Lisa Ben, pseudonym for the editor of the first lesbian publication. From June 1947 to February 1948, a lesbian who used the pseudonym “Lisa Ben” wrote a small newsletter in Los Angeles called Vice Versa. She relied on a laborious process at her office at the RKO Movie Studios where she would type one original with four carbon copies, then reload her typewriter, and repeat the process until she had ten copies. Initially, she relied on the postal service for delivery but learned that it was illegal to send material about lesbians through the mail, so she began to deliver them by hand. After nine issues she left RKO and Vice Versa ended. But her newsletters continued to circulate for several years providing news and information to women who had never seen any other information about lesbians. In doing so, “Lisa Ben,” whose real name is Edythe Eyde, became a pioneering lesbian journalist.
Listen to an interview with Edythe Eyde, courtesy of Eric Marcus and the “Making Gay History” podcast, here.