Lived experience

Beth Marschak, W’72, has a voice and isn’t afraid to use it. As a lesbian woman, she has participated in several organizations advocating for women’s and LGBTQ+ rights. Her advocacy is rooted not only in her identity, but also in being an ally to other communities—and understanding what that allyship looks like.

Her origins date back to her undergraduate days when she was a member of many student-led groups, such as the Organization for Women’s Liberation (OWL). After graduation, she founded the Richmond-Lesbian Feminists and other LGBTQ+ coalitions in Virginia. Organizing served as a way to collaborate with individuals of similar identities and convictions, whether the issue was civil rights, anti-war movements, or the environment.

“I have an opinion about a lot of things, and I like to be able to do something about what I believe,” Marschak said.

But her identity doesn’t isolate her from other communities. For example, in the 1970s Marschak marched with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, a predominantly Black organization. Unlike within organizations based on her own identity, her allyship involved acknowledging her limited perspective and not trying to be the loudest voice.

“There’s nothing that takes the place of lived experience,” she said. “It was not really up to me to make the major decisions about things. It was up to the people who were primarily impacted to do that.”
Instead, she defines her allyship by providing support. Even if she may not share an identity with a group, she shares a common humanity and an equal capacity to impact someone else. 

“You’re part of a collective, interconnecting web,” she said. “No matter how big or how small you may think what you’re doing is, it has an impact.”