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Lesbian erasure is the tendency to ignore, remove, falsify, or reexplain evidence of lesbianism in history, academia, the news media, and other primary sources. Lesbians may also be ignored within the LGBT community and their identity may not be acknowledged.

In history

Journalist and author Victoria A. Brownworth wrote that the erasure of lesbian sexuality from historical records "is similar to the erasure of all autonomous female sexuality: women's sexual desire has always been viewed, discussed and portrayed within the construct and purview of the male gaze". Oftentimes, erasure of lesbians is enabled when LGBT organizations fail to recognize the contributions of lesbians; such as when, in 2018, a statement by the National Center for Lesbian Rights about the Stonewall riots did not acknowledge Stormé DeLarverie's involvement in the uprising.

In scholarship

Political theory researcher Anna Marie Smith stated that lesbianism has been erased from the "official discourse" in Britain because lesbians are viewed as "responsible homosexuals" in a dichotomy between "responsible homosexuals" and "dangerous gayness". As a result, lesbian sexual practices were not criminalized in Britain in ways similar to the criminalization of gay male sexual activities. Smith also points to the exclusion of women from AIDS research at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Smith believes that these erasures result from sexism and suggests that these issues should be addressed directly by lesbian activism.

In advertising

Marcie Bianco, of the Clayman Institute for Gender Research at Stanford University, said that lesbian erasure occurs in advertising. Advertisers do not target lesbians when they are publicizing products to LGBT audiences. As an example, she cited the collapse of AfterEllen, which she says resulted from a lack of advertisers. The former Editor in Chief of AfterEllen, Karman Kregloe, stated that advertisers do not think of lesbians as women, and Trish Bendix observed that lesbians are assumed to like anything gay, even if it is male-focused.

Language and lesbian spaces

Author and women's history scholar Bonnie J. Morris and many other lesbian activists, such as same-sex marriage groundbreaker Robin Tyler, Ashley Obinwanne, screenwriter and co-founder of the platform Lesbians Over Everything, and AfterEllen owner and Editor in Chief Memoree Joelle, say the amorphous term queer, when used to describe lesbians, is a "disidentification" term that contributes to lesbian invisibility. In an interview about her 2016 novel Beyond the Screen Door, author Julia Diana Robertson discovered that her self-identification as a lesbian and her description of the novel's genre was changed to queer and queerness in the published quotes. At the 2018 Brighton Pride parade, the only instance where the word lesbian appeared was on a banner celebrating Stormé DeLarverie.

Shannon Keating of BuzzFeed, pointing to significantly more people especially the younger generation having identities outside of the gender binary, says that "against the increasingly colorful backdrop of gender diversity, a binary label like 'gay' or 'lesbian' starts to feel somewhat stale and stodgy". Keating also says some queer-identified women feel more comfortable with queer than lesbian because of ideas about gender essentialism, there now being more LGBT diversity, and the possibility of internalized homophobia. Keating stated that "the word 'lesbian' has carried such a deeply uncool connotation for so long — sometimes for terrible reasons (ugly, old-fashioned, essentialist stereotypes) and sometimes for extremely legitimate ones (a history of transmisogyny) — it's worth considering if making the term cool is something we should really want at all."

Several feminist lesbian activists have lamented the rapidly increasing disappearance of many physical spaces, such as lesbian bars, women's bookstores, and music festivals, that were alternative lesbian spaces in which lesbian subculture thrived. Alexis Clements of Curve magazine said that the explanation for why so many lesbian spaces have closed or changed is unclear, but that "part of it is definitely economic" and part of it "relates to political changes", saying that "as legislation gradually shifts to reduce LGBT discrimination around things like marriage or employment, it may be that many now feel more integrated into the larger culture and don't see as much need for separate space or political activism." She also questioned if the change is generational, as "there's been a shift toward queer identities and politics that are born of a belief that gender and sexuality operate on a spectrum that doesn't necessarily fit into male/female or straight/gay/bi paradigms" while "others, still, prefer and believe in the need to create spaces that are more inclusive."

