Lesbian Equity

[ I didn't plan ahead, or else I would have put a chapter break at a different spot. Instead, this chapter includes a bunch of text from a parallel chapter, but it diverges after a bit. ]

After class, just as Luisa unlocked her office to enter, Sarah Osbourne stepped out of her own office. "Luisa?" she called. "Do you have a few minutes to discuss a proposal?"

"I was hoping to catch up on some reading..." she started.

"It won't take long," said Sarah. "And it's important."

"In that case, sure," said Luisa. She re-locked her door and walked down to Sarah's office. Sarah was already sitting behind her desk when Luisa entered, and Luisa was surprised to see three other women already sitting in the small space -- Natalie, the head of the department; Angela, a lovely young Black graduate student who studied under Sarah; and a petite blonde woman who Luisa had never seen before.

"This is Justine Whitehead," explained Sarah with a smile and a gesture toward the blonde. "She's the head of the LWG."

"LWG?" asked Luisa.

The blonde spoke. She had a pleasant, high voice, though she made every statement sound like a question. "The Lesbian Working Group? We're a group of students and faculty working to ensure equity for lesbians?"

Sarah continue, "As you know, I've been given responsibility for the oversight of the glory hole. Recently Ms. Whitehead here came to me with some concerns about how the glory hole impacts equity on campus."

Luisa frowned slightly. "You mean they want to shut it down?"

"Oh no! Not at all!" exclaimed Justine. "We don't think that equality involves dragging everyone down to the same level, but rather raising everyone up." Luisa smiled -- this idea was an important driver of her research and her teaching, and now she was hearing it repeated back by a student. It felt like she was having an impact on the world.

Justine continued, "We just think it's unfair that men can visit and be uhh, satisfied -- and now they even get to watch through the glass."

Luisa said, "About the watching -- did you know the sessions are online? You can watch there if that's what you're interested in. Anyway -- " here she turned back to face Sarah "... I don't understand my role here. Surely this is something to be handled by you? Or maybe Natalie?" She looked at Natalie.

"I've delegated all of this to Sarah," said Natalie. "I'm just here as a courtesy, I'm begging you, please ignore me as I have enough to do already." They all chuckled at this. "But," continued Natalie, "Sarah, you should just jump to the request."

Sarah folded her hands. 'Trying to look serious,' thought Luisa.

"The LWG reached out recently about the glory hole, and the new rules have made the discrepancies even more clear. We discussed different approaches to equity, and in the end we reached an agreement to try an experiment. We'd like your assistance in running this experiment."

"'Experiment'?" asked Luisa. "What are you asking me to do?"

"We'd like to set up a lesbian gloryhole, and we'd like you to, well, work in it."

Luisa was taken aback. "I get why you'd want one, I guess... but why me? Why not Kate, she's actually a lesbian?" Luisa had never been with a woman, the thought really hadn't crossed her mind at all.

"The LWG voted on it? And you were the Professor we trusted and admired the most? And also the hottest one?" said Justine, again making her statements sound like questions.

"Quite," said Sarah. "You were requested, but also the Natalie and I thought this would fit into your research project reasonably well. Also, we felt Kate might feel conflicted due to her orientation."

Luisa wondered why this consideration didn't affect the ordinary gloryhole, but didn't say anything. "I don't know Sarah, I've never..."

Natalie chimed in, "This really is very important to the overall project. Please don't let us down, Luisa. It can just be a short trial run, you don't have to commit to it for more than a few weeks."

"I see," said Luisa. "A few weeks. And how often? And... how will this work exactly anyway?"

"About two hours a week," said Sarah. "And Justine can explain the rest."

"Like, Professor, you'd just kneel in front of a chair? And you'll wear a mask? You know, to be anonymous!"

Luisa thought she wouldn't be anonymous in the slightest, but she understood Justine's meaning. "I guess if it's just a few weeks."