Old Lesbians Organizing For Change is a national organization founded in 1989 that educates and empowers American lesbians over the age of 60 to oppose ageism in their lives and their communities.[1][2]
In 1983 the book, Look Me in the Eye: Old Women, Aging and Ageism, was written by two lesbians (Barbara Macdonald and Cynthia Rich).[3] Inspired by this book, lesbians over the age of sixty put together the First West Coast Conference by and for Old Lesbians, held at the California State University Dominguez Campus in Carson, California, in April 1987.[3] Even before it was over, a group had begun planning for another, and in August 1989 the Second West Coast Conference was held in northern California.[3]
Some of those who had attended these two events wanted to focus specifically on challenging ageism, and sixteen old lesbians went on to take the necessary steps to form an ongoing organization.[3]
At the first organizational meeting, a name was chosen, a statement of purpose was drafted, tasks were assigned, a coordinator was designated and future meetings were scheduled.[3] The Old Lesbian Organizing Committee (later renamed Old Lesbians Organizing for Change) had begun.[3] They soon began putting out a newsletter and sending speakers to conferences and workshops.[3] They were a part of the National Lesbian Conference in Atlanta in 1991 as well as the March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay and Bi Equal Rights and Liberation in 1993.[3] By 1992 they had attained nonprofit status, incorporating in Texas, and in 1994 they attained tax-exempt status.[3]
In 1996 they held their first national gathering, at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis.[3] The second national gathering was held in 1999 in San Francisco,[3] and the third was held in 2002 in Minnesota.[3] It was then decided to hold these meetings once every other year, so the fourth meeting was held in 2004 in Houston, Texas, and the fifth was held in 2006 in Durham, North Carolina.[3] The sixth was held in 2008 in Los Angeles, California.[3] In 2010 Old Lesbians Organizing for Change had their seventh national gathering, in Cleveland, and presented the first Del Martin Old Lesbian Pride Award to Kathy Glass, born in 1932, and Carmah Lawler, born in 1929.[3]
Old Lesbians Organizing for Change continues to publish a quarterly newsletter, The OLOC Reporter.[3] Furthermore, they have produced a line of greeting cards depicting old lesbians.[3] They also support the Old Lesbian Oral Herstory Project, which strives to collect and document the life stories of lesbians 70 years of age and older.[3] OLOC also authored and published a groundbreaking document entitled The Facilitator's Handbook: Confronting Ageism, subtitled Consciousness Raising for Lesbians 60 and Over.[3]
The organization has been cited in the Encyclopedia of lesbian and gay histories and cultures as "taking the lead in [the] struggle" against ageism,[4] and a pamphlet of theirs was quoted in the best-selling text Women and gender: a feminist psychology.[5]