Keating said that some aspects of gay male culture have been represented in mainstream culture "in a way lesbianism simply hasn't" and that "gay male spaces, from bars to entire city neighborhoods, have managed to maintain some modern relevance, while lesbian bars and bookstores have shuttered en masse across the country", but also that lesbian bars "and spaces across the country have gone out of business for reasons that have absolutely nothing to do with trans inclusion." Keating said that there are still places and events for lesbians, but that they are often under "a different, broader, more inclusive name" and "that's not necessarily erasure: That's evolution." Keating reasoned that "embracing gender diversity and welcoming queer people of all stripes have kept certain historically lesbian-only events and spaces alive, and allowed new ones to grow."

While Christina Cauterucci of Slate acknowledged internalized homophobia playing a part in some women who are same-sex attracted not using the word lesbian, she also attributed rejection of the term to inclusivity and wanting to use a broader term for spaces that were once traditionally labeled lesbian spaces. She stated that society has made it so that there is "more room for women than men to claim a fluid sexual orientation, meaning queer women are more likely to have current or former partners who aren't women" and that this is "why it's both easy and usually accurate to label circles of gay men as 'gay men'—and why gay men are relatively free from the perpetual infighting over labels and politics that seems common among segments of queer women." She stated while there exists those who lament the losses of lesbian bars and media outlets, "it's worth wondering how we might expect a dance party or magazine to cater to us when our identities and politics appear to prevent us from sharing a name."

Julia Diana Robertson of AfterEllen, speaking on the word lesbian being villainized and therefore erased, argued that queer is being used in place of lesbian because it is without definitive sexual boundaries and is considered cooler, which sends the message to young lesbians "that if their sexuality doesn't leave room , it's outdated, uncool, or somehow irrelevant. And that's just plain homophobia disguised as being progressive." Cauterucci also stated, "Lesbian leaves no doubt that a woman's sexual and romantic affinities run toward other women. In a world that preferences heterosexual pairings, lesbians face a very different reality than queers-in-name-only, giving the term the power of a blunt, plainspoken, unapologetic declaration." Mary Grace Lewis of The Advocate, arguing that lesbian is not a dirty word and that more people in the younger generation should use it, stated that the word "has been villainized in the media because serve no purpose to the people who control it." She said that, in actuality, the lesbian label does not reflect the negative lesbian stereotypes seen in the media, and that women accepting that they are not sexually attracted to men should not fear this fact or feel that it is limiting. Lewis stated that "the more girls and women feel comfortable using , the harder it's going to be for the world to villainize an identity rooted in love."

Transgender men

With regard to transgender men, some lesbians, radical feminists, authors, or commentators (both conservative and non-conservative) argue that transsexuality or transgender activism erases butch lesbians by making them feel that they should transition to men due to their gender nonconformity, or that older lesbians who figured out their identity would have felt that they should have been men growing up in today's culture. Tristan Fox of AfterEllen stated that today's transgender movement pushes "young lesbians into believing they are male and amputating their healthy breasts and taking cross-hormones—every butch knows what they are seeing. It's like looking into a mirror and recalling all of the angst, hatred, parental and peer rejection all over again."

Author Shannon Gilreath, commenting on "transsexuality as gay erasure", stated, "I have often wondered how much of transsexualism can be explained by an appalling self-hatred, an overwhelming need to not be gay - in other words, a self-liquidating homophobia. From this perspective, transsexualism is a way of avoiding being a femme gay man or a butch lesbian. Instead a femme gay man can actually be a 'straight woman' and a butch lesbian can actually be a 'straight man.'" He said that while he is aware of trans women who have undergone sex reassignment therapy and identify as lesbian and trans men who identify as gay, for his "theory on transsexuality to make sense at this point, one must pause to remember the importance of the gendered body and its relationship to compulsory heterosexuality under patriarchy/heteroarchy as 'a direct locus of social control.'"

