As a young Lesbian, coming out in the late 70s, early 80, Melanie’s words in Sinister Wisdom and other feminist journals helped form my concept of myself and my place in the patriarchal world as well as the lesbian world. It was her words that first encouraged me to accept my Jewish heritage, something that was completely ignored in my family. Melanie was one of the great minds and hearts of women’s and lesbians’ development as a movement for social change.
—Rand Hall, OLOC, Alapine Lesbian Community, Womonwrites 1979-2017