On September 27, 1992, in the midst of a vicious antigay campaign in the state of Oregon, lesbian Hattie Mae Cohens and disabled gay man Brian Mock were killed when a group of young skinheads firebombed their rooming house after harassing them for months.
The Lesbian Avengers called attention to their deaths during an anti-violence march held on the eve of the big Halloween Parade in New York City. They built a shrine to Cohens and Mock, and all the others dead in antigay attacks, and ate fire for the very first time. "Their fire will not consume us. We take it and make it our own."
Fire-eating became an important symbol of resistance for the Lesbian Avengers.
This video is an excerpt of the 1993 documentary video, Lesbian Avengers Eat Fire, Too, produced and copyrighted by the Lesbian Avengers.
Eat Fire, Too
Produced by
The Lesbian Avengers
Directed and edited by
Janet Baus
Su Friedrich
Camera
Janet Baus
Jean Carlomusto
Julie Clark
Su Friedrich
Harriet Hirshorn
&
Kristina Deutsch
Alison Froling
Lisa Guido
Phyllis Lutsky
Dolly Meiran
Morgan Grenwald
THANKS TO
Avengers Everywhere
Caroline Buckler
Cynthia Carr
Linda Chapman
DYKE TV
Norman Cowie
Kristina Deutsch
Samara Halperin
Kathy High
Anastasia Kedroe
Phyllis Lutsky
Mary Patierno
Carrie Martin
Stacey Morris
Avery Revere
Sue Schaffner
Ana Simo
&
The New Orleans
Video Access Center
