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Lesbians are...

A lesbian is a woman who loves other women, preferring her intimate/emotional relationships to be with other women. Lesbians are everywhere - We are your sisters, daughters, mothers, aunts, grandmothers, spinsters, crones, co-workers, friends, neighbours, etc...

Most people have been kept ignorant of lesbianism, and lesbians who have spoken out have too often suffered the consequences of a lesbian-phobic society (a society of people taught to fear and/or hate lesbians).

We have been discredited, fired from jobs, refused work, refused housing, refused the opportunity to speak openly,.

We have lost custody of our children and suffered public scorn and personal character assassinations.

We have been psychiatrized, brain-washed, institutionalized, indicated, and given lobotomies, aversion therapy and shock treatment. We have been accused of creating evil. We have been misunderstood, misread and mystified.

The heritage of lesbianism has been hidden, censored by historians. We have been kept isolated from each other. This is the threat that women loving women poses to a society dominated by men.


MYTHS ABOUT LESBIANS: LESBO-PHOBIC STATEMENTS

  1. Lesbianism is a new fad.
  2. women are born to live with (and marry) men. Lesbianism is unnatural.
  3. lesbians are oversexed.
  4. Lesbians are out to convert young girls.
  5. lesbians should not work with children.
  6. Lesbianism is a phase/arrested development.
  7. Lesbians are man-haters.
  8. Lesbians want to be men.
  9. Lesbianism is all right, as long as they keep quiet.


FACTS

  1. As long as there have been women, there have been lesbians.
  2. Women are not necessarily meant to live with men. Many have always preferred to live separately and/or with women. Lesbianism is natural.
  3. Lesbianism is not just an issue of who sleeps with whom. This type of statement reduces every woman to a mere sexual object, whether she is a lesbian or not. The statement is an insult to lesbian sexuality. The fact is that lesbians appreciate other women spiritually, emotionally, politically, socially, intellectually, sexually, etc...
  4. Lesbians are not interested in conversion or force. As women we detest force. As lesbians we know how it feels to have someone else's idea of sexuality pushed on us.
  5. 98.2% of attacks on children are by heterosexual men, not women and not lesbians.
  6. Lesbianism is not a psychological problem. It is a way of life for 10-20%
  7. Many lesbians hate the violent acts that many men commit. Loving women is not connected to man-hating.
  8. We are tired of being quiet. As long as we are quiet, we remain isolated from each other and from our heritage. As long as we remain quiet none of the myths will change. As long as lesbians are still discriminated against, no woman is free to choose whether to be heterosexual or a lesbian (Compulsory heterosexuality).

    This is why we choose to speak.


ISN'T LESBIANISM UNNATURAL?

No. studies of human development show that people are not just naturally heterosexual. We are naturally loving, and naturally sexual. We are, in fact, taught to be heterosexual.
BUT DON'T LESBIANS MOLEST YOUNG GIRLS?
No. Statistics show that 95% of all cases of sexual abuse of children involve heterosexual men and girls.


So, WHY DON'T I KNOW ANY LESBIANS?

Partly because you really can't tell by looking who is a lesbian. And partly because, until very recently, almost all lesbians were very careful to hide the fact that they loved women. Lesbians have been rejected by families and friends, fired from their jobs, locked up in mental hospitals, lost their children, been beaten up - when someone else 'found out'. With that kind of punishment waiting, most lesbians lived their lives pretending to be heterosexual.


WHY ARE WE TALKING ABOUT THIS?

Lesbians are no longer willing to lie and hide and live in fear. Lesbians are working together to educate people about lesbianism, to dispel the ignorance and lies. We have set up drop-ins and support groups. We are producing positive material that celebrates loving women. We are active in the Women's Liberation Movement as part of our struggle for respect and value for all women,
We are active in trade unions, gay rights groups, community groups... everywhere... But there's such a long way to go.
There is still so much fear and prejudice. There are still many women who worry that there's something 'wrong' with loving another woman. There are lesbians living in isolation and loneliness. Lesbian mothers are still being denied custody of their children. Lesbians are still being fired from jobs, and being harassed on the street.
It has to stop ...


WHAT CAN I DO?

Educate yourself. Get your local library or bookstore to order some good factual books on lesbianism. Read them, and then pass them on.
Talk with your friends, your co-workers and children about lesbianism, Ask that groups you belong to invite speakers from lesbian organizations.
Speak out when someone tells a queer joke. They are not funny.
Work to change laws, prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
There are groups and resources working for lesbian rights. Offer your support.

This article was taken from a noticeboard, with an unattributable source. If you are the author, please email me to recieve full acknowledgement.



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this page last updated 26/9/2000   design and content © bentgrrrl