The Audacity of a Kiss: Love, Art, and Liberation

by Leslie Cohen

Shortlisted for Lesbian Memoir/Biography Lammy Award

Rendered in bronze, covered in white lacquer, two women sit together on a park bench in Greenwich Village. One of the women touches the thigh of her partner as they gaze into each other’s eyes. The two women are part of George Segal’s iconic sculpture “Gay Liberation,” but these powerful symbols were modeled on real Leslie Cohen and her partner (now wife) Beth Suskin. 
 
In this evocative memoir, Cohen tells the story of a love that has lasted for over fifty years. Transporting the reader to the pivotal time when brave gay women and men carved out spaces where they could live and love freely, she recounts both her personal struggles and the accomplishments she achieved as part of New York’s gay and feminist communities. Foremost among these was her 1976 cofounding of the groundbreaking women’s nightclub Sahara, which played host to such luminaries as Betty Friedan, Gloria Steinem, Pat Benatar, Ntozake Shange, Rita Mae Brown, Adrienne Rich, Patti Smith, Bella Abzug, and Jane Fonda.  The Audacity of a Kiss  is a moving and inspiring tale of how love, art, and solidarity can overcome oppression.

Genres: LGBT, Memoir, Nonfiction, Queer, Gay

265 pages, Hardcover

Published September 17, 2021

Reviews

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sometimes a person's life can end up at the center of a social revolution. So it was with the life of Leslie Cohen, whose memoir, ‘The Audacity of a Kiss,’ documents her mostly joyful life, much of it spent with her wife and partner Beth Suskin. The couple were famously sculpted as one same-sex pair in George Segal’s “Gay Liberation,” an artwork now set in Sheridan Square’s Christopher Park, across from the Stonewall Inn.

Cohen’s life also included co-founding the groundbreaking nightclub Sahara, where celebrities, feminists and others gathered. It was the first women-owned bar in New York City that wasn't subsidized by the mafia. Cohen documents its heyday and its abrupt closure as well.

Cohen also shares memories of growing up and trying to assimilate in a hetero-normative culture. Additionally, her filmmaking experiences are mentioned. She also talks about friends who have passed. As an added note, this is the only memoir I’ve read where the author passed while I was reading it. That loss is just more proof that women's stories and personal histories of LGBT culture need to be recorded and remembered.

[Fay Jacobs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating, emotionally accessible memoir of a time and a success that should not be forgotten in the fight for LGBTQ visibility and history.
Mirroring much of my own NYC and college experiences and delayed coming out, i found much here to relate to and much joy in Leslie Cohen’s brave success in the 70s.
Not only is this book a welcome addition to our lesbian history, but it’s emotionally bold, sensual, and incredibly shared. Excellent writing. I was hooked from the first page.

[Grady · Rating 5 out of 5]

‘What is it about women that you like?’ – a revelatory and entertaining memoir!

Florida author Leslie Cohen has served as a museum curator, a cultural advocate, a lawyer, an educator, a nightclub owner and promoter, and writer. Now she is retired and offers her fascinating memoir – THE AUDACITY OF A KISS – as a message to the world about how love, art, and solidarity can overcome oppression. She continues to be a freelance writer.

Opening this entertaining and illuminating memoir, Leslie offers the following interesting history ‘In 1979, George Segal, the famous Pop artist, was commissioned to create a sculpture commemorating the 1969 Stonewall uprising in New York City. The uprising was the seminal, although not the only, event to kick-start the gay liberation movement. Segal’s bronze sculpture, covered with a white lacquer finish, was eventually unveiled in Christopher Park in Greenwich Village, formerly known as Sheridan Square Park, in 1992, after almost thirteen years of controversy. The sculpture is called ‘Gay Liberation.’ It depicts a life-size male couple standing a few feet away from a life-size female couple sitting together on a park bench. One of the men holds the shoulder of his friend. One of the women touches the thigh of her partner as they gaze into each other’s eyes. Over the years, ‘Gay Liberation,’ the sculpture, has become more and more recognizable around he world and an icon that is visited by thousands of people every year. Beth Suskin, my partner (and now my wife) of more than forty-five years, and I were the models for this sculpture…’

The facts shared in that Prologue in so many ways outline the substantial content of this significant memoir of a woman who mirrors the psychosocial life histories of many LGBTQ people - the struggle of becoming self in a society not always friendly to the concept of ‘variation.’ Leslie’s writing is eloquent and real, her co-founding of that famous women’s nightclub Sahara being only one of the many significant (historically) events and moments of wisdom she shares in this sententious memoir. This is a wholly satisfying book – highly recommended for a very wide audience.

