https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lesbian&diff=1331837004&oldid=1331036717

The lives of ancient Greek women were in general little-documented.^[1] In a notable exception, in the 500s BC, Sappho of Lesbos wrote extensive poetry regarding her love for other women, fragments of which survive.^[2] A writing from the 600s BC, documenting Greek girls singing to each other, includes flirtatious lyrics.^[3]

Some male-written works reference lesbianism. One example, from the 300s BC, is the tale of the four-legged humans told by Aristophanes in Plato's Symposium.^[4][a] Another example, from the 100s CE, is the Dialogues of the Courtesans, where a female character talks about being seduced by two lesbian characters.^[5]

In visual culture, historian Nancy Rabinowitz notes that some ancient Greek red vase images portray women in affectionate or erotic scenes.^{[6]: 27–28 [1]}

In first century sources, accounts of lesbian characters include the story of Iphis and Ianthe, related in the Metamorphoses;^{[7]: 79–86} a story, related by the fabulist Phaedrus, about Prometheus exchanging the genitals of different men and women;^[8] and a satirical figure of a masculine woman who has sex with women, named Philaenis, related in the epigrams of Martial.^{[9][7]: 98–99}

In the ruins of Pompeii, a Roman town destroyed in 79 CE, archaeologists discovered a love poem graffitied onto a wall.^[7] The poem is written with feminine declensions for both speaker and addressee, and identified archivally as Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum 4.5296.^[10]

A love spell from 3rd or 4th century CE Roman Egypt was written to enchant a woman named Gorgonia to fall in love with a woman named Sophia.^{[7]: 89–92}

Both male and female homosexuality were known in Aztec culture. Although both were generally disapproved of, there is no evidence that homosexuality was actively suppressed until after the Spanish Conquest.^[11] Female homosexuality is described in the Florentine Codex, a 16th-century study of the Aztec world written by the Spanish Franciscan friar Bernardino de Sahagún. It describes Aztec lesbians as masculine in appearance and behavior and never wishing to be married.^[11] The book Monarquía indiana by Fray Juan de Torquemada, published in 1615, briefly mentions the persecution of Aztec lesbians: "The woman, who with another woman had carnal pleasures, for which they were called Patlache, which means: female incubus, they both died for it."^[11][b]

The earliest law against female homosexuality appeared in France in 1270.^[12]: 191 In Spain, Italy, and the Holy Roman Empire, sodomy between women was included in acts considered unnatural and punishable by burning to death, although few instances are recorded of this taking place.^[13]: 130 The earliest such execution occurred in Speier, Germany, in 1477.^[12]: 190

Forty days' penance was demanded of nuns who "rode" each other or were discovered to have touched each other's breasts. An Italian nun named Sister Benedetta Carlini seduced other nuns when possessed by a Divine spirit named "Splenditello"; as punishment, she was placed in solitary confinement for the last 40 years of her life.^[12]: 190

In England, female homoeroticism was so common in literature and theater that historians suggest it was fashionable for a period during the Renaissance.^[14]: 1 Englishwoman Mary Frith has been described as lesbian.^[15]

Ideas about women's sexuality were linked to contemporary understanding of female physiology. The vagina was considered an inward version of the penis; in lesbians, nature was thought to be trying to right itself by prolapsing the vagina to form a penis.^[14]: 12 The idea of hermaphroditism became synonymous with lesbianism. A longer, engorged clitoris was thought to be used in lesbian sex. Penetration was the focus of concern in all sexual acts, and a woman who was thought to have uncontrollable desires because of her engorged clitoris was called a "tribade" (literally, one who rubs).^{[14]: 14–16} For a while, masturbation and lesbian sex carried the same meaning.^[13]: 129

Tribades were simultaneously considered members of the lower class trying to ruin virtuous women, and representatives of an aristocracy corrupt with debauchery. Satirical writers began to suggest that political rivals (or more often, their wives) engaged in tribadism in order to harm their reputations. Queen Anne was rumored to have a passionate relationship with her close advisor Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough. When Churchill was ousted as the queen's favorite, she purportedly spread allegations of the queen having affairs with her bedchamberwomen.^[13]: 137 Marie Antoinette was also the subject of such speculation between 1795 and 1796.^{[14]: 17–18}

Homoerotic elements in early literature were pervasive, specifically the masquerade of one gender for another to seduce an unsuspecting woman. Such plot devices were used in Twelfth Night (1601), The Faerie Queene (1590), and The Bird in a Cage (1633).^{[14]: 1–11, 22–24} During the Renaissance, some women put on male personae and went undetected for years or decades. These women have been described as transvestite lesbians.^[16][17] Some historians view cases of cross-dressing women to be manifestations of women seizing social power, or their way of making sense out of their desire for women.^{[18]: 51–54}

In the 1600s, Queen Christina of Sweden had a tendency to dress as a man, abdicated the throne in 1654 to avoid marriage, and was known to pursue romantic relationships with women.^{[19]: 54–55}