Katie Herzog of The Stranger stated, "There is a contingent of 'radical feminists' ('radfems' in internet parlance) who use to argue that transitioning is a patriarchal attempt to reinforce gender roles and erase butch women." She stated that "no one knows exactly why so many people seem to have recently come out as trans or some other form of genderqueer", but that "increased visibility and societal acceptance" are "logical explanations for the perceived growth in the trans population." She reported on writer and trans activist Julia Serano arguing that it is "due to the shift from the old gatekeeper system of trans health care to the newer model that 'takes trans people's experiences and concerns seriously.'"

Arguing that "the idea that trans men are 'lesbians in denial' is demeaning and wrong", trans author Charlie Kiss, writing in The Economist, stated that he "could not have tried harder or longer to be a true lesbian" but that it never felt right. He also attributed the reported increase in the number of people assigned female questioning their gender identity or identifying as boys or men to an increase in visibility and it being "much harder to present as female and come out as a trans girl in secondary school, than it is to present as male and come out as a trans boy." He added that "a rebalancing is under way because now, at last, trans men are getting some visibility in the media. That makes it easier for people to imagine this as their future; to envision possibilities and establish if they would be happier if they transitioned to male."

Butch lesbian Ruth Hunt, writing in The Independent, stated that "one particularly strange tactic that anti-trans campaigners use is presenting any move forward for trans rights as being inevitably at the cost of lesbian rights. Specifically the rights of young, butch lesbians. But the hard facts simply aren't there to back any of this up." Hunt said that although "more young people are talking about their identity and how they feel" and "there's been an increase in the number of young women who are accessing age-appropriate support to help talk through these issues", "talking to a specialist is not the same as transitioning. Very few young people who access support go on to transition. This is what we would expect: that's what much successful gender treatment looks like."

Transgender women

Discord between cisgender lesbians and transgender women concerns the topic of sexual orientation and those who do and do not believe that trans women can be lesbians without erasing what it means to be a lesbian. Gina Davidson of The Scotsman stated, "At its heart is the focus on trans rights by LGBT organisations, and resultant philosophical and biological questions around what defines a woman, and its impact on sexual orientation and therefore lesbianism." She commented, "Is lesbianism a sexual attraction only to female bodies or is it attraction to feminine identity? Can it involve trans women who still have male bodies?" The disputes have resulted in discord at LGBT events. New Zealand group Lesbian Rights Alliance Aotearoa was banned from Wellington Pride because it was "'not being inclusive enough' of trans people". At Vancouver, Canada's Dyke March, the group The Lesbians Collective was told to exclude lesbian pride placards and symbols which march organizers said were exclusionary of trans women. Such disputes have also occurred in the United States and in LGBT communities across the United Kingdom.

The term lesbian erasure has been used by some trans exclusionary radical feminists, such as members of the United Kingdom organization Get the L Out, which has a focus on trans women. The group, which proposes the creation of an autonomous lesbian community, argues that lesbians are "constantly vilified and excluded from the GBT community for stating their exclusive sexual preference", that the expansion of transgender rights erases lesbians, that transgender activism encourages lesbians to transition to straight men, and that the GBT community is becoming increasingly anti-lesbian and misogynistic. The group staged its first protest at the 2018 London Pride Parade and was condemned as transphobic or "anti-trans" by the organizers of Pride in London, and by PinkNews and The Guardian.

