Sapphic Chic: From Lesbos to Los Angeles & Sappho Was a Pop Star: A Herstory of Sapphic Pop

Join Sara Angevine and Trish Bendix for a special Double Feature Lecture! Sapphic Chic: From Lesbos to Los Angeles & Sappho Was a Pop Star: A Herstory of Sapphic Pop will feature two lectures discussing two lesbian topics showcasing quantitative and qualitative findings.

Sapphic Chic: From Lesbos to Los Angeles

Sara Angevine will take the audience through her qualitative case study research into the origins and impact of the concept of “Lesbian Chic.” She traces the initial media circulations of the concept in the 1990s, highlights the influence of Los Angeles cultural leaders to embrace and expand the idea, shows visual materials from her archival research, and argues how this impacted the enthusiastic distribution of the Showtime hit “The L-Word.” Using multi-media platforms, she will present her research with slides and videos, followed by an open conversation with the audience reflecting on the different perspectives on the meaning and impact of this expansion of lesbian identity politics that arguably began in Los Angeles, California.

Sappho Was a Pop Star: A Herstory of Sapphic Pop

As the inventor of lyrics, love songs, and the guitar pick, Sappho was the first known pop star. The performer from Lesbos made audiences swoon while she sang for and about several different women, making her an iconic namesake for a new era of queer women in music. Journalist Trish Bendix will share Sappho's story and reveal how her impact can be found across every genre of the 20th and 21st centuries, including blues, jazz, folk, country, gospel, soul, disco, rock and roll, punk, new wave, hip-hop, electronic music, and traditional pop.

This lecture is organized by Sara Angevine and Trish Bendix and is co-presented with the Los Angeles LGBT Center as part of Circa: Queer Histories Festival 2025, presented by One Institute.