“O jornal é nosso” e o “amor entre mulheres” : embates nas páginas do jornal Lampião da Esquina (1978 - 1981)

Abstract

The source and object of this research is the newspaper Lampião da Esquina, which appeared in April 1978 with the aim of publishing texts related to homosexuals. According to its Editorial Board, the newspaper wanted to "remove this group from the ghetto" to which it was imposed by society. It also set out to address issues related to other minority groups, such as women, black and indigenous people. Thus, the main objective of this research is to analyze the presence of lesbian women in the publications of Lampião da Esquina. Complementing this central objective, we seek to explore the political clashes between these subjects who shared the same sexual dissidence, opposition, and political resistance to the oppressive regime, but had their own disagreements. The periodical was published between April 1978 and July 1981, totaling 38 issues published monthly, plus 3 extra issues. Among the periodical's publications, texts were selected, including reports, interviews, opinion pieces, essays and letters sent in by readers about women’s homosexuality. To develop the work with the documentation, we used the concept of social representations. The text is divided into three chapters, the first of which contextualizes the period, followed by a presentation of the newspaper Lampião da Esquina and, finally, an analysis of the documentation inherent in the representations of lesbian women in the pages of the newspaper.