Catharine Linck and other women who were accused of using dildos, such as two nuns in 16th century Spain executed for using "material instruments", were punished more severely than those who did not.^{[12]: 191 [18]: 51–54} Linck was executed in Prussia in 1721.^{[18]: 51–54}

Two marriages between women were recorded in Cheshire, England, in 1707 (between Hannah Wright and Anne Gaskill) and 1708 (between Ane Norton and Alice Pickford) with no comment about both parties being female.^{[14]: 30 [13]: 136}

In 1709, English aristocrat Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, wrote to Anne Wortley: "Nobody was so entirely, so faithfully yours ... I put in your lovers, for I don't allow it possible for a man to be so sincere as I am."^[19]: 119

The Swiss woman Anne Grandjean, disguised as male, married and relocated with her wife to Lyons, but was exposed by a woman with whom she had had a previous affair and sentenced to time in the stocks and prison.^{[18]: 51–54}

In the 1700s, English poet Anna Seward had a devoted friendship with Honora Sneyd. Sneyd was the subject of many of Seward's poems. When Sneyd married despite Seward's protest, Seward's poems became angry, and she continued to write about Sneyd long after her death.^{[19]: 132–136}

Also in the 1700s, Deborah Sampson fought in the American Revolution under the name Robert Shurtlieff, and pursued relationships with women.^[20]

Also in the 1700s, English writer and philosopher Mary Wollstonecraft was attached to a woman named Fanny Blood. Writing to another woman, Wollstonecraft declared, "The roses will bloom when there's peace in the breast, and the prospect of living with my Fanny gladdens my heart:—You know not how I love her."^{[19]: 139 [c]}

Henry Fielding wrote a pamphlet titled The Female Husband in 1746, based on the life of Mary Hamilton, who was arrested after marrying a woman while masquerading as a man, and was sentenced to public whipping and six months in jail.^{[18]: 51–54}

The Irish Eleanor Butler and Sarah Ponsonby were nicknamed the Ladies of Llangollen. Butler and Ponsonby eloped in 1778, to the relief of Ponsonby's family (concerned about their reputation had she run away with a man)^[19]: 75 to live together in Wales for 51 years and be thought of as eccentrics.^{[13]: 227–229} Their story was considered "the epitome of virtuous romantic friendship" and inspired poetry by Anna Seward and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.^{[14]: 45–46}

During the 17th through 19th centuries in the West, a woman expressing passionate love for another woman was fashionable, accepted, and encouraged.^[13]: 136 These relationships were termed romantic friendships, Boston marriages, or "sentimental friends".^[22] These relationships were documented by large volumes of letters written between women. Any sexual components of the relationships were not publicly discussed. Romantic friendships were promoted as alternatives to and practice for a woman's marriage to a man.^{[19]: 74–77}

In a rare instance of sexuality being the focus of a romantic friendship, two Scottish schoolteachers in the early 19th century were accused by a student of visiting in the same bed, kissing, and making the bed shake. The student's grandmother reported the teachers to the authorities, who were skeptical that their actions were sexual in nature, or that they extended beyond the bounds of normal friendship: "Are we to say that every woman who has formed an intimate friendship and has slept in the same bed with another is guilty? Where is the innocent woman in Scotland?"^[13]: 233

Around the turn of the 20th century, the development of higher education provided opportunities for women. In all-female surroundings, a culture of romantic pursuit was fostered in women's colleges. Older students mentored younger ones, called on them socially, took them to all-women dances, and sent them flowers, cards, and poems that declared their undying love for each other.^{[19]: 297–313} These were called "smashes" or "spoons", and they were written about quite frankly in stories for girls aspiring to attend college in publications such as Ladies Home Journal, a children's magazine titled St. Nicholas, and a collection called Smith College Stories, without negative views.^[21]: 255 Enduring loyalty, devotion, and love were major components to these stories, and sexual acts beyond kissing were consistently undescribed.^{[19]: 297–313}

Faderman calls this period "the last breath of innocence" before 1920 when characterizations of female affection were connected to sexuality, marking lesbians as a unique and often unflatteringly portrayed group.^{[19]: 297–313} Specifically, Faderman connects the growth of women's independence and their beginning to reject strictly prescribed roles in the Victorian era to the scientific designation of lesbianism as a type of aberrant sexual behavior.^{[18]: 45–49}

In the 1800s, English Diarist Anne Lister, captivated by Butler and Ponsonby, recorded her affairs with women between 1817 and 1840. Some of it was written in code, detailing her sexual relationships with Marianna Belcombe and Maria Barlow.^[23]: 390

In the 1800s, Edward De Lacy Evans was born female in Ireland, but took a male name during the voyage to Australia and lived as a man for 23 years in Victoria, marrying three times.^[13]: 224

American poet Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) wrote over 300 letters and poems to Susan Gilbert, who later became her sister-in-law, and later engaged in another romantic correspondence with Kate Scott Anthon.^{[21]: 145–148}

American freeborn Black women Addie Brown and Rebecca Primus left evidence of their passion in letters: "No kisses is like youres".^[13]: 234 They wrote openly about their sexual affection for one another, and despite their working-class economic status their writings survived, both of which are unusual for the time.

