Maria Dolan

2 months ago | roughdraftatlanta.com | Maria Dolan

Say "Women's History Month" in Atlanta and echoes reverberate far outward. Select only one jewel to examine? I choose ZAMI-NOBLA (National Organization of Black Lesbians on Aging), the nation's only organization focused on Black lesbians over the age of 50.

Dec 12, 2024 | thegavoice.com | Maria Dolan

“I always had the attitude that if I want to do something, you are not going to stop me.” Aida RentasChris and I postponed our nuptial celebrations from February until May of 2024 so my good friend Aida Rentas could make it from her home in Puerto Rico. Brent Duncan filmed her at my house speaking on her life as part of his Queer Stories series with me and the Georgia LGBTQ History Project. If you don’t know Aida’s name, then you were not plugged into ATL life in the 1980s, the aughts, and beyond.

Nov 8, 2024 | thegavoice.com | Maria Dolan

Charlene and her namesake bar had a great run. I raise a glass to both. Decades ago, my brother lived in New Orleans and I visited a few times a year. Thank Goddess for Charlene’s on Elysian Fields Avenue. During Carnival, it was basically open 24/7. I visited one early morning and grinned at the large and colorful chalkboard set outside the front door.

Oct 10, 2024 | thegavoice.com | Maria Dolan

True story: Jonathan Ned Katz brought me out as a queer historian. As a baby dyke, I read his “Gay American History — Lesbians and Gay Men in the U.S.A.” (1976), sat back, and said “hole-lee sheet!” How was this info never accessible before now? I’d stumbled upon a treasure chest, running my hands through the riches. Fortunately, Katz has never ceased to research and write, which is how we get Eve Adams. I’d been seeing little articles about Eve for a while.

Sep 5, 2024 | thegavoice.com | Maria Dolan

Pivotal moments in civil rights struggles sometimes go unremarked until long after the fact — think Stonewall. Sometimes, these moments upend stone walls, with the cracking apart thunderingly audible, visceral, and instantaneous. The much-vaunted “Battle of the Sexes,” the Billie Jean King vs. Bobby Riggs tennis match on September 20, 1973, was one such moment.