In the 1990s, Kansas City's Womontown offered queer women community and independence

A modest historical plaque in a Kansas City neighborhood reveals a little-known queer oasis founded by women in the 1990s.

As Rebecca Barker explains in an article for Rewire News Group, "Womontown—which is not a misspelling, but rather how the neighborhood’s residents demonstrated their intentions to exist outside of patriarchal structures—was started by couple Andrea Nedelsky and Mary Ann Hopper. It functioned as a rare enclave where lesbians could unapologetically be themselves, love their partners openly, and establish both community and financial autonomy by purchasing homes."

The intentional community grew as more women bought homes in the neighborhood, reaching a peak population of 80 people owning and living in 28 homes and 14 apartment buildings. "Because the neighborhood’s real estate had been considered undesirable, it offered Womontown residents an economically viable opportunity to build financial stability through home ownership. They were also able to create their own safe space, where they had control over who was invited into their homes."

Women from across the country moved to Womontown to take part in the community. Eventually, the organized part of the community fell away, but some of the older residents remain. The commemorative marker states, "Womontown continues to resonate in the lives of current and former residents, serves as a model for future neighborhood development, and demonstrates the power of possibilities."