In “Baby, You Are My Religion” by Marie Cartier she talks to us about pre-Stonewall lesbians who risked it all to be in a place where they could be themselves. Some of the things these women risked were arrest, rape, battery, public exposure, loss of family, and loss of career. But it was worth it, because the bars were the only place where they felt they existed. In these bars they found identity, community, and love. Marie Cartier writes “For bar culture women then, I believe the gay women’s bar was that proverbial mountaintop—the place where they began the search that would lead to self-definition.” (p.195) Because of this, the bars were sacred ground to these women as Dr. Cartier explains. More than just being a sacred space, this era also
