Book excerpt: This book reflects a growing awareness of the special concerns of lesbians. All gay women and men have, of course, felt isolated from the mainstream culture, but for lesbians the isolation has been much more acute. With far fewer social outlets as a resource, lesbians have had greater difficulty in establishing a sense of community and in organizing political structures. Moreover, the bulk of movement literature has addressed the needs and experience of gay men, whose life-style, in some important respects, differs from that of the lesbians.