it's lesbian visibility week which means it's time to talk about lesbiphobia in online spaces! nonlesbians rt!

lesbiphobia comes in many different forms and is often violent. it's a harsh reality that we are going to get hated for not being attractes to men.

lesbiphobia is unique in the fact that it is the combination of misogyny and homophobia, everyone that is a lesbian

WILL experience both. this is what makes it different from other sexualities, and also why lesbiphobia is extremely prevalent in online spaces.

misogyny is extremely prevalent in online spaces - we had burger king, a literal corporation, be misogynistic.

homophobia is also extremely prevalent in online spaces - because gay is seen as an insult (especially in video gamijg communities)

since lesbiphobia is the fun mix of both, we get the worst of both worlds, and that's why lesbiphobia is such a problem.

misogyny and homophobia are often dismissed because there are countries where gay marriage is legal and countries where women can vote.

because these two things are often dismissed, lesbiphobia is so normal. lesbiphobia is so normal that it is hard to make not lesbians

understand what lesbiphobia is. only lesbians can recognize it, because we experience it in its entirety every single day. lesbiphobia is something that only lesbians will experience and understand in its entirety.

when i did not identify as a lesbian, it was hard

to fully understand lesbiphobia. when i figured out i was a lesbian, my eyes were opened to how it's everywhere.

but even if you can't fully understand it, the least you can do is try. try to avoid lesbiphobic behavior in your daily life, and most importantly,

LISTEN TO LESBIANS. this is our visibility week, so start paying attention to what we have to say.

if you're wlw and you reply "i'm not a lesbian but i experience this too" you are part of the problem. this is a discussion about Lesbiphobia, not u kindly shut the fuck up

NOW onto some lesbiphobic behaviors you need to get rid of

- "lesbian / lesbian protector" jokes

lesbians do not need protecting especially by nonlesbians and most especially by MEN - do not joke about it if you're not a lesbian and just do it for your own sexuality

- calling straight men lesbians

not funny! lesbians are already compared to straight men on a daily basis, it is harmful to perpetuate the idea that men can understand lesbians because they "are attracted to women and not men" because they don't experience lesbian attraction

- "if lesbians can control themselves around women so can straight men"

again another comparison to straight men that is HARMFUL. lesbians are not predators. to compare straight men who have patriarchal power they can exploit to harass women, to LESBIANS who do not, is weird!

- inserting yourself into lesbian spaces because you are wlw

self explanatory, but it still happens. a lesbian-only space is LESBIAN only. don't ask if you can still be in because you are wlw

- generalizing all lesbians as TERFs

a part of lesbians are TERFs... just like every other sexuality. there is no abundance of TERFs in lesbian spaces. the reason why people think there are so many TERF lesbians is because when one lesbian is transphobic up, this spreads

EVERYWHERE. this is because we are women and also lesbians. if we make a mistake, we will be more quickly deplatformed than a straight man with the same beliefs.

issues in lesbian communities are talked about more than nonlesbian communities by nonlesbians because of

misogyny and homophobia. there is not statistically more TERFs in lesbian spaces, but TERFs in lesbian spaces are talked about WAY more than TERFs in other spaces, because other sexualities are not held to the same standard.

- the sexualization of the word lesbian

lesbian is seen as a dirty word. lesbian fetishisation is not just "cishet men like to see girls kiss!" it is much worse. lesbians are seen as a porn category, we are seen as enjoyment to nonlesbians as a WHOLE, but most prominently men.

lesbian fetishisation is so bad that the label for us is our own porn category. lesbian fetishisation is so bad people use sapphic when they MEAN lesbian.

lesbian is not a bad word, and by refusing to use it when you mean lesbian, contributes to the fact it is.

- i hate men i wish i was a lesbian

you do not wish you are a lesbian, not being attracted to men isn't a fun perk. not being attracted to men puts us at so much risk and it's not funny. stop.

- invalidating comphet

comphet is historically lesbian only. it was invented by lesbians, for lesbians. it refers to the LESBIAN ONLY experience of fake attraction to men. other sexualities are attracted to men, and that attraction is real. comphet is not real attraction.

stop stealing our terms. it should be enough that it was made by lesbians, for lesbians.

- invalidating lesbian headcanons / saying canonically lesbian characters aren't lesbians

a lesbian saying "x is a lesbian" isn't harmful if the character doesn't have a canon sexuality. yet we still have to go over this... every day...

- shipping lesbians with men

definition of lesbian is literally attraction to strictly women and nonbinary identities NOT MEN

end of thread lesbians can add what they feel like is normalized lesbiphobia and the rest of you get to shut up and amplify our voices

also sexy and cool lesbians follow me