Lesbian

**Lesbian** is a broad term with multiple definitions, most involving the queer attraction to women in some way. Since the term is extremely varied in its definitions, below are just some of the most known, existing meanings to the term lesbian.

A more modern interpretation of lesbian refers to any non-man who is attracted to non-men. This definition includes any genders that are not completely male, attracted to any genders that are not completely male and it is one of the most common definitions seen amongst queer individuals. Another way in which you will see a similar meaning worded, is any non-man who is attracted to women. This meaning refers to any genders that are not completely male, attracted to women.

The most publicly well-known use of the term refers to a woman that is exclusively attracted to other women (WLW). Whilst the term can be used in this way, it is not the only valid way to identify as a lesbian at all and defining the term in this way only, excludes non-binary and other non-woman lesbians. A similar definition is any woman/feminine-aligned genders attracted to other women/feminine aligned genders, which, whilst another valid way of identifying as a lesbian, is not the only way.

Another interpretation of the definition, as previously stated, is just the queer attraction to women. Since this is such a broad umbrella, it includes all non-straight attraction to women.

There are also multiple different definitions in terms of whether the term describes exclusive attraction or not and since it is so broad, the term has been used to describe both exclusive and non-exclusive attraction.

Another common divide within the community is if the term lesbian includes attraction to other non-men besides women, or not. Some interpretations include attraction to women, others include attraction to any non-men, and others include attraction to women/feminine-aligned genders. Like the exclusivity divide, the term can and has been used to describe those who experience attraction to other non-men, and those who only experience attraction to women.

## History & Coining

There is an extensive amount of history regarding the word lesbian, and for accessibility's sake, we will link sources for the terms history in Resources instead of another huge block of text.

## Flag

There are many lesbian flags from current day to back in history, a few of which were made by exclusionists. This includes the creator of the Lipstick Lesbian flag, of which was also plagiarised.

Included on this page will be the current most popular lesbian flag, made by Sadlesbiandisaster. The color meanings are: Dark orange is for gender non-conformity. Orange is for independence from men and individuality. Light orange is for community. White represents unique connections to womanhood, and how lesbians are all connected to womanhood in their own unique ways. It encompasses trans and non-binary lesbian experiences, and butch and femme experiences with womanhood. Light pink represents serenity and peace. Pink represents love and sex. Dark pink represents femininity.

According to LGBTA Wiki, 'Sadlesbiandisaster is a problematic user who does not support m-spec lesbians, cis aces/aros/aroaces, usage of queer as an identity, or the diverse history of the terms butch and femme. She has harmed people with those harmful ideals, and she also plagiarized her design from both the butch and femme flags'. We are only including this flag as it is the most well-known flag currently and you can never be sure what claims against someone are true or not, especially when they are not incredibly publicised or well-known. This is not to disregard the allegations against the creator.

Another flag included on this page is known as the inclusive lesbian flag by Tumblr user ferretwlw. The color meanings are as follows: Dark blue represents the community, and solidarity with each other, for the current lesbian community, and the unification of everyone in it. Purple represents diversity in experiences and expression, representing lesbians of every kind of expression and subculture - butches, femmes, those who are neither, and everyone else who considers themselves a lesbian. Pink represents self acceptance and pride. It is also for those who are still coming to terms with being a lesbian, questioning, in the closet, and so on. Yellow represents lesbian history and culture, and it reflects back on lesbian history and all the experiences lesbians have had. It’s also for lesbian culture, and all the subcultures within it. Mint represents inclusivity, tolerance, and acceptance.

The final flag included on this page is a flag by lydiandragon. The colours are based on a poem by Sappho describing “her lover as wearing violets, rosebuds, dill and crocuses.” Purple is for sapphic love and violets. Yellow is for strength and crocuses. Dill green is for healing, nature, growth, and dill. Pink is for fragility and roses. It also uses web-safe colours. The colours were rearranged to get to the one shown on the page by a reader of lydiandragon's article named Maya Kern.

## Resources

**Term & History**

(warning: we cannot always trust things online - therefore we cannot always trust that every word mentioned in the retelling of lesbian's history from every source is 100% factual. As well as this, there are vastly different definitions of the term and you will see different definitions everywhere)

https://lgbta.wikia.org/wiki/Lesbian - contains a lot of history on the term

Video on history - tw: mentions of homophobic beliefs in the earlier years

Well-worded article

https://lgbt.wikia.org/wiki/Lesbian

https://nonbinary.wiki/wiki/Romantic\_and\_sexual\_orientation#Lesbian

**Flags**

General flag timeline: https://lesbianflaghistory.tumblr.com/post/185620902983

Simplified Sadlesbianddisaster flag post: https://twitter.com/lesbianflag

ferretwlw: https://ferretwlw.tumblr.com/post/632190623371460608/i-wanted-to-try-my-hand-at-making-an-all-inclusive

lydiandragon: https://majesticmess.com/encyclopedia/lesbian-flag-lydia/

Allogations against Sadlesbianddisaster post: https://creatoroflesflagisracist.tumblr.com/post/181031893227/the-flag-in-question-and-its-meanings-the

Lipstick Lesbian flag: https://web.archive.org/web/20151119165126/https://thislesbianlife.wordpress.com/2010/07/28/lipstick-lesbian-pride/

Calling out the above flag: https://medium.com/@faustofernos/the-lipstick-lesbian-flag-idea-was-stolen-from-my-design-of-a-cougar-pride-flag-which-was-designed-ad2d18ae00c1

Simplified Sadlesbianddisaster flagPOC Lesbian flagPrevious alt lesbian flag (before colour rearrangement) - lydiandragonLipstick Lesbian flag (exclusionist creator + plagiarised))Labrys Lesbian flag - Sean Campbell