as bi lesbian discourse is happening again, i'm going to tweet all of "Bisexual Women and the "Threat" to Lesbian Space", a 1996 reflection by (not-bi) lesbian Sharon Dale Stone on biphobia in the lesbian feminist movement, its causes, its tragic effects, and how we can grow

"Bisexual Women and the "Threat" to Lesbian Space", by Sharon Dale Stone, 1996, pages 4-8 (of 16)

"Bisexual Women and the "Threat" to Lesbian Space", by Sharon Dale Stone, 1996, pages 8-12 (of 16)

"Bisexual Women and the "Threat" to Lesbian Space", by Sharon Dale Stone, 1996, pages 13-16 (of 16)

as she quotes form Beth Elliot in "Holly Near and Yet So Far":

"Many [bisexual women] came of age and/or came out in time to help create the "women's community" groundswell of the 1970s ... We cherish our place in the women's community, a community many of us have

worked strenuously to build, and we care passionately about maintaining our connection with it. . . . [T]oo many bisexual feminists do too much for the lesbian community to be regarded as separate from that community."

i also implore people to read this thread of lesbian history, and understand the textured and nuanced history of lesbian as a term, a role, a series of spaces, a group of communities, a counterpublic, and so on, and bisexual women's constant role in it: https://twitter.com/jessfromonline/status/1250853913005379586

i love this quote from Sarah Lucia
Hoagland's "Lesbian Ethics: Toward New Value" that Stone uses:

"Neither subculture nor community has ever protected lesbians. Lesbian community does not exist to protect us either from an outside threat or from ourselves. Nor do we need

to focus on community as an entity or an institution whose boundaries must be protected; for then it becomes defined by virtue of the outside force, and our interactions are directed toward its preservation rather than toward creation."

it says something i tried to awhile

ago (and received a harsh reaction to do) but much more beautifully and more thought through.

please, please learn lesbian and feminist and lesbian-feminist history, so we can learn *from* it and not continue to hurt ourselves re-hashing the same conflicts

there's so many of us who've been here. i even had a radfem lezsep phase myself! it's so tempting when you've been hurt by men and masculinity so deeply to think perceived separation from 2nd degree connection to men is gonna save us. but it's not. https://twitter.com/zombiejerusalem/status/1278879445890355206?s=21 https://twitter.com/zombiejerusalem/status/1278879445890355206

radfem shit was critiqued thoroughly by Black lesbians for the way its development by mostly white middle class lesbians affected it. separatism was critiqued brilliantly in the invaluable essay by Black feminist Bernice Johnson Reagon, "Coalition Politics."

we've tried it & for so many reasons, it was v limited in its ability to achieve lesbian liberation. it's easy to get sucked into it, but the organized movement have largely moved beyond it for a reason. please if you're grappling with it, please, consider the history, criticism.