Past Articles

Cartoons for the Innocent! By Leslie Ewing

Leslie is a third generation Californian and has the wheels to prove it: 3 cars and 6 bikes.

Like thousands of others, her move to the Bay Area in 1981 represented much more than a career opportunity. Coming out in the midst of the women's and gay liberation movements presented unlimited possibilities for building a real queer community, but horribly, by the mid-eighties, there emerged a more pressing call. Many of her friends and co-workers suddenly were sick or dying. Finding themselves living in the middle of the AIDS epidemic, Leslie and her partner, Rebecca LePere, soon joined other activists in forming affinity groups that served as the local precursor of Act-Up. They, with fellow LGBT activists, formed the affinity group Queer and Present Danger and hit the streets.

Those times changed lives. Leslie's subsequent work with the NAMES Project as the volunteer coordinator for the displays in Washington DC, and then the 1993 March on Washington (when she served on the national steering committee) taught her the power of taking chances and thinking big. Really big. With nothing to lose, activists were willing to take enormous chances, determined to make an impact upon American society and its interpretation of diversity. Most notable, are her efforts to mount the '93 March because she was involved from the very beginning and showed great perseverance in maintaining a leadership role during three very difficult years of organizing prior to the event. That March, also, was the only one that didn't leave a trail of debt in its wake: no small feat.

After the '93 March, Leslie was recruited to join the board of directors of the AIDS Emergency Fund (AEF). The organization was struggling to keep its doors open as the number of clients increased by an average of over 25% every year for five years straight. In 1996, she was elected president of the board, determined to turn things around. The board worked hard to devise and implement a strategic plan that started with the simple premise that good things would follow if the organization would just remain true to the founders' mission of remaining volunteer-driven and fiscally responsible. The organization's continuing strength is still rooted in those core values.

In 1998, Leslie joined Under One Roof, the respected non-profit gift shop that generates revenue for local AIDS organizations, as the Director of Merchandising. In the seven years that she served the organization, the store raised close to three million dollars for over 40 local non-profits helping people living with HIV.

Currently, Leslie works as the Development Director of Lyon-Martin Women's Health Services. Again, staying true to the founders' vision, the clinic continues to provide non-judgmental healthcare to women with HIV, women who are in gender transition, and all women who come to Lyon-Martin because they experience marginalization by the establishment healthcare system.

Her unique perspective on our community and movement is amply evidenced in her cartoons, which have appeared since 1981, mostly under the title Mid-Dyke Crisis.

Her work has been published in Wimmins' Comix, Gay Comix, The Bay Area Reporter, The Lesbian News, Bay Times, San Francisco Spectrum and numerous anthologies.