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Lollipop Sweetens Children’s Minds
Chapel Hill has the distinction of giv
ing rise to one of the first women’s pub
lishing collectives in the country.
Lollipop Power, Inc. is a publisher of
non-sexist, non-racist, and non
heterosexist children’s books.
Lollipop Power has its roots in a 1969
consciousness raising group which sought
to address the need for alternative child
ren’s books. The primary focus was, and
continues to be, combatting the socializa
tion of children into rigid sex roles.
The collective was incorporated and pub
lished its first book in 1970.
During its 15-year lifespan. Lollipop
has published 19 children’s books. Some
of the stories are fanciful lessons of
equity for animals or citizens of imagi
nary lands, while others deal with the
practical realities of daycare centers
and, most recently, the empowerment of
children to protect themselves from sexual
abuse.
Of special interest to the gay and
lesbian community are two Lollipop books
dealing with lesbianism. In 1983, the
collective published Lots of Mommies by
Jane Severance. Although lesbianism is
not directly referred to in this story of
a little girl who lives with her mother
and three other women, it is certainly
implied. Several years earlier, in 1979,
Lollipop published another Jane Severance
book, When Megan Went Away, which deals
explicitly with lesbian parenting.
Until recently it was almost impossible
to find books with strong female protago
nists, books that actively denied sexist
stereotyping and certainly books that
dealt with lesbian parenting! Anyone
attempting to instill these sorts of pro
gressive values in young children is aware
of the difficulty of overcoming the nega
tive socializing effects of television,
schools, other children and adults, and
the majority of children’s books.
Lollipop Power has thus set an encour
aging precedent. Unfortunately due to
decreasing memberhsip and increasing
costs, the collective is now in the
process of closing down. Yet, on the
brighter side, the dream is not shattered,
and the number of publishers addressing
the issues of sexism, racism, and homo
phobia has grown in recent years, as has
the number of women’s presses. In addi
tion to progressive publishers, some main
stream children’s literature is slowly
getting away from sex role stereotyping as
well. Hence there is hope that in the
coming years, other publishers will con
tinue in the spirit of Lollipop Power. I
am proud to live in a community that gave
rise to a collective like Lollipop Power.
For more information, write or call:
Lollipop Power, Inc. 929-4857
P.O. Box 1171
Chapel Hill, NC 27514
-Tonie Goldstein
Gay Voting Habits
Are They Self-Destructive?
Few of us would argue with the propo
sition that the men and women of the gay
community are very often viewed by the
"straight" world as nothing more than a
huddled mass of clones. So, in light of
the 1984 election, the question arises. If
we act, dress, look and sound alike, why
is it that gay people don’t all vote
alike?
That’s an interesting question, for
both gays and non—gays alike. While each
of us would dispute the assumptions of
typical stereotyping by ignorant observers
of our community, perhaps the one consis
tency it would be reasonable to assume we
as a community do share is the tendency to
flex our political muscle as a unit on
election day.
Your’re thinking. What is he talking
about? What about the gay voting block in
San Francisco? What about the solidarity
of the gay community in other cities in
the country? It’s true that, at least on
a local, municipal level, gay people have
been known to stand together when their
freedoms are at stake.
But that is by no means a given truth.
If it were there would be a lot more gay
civil rights bills passed by city councils
in the United States and a lot less
threatening legislation being enacted into
law in some of our largest cities.
The Human Rights Campaign Fund repre
sents the interests of the gay and lesbian
community in federal races. And what we
have witnessed in Congressional, Senator
ial, and Presidential elections for the
past four years is an apparent absence of
a reliable, consistent coalition of les
bian and gay voters.
A large number of men and women in the
gay community would argue that a second
Reagan administration will not help the
cause of gay civil rights in this country.
And many would argue that a second term
will in fact see ground lost, primarily as
an increasingly conservative federal
judiciary—particularly the Supreme Court
—hears Important human rights cases. Yet
a substantial number of these same gay men
and women voted for the reelection of •
(see GAY VOTING on page
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