In 1870, American Alice Baldy wrote to Josie Varner, "Do you know that if you touch me, or speak to me there is not a nerve of fibre in my body that does not respond with a thrill of delight?"^[13]: 232

In the early 1900s, the unmarried professor Jeannette Augustus Marks at Mount Holyoke College, lived with the college president, Mary Woolley, for 36 years. Even while unmarried and living with a woman, Marks discouraged young women from "abnormal" friendships and insisted happiness could only be attained with a man.^{[13]: 239 [d]}

In 1909, Percy Redwood created a scandal in New Zealand when she was found to be Amy Bock, who had married a woman from Port Molyneaux; newspapers argued whether it was a sign of insanity or an inherent character flaw.^[24]

In research on "inversion", German sexologist Magnus Hirschfeld categorized what was normal sexual behavior for men and women, and therefore categorized to what extent men and women deviated from these "ideal types".^[13]: 168 Sexologists Richard von Krafft-Ebing from Germany and Britain's Havelock Ellis wrote some of the earliest and more enduring categorizations of female same-sex attraction, approaching it as a form of insanity and debating whether change was possible.^{[19]: 241–242}

The work of Krafft-Ebing and Ellis was widely read and helped to create public consciousness of female homosexuality.^[e] In the absence of any other material to describe their emotions, homosexuals accepted the designation of different or perverted, and used their outlaw status to form social circles in Paris and Berlin. Lesbian began to describe elements of a subculture.^{[13]: 178–179}

From the 1890s to the 1930s, American heiress Natalie Clifford Barney held a weekly salon of artistic celebrities in Paris, where lesbian topics were the focus. Combining Greek influences with contemporary French eroticism, she attempted to create an updated and idealized version of Lesbos in her salon.^[26]: 234 Salon attendees included prominent lesbian artists such as novelist Radclyffe Hall,^[27]: 48 artist Romaine Brooks; writer Colette, writer Djuna Barnes, and social host Gertrude Stein.^{[28]: 153–167}

Berlin had a vibrant homosexual culture in the 1920s, and about 50 clubs catered to lesbians. Die Freundin Magazines like (The Girlfriend) and Garçonne (aka Frauenliebe (Woman Love)) were aimed at lesbians and male transvestites.^{[13]: 241–244} These publications were controlled by men as owners, publishers, and writers. Around 1926, Selli Engler founded Die BIF – Blätter Idealer Frauenfreundschaften (The BIF – Papers on Ideal Women Friendships), the first lesbian publication owned, published and written by women. In 1928, the lesbian bar and nightclub guide Berlins lesbische Frauen (The Lesbians of Berlin) by Ruth Margarite Röllig^[29] further popularized the German capital as a center of lesbian activity. Clubs varied between large tourist attractions to small neighborhood cafes. The cabaret song "Das lila Lied" ("The Lavender Song") became an anthem to the lesbians of Berlin. Although it was sometimes tolerated, homosexuality was illegal in Germany and law enforcement used permitted gatherings as an opportunity to register the names of homosexuals for future reference.^[30] Magnus Hirschfeld's Scientific-Humanitarian Committee, which promoted tolerance for homosexuals in Germany, welcomed lesbian participation, and a surge of lesbian-themed writing and political activism in the German feminist movement became evident.^{[26]: 230–231}

In 1928, Radclyffe Hall published the novel The Well of Loneliness. The novel's plot centers around Stephen Gordon, an invert woman. The novel was intended to be a call for tolerance for inverts by publicizing their disadvantages and lack of control over the condition.^[19]: 320 The novel's trial for obscenity was described as "the crystallizing moment in the construction of a visible modern English lesbian subculture" by professor Laura Doan.^[31]

Newspaper stories frankly divulged that the book's content includes "sexual relations between Lesbian women", and photographs of Hall often accompanied details about lesbians in most major print outlets within a span of six months.^[31] Hall reflected the appearance of a "mannish" woman in the 1920s: short cropped hair, tailored suits (often with pants), and monocle that became widely recognized as a "uniform".^[31]

In the United States, the 1920s was a decade of social experimentation, particularly with sex. This was heavily influenced by the writings of Sigmund Freud, who theorized that sexual desire would be sated unconsciously, despite an individual's wish to ignore it.^{[18]: 63–67} Freud said that while most people have phases of homosexual attraction or experimentation, he attributed exclusive same-sex attraction to stunted development resulting from trauma or parental conflicts.^{[26]: 242 [f]} Freud's theories were much more pervasive in the U.S. than in Europe. Large cities that provided a nightlife were immensely popular, and women began to seek out sexual adventure. Bisexuality became chic, particularly in America's first gay neighborhoods.^{[18]: 63–67}

