Selections from The Milwaukee Tavern

Abstract

Set in Oklahoma beginning in late 1969, Elaine Russell is a young, Black closeted lesbian woman recently hired on as a reporter for a Tulsa area broadcast news station, and Wendy Webster is a young white woman who has been working at the news station for a few years and aspires to become an anchor. Elaine must navigate the racism and sexism in her new workplace as she strives to help bring fair and comprehensive news coverage to the Black and Gay liberation movements. Wendy reckons with the new responsibilities of a promotion, discovers her own sexual identity, negotiates her relationship with the idea of liberation. Despite their differences, the women are drawn to one another and grow closer—inside the newsroom and out.