Applying the terms transphobic, bigot or similar terminology to lesbians who do not consider trans women, including those who have not gotten sex reassignment surgery, as sexual partners has been argued to be a form of lesbian erasure. A situation in which a lesbian declines to date a trans woman may be referred to as "the cotton ceiling" (the difficulty transgender women face when seeking a romantic or sexual relationship with a cisgender lesbian). Terry MacDonald of the New Statesman stated that the term cotton ceiling "smacks of misogyny and male entitlement" and that "it isn't just radical feminists who find problematic: some trans women do too. Is that really just irrational bigotry?" MacDonald and scholars at Daily Nous stated that TERF (short for "trans exclusionary radical feminist") may also be used to refer to cisgender lesbians who are not sexually attracted to trans women. Feminist theorist Claire Heuchan cited use of "vaginophile", "vagina fetishist", "transmisogynist", and "penis demonizer" for cisgender lesbians who decline to date or have sex with trans women and stated that she has yet to see "a gay man accused of being a penis fetishist, penisphile, or vagina demonizer as a result of his sexuality – that's reserved for the women. Somehow, it always is."

Sarah Ditum of the New Statesman stated that the sexual attraction debate matters so much to lesbians because they "have consistently faced everything from mockery to violence for insisting on boundaries to their sexuality" and that some have experienced corrective rape. Heuchan said that "women have spent the last few thousand years being conditioned and coerced into having sex that involves a penis" and that it is unfair and dehumanizing "to reduce lesbian women's sexuality into nothing more than a source of validation for trans women." She said it "is dangerous to conflate women treating someone with respect with women considering someone as a potential sexual partner, especially in a political context where women's rights face fresh jeopardy." Heuchan argued that "lesbian is again a contested category" and "even acknowledging lesbian visibility is described as 'dogwhistle transphobia'. Lesbophobia isn't coming from social conservatism as it has in the past, but within the LGBT+ community." African-American lesbian performance artist and writer Pippa Fleming, writing in The Economist, stated, "Lesbian identity is now being dubbed as exclusionary or transphobic. You're damn right it's exclusive: lesbians have a right to say no to the phallus, no matter how it's concealed or revealed." She added that "patriarchy and sex-based oppression are real, and they remain the driving force behind the invisibility of black lesbians. The gender-identity movement's attempt to rebrand the lesbian as queer, and the pronouncement that 'anyone can be a lesbian', are nothing short of erasure."

Some LGBT activists have opposed use of the term lesbian erasure with regard to transgender activism. In a 2018 open letter opposing this use, twelve editors and publishers of eight lesbian publications stated, "We do not think supporting trans women erases our lesbian identities; rather we are enriched by trans friends and lovers, parents, children, colleagues and siblings." Carrie Lyell, editor of DIVA magazine and creator of the letter, stated that "while there's no denying women are marginalised within the LGBT+ movement, this having anything to do with trans people, or trans issues, is news to me." She referred to the argument that trans women are pressuring lesbians to "accept them as sexual partners" as "scaremongering". Shannon Keating of BuzzFeed argued that "though lesbians are by no means under attack by gains in trans acceptance, it's true that American attitudes about gender identity are evolving, which has started to impact the way many of us think about sexual orientation."

Author Morgan Lev Edward Holleb argued that lesbians who are trans exclusionary radical feminists "are absolutely horrified at the possibility of being attracted to a trans woman because it would undermine their status as the bastion of lesbian separatist feminists, being attracted to someone they incorrectly consider a 'man.'" Holleb added that transgender people "are acutely aware of the biological differences between and cis people" and that "trans people aren't trying to 'erase' biological differences, we're trying to secure our basic rights, and highlight shared struggles when we talk about activism and justice."

See also

• Lesbian Avengers
• Bisexual erasure
• Queer erasure

Notes

1. TotallyHer Media, a subsidiary of Evolve Media and owner of AfterEllen, denied the hearsay about the website shutting down and fired Trish Bendix ahead of her scheduled departure from the publication.

