From the private women’s salons of the 1920s to the lesbian separatist communes of the 1970s and the pop-up bars of today, queer women have long sought out each other and carved space for themselves — even when doing so came at a steep cost. Over the past century, these Sapphic spaces have enabled lesbians and other women who love women an opportunity to create community, find romance, pursue joy and fight for equal rights in a world dominated by straight, white, cisgender men.
Join NBC Out Editorial Director Brooke Sopelsa, journalist and host Alex Berg, writer and editor Trish Bendix, filmmaker Sekiya Dorsett and others as they discuss the history, evolution and significance of these Sapphic spaces from the Roaring ‘20s to the present day.
“The Evolution of Sapphic Spaces: From the 1920s to the 2020s” will take place at the Los Angeles LGBT Center’s Advocate & Gochis Galleries on Wednesday, October 23, 2024, from 7-8:30 p.m.
This program is suitable for all ages.
Panelists
Brooke Sopelsa is an award-winning journalist with over two decades experience reporting, producing and editing for major national newsrooms. She’s currently the editorial director of NBC Out, the LGBTQ vertical she launched at NBC News in 2016. Brooke’s work at NBC includes spearheading the annual NBC Out #Pride30 list, co-producing the GLAAD Award-winning LGBTQ history docuseries Stonewall 50: The Revolution and co-creating the feature documentary The Stonewall Revolution (now streaming on Peacock). Prior to NBC Out, Brooke was a producer at HuffPost, a reporter at CNBC.com and co-producer of Queer Streets, a 2007 documentary about NYC’s LGBTQ homeless youth.
Alex Berg is a creative director and journalist with a love for storytelling in every medium. Over the course of her career, Alex has appeared in front of the camera and on the mic as an on-air host and correspondent, and behind the camera as a director, producer, and creative. For the past 15 years, she’s covered LGBTQ+ issues at an array of national outlets, recently writing for NBC News about the lesbian bar renaissance and rise of “Sapphic” identity. You can see more of her work at itsalexberg.com.
Trish Bendix is an NLGJA award-winning and GLAAD-nominated writer and editor based in Los Angeles. She is a regular contributor to the New York Times and recently worked as a consulting producer on Netflix’s 2023 documentary, Outstanding: A Comedy Revolution. Trish’s work has been published by outlets such as The Wall Street Journal Magazine, Time, Variety, Vulture, The Cut, The Daily Beast, NBC, and Buzzfeed.
Award-winning filmmaker Sekiya Dorsett leads Seabreeze Media; her body of work is notable for its intimate storytelling. Her films include the 2017 documentary The Revival: Women and the Word, about a touring group of Black lesbian poets and musicians, and the 2019 LGBTQ history docuseries Stonewall 50: The Revolution. She was also part of the team behind 2021’s In Our Mothers Gardens, a masterpiece of intergenerational Black woman confessional storytelling (now on Netflix). Her newest film, Caribbean Queen, addresses the stigma facing LGBTQ Caribbeans, and her forthcoming film, I Love Bed-Stuy, is a docu-fiction love letter to the iconic Brooklyn neighborhood.
Angela Brinskele is a professional lesbian and professional photographer who has documented the LGBTQ community for decades. She has been the Director of Communications of the June L. Mazer Lesbian Archives for over 12 years.
This program is organized by Brooke Sopelsa and co-presented with the Los Angeles LGBT Center as part of Circa: Queer Histories Festival 2024, presented by One Institute.
The Los Angeles LGBT Center is a safe and welcoming place where the LGBTQ+ community finds help, hope, and support when it is needed the most.