Twenty-six lesbian grassroots activists -- some of them household names nationally, others known only within their local communities -- help us focus on the future of our lesbian lives as we move into the next century.

Written with both heart and smarts, in language that speaks to the dailiness of personal experience and larger political questions, This Is What Lesbian Looks Like is the kind of reading that helps to shape a movement.

If any disenfranchised group is only as strong as its weakest members, how do we think about lesbians who are not white, able-bodied, and middle class?

What is lost in the gap that exists between the first generation to age having lived their adult lives out of the closet and the young dykes for whom out feels like a been there/done that kind of thing?Where does fighting the Right fit into the rainbow rush toward assimilation?

How will lesbian identity be defined within the multiplicity of gender expressions becoming increasingly visible?

Not easy, but essential nonetheless -- these are some of the critical issues tackled in This Is What Lesbian Looks Like's two dozen essays.