Lesbian

Lesbian is a term that describes women and/or woman-aligned individuals who are predominantly attracted to other woman and/or woman-aligned individuals.^[1]^[2] The term is often used to describe "woman loving woman," but some believe that this definition is outdated, and excludes non-binary and gender non-conforming individuals. It is also used to describe anyone who is not a man and is attracted to individuals who are also not men.^[3]

Some lesbians may also refer to themselves as gay women, or simply gay.^[1]

Etymology[edit | edit source]

The term "lesbian" originates from the Greek island of Lesbos. This is where Ancient Greek poet, Sappho, was from, who wrote poems about love between women. This is where the similar term sapphic came from as well.^[1]

History[edit | edit source]

The first recorded mention of lesbians in history is in the Code of Hammurabi, a Babylonian code of law from 1700 B.C. that allowed women to marry each other.^[1]

Before being used to refer to gay women, the word "Lesbian" was the demonym for those who lived on the island of Lesbos. In the late 19th century, the term started to be associated with gay women instead due to analysis of Sappho's work.^[4]

Lesbians played a key role in the AIDS crisis, caring for gay men and demanding federal support for treatment options.^[5]

Flags & Symbols[edit | edit source]

The Labrys pride flag was the first to represent the lesbian community in 199. It was designed by gay graphic designer, Sean Campbell. Purple was chosen due to its association with lesbian and sapphic communities. The inverted black triangle is a reference to the symbol used to demarcate "asocial" prisoners in Nazi concentration camps, which was a catch-all sign for those whose existence went against Nazi rule. The labrys symbol was chosen due to its connection to ancient matriarchal societies, commonly associated with the Amazons. This symbol was used by lesbian radical feminists in the 1970s as a symbol of empowerment.^[6]

Due to some not wanting to use a flag designed by a man, and the Holocaust imagery causing some discomfort, other flags were designed. The Labrys flag has since been co-opted by trans-exclusionary radical feminists.^[6]

In 2010, a new lesbian flag was designed, called the "Pink Lesbian Flag" or the "Lipstick Lesbian Flag." It was created by Natalie McCray. The Pink Lesbian flag is similar to McCray's Lipstick Lesbian flag, but without the lipstick symbol. Some take issue with the Lipstick flag due to its focus on Lipstick Lesbians, which may exclude butches and other lesbians who don't feel represented by a flag based around lesbian femininity. It was also discovered that McCray has made bigoted comments on her blog.^[6]

The most common lesbian flag is known as the Sunset Lesbian flag, created by a non-binary lesbian named Emily Gwen in 2018. The dark orange represents gender non-conformity, the coral orange represents independence, the pale orange represents community, the white stripe represents unique relationships with womanhood, the pinkish-purple represents serenity and peace, the darker purple-pink represents love and sex, and the deep magenta represents femininity.^[6]

An alternative lesbian flag was created by Tumblr user disastergay on March 20, 2020. The purple represents solidarity with all marginalized lesbians, the pink represents unapologetic love for women, the yellow represents questioning lesbians, closeted lesbians and lesbians with internalized homophobia, the orange represents history, culture, pride, self-love and self-acceptance, and the red is in honor of lesbian activists who have died to build the community, particularly black trans lesbians.^[7]

The double Venus symbol is often used to represent lesbians.^[8]

Community[edit | edit source]

Statistics[edit | edit source]

A study done by the Gallup in 2021 showed that 1% of individuals who the United States identify as lesbian, making up 13.9% of the individuals in the survey that identify as LGBTQ+.^[9]

Perceptions and Discrimination[edit | edit source]

There is a history of lesbian erasure, and were often invisible in contrast to their gay men counterparts. Most laws against same-sex relationships focus primarily on men, ignoring gay women. Lesbians were less likely to get caught in hateful legislation only aimed towards them. However, lesbians are still the target of hate and stereotypes. In the media, lesbians are often depicted as murderers, or as the victim of murder, the butt of jokes, stock characters, expendable characters or invisible characters.^[5]

Lesbians are often stereotyped as masculine, a trope commonly pushed by the media. They're often assumed to have an interest in sports or doing construction work.^[2]

There is a high rate of corrective rape, murder, abuse, harassment and being disowned or outcast among lesbian individuals.^[5]

Representation[edit | edit source]

Comics[edit | edit source]

Tara Jones (Heartstopper)^[10]
Darcy Olsson (Heartstopper)^[11]

TV[edit | edit source]

Santana Lopez (Glee)^[12]
Jett Reno (Star Trek: Discovery)^[13]

Related Attractions[edit | edit source]

Orientation	Attraction
Lesbian Queerplatonic	Queerplatonic
Lesbisensual	Sensual
Lesplatonic	Platonic

Subterms[edit | edit source]

Label	Flag	Description	Coiner
Aphrodite Lesbian	^[14]	A lesbian who is more sexual in nature.	plurgai^[14]
Bambi Lesbian	^[15]	A lesbian who prefers more non-sexual intimacy over sexual acts.	wuvsbian^[15]
Butch	^[16]	A queer woman who subverts masculinity.	butchspace^[16]
Femme	^[17]	A queer woman who subverts femininity.	noodle^[17]
Futch	^[18]	A queer woman who falls somewhere between butch and femme.	wellick^[18]
Lesboy	^[19]	Someone who identifies as a boy in some way and experiences queer attraction to women.	Beyond MOGAI Pride Flags^[19]
Lilaen	^[20]	A lesbian who is exclusively attracted to women, and possibly other non-men/man-aligned individuals.	kenochoric^[21]
Lunian	^[22]	A m-spec lesbian.	kenochoric^[22]
Mono-Lesbian	^[23]	A lesbian who is exclusively attracted to women and/or non-binary individuals.	Beyond MOGAI Pride Flags
Non-Binary Lesbian	^[24]	A non-binary individual who identifies as a lesbian.	thepokedexisgay^[24]
Trixamoric	^[25]	A binary women who is exclusively attracted to binary women.	Cottagecoreconfusion^[25]