“There are only two responses to freedom. One is trying to control everything. The other is to be creative and take risks.”
– Alix Dobkin (via OLOC).
Alix Dobkin, the pioneering ‘head lesbian’ and central figure of lesbian culture, through the power of music, has passed away at age 80. Liza Cowan wrote for Old Lesbians Organizing for Change (OLOC) – a cause Alix was heavily involved in – that Alix “died peacefully in her sleep, surrounded by family, on May 19th from a brain aneurysm and stroke.”
Lavender Jane
Alix met classical musician Kay Gardner and the pair started the group Lavender Jane together. Due to no record label wanting to work with anyone who only performs for women, Alix created her own production company, Women’s Wax Works. Alix produced “Lavender Jane Loves Women,” in 1973, which is heralded as the “first full-length album by, for, and about lesbians,” according to The Washington Post.
“Lavender Jane Loves Women” was produced from a team of only women. “From the performers, to the sound engineer, and even record pressing,” no man was involved, said Liza Cowan. “The cover was an illustration Alix drew, which a group of friends spent several evenings gluing to the cardboard sleeves.” Alix produced four more albums between 1973 and 1990 and toured her music all over the world.
Alix Dobkin celebrated lesbian life and culture on a public stage long before it was remotely acceptable. “Alix was one of the first to celebrate us in music…It was no longer the love that dared not share its name. She shouted it for us,” said Lillian Faderman, to The Washington Post.
Activist Alix
Alix was a “red diaper baby,” her parents were members of The Communist Party until she was a teen, which activated her passion for social justice. She “grew up under government surveillance in the McCarthy era,” and even “examined her FBI file for a 2009 memoir, My Red Blood.”
Alix was drawn to the women’s movement after she heard Liza Cowan interview Germaine Greer. “She realized that this would be the cause of her lifetime,” said Liza Cowan. She then “joined a Consciousness Raising Group, separated from her husband, and struck out on her own. She picked up the guitar once more, and wrote a letter to the producer who had done the interview which had so inspired her, asking if she could perform on her program. The night they did the live on-air broadcast, Alix and the producer, Liza Cowan, fell in love, and soon moved in together, along with 11 month old baby Adrian.”
Despite previously mingling with musicians like Bob Dylan, becoming his favorite “girl singer” – she once even declined his suggestion that she cover his song, “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right” – Alix had now found her true path. “She just had this kind of insight,” Liza Cowan said to The Washington Post, “[she had] this visual image that she was singing and looking out into the audience and it was all women’s faces. And she realized that was what she needed to do: Sing for women. It opened up a whole realm of possibility.”
The Soundtrack for Lesbian Feminism
Alix Dobkin became the soundtrack for lesbian feminism and is known to have started the genre of Women’s Music. Mary, a lesbian in her 60s, described to me, “she helped us understand, way before there was [the] internet, that we were connected to lesbians all over the world. I get goosebumps thinking about the first time I heard her sing “Lesbian Code” in front of a big concert hall packed with women…”
“She was really good at telling stories about her songs and her travels and she explained that she visited lesbian communities all over the world and, every time she would get to a new town, she’d ask the women hosting her, and at her concerts, “when you’re walking around with another lesbian, in your city/town/campus, and you see a woman you think is a lesbian, how do you tell the woman you’re walking with to check her out/that you think the woman is a lesbian…? Without saying out loud “I think that woman is a lesbian” because you can’t be that out…”
“She collected all the words and phrases and actions and made them into the song, Lesbian Code.”
Alix inspired, impressed, and gave strength to lesbians all over the globe. Mary says, “that song changed my worldview… and helped me feel connected to lesbians all over the world. [It] helped me realize that my little community wasn’t the only community of lesbians.”
While Alix’s death is devastating to so many lesbians, she has left an indescribably important impact on lesbian culture, history, and morale. Her memory – including her music, insightful words, and rebellious nature – is preserved with love and care. Alix Dobkin made the heroic choice to change her entire career and reputation. She devoted her craft to lesbians everywhere.
In times where lesbians were afraid to be identified for their sexual orientation – when our homes, jobs, and family were at stake more than they are today – Alix Dobkin made relatable music for us to listen to. While many lesbians spent their lives in forced hiding, Alix gestured them a supportive hand to hold through the power of her music.
