Back in the 1970s, lesbians were excluded from the second wave feminist movement and various events and spaces, believed that they would somehow “taint” the movement.

They were dubbed the “Lavender Menace” - lavender being taken allegedly because purple had been seen as a quote-unquote “gay color” for some years. The term “Lavender Menace” was reclaimed at the time though and while it is not popular at all, it is still sometimes used today in a positive light.

The figure in the piece is a repressed princess type of character who is a lesbian but can’t be with a woman for political reasons, and perhaps the lavender she is holding was a gift from a secret lover. The stained glass and the light shining through it in the back, affecting the rest of the colors in the piece, represent the feelings she cannot hide or change, the beautiful feelings ravaging her heart and life.