The Lexington Six
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The Lexington Six was an activist collection of five lesbian women and one gay man based in Lexington, Kentucky (A. Thomason[1]). Consisting of Debbie Hands, Gail Cohee, Jill Raymond, Nancy Scott, Marla Seymor, and Carey Junkin, the group was subpoenaed to testify regarding their connection to a bank robbery in Massachusetts. Fall of 1974, a student, (Letty Ritter) at the University of Kentucky recognized Susan Edithe Saxe and Katherine Ann Power (with aliases Lena and Mae) in a binder for the FBI’s Most-Wanted list (J. Donovan[2]). These two had robbed a Massachusetts bank and fled to Kentucky. Here, these two women joined a Lexington-based lesbian feminist collective (A. Thomason[1]). When Saxe and Power left Lexington, the FBI began questioning the local gay and lesbian community in order to determine their whereabouts (Bronksi[3]). With a strong sense of community, the collective refused to give information to the FBI, so the six were called in to testify in front of a grand jury. Once again they were refused to testify and were then arrested and outed to their families.
Sall Kundert, a woman associated with Lena and Mae (the original fugitives), as well as in association with the lesbian feminist community, informed Marla Seymour and Gail Cohee that the FBI was questioning the community, and told them to be aware of their rights when questioned. Carey Junkin, the next to be questioned, had lived in the same building as Lena and Mae, but had no association with them beyond that, feeling solidarity with the community, Junkin had refused to answer any questions. (J. Donovan[2]). Jill Raymond had already had an open FBI file on her for her participation in anti-war protests in the area, so with the warning from Sally, she had been prepared for the interrogation. The Lexington 6 were not originally in association with one another, rather they had been questioned by the FBI around the same time, and after refusing to testify at the same time, became a united front for the LGBTQ and anti-war activism in Lexington (J. Donovan[2]).
Following the trial, the 6 were sentenced to jail, specifically in separate jails across the state in an attempt to emotionally wear down the members. Jill and Gail were taken to Bell County Jail in Pineville Kentucky, Carey Junkin and Debbie Hands to Madison County Jail, and finally, Nancy Scott and Marla Seymor to Franklin County Jail in Frankfort, Kentucky (J. Donovan[2]). Despite the case being on a federal level, they were sent to county jails, which were considered worse conditions than federal prison, once again in an attempt to wear down their minds and bodies. This separation was especially hard for both Marla Seymor and Gail Cohee, who were known lovers at the time.
References
- ^ a b "Queer history recovered: 'The Lexington Six: Lesbian and Gay Resistance in 1970s America' by Josephine Donovan". Queer Kentucky. Retrieved 2024-03-02.
- ^ a b c d Donovan, Josephine (2020). The Lexington Six: lesbian and gay resistance in 1970s America. Amherst Boston: University of Massachusetts Press. ISBN 978-1-61376-790-0.
- ^ Bronski, Michael (2021). "The Lexington Six: Lesbian and Gay Resistance in 1970s America by Josephine Donovan (review)". Register of the Kentucky Historical Society. 119 (2): 187–189. ISSN 2161-0355.