[Astrid · Rating 4 out of 5]

My book club chose this book and I am glad they did because I had no idea that it existed. I often went to Sahara and thought it was the best most elegant club for women that I have ever attended before of after it closed. I had no idea of the story around its opening an enjoyed reading about Leslie’s life and experiences.

[Sarah Schulman]

Coming of age of a Jewish girl from Queens who went to Buffalo State College, came out, and opened a legendary lesbian bar, The Sahara, while finding the love of her life- and both of them posing for the "Gay Liberation"statues in Christopher Street Park. Feels like a lot was left out or alluded to about the Sahara- would love to know much more.

[bela · Rating 3 out of 5]

while the history of Sahara night club is undoubtedly one worth passing down both as an aspirational and cautionary tale I found often that it was hard to not be distracted by cohen’s clumsy and generalizing language



also a bit of a blight that they both sell out at the end

[Logan Rice · Rating 4 out of 5]

This short and sweet memoir was a great way of connecting to and understanding the lesbians that made it possible for me to be out and proud today. I plan to carry Cohen’s motivations with me as I navigate the world as a young lesbian artist.

[Beth Weiss · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book by a lovely woman, for women who tells a story about herself-life, love, struggle, empowerment. Thanks Leslie!

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short and sweet memoir highlighting 1970s and 1980s lesbian culture in NYC.

[Emily Duckett · Rating 4 out of 5]

mad i missed sahara
beautiful account of self discovery and lesbians persevering.

[Patricia Grayhall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Through her frank personal narrative, Leslie captures an important era in lesbian feminist history. It was an exciting time to be living (and loving) on the east coast in the 70s. It is so important that books such as hers be written and read widely lest an important and vibrant part of women's history be lost. She did not white wash, apologize or justify: she simply was herself and it was marvelous.

[Robyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks to Edelweiss+ for the digital review copy of this title.

At its heart, "Audacity of a Kiss" is a love story about two women who defied sexual mores in the 1970s and found a way to each other. In a even more important way, the book is also a history of feminism and women carving out a place for themselves created by other women, specifically with the NYC dance club Sahara. Though ultimately, misogyny and greed would lead to the club's downfall, "The Audacity of a Kiss" reminds us what a dedicated group of women can accomplish together.

[Jules Valencia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve experienced so much raw emotion while reading this book. I’ll try to leave as clear and good a review as possible.

This book struck me personally. I felt like Leslie’s journey as a queer woman reflected my own so closely. I can’t speak for every reader, but turning the page and knowing that I could very well be writing this book about my own life, kept me hooked.

I think there’s a dearth in queer literature, especially memoirs. While this one was critical because of its representation of lesbians and sapphic women, it’s also a must read when it comes to our culture and history as a community.

I never new the story behind the sculpture, Gay Liberation. I’ve been to the Stonewall Inn and GV dozens of times. The story behind this piece is beautiful and heart wrenching, as well as hopeful and uplifting.

I also had never heard of Sahara. Leslie makes a great point: even in the gay liberation movement, women, BIPOC, and trans voices have taken a back seat and often aren’t represented in the pages of history. Our collective memory MUST include women such as Leslie and her colleagues. These women transformed New York, and the lesbian, political, and feminist movements at large. Without these women and their risks and courage, our reality wouldn’t be what it is today. We owe it to them to share the truth, and to educate ourselves on the heroes who have paved the way for the opportunities we are afforded today, and for the inspiration that we take from in our own struggle for liberation today.

A must read.

[Amanda Landry · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a lesbian who has been fortunate to have always lived in a very accepting environment it is important to me to learn my community’s history. This memoir was so enlightening and gorgeously written. I loved following Leslie’s journey and learning about Sahara, which I would have never known about otherwise. It was heartwarming following along through the love story between Leslie and her wife.