No location saw more visitors for its possibilities of homosexual nightlife than Harlem, the predominantly African American section of New York City. White "slummers" enjoyed jazz and nightclubs. Blues singers Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith, Ethel Waters, and Gladys Bentley openly sang about affairs with women.^{[18]: 71 [33]} Homosexuals began to draw comparisons between their newly recognized minority status and that of African Americans.^[18]: 68 Among African American residents of Harlem, lesbian relationships were common and tolerated, though not overtly embraced. Some women staged lavish wedding ceremonies, even filing licenses using masculine names with New York City.^[18]: 73 Most homosexual women were married to men and participated in affairs with women regularly.^[33]

Across town, Greenwich Village also saw a growing homosexual community; both Harlem and Greenwich Village provided furnished rooms for single men and women, which was a major factor in their development as centers for homosexual communities.^[12]: 181 The Village attracted Bohemian intellectuals who rejected Victorian ideals. Homosexuals were predominantly male, although figures such as poet Edna St. Vincent Millay and social host Mabel Dodge were known for their affairs with women and promotion of tolerance of homosexuality.^{[19]: 82–83} Women in the U.S. who could not visit Harlem or live in Greenwich Village were first able to visit saloons in the 1920s without being considered prostitutes. The existence of a public space for women to socialize in bars that catered to lesbians "became the single most important public manifestation of the subculture for many decades", according to historian Lillian Faderman.^{[18]: 79–80}

The primary component necessary to encourage lesbians to be public and seek other women was economic independence, which virtually disappeared in the 1930s with the Great Depression. Independent women in the 1930s were generally seen as holding jobs that men should have. Most lesbians in the U.S. found it necessary to marry, engaging either in traditional marriages or "front" marriages to a gay man where both could discreetly pursue homosexual relationships.^{[18]: 94–96}

The hostile social attitude led to the formation of small, close-knit, bar-centric communities in large cities. Women in other locales typically remained isolated. Speaking of homosexuality in any context was socially forbidden. Slang terms referred to openly gay people as "in the Life".^{[18]: 105–112 [g]}

Homosexual subculture disappeared in Germany with the rise of the Nazis in 1933.^{[13]: 191–193}

American First Lady from 1933 to 1945, Eleanor Roosevelt, exchanged rings with and wrote daily letters to journalist Lorena Hickok, expressing her love for Hickok, using endearments, and expressing a desire to kiss her.^{[19]: 297–313}

The onset of World War II caused a massive upheaval in people's lives as military mobilization engaged millions of men. Women were also accepted into the military in the U.S. Women's Army Corps (WACs) and U.S. Navy's Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES). Unlike processes to screen out male homosexuals, which had been in place since the creation of the American military, there were no methods to identify or screen for lesbians; they were put into place gradually during World War II. Despite common attitudes regarding women's traditional roles in the 1930s, independent and masculine women were directly recruited by the military in the 1940s, and frailty discouraged.^{[35]: 28–33}

Some women arrived at the recruiting station in a man's suit, denied ever being in love with another woman, and were easily inducted.^{[35]: 28–33} Sexual activity was forbidden and blue discharge was almost certain if one identified oneself as a lesbian. As women found each other, they formed into tight groups on base, socialized at service clubs, and began to use code words. Historian Allan Bérubé documented that homosexuals in the armed forces either consciously or subconsciously refused to identify themselves as homosexual or lesbian, and also never spoke about others' orientation.^[35]: 104

The most masculine women were not necessarily common, though they were visible, so they tended to attract women interested in finding other lesbians. Women had to broach the subject about their interest in other women carefully, sometimes taking days to develop a common understanding without asking or stating anything outright.^[35]: 100

Women who did not enter the military were aggressively called upon to take industrial jobs left by men, in order to continue national productivity. The increased mobility, sophistication, and independence of many women during and after the war made it possible for women to live without husbands, something that would not have been feasible under different economic and social circumstances, further shaping lesbian networks and environments.^{[18]: 129–130}

In Germany, there was no explicit law against lesbianism. Lesbians who were Jewish, Roma, or politically dissident, were persecuted primarily for these other characteristics.^[36] Prior to 1939, lesbians were imprisoned as 'asocials', which was "a broad category applied to all people who evaded Nazi rule."^[37] Asocials were identified with an inverted black triangle.^[36] In the 1990s in the U.S., some lesbians used the black triangle symbol as an identifier, and the pink triangle was also used for the combined lesbian-gay movement.^[37]

Following World War II, a nationwide movement pressed to return to pre-war society as quickly as possible in the U.S.^[38] Partially due to the increasing national paranoia about communism and the pervasiveness of psychoanalytic theory, the U.S. government began persecuting homosexuals around 1950. The government fired open homosexuals and began a widespread effort to gather intelligence about employees' private lives.^[26]: 277 The U.S. military and government conducted interrogations of women's sexual histories.^{[18]: 150–155} State and local governments followed suit, arresting people for congregating in bars and parks, and enacting laws against cross-dressing for both sexes.^[38]

