Sahara Revisited In New Florida Exhibit

Of all the fabulous places & people I’ve had the pleasure to meet in my life’s journey wandering into Sahara Nightclub in 1978 in NYC was definitely a highlight. There I established a lifelong ideal of what a chic vibrant lesbian/feminist community could be. Now the Stonewall National Museum’s Women’s Fund in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida is presenting an exhibit entitled “Sahara: NYC’s Lesbian Legacy” with an opening night event on Saturday February 28th & runs until April 5th. In 2019 I talked to Leslie Cohen about the legendary Sahara nightclub that she established with 3 of her friends in May of 1976 that abruptly closed in December of 1979 at 1234 Second Avenue at East 65th Street on Manhattan’s fashionable Upper East Side. There Cohen, Michelle Florea, Linda Goldfarb & Barbara Russo created NYC’s first upscale women’s club that showcased women in art, politics & music. On Thursday night the line went around the block. There were also lots of fabulous events when both men & women were invited in for political fundraisers & cabaret. Celebrities such as Jane Fonda, Tom Hayden, Patti Smith, Pat Benatar, Warren Beatty, Gilda Radner, Jane Curtin, Betty Friedan, Gloria Steinem, Bella Abzug & Elaine Noble the first openly gay state Representative from Massachusetts appeared or performed there. This led to Leslie & her partner Beth Suskin who both sadly passed in the last few years became the models for the iconic sculpture which commemorates the Stonewall Riots in Greenwich Village which was declared a national monument by Obama in 2016 but unfortunately is now under attack by the current administration. I talked to Leslie about Sahara & her spin on the future of our LGBTQ civil rights in this exclusive 2019 podcast. LISTEN

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