, share insights and information, and continue to perpetuate pride within the Queer community.

1979 – 1995

Feminist Thought and Action in Northampton: The Valley Womens Voice

Rita Froehlich

The Valley Women’s Voice was a monthly feminist newspaper based in Northampton, Massachusetts, and published from 1979 to 1995. Its central aim was to provoke feminist thought and political engagement, through community-based action. Each issue featured a wide range of content related to women’s issues, such as discussions on the politics of pornography (evident in the issue depicted), reproductive rights, gender-based violence, alongside poetry, comics, and much more. The paper also highlighted the vibrancy of the local lesbian community within the Pioneer Valley, covering events such as the Northampton/Amherst Lesbian Festival and other gatherings of visibility and solidarity. Overall, it contributed in shaping and reflecting the feminist and lesbian activism of its time, both locally and within broader national movements.

February 8th, 1983

Vigil Of Unity, Resistance, Self-Empowerment

Maya Smith

Following many months of harassment and threats towards the Lesbian and Gay community in Northampton from an anonymous group called “SHUN” (Stop Homosexual Unity Now), a meeting took place between hundreds of community members and the Mayor and other town officials to call for action against this violence. During this meeting, there was a vigil held outside to support those in the meeting and urge the town to actually combat the violence and harassment that the queer community was facing. The flyer was distributed by Smith College’s Lesbian Bisexual Alliance (LBA) to spread word to students about the coming protests.⁸

1989 to 1992

Conflicts over Bisexual Inclusion in the Northampton Pride March

M. Hawes

In 1989, based on a vote conducted by the Northampton Pride March Steering Committee, the word “Bisexual” was added to the name of that year’s Lesbian and Gay Pride March. Many members of the bisexual community in Northampton, who rallied around the issue and took great pains to be present at the committee meeting in order to vote, viewed this as a victory, while many lesbian feminists believed this to be an encroachment upon lesbian-specific space. In 1990, the Steering Committee voted to remove the word “Bisexual” from the March’s title. Much conflict and many community meetings ensued, until finally, in 1992, the conflict was resolved when the entire Northampton community was invited to vote on the issue. The final vote resulted in the word “Bisexual” remaining in the March’s name from then on.⁹

1991

Northampton Lesbian Engagement Announcement 

Satya Sawh

In 1991, Bell Grace and Karen Bellavance used a picture of them in their Northampton apartment to announce their engagement in a local newspaper. Unintentionally, their announcement began a trend of local lesbian couples doing the same thing. The women’s announcement came at a time when Northampton had gained a reputation as being “Lesbanville U.S.A.”¹⁰, and the news of their engagement garnered even more national attention for the town, to the point where there story was published in an article in the Los Angeles Times, entitled, “A Place to Call Home”.¹¹ The article, and many others that featured news of couples like Grace and Bellavance, reported that Northampton boasted a population of 10,000 lesbians, was a hotspot for lesbian social events and nightlife, and provided a safe haven for open expression of lesbian affection. 

April 1992

Northampton is dubbed “Lesbianville, USA” by the National Enquirer

Maddie McAllister

In 1991, Karen Bellavance and Beth Grace featured in the first same-sex engagement announcement published in the Daily Hampshire Gazette.¹² They were soon contacted by a reporter from the Los Angeles Times, who published an article (“A Place to Call Home”¹³) that piqued the interest of other publications and eventually resulted in Karen and Beth’s photo being displayed prominently in the National Enquirer. The reaction to this article, “Strange town where men aren’t wanted” was mixed within the Northampton community – while some lesbians found the article funny, others argued that it “perpetuate[d] the stereotype of man-hating lesbians.”¹⁴ Either way, the National Enquirer article kicked off a flurry of media attention around “Lesbianville” and triggered a new wave of lesbians to move to Northampton.

1994

Hotel Massachusetts Compilation Album

Sarah Formica

This is a compilation album released in 1994 of songs from many of the punk and alternative rock artists and bands from Western Mass at the time. It was organized around the Bay State Hotel venue, a popular DIY venue in the Northampton area. The album was extended in a deluxe edition years later to include even more artists from 1992-2001 in the Bay State scene and Western Mass area, including Pangloss, band of Queer Northampton narrator Heather Pighetti, as well as many other local bands that Pangloss had close relationships with, like Tizzy, Amanda’s Dirty Secret, The Unband, and Home. This album offers a record of those involved in nightlife, specifically punk and alt-rock DIY scenes, in the area during this time period as well as connects them to each other, bringing the sounds of the era into one place and giving a glimpse into what artists were influencing each other.

