Womonspace grew organically in response to its board’s interests, needs, talents, and membership, which was composed entirely of committed volunteers . In 1982, along with being incorporated as a non-profit society, Womonspace received its first liquor license. Offering licensed dances enabled Womonspace to become financially independent of GATE and raise funds for subsequent Womonspace dances and a host of recreational, social, and educational activities. Over the years, Womonspace offered a wide variety of activities, including pool and golf tournaments, cards and games nights, gym nights, ski trips, camping trips, self-defense classes for women, softball teams, hayrides, roller skating, film nights, and safer-sex workshops.

To inform its membership of activities and news, and potentially expand its membership, Womonspace started a monthly newsletter called Womonspace News in October 1982. Lindy Pratch, a long-time contributor and an editor of Womonspace News, recalls, “Copies were mailed to members in discreet envelopes. Additional free copies were distributed around the city in lesbian-friendly locations” (i.e., bookstores, coffee shops, the Gay and Lesbian Community Centre), with additional copies left at the dances for members and guests.

An inaugural issue of Womonspace News hints at the absence of recreational and social spaces for lesbians in Edmonton before the creation of the Womonspace organization. Karen writes, “Up until last year, lesbians here had only one place to go to socialize; Flashback on Tuesday nights. Our purpose at Womonspace is to add to that singular outlet with a variety of other social activities just for women” . Lindy recollects that many Edmonton clubs, including Flashback, The Roost, and Boots 'N Saddle, were private member clubs. These clubs used membership policies to restrict who was coming through the doors; and at times, lesbians were restricted access over the years.

For a time, both The Roost and Flashback held separate “Ladies’ Nights” and “Men’s Nights.” Because “Ladies’ Nights” tended to fall midweek, Womonspace members approached Flashback to inquire about the possibility of holding a women’s night on the weekends. They were told that a women’s night would be unfair to other patrons, but a few months later, the bar dedicated Friday nights as “Men’s Night,” angering some of the Womonspace members.

Beyond such managerial decisions, club patrons were not always welcoming to lesbians; Lindy describes instances at Flashback on weekends when lesbians were called names and manhandled by straight and gay men, who did not believe they should be there. Boots 'N Saddle, a private men’s club, denied access to women, citing fights between lesbians and damage to property as reasons. Coreen Douglas and Kathy Baker from Womonspace sent an open letter to the Boots N’ Saddle management suggesting if a “cruise bar” for men was desired, why not just declare it as such. Lindy recalls the turmoil and challenges of negotiating Edmonton’s bar scene. Womonspace offered Edmonton’s lesbian community a welcome and much needed alternative; as she relates, “once a month we had our own space with Womonspace, so that was good.”

Recounting the history of Womonspace, Lindy reflects, “those regular monthly dances really did feel like we were knitting together a community. Instead of a gathering of maybe five or ten women that would go to a house party, there would be a larger group of 100 or 150 women that were at a dance, so there was more of a sense of ‘we’re not alone,’ and we can be ourselves in the space and enjoy ourselves.” Keeping in mind some of the challenges faced by lesbians in Edmonton in the 1980s, Womonspace represented to many a safe harbour, a place to relax and be themselves, when such spaces in the public sphere were very limited.

Along with the monthly dances, the monthly edition of the Womonspace News offered Edmonton’s lesbians a space to learn about current LGBTQ2 events and activities offered in the city and beyond. In the days before the Internet and social media were commonplace, Womonspace News provided members with a forum to learn with and from each other by sharing poetry, art, book reviews, thoughts on lesbian spirituality, and stories of lesbian experiences (e.g., lesbian ageing, coming out later in life, disabilities, and challenges).

Sometimes heated debates arose and were borne out within the pages of Womonspace News. When political views inevitably became part of editorials and letters to editors, upheavals resulted among members. Some highly contested hot button topics included having strippers at dances and hetero-patriarchy; violence against women concerning pornography, misogyny, and sexism; the relationship between lesbianism, feminism, women’s issues, human rights issues, activism, and change; and oppression of trans and bisexual women within lesbian and LGBTQ2 community spaces. Despite impassioned calls for solidarity amidst differences, some fractures occurred within the Womonspace community, and irreconcilable differences persisted. For instance, Bobby Noble, an editor of Womonspace News, left the organization, citing an inability to parse different aspects of their life, such as their identity and their activism in the world, and reconcile their lived experience with silences and secrecy expected within Womonspace.

Womonspace avoided politics and the visibility it brought and “adhered to the social mandate fearing that closeted members would [otherwise] turn away from the organization.” Womonspace organizer Agathe Gaulin asks, “How political could we be without jeopardizing this whole group of women who were counting on us to be their safe place?” Safety for members meant Womonspace maintained a policy of discretion and secrecy through the years. Fears of being outed, especially in the 1980s and 1990s, could come at a high cost for many women.

At one point, Womonspace took extreme measures to protect the safety and privacy of members. The Womonspace board controversially expelled members Liz Massiah and Jackie because their political activism had caused unwanted publicity and visibility to Womonspace members and the organization. This expulsion was because Liz and Jackie had “challenged John Crosbie, Minister of Justice, to amend the Human Rights Code to include gays and lesbians.”

Liz states, “[t]he organization was very closeted,” reflecting on her expulsion from the organization. “The people who initially started it did a great job and provided a safe place for women, but the overall message was ‘Don’t share, don’t talk, don’t let people know.’” Indeed, visibility for Womonspace may have jeopardized the organization—they might have lost membership, finances, and the ability to deliver resources and offer events— but many members later questioned the necessity and prudence of Liz and Jackie’s expulsion and the apolitical stance of the organization. Several Womonspace members, including Liz Massiah, Maureen Irwin, and Bobby Noble, split off and joined Gay and Lesbian Awareness (GALA). Interestingly, in the 1990s, GALA had divided into two organizations, GALA Civil Rights Defense, which organized, supported, and funded the Vriend v. Alberta Supreme Court challenge, and the GALA Social Society, which later became the Edmonton Pride Festival Society. Perhaps the division that occurred within GALA, which created separate spaces for political activism and social/recreational gatherings, highlights the challenges of many LGBTQ2 organizations, like Womonspace, that strove to develop and maintain safe spaces for its membership within the shifting and often fraught political landscape of Alberta in the 1980s and beyond.