2008 Woodie Awards
Students take a course in 'Lesbian 101'
By: Dave Herrera
Issue date: 3/26/08 Section: Campus
A lesbian walks up to a group of students and says, "ask me anything you want."
Do they get out a notepad or bolt for the exit?
Last night, eight students not only took out notepads, but were the ones to approach the lesbian during "Lesbian 101: Everything You've Always Wanted To Ask a Lesbian!" at Kohl Hall café.
Cynthia Mahaffey, a general studies writing and women's studies instructor, hosted the session and discussed life as an openly gay woman.
"I walked out of being a straight woman into what I think of as 'lesbian-land,' " Mahaffey said. "As soon as I came out, I really haven't had a free night in the last 10 years."
"I really came to my home, I came to where I should have been," she said.
The questions hit on topics ranging from Mahaffey's upbringing in a conservative Christian household, to puberty and to an abusive 21-year marriage she eventually left before coming out.
Mahaffey said she never considered homosexuality growing up in a household where the topic was taboo.
This despite, as she later found out, her father being gay himself.
"The idea of being a lesbian didn't really enter my world," she said.
She was intelligent and a self-described "jock" - "so that just puts you on the fringe as it is."
"I just assumed that because I wasn't feminine in the traditional way, I wasn't attracted to boys. And frankly I didn't care," Mahaffey said.
Many years afterward, when she left her husband and later came out, almost all of her family offered their support.
"My sister called up saying, 'I'm really happy for you,' " Mahaffey said. "My stepdad called me right away and he said, 'you know it's fine with me.' "
Since then, she said, people have had to adjust, but few treated her differently.
She recalled her son's teacher saying, "I wondered when you were going to tell me."
"Most of my friends were very good about it, very accepting, no problems," Mahaffey said.
Still, she lost a friend of 31 years. The friend, Mahaffey said, opposed homosexuality on religious grounds - a response that confused her as a regular churchgoer in Toledo.
"I honestly couldn't live without [faith]," she said.
"I stayed in the faith, and I did about 10 years of spiritual direction," Mahaffey said. "That probably saved me."
And, yes, someone asked about sex.
"Women can go on a long time," Mahaffey said. "That's the great thing about being lesbian."
"I thought I had entered another galaxy," she said.
Do they get out a notepad or bolt for the exit?
Last night, eight students not only took out notepads, but were the ones to approach the lesbian during "Lesbian 101: Everything You've Always Wanted To Ask a Lesbian!" at Kohl Hall café.
Cynthia Mahaffey, a general studies writing and women's studies instructor, hosted the session and discussed life as an openly gay woman.
"I walked out of being a straight woman into what I think of as 'lesbian-land,' " Mahaffey said. "As soon as I came out, I really haven't had a free night in the last 10 years."
"I really came to my home, I came to where I should have been," she said.
The questions hit on topics ranging from Mahaffey's upbringing in a conservative Christian household, to puberty and to an abusive 21-year marriage she eventually left before coming out.
Mahaffey said she never considered homosexuality growing up in a household where the topic was taboo.
This despite, as she later found out, her father being gay himself.
"The idea of being a lesbian didn't really enter my world," she said.
She was intelligent and a self-described "jock" - "so that just puts you on the fringe as it is."
"I just assumed that because I wasn't feminine in the traditional way, I wasn't attracted to boys. And frankly I didn't care," Mahaffey said.
Many years afterward, when she left her husband and later came out, almost all of her family offered their support.
"My sister called up saying, 'I'm really happy for you,' " Mahaffey said. "My stepdad called me right away and he said, 'you know it's fine with me.' "
Since then, she said, people have had to adjust, but few treated her differently.
She recalled her son's teacher saying, "I wondered when you were going to tell me."
"Most of my friends were very good about it, very accepting, no problems," Mahaffey said.
Still, she lost a friend of 31 years. The friend, Mahaffey said, opposed homosexuality on religious grounds - a response that confused her as a regular churchgoer in Toledo.
"I honestly couldn't live without [faith]," she said.
"I stayed in the faith, and I did about 10 years of spiritual direction," Mahaffey said. "That probably saved me."
And, yes, someone asked about sex.
"Women can go on a long time," Mahaffey said. "That's the great thing about being lesbian."
"I thought I had entered another galaxy," she said.
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