Postwar practices to eliminate homosexuals from public service positions also began to Australia,^[39] Canada,^[40] and the UK.^{[14]: 109–114} A section to create an offence of "gross indecency" between females was added to a bill in the United Kingdom House of Commons and passed there in 1921, but was rejected in the House of Lords, apparently because they were concerned any attention paid to sexual misconduct would also promote it.^{[14]: 109–114}

Concurrently with government persecution, in 1952, homosexuality was listed as a pathological emotional disturbance in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual.^[26]: 247 The view that homosexuality was a curable sickness was widely believed in the medical community, general population, and among many lesbians themselves.^[41]

Very little information was available about homosexuality beyond medical and psychiatric texts. Community meeting places consisted of bars that were commonly raided by police, with those arrested exposed in newspapers. In response, eight women in San Francisco met in their living rooms in 1955 to socialize and have a safe place to dance. When they decided to make it a regular meeting, they became the first organization for lesbians in the U.S., titled the Daughters of Bilitis (DOB). In 1956, the DOB began publishing a magazine titled The Ladder.^[42] The Ladder was mailed to hundreds—eventually thousands—of DOB members discussing the nature of homosexuality, sometimes challenging the idea that it was a sickness, with readers offering their own reasons why they were lesbians and suggesting ways to cope with the condition or society's response to it.^[41] British lesbians followed with the publication of Arena Three beginning in 1964, with a similar mission.^{[14]: 153–158}

Early working-class lesbian subculture in the U.S. and Canada developed rigid gender roles. These roles dated back to Harlem and Greenwich Village in the 1920s.^[14] In this subculture, a couple was defined as "dichotomous individuals, if not male and female, then butch and femme".^{[18]: 167–168} Although many municipalities enacted laws against cross-dressing, some women (butches) would socialize in bars dressed in men's clothing and mirroring traditional masculine behavior. Others (femmes) wore traditionally feminine clothing. Butch and femme modes of socialization were so integral within lesbian bars that women who refused to choose between the two would be ignored, or at least unable to date anyone, and butch/butch or femme/femme romantic relationships were unacceptable.^{[18]: 167–168}

By the 1950s and 1960s, the roles were pervasive and not limited to North America: from 1940 to 1970, butch/femme bar culture flourished in Britain, though there were fewer class distinctions than in lesbian communities in the U.S.^{[14]: 141–143  [18]: 170–174} Butch and femme were considered coarse by American lesbians of higher social standing during this period.^{[18]: 175–178}

Regardless of the lack of information about homosexuality in scholarly texts, another forum for learning about lesbianism was growing. A paperback book titled Women's Barracks describing a woman's experiences in the Free French Forces was published in 1950. It told of a lesbian relationship the author had witnessed. After 4.5 million copies were sold, it was consequently named in the House Select Committee on Current Pornographic Materials in 1952.^[43] Its publisher, Gold Medal Books, followed with the novel Spring Fire in 1952, which sold 1.5 million copies. Gold Medal Books was overwhelmed with mail from women writing about the subject matter, and followed with more books, creating the genre of lesbian pulp fiction.^[43]

Between 1955 and 1969, over 2,000 books were published using lesbianism as a topic, and they were sold in corner drugstores, train stations, bus stops, and newsstands all over the U.S. and Canada. Literary scholar, Yvonne Keller created several subclasses for lesbian pulp fiction, to help highlight the differences between the types of pulp fiction being released.^[44] Virile adventures were written by authors using male pseudonyms, and almost all were marketed to heterosexual men. During this time, another subclass emerged called "Pro-Lesbian". The emergence of pro-lesbian fiction began with authors seeing the voyeuristic and homophobic nature of virile adventures. With only a handful of lesbian pulp fiction authors were women writing for lesbians, including Ann Bannon, Valerie Taylor, Paula Christian, and Vin Packer/Ann Aldrich. These authors focused on the relationship between the women instead of writing sexually explicit material, defying the standards of the "virile adventure" model.^[44]

The differences between virile adventures and pro-lesbian covers and titles were distinct enough that Bannon, who also purchased lesbian pulp fiction, later stated that women identified the material iconically by the cover art.^[45] Pro-lesbian covers were innocuous and hinted at their lesbian themes, and virile adventures ranged from having one woman partially undressed to sexually explicit covers, to demonstrate the invariably salacious material inside.^[44] In addition to this, coded words and images were used on the covers. Instead of "lesbian", terms such as "strange", "twilight", "queer", and "third sex", were used in the titles.^[46] Many of the books used cultural references: naming places, terms, describing modes of dress and other codes to isolated women. As a result, pulp fiction helped to proliferate a lesbian identity simultaneously to lesbians and heterosexual readers.^[47]

The social rigidity of the 1950s and early 1960s encountered a backlash as social movements to improve the standing of African Americans, the poor, women, and gays all became prominent. The gay rights movement and the feminist movement connected after a violent confrontation occurred in New York City in the 1969 Stonewall riots.^{[13]: 212–216}

