hey so it’s pride month and i’m starting to see a lot of cute graphics and posts about it – and they’re wonderful, don’t get me wrong – but i just want to remind everyone:

wlw and lesbian are not exchangeable terms. lesbians are wlw, of course (although not all lesbians really identify w the term), but if you make a post saying “support bisexuals, pansexuals, and wlw!” it…. doesnt make sense, by definition, and it also makes it seem like you’re avoiding the word “lesbian”.

the lesbian label is incredibly significant to many of us, and has historically represented many women in our community. i want people to say the word “lesbian”. i want them to acknowledge me and women like me with the term we have used for decades. it’s very important to me.

support lesbians. support our terminology and our history. support the label we have chosen to identify with. we’re the L in the LGBT – lesbian is not a bad word, it is not inherently not radical or not queer or not inclusive.

i don’t just want to let non-lesbians know that it’s okay to include lesbians specifically in their positivity posts & graphics – i want them to know that many of us prefer it that way.