December 24, 1981: Lesbians of means.

Today, lesbians run most national gay organizations, hold political offices, and have considerable visibility in corporate America. But in 1981 The Advocate had to go "In Search of Lesbians of Means." "For most people the word lesbian conjures up a short-haired woman who wears overalls ... and eats tofu for lunch," reporter Bonnie Burke wrote. "But the elusive affluent lesbian ... does indeed exist."

Burke's hunt initially met with failure, but finally she included 29 lesbians from various fields. Some were well-known openly lesbian public figures, such as politicians Virginia Apuzzo and Elaine Noble, playwright Jane Chambers, and Gay Rights Advocates executive director Jean O'Leary. Others--including "a nationally prominent journalist, the former vice presidents of three Fortune 500 companies, a Reagan political appointee, and a new realist artist"--were well-known professionally but were not ready to come out as lesbians.

Burke found that older, more established lesbians were more open and, therefore, had something to offer younger women who hadn't come out because of fear of discrimination at work. She wrote, "Thanks to successful lesbians who are willing and able to share the lessons they've learned with their less affluent counterparts in the movement, we may all benefit from these women's struggles to achieve money, power, fame, and freedom."