From the late 1950s to the 1970s, the sexual revolution took place, and many women took advantage of their new social freedom to try new experiences. Women who previously identified as heterosexual tried sex with women, though many maintained their heterosexual identity.^[18]: 203

From the 1960s to the 1980s, the movement of second-wave feminism developed. Lesbianism as a political identity grew to describe a social philosophy among women, often overshadowing sexual desire as a defining trait. Different groups and authors defined "lesbian" as "the rage of all women condensed to the point of explosion".,^[48]: 70 "a woman-identified woman who does not fuck men. It does not mean compulsory sexual activity with women.",^[14]: 177 or "a woman whose primary erotic, psychological, emotional and social interest is in a member of her own sex[...].".^[49]: 7 Women who subscribed to this philosophy dubbed themselves lesbian-feminists. In the ideal society, named Lesbian Nation, "woman" and "lesbian" were interchangeable.^{[18]: 218–219}

Separatist feminists expressed their disdain with an inherently sexist and patriarchal society, and concluded the most effective way to overcome sexism and attain the equality of women would be to deny men any power or pleasure from women. Many believers strove to separate themselves physically and economically from traditional male-centered culture.^{[18]: 218–219} As equality was a priority for lesbian-feminists, disparity of roles between men and women or butch and femme were viewed as patriarchal. Lesbian-feminists also eschewed the perceived chauvinism of gay men; many lesbian-feminists refused to work with men, or take up their causes.^{[18]: 210–211}

Although lesbian-feminism was a significant shift, not all lesbians agreed with it. Lesbian-feminism was a youth-oriented movement: its members were primarily college educated, with experience in New Left and radical causes, but they had not seen any success in persuading radical organizations to take up women's issues.^[48]: 11 Many older lesbians who had acknowledged their sexuality in more conservative times felt maintaining their ways of coping in a homophobic world was more appropriate.^[50] Lesbians who believed they were born homosexual, and used the descriptor "lesbian" to define sexual attraction, often considered the separatist opinions of lesbian-feminists to be detrimental to the cause of gay rights.^{[18]: 217–218}

In 1970, the Daughters of Bilitis folded over which direction to focus on: feminism or gay rights issues.^[50]

From 1974 to 1993, the organization Salsa Soul Sisters, today known as the African Ancestral Lesbians United for Societal Change, was a lesbian womanist organization operating in New York City.^[51]: 55

In October 1980, the First Black Lesbian Conference was held, an outgrowth from the First National Third World Lesbian and Gay Conference.^[52][53]

In the 1980s, a significant movement rejected the desexualization of lesbianism by cultural feminists, causing a heated controversy called the feminist sex wars.^{[18]: 246–252} Butch and femme roles returned, although not as strictly followed as they were in the 1950s. They became a mode of chosen sexual self-expression for some women in the 1990s. Once again, women felt safer claiming to be more sexually adventurous, and sexual flexibility became more accepted.^[54]

In 1997, Marxist political activist Angela Davis came out a lesbian in an interview with Out magazine.^[55]

"Lesbians of color" is an umbrella term for Black, Latina, Asian, Arab, Native American, and other non-white lesbians. Lesbians of color have often been a marginalized group,^[56] and experienced racism in addition to homophobia and misogyny.^{[57][page needed]}

Some scholars have noted that past lesbian communities were primarily white and American, and that some lesbians of color had difficulties integrating into these communities at large. Many lesbians of color have stated that they were often systematically excluded from lesbian spaces based on the fact that they are women of color.^[58] The early lesbian feminist movement was criticized for excluding race and class issues from their spaces and for a lack of focus on issues that did not benefit white women.^[56]

Additionally, lesbians of color face unique sets of challenges within their respective racial communities, as communities of color often view homosexuality as a "white" lifestyle and see the acceptance of homosexuality as a setback in achieving equality.^{[57][page needed]} Lesbians of color, especially those of immigrant populations, often hold the sentiment that their orientation adversely affects assimilation into the dominant culture.^[56] Within racial communities, the decision to come out can be costly, as the threat of loss of support from family, friends, and the community at large is probable. Lesbians of color are often exposed to a range of adverse consequences, including microaggression, discrimination, menace, and violence.^[58]

Audre Lorde, Barbara Smith, and Cherrie Moraga are cited as major theorists within the various lesbians of color movements for their insistence on inclusion and equality, from both racial communities and white lesbian communities.^[56]

The many intersections surrounding lesbians of color can often contribute to an increased need for mental health resources. Lesbians of color are more likely to experience a number of psychological issues due to the various experiences of sexism, racism, and homophobia.^[59] Mental health providers often use heteronormative standards to gauge the health of lesbian relationships, and the relationships of lesbian women of color are often subjects of judgment because they are seen as the most deviant.^[59]

Some Indigenous peoples of the Americas conceptualize a third gender for women who dress as, and fulfill the roles usually filled by, men in their cultures.^[60][61] In other cases they may use different terms for feminine women and masculine women.^[62] These identities are rooted in the context of the ceremonial and cultural lives of the particular Indigenous cultures, and "simply being gay and Indian does not make someone a Two-Spirit."^[63] These ceremonial and social roles, which are conferred and confirmed by the person's elders, "do not make sense" when defined by non-Native concepts of sexual orientation and gender identity.^[61] Rather, they must be understood in an Indigenous context, as traditional spiritual and social roles held by the person in their Indigenous community.^[63][61][64]

