ִֶָ𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָ🐇་༘࿐

The word lesbian comes from the Greek island of Lesbos, where the poet Sappho lived around 630–570 BCE. Sappho wrote lyric poetry about love, beauty, and relationships between women. Because of her work and connection to Lesbos, the term "lesbian" eventually became associated with women who are attracted to other women.

Sappho's poetry is some of the earliest surviving writing that expresses romantic and emotional feelings between women. Most of her work has been lost, but fragments survive through later writers and historians.

Some of the most important sources include:

Fragments of Sappho's poetry quoted by Longinus in On the Sublime (1st century CE)

References to Sappho in Ovid's Heroides (c. 15 BCE)

Discussions of her work by Athenaeus in Deipnosophistae (3rd century CE)

Because so few ancient texts about relationships between women survive, Sappho's poetry is especially important to lesbian history.

Lesbians in written texts throughout history

Ancient Greece (c. 630–570 BCE) - Sappho writes poems celebrating love and desire between women.

Roman Period (1st–2nd Century CE) - Writers such as Ovid and Martial mention relationships between women, although they often describe them negatively or as unusual.

Medieval Europe (10th–12th Centuries) - Letters between women, especially in convents, show deep emotional bonds sometimes described as "romantic friendships (The correspondence between Benedictine abbess).

1778 – The Ladies of Llangollen - Eleanor Butler and Sarah Ponsonby left Ireland and settled together in Wales. They lived openly as companions for over 50 years and became well known throughout Britain.

Early 19th Century – Anne Lister (1791–1840) was an English landowner, diarist, and traveler from Yorkshire. She kept extensive diaries, writing over four million words, partly in a secret code. In these diaries, she recorded her romantic and sexual relationships with women, making them one of the most important historical sources on lesbian life. In 1834, Anne Lister and Ann Walker exchanged vows and took communion together at a church in York, an event many historians consider to be an early form of same-sex marriage. Because of her detailed writings and her openness about loving women, Anne Lister is often referred to as "the first modern lesbian."

19th Century – Boston Marriages

Some women chose to live together in long-term partnerships without marrying men. These relationships were often socially accepted, especially among educated and financially independent women.

The 20th Century

The 1900s brought major changes for lesbian communities.

In the 1920s, cities such as Paris, Berlin, and New York hosted LGBTQ+ social scenes. Berlin's Eldorado club became one of the best-known spaces where lesbians could meet openly before the Nazi regime shut down many queer venues.

During the 1950s, many LGBTQ+ people faced discrimination during the Lavender Scare in the United States. In response, lesbians began organizing for their rights. In 1955, the Daughters of Bilitis became the first lesbian civil rights organization in the U.S. and published The Ladder, one of the first lesbian magazines.

The 1969 Stonewall Riots helped launch the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement. Lesbians played important roles in organizing protests, Pride events, and political campaigns.

During the 1970s, writers such as Audre Lorde and Adrienne Rich connected lesbian rights with feminism and broader struggles for equality.

The AIDS Crisis and Lesbian Activism

During the AIDS crisis of the 1980s and early 1990s, many lesbians became caregivers, activists, and organizers. They volunteered in hospitals, helped people access healthcare, organized blood drives, and supported those abandoned by families or institutions.

Lesbians were also active in groups such as ACT UP and later the Lesbian Avengers, helping push governments and medical organizations to respond more effectively to the epidemic.

Many historians point to this period as one reason why the "L" is often placed first in the LGBTQ+ acronym today. It recognizes the important contributions lesbians made to the broader queer rights movement.

Representation in Media

For much of the 20th century, lesbian characters were often portrayed as tragic, dangerous, or destined for unhappy endings. This contributed to stereotypes and the "Bury Your Gays" trope, where queer characters were frequently killed off or denied happy relationships.

Examples of older portrayals include:

The Children's Hour (1961) - quite homophobic, ending in "bury your gays" theme but one of the first movies openly addressing homosexuality on a larger scale. specifically significant since it starred Audrey Hepburn and Shirly MacLaine.

More recent media has offered a wider range of stories and characters:

The L Word (2004–2009; rebooted in 2019)

Orange Is the New Black (2013–2019)

Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019)

Gentleman Jack (2019–2022)

Symbols

Several symbols have become associated with lesbian identity:

Labrys – A double-headed axe adopted by some lesbian and feminist groups in the 1970s.

Black Triangle – Reclaimed from the symbol used by the Nazis to identify women considered "asocial," including some lesbians.

Lesbian Pride Flag – The most widely used modern version is the orange, white, and pink striped flag introduced in 2018.

Lesbian history is often less visible than other parts of LGBTQ+ history because many women's relationships were ignored, hidden, or not recorded. Learning about figures such as Sappho, Eleanor Butler and Sarah Ponsonby, Audre Lorde, and Adrienne Rich helps show that lesbian communities have existed throughout history and have played an important role in literature, culture, activism, and social change.

Other honorary mentions:

Sappho, Fragments

Ovid, Heroides

Lillian Faderman, Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers (1991)

Bonnie Zimmerman (ed.), Encyclopedia of Lesbian Histories and Cultures (2000)

Queerness is about rejecting those rules! Not about tying yourself up in new rules. When you think you might be less-than-straight try not to rush to find a label. You might end up with a new set of rules you box yourself into.

People get really hung up on the labels side of things- "Wait, am I still a lesbian if I only like dating girls but I have liked one guy and I have crushes on fictional men?" "am I bisexual if I'm a guy who only likes girls who look like boys or am I gay if I like that and I like anal sex??"

Just experience for a moment, the freedom to see yourself as you are. Go through the world with an openness to your feelings. Gradually you can unlearn the "this not that" strict mentality and learn what you actually like. You'll start to see the world with fresh eyes. Maybe you find someone attractive who you had never considered before. Maybe you notice, as I did, that you find certain traits attractive regardless of gender or sexuality. The way someone speaks, the way they move, the way they treat others. In time you'll start to define your unique sexuality.