Lunian

Lunian, also known as deep sea lesbian or m-spec lesbian,"M-spec lesbian" is also sometimes used to mean male/man/masc-spec lesbian. It refers specifically to lunians in this article. is an umbrella term for lesbians who experience non-exclusive attraction. In other words, a lunian is a lesbian who experiences attraction to more than one gender. Some lunians may identify with more specific terms, such as dajenyan, pan-lesbian, or flexible, among other terms. Examples of lunian experiences may include, but are not limited to:
*Experiencing fluid attraction.
*Experiencing attraction to women and nonbinary people, and thus being attracted to multiple genders, without experiencing attraction to men. While lesbian alone can be used to describe this, pluralian/m-spec labels explicitly acknowledge nonbinary people as a gender separate from binary women.
*Experiencing attraction to multiple genders, including women, and using lesbian as an umbrella term which is synonymous with sapphic. In other words, lesbian is used here as a general term for women who love women,"Women who love women" is a simplification, as there is a lot of gender diversity in the lesbian community. exclusively or not.
*Being varioriented and using the split attraction model. For example, a person might experience romantic attraction to women, while experiencing sexual attraction regardless of gender.
*Being part of a system in which some members are lesbians, while others are pluralian, and each member's identity is considered together as a whole.
*Being attracted to multiple genders, but prioritizing women in one's personal life and/or politics.
*Being attracted to multiple genders, while also identifying heavily with lesbian experiences and communities.
*Having a preference for women, or primarily being attracted to women.
==Etymology==
The term "lunian" is supposedly based on the word "luna," referring to the moon, which is commonly gendered as feminine or female.This assumption is based on it being coined alongside "solian," which appears to be based on "sol," meaning "sun." The term "deep sea lesbian" is based on the flags designed by Tumblr user kenochoric, who also coined the lunian label.
The term "m-spec lesbian" is simply a combination of m-spec and lesbian. "M-spec" stands for multi-attracted spectrum, multiple-attraction spectrum, multisexual spectrum, or multiromantic spectrum, in this context. "Lesbian" originally referred to people from the island Lesbos (also known as Lesvos or Mitilini), or things relating to said island. Sappho, a Greek poet from Lesbos, was the source of inspiration for the lesbian label, as well as the sapphic label. This was due to the erotic poetry and love poems she wrote about women. "Lesbian" became a word which refers to attraction and relationships between women as late as 1870.
==History==
Lesbian has been used as an umbrella term which encompasses both exclusive and non-exclusive attraction since at least the 70s. Lunian in particular was coined by Tumblr user kenochoric on January 14, 2021.
==Flag==
The m-spec lesbian flag was created by Tumblr user bi-lesbian (also known as Rouge) on January 19, 2020. The stripes have no confirmed meaning or symbolism.
The deep sea m-spec lesbian flag, later additionally known as the lunian flag, was created by Tumblr user kenochoric on December 8, 2020. Its design was modeled after the ocean, and it was intended to be paired with the Aurora lesbian flag. TheyTumblr user kenochoric has gone by many pronouns over the years, but it is unclear what pronouns they currently use. They are referred to with they/them pronouns here to maintain neutrality and ambiguity. created an alternate version of the lunian flag on September 4, 2021, which was designed to bear more resemblance to the community lesbian flag (referred to in post as the sunset lesbian flag).
== Symbol ==
The m-spec lesbian symbol was created by Tumblr user bi-lesbian (also known as Rouge) on August 12, 2020. LoRouge uses all pronouns, but has a preference for lo/lov, fae/faer, and ro/rose. Lo/lov/loves/loveself is used in this article for consistency. combined a crescent with a violet, which represent m-spec/bi identities and sapphic/lesbian identities, respectively. The symbol had multiple variations featuring the colors from different flags: m-spec lesbian, bi-lesbian, pan-lesbian, poly-lesbian, and omni-lesbian. Lo later included a monochrome variant with separate layers which could be easily edited to feature different colors.
== Intolerance and prejudices ==
Lunians are often accused of being lesbophobic and biphobic, or of perpetuating those forms of bigotry, due to their identities as lunians. Many people proclaim that the definition of "lesbian" only includes women who exclusively love women, or non-men who exclusively love non-men, and that any deviation from this "taints the label" and "furthers anti-lesbian stigmas." This, however, is ahistorical, and is the result of lesbian separatism. The lesbian label's definition has always been a point of contention, but inclusive definitions have been recorded since at least the 70s. For decades, it has been used as a term for all women who love women, exclusively or not, and is additionally inclusive of gender variance in many LGBTQIA+ spaces and communities.
Some argue that the inclusion of pluralian identities at the time was purely the result of a lexical gap, and that once bisexuality appeared as a label, pluralians left the lesbian identity voluntarily, as there was no longer a need to stay. However, while there were bisexual people who voluntarily moved away from the lesbian identity, many maintained their lesbian identity, and advocated for their right to continue to be lesbians. Regardless, even if this were not the case, people are voluntarily opting into the label today. If the argument is that "exclusion is fine because it was voluntary," it would no longer be fine, because it would no longer be voluntary.
Some people feel that the existence of lunians implies that "all lesbians can like men," and encourages men to violate the consent of lesbians. This, however, is a logical leap. Some people are both pluralian and lesbian, but this does not imply or necessitate that all lesbians are pluralian. Lesbians should never be pressured or expected to like men, but they should be accepted if and when they do. Additionally, lunians don't always experience attraction to men regardless; there are many lunians whose attraction is only directed towards women and nonbinary people. In any case, violating consent is cruel, and shouldn't be done to anyone. This is true regardless of how the person identifies, and regardless of whether they are attracted to men or not.
== Gallery ==
File:Lunian Alternate Flag.png|The alternate version of the lunian flag.
File:Lunian Alternate Romantic Flag.png|A romance-oriented version of the alternate lunian flag.
File:Lunian Romantic Flag.png|A romance-oriented version of the lunian flag.
File:Mspec Lesbian Romantic Flag.png|A romance-oriented version of the m-spec lesbian flag.
File:Mspec Lesbian Symbol Monochrome.png|A romance-oriented version of the lunian flag.
==Note==
==References==
Category:Identity
Category:Orientation
Category:Sexual orientation
Category:Romantic orientation
Category:Tertiary orientation
Category:Women-loving-gender
Category:Gender-loving-women
Category:Sapphic
Category:Pluralian
Category:Plurian
Category:Umbrella terms
Category:Astral alignment