Tribal law can differ from colonial law. For example, the Navajo Nation's Diné Marriage Act of 2005, which bans recognition of specifically same-sex marriages performed outside the Nation, remains in place as of 2025 despite ongoing disputes.^[65][66][67]

Arabic-language historical records have used various terms to describe sexual practices between women.^[68] A common one is "sahq", which refers to rubbing. Lesbian practices and identities are largely absent from the historical record. The common term to describe lesbianism in Arabic today is essentially the same term used to describe men, and thus the distinction between male and female homosexuality is to a certain extent linguistically obscured in contemporary queer discourse.^[68] Overall, the study of contemporary lesbian experience in the region is complicated by power dynamics in the postcolonial context, shaped even by what some scholars refer to as "homonationalism", the use of politicized understanding of sexual categories to advance specific national interests on the domestic and international stage.^[69]

Women in the Middle East have been historically segregated from men. In the 7th and 8th centuries, some extraordinary women dressed in male attire when gender roles were less strict. The Caliphal court in Baghdad featured women who dressed as men, including false facial hair, but they competed with other women for the attentions of men.^[70][68]

In the ninth century, the Muslim philosopher al-Kindi, who was born and educated in modern-day Iraq, explicitly discusses lesbianism: "Lesbianism is due to a vapor which, condensed, generates in the labia heat and an itch which only dissolve and become cold through friction and orgasm. When friction and orgasm take place, the heat turns into coldness because the liquid that a woman ejaculates in lesbian intercourse is cold whereas..."^[71]

In the tenth century, the erotic writings Jawami ` al-ladhdha (Encyclopedia of Pleasure), by Abul Hasan Ali ibn Nasr al-Katib, was written also in modern-day Iraq. It describes a committed relationship between a Christian woman and an Arab woman in pre-Islamic Iraq, and the mourning process one went through when the other died.^[71]

According to the 12th-century writings of Sharif al-Idrisi, highly intelligent women were more likely to be lesbians; their intellectual prowess put them on a more even par with men.^[70]

While male-written accounts of lesbianism in the Middle East exist, a 1978 treatise about repression in Iran asserted that women were completely silenced: "In the whole of Iranian history, [no woman] has been allowed to speak out for such tendencies ... To attest to lesbian desires would be an unforgivable crime."^[70]

A lesbian anthropologist in 1991 visited Yemen and reported that women in the town she visited were unable to comprehend her romantic relationship to another woman. Women in Pakistan are expected to marry men; those who do not are ostracized. Women may have intimate relations with other women as long as their wifely duties are met, their private matters are kept quiet, and the woman with whom they are involved is somehow related by family or logical interest to her lover.^[70]

Individuals identifying with or otherwise engaging in lesbian practices in the region can face family violence and societal persecution, including "honor killings". The justifications provided by murderers relate to a person's perceived sexual immorality, loss of virginity (outside of acceptable frames of marriage), and target female victims primarily.^[72]

Lesbians also face government persecution in the Middle East. In Yemen, homosexuality is criminalized, and women can face lashings, up to three years in prison or the death penalty for consensual lesbian sex.^[73][74] In 2017, the Egyptian government arrested and tortured out lesbian and activist Sarah Hegazi after she flew a rainbow flag at a concert.^[75]

In Latin America, lesbian subcultures increased as several countries transitioned to or reformed democratic governments. However, social harassment has been common even in places where homosexuality is legal. Laws against child corruption, morality, or "the good ways" (faltas a la moral o las buenas costumbres) have been used to persecute homosexuals.^[76][when?] Lesbian groups and advocacy have faced repression in many countries where dictators have seized power,^[when?] including Argentina.^[76]

Argentinian lesbian group Nuestro Mundo (NM) was created in 1969.^[76]

Mexican lesbian group Lesbos was founded in 1977. In 1997, 13 lesbian organizations were active in Mexico City.^[76]

In Chile, the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet forbade the creation of lesbian groups until 1984. The first lesbian group Ayuquelén ("joy of being" in Mapuche) was first founded in 1984, prompted by the very public homophobic murder of a woman. Ayuquelén worked to remove the sodomy laws then in place in Chile.^[76]

In Nicaragua in 1986, the Sandinista National Liberation Front expelled gay men and lesbians from its midst. State persecution prevented the formation of associations until AIDS became a concern, when educational efforts forced sexual minorities to band together. The first lesbian organization was Nosotras, founded in 1989. An effort to promote visibility from 1991 to 1992 provoked the government to declare homosexuality illegal in 1994, effectively ending the movement until 2004, when Grupo Safo – Grupo de Mujeres Lesbianas de Nicaragua was created, four years before homosexuality became legal again.^[76]

