WHAT'S WRONG WITH CATS?

What's wrong with cats? Nothing except in most lesbian print they have away of creeping up on you like a bad pair of underwear.

I was just wondering. Is there a Lesbian Law written in stone " all Lesbians shall love cats or you shall be forever be stricken from the Big Book of Lesbians?" Probably not.

Don't get me wrong. I love cats. I live with three cats that totally charm me. Cats have been in my life in important ways. They have given me many pleasant moments and I have used mostly good adjectives to describe them. I did a magazine story on the effects of cats and dogs on Alzheimer patients. So I appreciate what animals do for all of us.

In Michigan there was monthly events resource paper, which was a good calendar of upcoming local and national events for women and a chronicle for someone's cats!!!!
What Fluffy did and didn't do. How she did it and where she got the instructions to do it.
GIVE ME A BREAK!!! This last little kitty episode was about hairballs. Now that is one we have never heard or experienced before.

Am I too critical? Should a writer feel free to write about hairballs? Of course. All those in favor of a hairball column raise your paw, switch your tail, or meow in your best exorcist voice.

Because I am an old queer, I happen to believe that if I send you money for a subscription for what should be a monthly resource paper, if you are going to have a column in it -- let's talk lesbian: tell me about your new girlfriend, your old girl friend, your best relationship, your worst relationship, what you like or dislike about being "out”, what you like about woman love etc. Give your cat stories to someone who cares.

When I was writing out there in the very "straight" world, I wrote a column about a friend and how the death of her cat affected her life. It was tender, sweet and poignant. It was a very benign column I thought. I got calls, some good, mostly bad. It was close to the time of the Oklahoma bombing. People were hurting from watching so much death on TV. I got calls asking why I could be so concerned over the death of a cat when there were so many more important things. I tried to explain. My explanation fell on deaf ears or dial tones.

I vowed I wouldn't write about cats. If I have an audience of more than one I am going to tell them how they should be living "out" or at least some other worthwhile lesbian thing. Instead this essay turned out to be about something I said I would never write about again---CATS.
Maybe there is that Big Book of Lesbian Law that requires queer writers to write about cats. Do you suppose it is tattooed in our brain?

I would like to go into greater detail here but China is eating a houseplant, Kitana is scratching at the door and Tomiko is running though the house like a cat from
a tom and Jerry cartoon Did I mention that Lady Love and I have three cats?