January 1995

The Valley Gay Men Calendar, Vol. 1 #5

Maeve Keenan Haff

The Valley Gay Men’s Calendar provided information and events for gay men in Northampton and the Pioneer valley. Each edition of the calendar would feature local gay men as their monthly “Coverguy”. In addition to the cover photoshoot, a short biography of the cover guys were included in the calendar. The January 1995 edition featured Court Cline, a LGBTQ+ activist and his dog Dakota. Court and Dakota, at the time of publication, lived in Peak House at Butterworth Farm. Butterworth Farm was founded as a “back to the land” gay male community in Royaliston, MA.¹⁵

1994-2002

Fire & Water Cafe

The Fire & Water Cafe was a vegetarian cafe and performance space located on Old South Street in Northampton. The cafe, owned by couple Patricia Overstreet and Daniel Star Drooker, was open from 1994 to 2002. Fire & Water hosted a variety of singer/songwriters, poets, and other performers who played for a crowd that often included students from Smith College.¹⁶ The venue was an important part of the music scene in Northampton, and performers who started in its smaller space grew their audiences and sometimes began to perform at more prominent venues, such as the Iron Horse. Dingo Roi, pictured, was a pop group from the 1990s that performed at Fire & Water.¹⁷

May 10th, 1996

Joan Jett Performs at Pearl Street Nightclub 1996

Leila Young

On May 10th, 1996, Joan Jett performed at Pearl Street Nightclub in Northampton, Massachusetts. Jett openly identifies as bisexual and is a notorious guitarist and singer, primarily involved in the rock music scene, and she has been an advocate for LGBTQ+ rights throughout her career.¹⁸ This performance featured Joan Jett & The Blackhearts, and the opener was Hank. Jett is primarily a solo artist, but also performed as Joan Jett & The Blackhearts, with four core members, who produced and performed many songs primarily throughout the 1980s and 1990s. There were numerous performers May 10th, 1996 at Pearl Street, and Jett was the headliner. Pearl Street was a place for live music, offering a venue for many musicians from 1985 to 2020, often featuring rock musicians. As of 2025, Jett is still touring but will have to find a new location in Northampton, Massachusetts. As a result of the Covid pandemic, despite numerous attempts to reopen, the doors to Pearl Street Nightclub have closed.¹⁹ 

2000 – 2016

Diva’s Nightclub: The Longest Running LGBTQ+ Bar in Northampton

Dylan Jordan

Diva’s was a queer nightclub and bar that operated at 492 Pleasant St from 2000 to 2016. The longest-lasting of any queer nightlife space in Northampton, Diva’s succeeded the North Star Seafood Bar and the Grotto.²⁰ The nightclub was known for its popular goth and alternative nights, along with drag events²¹. The only explicitly queer bar for most of the time it was open, Diva’s existed as a space for queer people as well as women that wanted a place to feel safe.²² The nightclub struggled to maintain attendance levels after the passing of local star and prominent house DJ Otis Sears Jr. and closed three years after his death.²³

May 17, 2004

Gay Marriage is Made Legal in Massachusetts

Leila Suess

On “The Big Day” that gay marriage was legalized in Massachusetts, the Northampton city clerk issued 140 marriage licenses.²⁴ Northampton City Hall was surrounded by crowds of couples getting marriage licenses, clerks handing out roses, caterers, and one elementary school class on a civics field trip. Usually couples have to wait three days between obtaining a marriage license and getting married, but many LGBTQ+ couples obtained special waivers to get married that same day. One Hampshire probate court judge handed out milk and cookies to those couples seeking a waiver. Gay and lesbian couples wanted to be married as quickly as possible because they feared intervention by staunchly anti-gay marriage then governer Mitt Romney. Although Northampton had been a historically gay city, gay marriage was a contentious issue. In 1995, Northampton voters rejected an ordinance to extend the rights of heterosexual couples to gay couples.²⁵ In Northampton in 1996, a catholic priest performed a marriage ceremony for two gay men, consequently suffering ostracization and hate from the local community. Therefore, May 17th 2004 was a liberatory day for many gay couples in Northampton, but the threat loomed that the opportunity to marry may not last long. 

