2701-2703 W. Grace St., Richmond
A group of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and straight Richmonders founded this commune at the corner of Mulberry and Grace streets in 1972, where people cultivated tight-knit kinship ties at a time when many LGBTQ people were closeted or shunned by their families.
Early members included lesbian activist Gloria Norgang and gay rights activist Stephen Lenton. Here, residents threaded together daily life of sharing domestic responsibilities in a communal setting.
Norgang was a member of the Richmond Lesbian Feminists and active in other LGBTQ spaces like WomensBooks, a feminist-owned book cooperative that initially operated out of the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) on North Fifth Street until it was kicked out for purportedly promoting lesbianism. WomensBooks centered books and music created by women and lesbians at a time when these materials were difficult to find. These spaces provided patrons with much-desired information at a time when mainstream bookstores and libraries did not carry them, and they also provided community gathering and organizing space.
Lenton worked at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) as an assistant dean of student affairs where he advised and helped students form the Gay Alliance of Students (GAS) in 1974. Risking his job, he advocated on behalf of students when the university denied GAS recognition as a university-sanctioned student group. GAS filed a lawsuit against VCU, and in 1976, a court ruling required VCU to give GAS the same space and organizational privileges afforded other student groups.
Mulberry House members resided together through the 1970s and into the 1980s. The properties were sold in 1986 and 1987, marking the end of a fifteen-year span where members intentionally cultivated space of their chosen family for mutual benefit and support amidst a pervasive conservative social and political climate regarding sexuality within the larger city.
To learn more:
- Marschak, Beth and Alex Lorch. Lesbian and Gay Richmond. Charleston: Arcadia, 2008.
Image: Present-day W. Grace Street at former Mulberry House location. Courtesy of Kim Lee Schmidt, 2020.