Founded in 2004 in Namibia, the Coalition of African Lesbians is a pan-Africanist, radical feminist network of fourteen nonprofits across ten African countries, working to eradicate stigma, legal discrimination, and violence against lesbians.^[77]

Cross-gender roles and marriage between women has also been recorded in over 30 traditional African societies.^[13]: 262 Women may marry other women, raise their children, and be generally thought of as men in societies in Nigeria, Cameroon, and Kenya. The Hausa people of Sudan have a term equivalent to lesbian, kifi, that may also be applied to males to mean "neither party insists on a particular sexual role".^[13]: 259

Near the Congo River, a female who participates in strong emotional or sexual relationships with another female among the Nkundo people is known as yaikya bonsángo (a woman who presses against another woman). Lesbian relationships are also known in matrilineal societies in Ghana among the Akan people. In Lesotho, females engage in what is commonly considered sexual behavior to the Western world: they kiss, sleep together, rub genitals, participate in cunnilingus, and maintain their relationships with other females vigilantly. Since the people of Lesotho believe sex requires a penis, they do not consider their behavior sexual, nor label themselves lesbians.^{[13]: 237–238}

In Tanzania, lesbians are known as or called "Msagaji" (singular), "Wasagaji" (plural), which in Swahili means grinder or grinding because of the perceived nature of lesbian sex that would involve the mutual rubbing of vulvas.^[78]

Corrective rape is reported to be on the rise in South Africa.^[when?][79] The crime is sometimes supervised by members of the woman's family or local community,^[80] and is a major contributor to HIV infection in South African lesbians.^[79] "Corrective rape" is not recognized by the South African legal system as a hate crime despite the fact that the South African Constitution states that no person shall be discriminated against based on their social status and identity, including sexual orientation.^[81][82][83] Legally, South Africa protects gay rights extensively, but the government has not taken proactive action to prevent corrective rape, and women do not have much faith in the police and their investigations.^[84][85] Local South African organizations including nonprofit "Luleki Sizwe" and The Triangle Project, between 500 (per Triangle Project) and 3600 (Luleki Sizwe) South Africans suffer from corrective rape every year,^[86][84] the vast majority of lesbians live in fear of corrective rape, and victims are less likely to report the crime because of their society's homophobia.^[84]

China before westernization was another society that segregated men from women. Historical Chinese culture has not recognized a concept of sexual orientation, or a framework to divide people based on their same-sex or opposite-sex attractions.^[87]: 29 Although there was a significant culture surrounding homosexual men, there was none for women. Outside their duties to bear sons to their husbands, women were perceived as having no sexuality at all.^[13]: 311

This did not mean that women could not pursue sexual relationships with other women, but that such associations could not impose upon women's relationships to men. Rare references to lesbianism were written by Ying Shao, who identified same-sex relationships between women in imperial courts who behaved as husband and wife as dui shi (paired eating). "Golden Orchid Associations" in Southern China existed into the 20th century and promoted formal marriages between women, who were then allowed to adopt children.^[12]: 187 Westernization brought new ideas that all sexual behavior not resulting in reproduction was aberrant.^{[87]: 30–31}

The liberty of being employed in silk factories starting in 1865 allowed some women to style themselves tzu-shu nii (never to marry) and live in communes with other women. Other Chinese called them sou-hei (self-combers) for adopting hairstyles of married women. These communes passed because of the Great Depression and were subsequently discouraged by the communist government for being a relic of feudal China.^[12]: 195 In contemporary Chinese society, tongzhi (same goal or spirit) is the term used to refer to homosexuals; most Chinese are reluctant to divide this classification further to identify lesbians.^[87]: 28

In Japan, the term rezubian, a Japanese pronunciation of "lesbian", was used during the 1920s. Westernization brought more independence for women and allowed some Japanese women to wear pants.^[13]: 246 The cognate tomboy is used in the Philippines, and particularly in Manila, to denote women who are more masculine.^[87]: 122 Virtuous women in Korea prioritize motherhood, chastity, and virginity; outside this scope, very few women are free to express themselves through sexuality, although there is a growing organization for lesbians named Kkirikkiri.^[87]: 75 The term pondan is used in Malaysia to refer to gay men, but since there is no historical context to reference lesbians, the term is used for female homosexuals as well.^[87]: 145 As in many Asian countries, open homosexuality is discouraged in many social levels, so many Malaysians lead double lives.^{[87]: 148–150}

In India, a 14th-century Indian text mentioning a lesbian couple who had a child as a result of their lovemaking is an exception to the general silence about female homosexuality. According to Ruth Vanita, this invisibility disappeared with the release of a film titled Fire in 1996, prompting some theaters in India to be attacked by religious extremists. Terms used to label homosexuals are often rejected by Indian activists for being the result of imperialist influence, but most discourse on homosexuality centers on men. Women's rights groups in India continue to debate the legitimacy of including lesbian issues in their platforms, as lesbians and material focusing on female homosexuality are frequently suppressed.^[88]