May 1st, 2010

Pride After Dark Melissa Ferrick

Roan Lord

On ​​April 27, 2010 the Daily Hampshire Gazette wrote that “The role of the annual gay pride parade in Northampton has changed over the years, becoming as much a celebration as it is a political action.”²⁶ 
The Iron Horse Entertainment Group’s partnership with Noho Pride on the event, “Pride After Dark,” illustrates this cultural shift towards a celebration versus protest. This event featured Melissa Ferrick, a visiting queer folk rock musician who has been touring since 1991. Resident of Newburyport, MA, Ferrick became well known colloquially as a lesbian folk-rock icon in the 2000s and still plays many shows in Northampton at the Iron Horse.²⁷

1986/2001 – Present

June Millington playing at the Institute for the Musical Arts (IMA): You just turn it up and play like a girl.

Xinyang Sun

Originally founded in Northern California in 1986, June Millington shared her vision of an organization supporting all women in music inspired by Angela Davis’s push—and with the support of her partner, Ann Hackler, who ran The Women’s Center at Hampshire College—Millington co-founded what would become the Institute for the Musical Arts (IMA), a teaching, performing, and recording facility. The IMA has been in Goshen, Massachusetts, since 2001. The Institute is a nonprofit dedicated to empowering women and girls in music and music-related fields, with a focus on creating inclusive opportunities for women of color and LGBTQ+ individuals.²⁸ In 2002, June performed at the Noho Pride and has been involved in various benefit performances in the region. In July of the same year, the IMA did their first Rock-and-Roll Girls Camp, and the IMA also hosts music performances and venues, contributing an important role in the music scene. In 2016, the Millington sisters, June and Jean, and drummer Brie Darling from Fanny regrouped as Fanny Walked the Earth and performed at a tribute concert in Northampton in early 2016.²⁹ IMA’s legacy continues as the legend of June and Ann continues their effort in fostering a safe and diverse community for music in the greater Pioneer Valley; they intend to stay here forever and pass IMA on to the next generation.

