Letter from the Editor

February, 2002

Dear Bastard Nationals,

September 11^th devastated me, as it did many around the world. I lost one of my best friends, as well as several acquaintances. My mother and sister live and work in Manhattan and were even more impacted by these events. As you may have noticed, there was no Fall 2001 issue of the Bastard Quarterly and this is a double issue. For that, we will extend everyone's membership by 3 months so that everyone gets their allotted Bastard quotient. Long live freedom of the press.

Six years ago when Shea Grimm, Marley Greiner, Lainie Petersen and I decided to formalize Bastard Nation, I was a stay-at-home Mom with babies on my knee. Like Shea, I worked 12 hours days on Bastard Nation while our children sat in our laps and puttered around the room. My husband took over the kids when he home got so that I could work into the night. Relatives watched my kids when I traveled to Oregon and to adoption conferences, spreading the word about adoptee rights and restoring dignity to the institution of adoption. My family made sacrifices, just as the families of many adoptee rights activists have and do, wherever our struggle reaches. It wasn't always easy telling people that I was an adoptee-right activist, let alone a Bastard National. It took courage, and the conviction that it would lead to an opportunity to open minds about the issue and sow the seeds of

During my tenure as a maniacal adoptee rights activist I often felt overwhelmed, under-rested but greatly appreciated by many, many people whose lives I touched in the course of my work. This is true of anyone who does this kind of work, from Helen Hill in Oregon, to David Ansardi in Alabama, to Jeanne Urich in California and so on. It is maddening, important, time-consuming, deeply rewarding work. It's something you should try. Not only do you help the general public realize that adoptees are denied their human rights, you help restore the dignity of adoptees just by educating and enabling them to exercise their options, in both search (if they so choose) and in activism. We may not all be able to go whole hog for years on end, but even giving a year or two to the fight in your home state or province helps to advance the cause of human rights in adoption. You can make a difference in the life of an adoptee. Or in the lives of many. It's up to you.

- Damsel Plum
Editor, The Bastard Quarterly

(This feature appeared in the Winter 2002 issue of the Bastard Quarterly.)