A love letter from NADIA (non-anglo dykes in Australia)

This article is a revised version of a paper I presented at the "Sappho Was A Wog Grrrl" conference in Melbourne, 22 October 1995, which was organized by "Interlesbian," a Melbourne-based political and support group for lesbians from Non-English Speaking Backgrounds (NESB). Utilizing a mixed genre format incorporating the first person fictional narrative form of letters to lovers, this parodic piece explores the identity terrains of sexuality, ethnicity and class in Melbourne's lesbian communities. It focuses on how the ethnocentric limits of sexual, cultural and racial identifications constrain the mythical beauty of coming out and staying in. The experiences reported and reflected upon here arose out of my participation as an activist member of Interlesbian. Contextualized in the form of a lover's discourse, this paper is an evocation of a passion towards the (re)visioning of a progressive local lesbian activist politics and community.