Citations

1.  Beth Caurant, interview by Becca Damante, transcript of video recording, April 1, 2016, Documenting Lesbian Lives Oral History Project, Sophia Smith Collection.  ↩︎
2.  Kaymarion Raymond, “Dancing Wimmin: Lilith, the Band,” From Wicked To Wedded, June 1, 2021, https://fromwickedtowedded.com/2017/08/24/dancing-wimmin-lilith-the-band/. ↩︎
3.  Caurant, interview by Becca Damante, transcript of video recording.  ↩︎
4.  “Election Reflection,” From Wicked to Wedded, accessed April 13, 2025, https://fromwickedtowedded.com/2017/01/19/election-reflection/. ↩︎
5. “Biography: David Bliss,” Northampton Neighbors, accessed April 10, 2025, https://northamptonneighbors.org/content.aspx?page_id=22&club_id=560030&module_id=572128 ↩︎
6. Steven Botkin, “Our Evolving Men’s Network,” Valley Men (Oct 31, 1984): 5, https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/our-evolving-mens-network/docview/200864290/se-2 ↩︎
7.  David Musante and Rick Fantasia, “Gentrification – Say What?,” interview, Oh No! Noho (Northampton, MA), March 1985, 5-7, Forbes Library Internet Archive. ↩︎
8.  Raymond, Kaymarion. “Gay and Lesbian Activists – from Wicked to Wedded.” From Wicked To Wedded, June 28, 2020. https://fromwickedtowedded.com/tag/gay-and-lesbian-activists/. ↩︎
9. Nathanson, Jessica, and Dawn Atkins. “Pride and Politics: Revisiting the Northampton Pride March, 1989-1993.” Bisexual Women in the Twenty-First Century 2, no. 2/3 (April 1, 2002): 143–61. https://research.ebsco.com/linkprocessor/plink?id=2cfe5490-a782-3b2a-bb87-4699f6ae2c58. ↩︎
10.  “Strange Town Where Men Aren’t Wanted,” National Inquirer, April 25, 1992. ↩︎
11.  Elizabeth Mehren, “A Place to Call Home: A Small Massachusetts College Town Has Become a Haven for Women, Especially Lesbians,” Los Angeles Times, December 19, 1991.  ↩︎
12. Greta Jochem, “The legend of ‘Lesbianville,’” Daily Hampshire Gazette (Northampton, MA), May 4, 2019. NewsBank: Access World News – Historical and Current. https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&docref=news/17335311370F61F8. ↩︎
13. Elizabeth Mehren, “A Place to Call Home: A Small Massachusetts College Town Has Become a Haven for Women, Especially Lesbians,” Los Angeles Times, December 19, 1991. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-12-19-vw-976-story.html ↩︎
14. Judith Kelliher, “Enquiring minds wanted to know: Tabloid’s treatment draws outrage,” Daily Hampshire Gazette (Northampton, MA), April 14, 1992. https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-hampshire-gazette/142220086/ ↩︎
15. Raymond, Kaymarion. “Left, Gay & Green: A Writer’s Life – Allen Young.” From Wicked To Wedded, July 25, 2018. https://fromwickedtowedded.com/2018/07/. ↩︎
16.  “Cafe, Performance Space Opens on Old South St. Next Month.” Daily Hampshire Gazette (Northampton, MA), May 28, 1994. NewsBank: Access World News – Historical and Current. https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&docref=news/125F77C882BD6E68. ↩︎
17.   “A blast from the past: the progressive pop of Dingo Roi.” Daily Hampshire Gazette (Northampton, MA), September 13, 2018: 3. NewsBank: Access World News – Historical and Current. https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&docref=news/16E688CEABB043E0. ↩︎
18.  René Ostberg, “Joan Jett,” Encyclopædia Britannica, April 3, 2025, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Joan-Jett.  ↩︎
19.  “1996 Concert History of Pearl Street Northampton, Massachusetts, United States: Concert Archives.” 1996 Concert History of Pearl Street Northampton, Massachusetts, United States | Concert Archives. https://www.concertarchives.org/venues/pearl-street?year=1996. ↩︎
20. Kaymarion Raymond, “Northampton – from Wicked to Wedded,” From Wicked To Wedded, September 7, 2019, https://fromwickedtowedded.com/tag/northampton/. ↩︎
21.  Shaina Mishkin, “Diva’s Nightclub to Close This Fall, Announces Final Pride Celebration,” masslive, March 24, 2016, https://www.masslive.com/news/2016/03/divas_nightclub_in_northampton_closing.html. ↩︎
22.  Angie Han, “Destinations: Diva’s Nightclub,” The Amherst Student, April 9, 2003, https://amherststudent-archive.amherst.edu/current/arts/view.php%3Fyear=2002-2003&issue=22&section=arts&article=08.html. ↩︎
23.  Hunter Styles, “We’re All Diva’s Now: In the New Era of Queerness, Can Northampton’s Historically Gay Nightclub Dissolve Its Old Labels?,” Valley Advocate, November 23, 2015, https://valleyadvocate.com/2015/11/23/were-all-divas-now/. ↩︎
24. Contrada, Fred. 2014. “Same-Sex Couples Recall the Day Marriage Became Legal 10 Years Later.” Masslive. May 16, 2014. https://www.masslive.com/news/2014/05/same-sex_couples_recall_the_da.html. ↩︎
25. for the Advocate, Rachel Brahinsky. “Newlyweds Tim and Nick Platanitis-McKee are forging a normal life together, despite a political climate that seems determined not to let them.” Valley Advocate (Easthampton, MA), December 19, 1996. NewsBank: Access World News – Historical and Current. https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&docref=news/1169FD862B501E98. ↩︎
26.  “Gay pride: For the 29th time, gay rights march hits Northampton streets Saturday.” Daily Hampshire Gazette (Northampton, MA), April 27, 2010. NewsBank: Access World News – Historical and Current. https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&docref=news/12F592D7794DC8D8. ↩︎
27.  “Festival overload? Not yet.” Daily Hampshire Gazette (Northampton, MA), August 10, 2000: D1. NewsBank: Access World News – Historical and Current. https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&docref=news/125F8344D811C228. ↩︎
28.  I.M.A. “About.” The Institute for the Musical Arts, 2024. https://ima.org/about/.  ↩︎
29.  Seetoo, John. “June Millington of Pioneering Rock Band Fanny, Part One.” PS Audio, October 2, 2023. https://www.psaudio.com/blogs/copper/june-millington-of-pioneering-rock-band-fanny-part-one?srsltid=AfmBOopjO5wQ9ylJbS7DyOfnY_3AH0-ci-54PWUlOfrGDdcf63urpOhF.  ↩︎