#lvw26

I think what she wrote is lovely and fairly normal as well as common. I think most people who don’t live on Threads (or other social media) as their primary form of queer community would agree. Well, these creators on Threads went on tirades about how this somehow “erases” both lesbians and bisexuals, that this is lesbian cultural appropriation, that this definitely promotes referring to bisexuals as “functionally straight” too, that lesbians get ONE week and bisexuals have made sure to act out and center themselves every day of it (I’m sure this is a very measured and unbiased take), and I was disappointed that many bi indie authors I follow also hopped on to declare they would never advertise their sapphic/lesbian books in LVW and never identify as “functionally lesbian”, because it’s sooo offensive and lesbophobic (and biphobic!).

Rebecca later deleted the post, responded, went private and took a break from the platform:

I found the whole debacle shameful because increasingly (among the many, many other contradictions in these miserable and hobbyless pockets of the internet) I’m seeing this tendency to consume bi authors’ sapphic/lesbian books, glean the benefits and then refuse to credit them accordingly. Each of Thorne’s books in the Tomes & Tea series were widely distributed, including in airports, and beloved by readers. So many content creators complain about big publishing not wanting to publish books with the word “lesbian” in them, but Rebecca’s (alongside many other bi authors) make a note to do that. (I could honestly express the same concerns about the term “bisexual” but that’s another topic.) The novels are not only delightful but also doing the work of deliberately putting lesbians on the map. Besides that, Thorne posts thoughtful content about expanding the reach and influence of lesbian/sapphic media. Lesbian authors not getting as many publishing deals is a problem, but in the meantime bi authors (often based on the same or similar lived experiences) are partially CARRYING the sapphic/lesbian book industry in big publishing right now.

So you hope that would mean these bi authors receive an outpouring of support, right, especially since it will indicate demand for more sapphic/lesbian books and increase opportunities for lesbian authors?—No, sorry, it’s just a bunch of sour users lamenting that only lesbians should be writing about lesbian characters (because bisexuals can never have overlapping lived experiences), that bi authors that include lesbian characters probably only do that out of internalized biphobia (rather than inclusivity and realism), and that if a sapphic/lesbian book “sucks” it’s because it’s by a bi author and/or featuring bi characters and the author obviously never dated women (or worse, she has a husband … and must be only fetishizing sapphics/lesbians). If fem(me)s are featured then it’s because femininity is automatically normative and “male-centric”, as bi authors don’t understand, experience, or feel attraction towards authentic lesbian gender diversity; if masc/butch/stud characters are featured they are obviously only pale, fantasized imitations of cishet men. (The levels of misoginy and phobia stooped to towards gender expansiveness/nonconformity just for the sake of slandering bisexuals is jaw-dropping.) Oh, and also, squabbling about about the oh-so-important supposed distinction between “lesbian book” and “sapphic book”, because even having a new replacement umbrella term shared with bisexuals is unbearable. And then the same people will recommend a book by a bi author in their next post, because, guess what? Bi authors are perfectly capable of writing awesome sapphic/lesbian books, including lesbian characters.

Read my full rant on ^this infamous video

Firstly, Lesbian Visibility Week is officially for all sapphics and marginalised genders, so all books involving lesbian umbrella (including other sapphic/genderqueer) characters and/or cultures are relevent during LVW—but of course, the internet public finds that appalling and incorrect because everyone take things too literally these days, neither do they have an understanding of pre-western-radical-feminist usage of the term “lesbian” as an umbrella (just like “gay”) or even the nuance introduced when you think of global (especially non-English speaking BIPOC) cultures.

Secondly, queer people having complex identities and cultural associations does not “erase” anything. It just increases the visibility of complex queer people. Respectability politics and trying to appear palatable and “easy to understand” to patriarchal straight society isn’t sustainable or effective (has anyone checked on political lesbians/4B, LGB without the T, and transmedicalists lately?), liberating ourselves and forming inclusive coalitions will. And then these same people will complain about how nobody wants to identify as “lesbian” anymore. Bestie, you gatekept it to oblivion and witch hunt anybody that doesn’t meet your ahistorical, arbitrary standards, simply because you can’t mind your own damn business.

Third—Please don’t apply terms like “cultural appropriation” (as well as the already controversial “passing privilege” while we’re on the topic) that were coined for hereditary ethnic identities to an embodied trait like queerness (gender and sexuality) that is NOT bioessential because it is not only subtly racist but a very, very fast road to bi/transphobia. :)

And finally—a bisexual is allowed to refer to themself however they want, including “functionally gay/lesbian”, “functionally straight”, “half straight, half gay/lesbian” (or percentages), “in a straight/gay/lesbian/queer relationship”, “living in phases of straight and gay/lesbian”, or whatever common stereotype their heart desires because it’s their bisexual lived experience, and that doesn’t change that you are required to respect bisexuality as an independant identity. This is obviously not permission for anyone else to apply monosexist stereotypes to bisexuals; that’s still a microaggression. Bisexuality is not static—it’s literally defined as the intersection between homosexuality and heterosexuality. When bisexuals do not to identify with straight culture even when they are in cishetero relationships, but then do identify within lesbian/gay cultures, it’s because these cultures are inherently queer, just like bisexuals! Get rid of the image in your mind of the universally “ideal bisexual” whose sexuality is only fluid and “unique” in the ways that make you comfortable and reassured that that you are nothing like a bisexual. The ideal bisexual whose visibility you pretend to care so much about (by trying to police real bisexual people into that box, and then gaslight that it’s for our own benefit) doesn’t exist, especially given the goalposts keep moving. Bisexuals are just like you and we will have overlapping experiences/cultures/identities. What we will not do is blame the existence of biphobia on bisexuals’ identities, preferences, and consensual relations—whether you find it to your specific taste or not is irrelevant.

I understand bi authors surrounded by this sort of divisive toxic culture might be influenced to “take a stance” and clarify they’re “one of the good ones” by assimilating into it. But separatism doesn’t help bisexuals (or lesbians) in the long term. And it makes me cringe to see this sort of unprofessional posting against other authors who should be your peers; I would even consider Thorne to be an author to look up to. I direly wish for authors to live a more offline life (especially regarding cesspools like Threads) and stay out of inane discourse because it does seep into books and inspire tame, artificial characters with little texture in terms of their identities, and that’s just a shame. I’m grateful for those authors—including many of my favourite lesbian authors (and fave creators like Mel Thomas, who got the message and promptly legged it off Threads during the Dramione discourse cycle)—that are not only far wiser than any of this short-sighted infighting, but also indicate it in their books. (Off the top of my head, Alison Cochrun’s Every Step She Takes was particularly refreshing in these dire times.)

Thank god for Tasha Suri, one of the few sapphic authors who (albeit subtly) articulated the actual Point of LVW—the lesbian umbrella, its sheer durability that exclusionists can never diminish, and the celebration of all of our participation in lesbian culture regardless of specific genders/sexualities/labels.

The theme for LVW 2026 is Health and Wellbeing, focusing on protecting the physical and mental health of the lesbian community.

Take care of yourselves, angels. ♡

Greetings, Agents! To honor Lesbian Visibility Week, Eclipse is launching a special recruitment operation.

Lesbihonest. You've been waiting for a game like this. 

✨Wishlist now🔗

Step into a post-apocalyptic yuri VN where only women exist.

In our world? You were NEVER invisible. 

🎖️ Mission Briefing: Special Sale