The future of female-only spaces

If you’ve read many of my pieces, you know I’m obsessed with community (or more like--our modern lack of it). I’m curious how people grow them, market them to outsiders, and more importantly, sustain them.

As I document in my recent feature for the New York Times, I spent the last year researching and visiting womyn's lands, under-the-radar lesbian communes. These rural utopias were once one of over a hundred similar “lands” established during a time when lesbians fought for a semblance of equality and rights, for a safe space free of discrimination.

Not that they’re easy to find: I traveled to the lush, hilly landscape of eastern Alabama--a silent, calming oasis dotted with Baptist churches, gas stations, and Dollar Stores--to visit Alapine, a female-only residential community. There are no marked roads, no clear address signs. The nearest McDonald’s or movie theater is 45 minutes away. Up until recently, you couldn’t even get alcohol within the greater city limits. (Not to mention, ze…