I’m back from a week floating around the Caribbean with 1800 or so other lesbians. Olivia Travel, as always, knows how to do vacations right. I’ll spare you the “what I did on my (almost-) summer vacation” essay, though, and instead use the cruise as a jumping-off point for some posts this week on community, identity, and the state of the lesbian nation.
Although it wasn’t a family cruise, lesbian moms made a visible appearance in the form of comedians Vickie Shaw and Karen Williams. They’re both hysterically funny women, whether talking about families, partners, sex, or politics. The best part of seeing their performances, however, was being in an audience where everybody got the jokes. I’m not just talking about the old U-Haul joke that gets dragged out by writers of shows attempting to share a bit of lesbian humor with a mixed audience. I mean subtle humor, needing no explanation, about such things as butch/femme identities, lesbian bed-death, and coming out.
Therein lies the special nature of an LGBT vacation. Part of it is being able to hold hands with your partner without that instinctive glance to see who’s watching. Equally important, though, is the immediate sense of connection with the other guests. On our cruise, we were a community, even in the short time we were together. I’m no separatist, and would not argue that we should always isolate ourselves this way. Still, there’s a reason schools have reunions and homecomings. Sometimes it’s good to hang with the team for a while, kicking back and telling jokes that everybody gets.