ABOVE: Salon Founder Edie Daly (L) and Lyn Carol Henderson Jan. 8. Photo by Pam McMichael.
ST. PETERSBURG | The St. Petersburg Religious Society of Friends, also known as the St. Petersburg Quakers, celebrated a bond of nearly 25 years with lesbian activist and advocacy organization Salon this month.
Around 40 former Salon members gathered at the Quakers’ meeting house Jan. 8 to receive a plaque of appreciation given to founder Edie Daly. The ceremony celebrated their newly restored library, inducted Daly into their new Peacekeepers Hall of Fame and paid tribute the history between each organization.
When Salon was formed in the early 1980s, opportunities for gay women to come together for education, support and comradery were limited. Daly and Doreen Brand operated the bookstore Well of Happiness on Madeira Beach and extended an invitation to local women for that reason.
For the first Salon meeting, 50 women visited the space. “We were all strangers but at its peak we had over 250 members,” Daly says. It led to a search for another meeting space.
In 1983, the yearly conference of Florida Quakers asked how they could help local members of the LGBTQ community. It prompted Christine O’Brien, a bisexual woman and clerk of the St. Petersburg Quakers, to make the connection.
The group “was looking for ways to help gay and lesbian communities and they actually reached out to us,” Daly remembers. “From there we forged a special bond over the next 22 years … They invited us to use their meeting house from 1982 to 2004. The Salon had been evicted from four meeting places by landlord homophobia before we found a safe haven with the Quakers.”
Over its two decades, Salon served not only as a social outlet, but also as an agent for political and social change. Its members gave support and encouragement to Daly while she helped lead the way for the passage of a comprehensive Human Rights Ordinance in Gulfport.
Salon disbanded in 2004 for a number of reasons. Daly says the community was changing and there was more general acceptance. She also notes that as a result of the internet, there were many more ways for lesbians to find each other and therefore, there wasn’t the same need.
Currently, she is involved with Lesbians WriteOn, a virtual Salon which meets on Zoom. Daly most recently planned a retrospective about Salon for her 86th birthday on Jan. 18.
The Quakers “were excited to welcome these beautiful, wonderful women to our spiritual home,” says Lyn Carol Henderson, an LGBTQ ally and former Quakers clerk. “Over the years we became quite fond of each other and we were happy we could take such a positive, affirming action.”
For more information about the St. Petersburg Quakers, visit StPetersburgQuakers.org. Learn more about Daly’s by visiting “Lesbians WriteOn” on Facebook.
