frightening witch

Residing a stone's throw from Salem, Massachusetts, as I celebrate Women's History Month, I am reminded of one of this nation's earliest examples of home-grown domestic terrorism - the Salem Witch Trails of 1692. This haunting history of the Puritan's execution of innocent women, and certain men too, is a window into how their religious fanaticism, misogyny, and homophobia destroyed not only the moral fiber of their town, but how it also decimated its own Christian zeal all to become a "city on the hill."

SheWired's Rebekah Allen has devised a list of the top 10 back to school necessities for gay girls, including that perfect playlist, an acoustic guitar to win fellow lesbians' hearts, a good piece of literature for catching that cute nerd English major's eye and Gaga's Monster's Ball poster.

As I nurse my third major hangover of the season, I've been thinking about what I, as a lesbian, could not possibly live without, and in the spirit of the holidays compiled Top 10 Things Every Lesbian Should Be Thankful For. I'm trying to stay as far away from stereotypes as possible so flannels, Birkenstocks, mullets, Tevas, cats, Katherine Moennig, and women's basketball are not on my list. Included are Sarah Waters, South of Nowhere, beer, high heels and Facebook.