“Dyke TV has an electric aesthetic with a rhythm that's more urgent than smooth: sharp cuts, bold fonts, saturated colors...and that signature VHS fuzz. It's proudly low budget and high voltage; punk in spirit, broadcast in nature, a cross between a political zine and a home movie, but built for collective power.”

What is Dyke TV?

Born in 1993 in New York City, Dyke TV was a magazine style television show on public access television that aired first on Manhattan Neighborhood Network before spreading to stations across the city and country. Segments included news, arts, culture, sports, and comedy, all bolstered by a signature unapologetically radical politics. 

Dyke TV was made possible because the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ordered local cable stations to provide programming slots for independent programs in the early 1970s; the FCC also had extended protections for programming that allowed material that would have otherwise been censored in broadcast and commercial programming.

Originally produced by Ana Maria Simo, Linda Chapman, and Mary Patierno, Dyke TV was almost entirely volunteer run and provided training opportunities for lesbian video and filmmakers. At its core, Dyke TV was a community passion project made by and for lesbians.

"Lesbian invisibility was what we were up against. We were producing before Ellen came out, for instance, which I always find it a kind of a marker- KD Lang and Ellen. And we were right on the verge of that kind lesbian chic that started happening in the mid nineties. We were pushing that narrative: lesbians in the media." - Linda Chapman

More Public Access Television

There were hundreds of public/cable access television shows catered to LGBTQ audiences in the late 20th century: from news shows- like GayUSA- to erotica- like Robin Byrd's Men 4 Men- and everything in between. The majority of programming was made by and for gay men (and predominantly white gay men), but lesbians featured across many programs.

The 10% Show

Chicago had its very own LGBTQ public access show: The 10% Show. Running only 20 episodes between 1989 and 1991, The 10% Show spotlighted a wide sampling of LGBTQ life in Chicago at the time, with particular focus on HIV/AIDS activism of the moment. Segments were produced on arts, activism and culture. 

Full length episodes of The 10% Show can be found on the Gerber/Hart website.

The Queer Program

A live call-in show from Milwaukee's which ran from 1992 until 2017, hosted by Michael Lisowski. The program's stated mission was "to heighten the visibility of Milwaukee and Wisconsin's LGBT communities through live public access cable television." The show featured conversations and guests, and enabled listeners to call in live to comment and ask questions. 

More information can be found through Wisconsin LGBTQ History Project's Historical Archive.

Read more about LGBTQ Public Access Television here, written by episode contributor Lauren Herold.

Lower East Side Theater Origins

Linda Chapman and Ana Maria Simo, two of the three original producers of Dyke TV, came to the project through the vibrant theatrical scene of the East Village. Together, they founded Sang Froid, a production company that they used to produce theatrical work and Dyke TV. With backgrounds in acting, writing, and producing, Ana Maria worked for the infamous New York Theatre Workshop, where the musical Rent originated.

La MaMa

Nearly synonymous with the queer theatrical legacy of the East Village, La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club was founded by theatre pioneer Ellen Stewart in 1961. Throughout the 20th century, La MaMa became the home of experimental work where underrepresented artists could produce interesting, controversial work without worrying about commercial viability. While not lesbian specific, La MaMa provided a venue for queer theatre when nearly nowhere else would.

Medusa's Revenge

Founded in 1976 by Ana Maria Simo and Magali Alabau, Medusa's Revenge was a foundational lesbian multicultural performance and community space which focused particularly on supporting women of color and working-class women. When Medusa's Revenge closed in 1981, performers from the theatre went on to found WOW Cafe Theatre.

WOW Café Theater

The self-proclaimed “Oldest Collectively-Run Performance Space for Women and/or Trans and/or Non-Binary Artists in the Known Universe,” WOW Café Theater, began with Lois Weaver and Peggy Shaw in 1980 as an international women’s theatre festival, and went on to become the homebase for preeminent lesbian theatre troupe The Five Lesbian Brothers (including Lisa Kron, who went on to write the book and lyrics for the musical adaptation of Fun Home) and gender-bending Split Britches.

"I will say, at least back then, and unlike now, you had a sense that when you did participate in activism, that you could make a difference...that things would change a little bit for the better. That motivated us, too. You know, it's like we could see things changing. Visibility was a huge thing; being visible in all ways."    - Mary Pateirno

Lesbian Activism in the 90s

The Lesbian Avengers

A direct action group founded in 1992, the Lesbian Avengers focused on “lesbian visibility and survival.” Originally founded by Ana Simo (of Dyke TV), Sarah Schulman, Maxine Wolfe, Anne-christine d'Adesky, Marie Honan, and Anne Maguire They focused on increasing media visibility of and for lesbians through direct action, like kiss-ins, zaps, and marches, as well as visual “propaganda,” such as working with Dyke TV, distributing and pasting flyers and newsletters, and throwing parties. The Lesbian Avengers were at the forefront of many gay rights movements in the 1990s, creating the Lesbian Avengers’ Civil Rights Organizing Project. In total, sixty chapters of Lesbian Avengers mobilized globally, and the work continues.

Kelly Cogswell, with the help of Ana Simo (original Dyke TV Producer), and Adriana Avella, archivist and part of Las Buenas Amigas, have been working on The Lesbian Avengers Documentary Project. They have compiled information, group and action timelines, photos, ephemera, and videos online at lesbianavengers.com for anyone to access. 

Mattachine Midwest

In 1965, police conducted a particularly violent raid on the gay bar Louie Gage's Fun Lounge- Mattachine Midwest was formed in reaction. Mattachine Midwest became one of the most prominent groups in the homophile movement, working for LGBTQ rights across Chicago and the country. Though not lesbian specific, original founding member Valerie Taylor was a pioneer in lesbian literature, writing the famous Stranger on Lesbos under the pen name Velma N. Tate. Taylor was in a longterm relationship with Gerber/Hart namesake and Chicago queer icon, Pearl Hart, who was also among the founding members of Mattachine Midwest. 

Gerber/Hart has extensive physical and digital records, ephemera, and information on Mattachine Midwest if you would like to learn more.

"Use the archive, let it spark new work, new questions, new stories. That's what it's there for. Archives aren't just about the past. They're about what we carry into the future; who we carry, and how we make sure they're never forgotten."

Want to Learn More...

About Dyke TV?

• Full episodes are available online via Smith College's archives and on VHS through Gerber/Hart.
• Interviews, footage, and archival documents can be accessed via Lesbian Herstory Archives.

About Public Cable Access Queer Programming?

• See some of Lauren Herold's work here
• View the John H. Ryan Papers  (producer of The 10% Show) 
  • Available through G/H archives

About Lesbian Theatre?

• Lady Dicks and Lesbian Brothers: Staging the Unimaginable at the WOW Café Theatre by Kate Davy
  • Available through U of Mich Press Open Access
• Memories of the Revolution: The First Ten Years of the WOW Café Theater, edited by Jill Dolan 
  • Accessible digitally via InternetArchive.
• The Five Lesbian Brothers' guide to life : a collection of helpful hints and fabricated facts for today's gay girl, illustrated by Donna Evans.
  
  • Available at G/H

About Lesbian Activism?

• The Girl's Next Door: Into the Heart of Lesbian America, by Lindsy Van Delder and Pamela Robin Brandt
  • Available at G/H
• My American history: Lesbian and Gay Life During the Reagan/Bush Years, by Sara Schulman
  • Available at G/H
• The Lesbian Avengers Handbook
  • Available digitally via The Lesbian Avengers Documentary Project
• The Valerie Taylor Archival Collection
  • Available through G/H archives