References

1. ^ Wilton T (2002). Lesbian Studies: Setting an Agenda. Routledge. pp. 60–65. ISBN 1134883447.
2. ^ Morris, Bonnie J. (2016). The Disappearing L: Erasure of Lesbian Spaces and Culture. SUNY Press. pp. 1–203. ISBN 978-1438461779.
3. Brownworth, Victoria A. (October 19, 2018). "Lesbian Erasure". Echo Magazine. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
4. Heuchan, Claire (July 9, 2018). "We Need to Talk About Misogyny and the LGBT Community's Erasure of Black Lesbian History". AfterEllen. Archived from the original on July 9, 2018. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
5. Plummer, Ken, ed. (1992). "Resisting the Erasure of Lesbian Sexuality: A challenge for queer activism, by Anna Marie Smith". Modern Homosexualities: Fragments of Lesbian and Gay Experiences. London: Routledge. pp. 200–215. ISBN 978-0415064200.
6. ^ Bianco, Marcie (October 6, 2016). "Lesbian culture is being erased because investors think only gay men (and straight people) have money". Quartz. Archived from the original on 22 June 2019. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
7. Kovacogluon, Emrah (September 21, 2016). "False Rumor: We Are Not Shutting Down!". AfterEllen. Archived from the original on 22 June 2019. Retrieved 22 June 2019.
8. Edwards, Stassa (September 21, 2016). "AfterEllen EIC Says Site Will Shut Down on Friday While Corporate Owner Calls It a 'False Rumor'". Jezebel. Archived from the original on 11 April 2017. Retrieved 22 June 2019.
9. Horgan, Richard (September 23, 2016). "A Messy Exit for the EIC of AfterEllen". Adweek. Archived from the original on December 10, 2018. Retrieved 22 June 2019.
10. Faderman, Lillian (June 8, 2016). "Pioneer: Robin Tyler". The Pride LA. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
11. Faraone, Juliette (April 4, 2016). "Talk to the Internet: Ashley Obinwanne (Lavender Collective/Lesbians Over Everything)". Screen Queens. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
12. ^ Morris, Bonnie J. (December 22, 2016). "Dyke Culture and the Disappearing L". Outward. Slate. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
13. "Queer":
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    • Memoree Joelle (21 January 2019). "Stop. Calling. Me. Queer. I'm not kweeeer, I am gay. Female. Homosexual. Lesbian" (Tweet). Retrieved 23 October 2019 – via Twitter.
    • Epstein, Grace (May 23, 2016). "Dear LGBT Community: Stop Calling Me Queer". Odyssey. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
    • Macdonald, Jocelyn (June 27, 2017). "When Queerness Is Cultural Capital, Lesbians Go Broke". AfterEllen. Archived from the original on September 1, 2017. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
    • Alejandroon, Gabrielle (October 1, 2019). "Lesbian: It's a Beautiful Word". AfterEllen. Archived from the original on October 2, 2019. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
    • Megarry, Jessica; Tyler, Meagan (November 2018). "Queer Inclusion or Lesbian Exclusion". Academia.edu. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
14. Robertson, Julia Diana (2016). Beyond the Screen Door. Maryville, Tennessee: Mystic Books. ISBN 978-1619292888.
15. Robertson, Julia Diana (October 17, 2017). "Why didn't you say something sooner?—You're Asking The Wrong Question". HuffPost. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
16. Julia Diana Ghassan Robertson جوليا ديانا (23 September 2017). "I always appreciate interviews, but it was unethical to change what was said w/out my approval or knowledge. Glad they have a new editor" (Tweet). Retrieved 8 October 2019 – via Twitter.
17. "Dykes Take Pride". Women's Liberation Radio News. June 26, 2018. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
18. ^ Keating, Shannon (February 11, 2017). "Can Lesbian Identity Survive The Gender Revolution?". BuzzFeed. Retrieved December 19, 2019.
19. ^ Clements, Alexis (June 8, 2014). "The Vanishing". Curve. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
20. Smith, Harrison (June 26, 2015). "What Happened to DC's Lesbian Spaces?". Washingtonian. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
21. Rosenthal, Ellena (November 30, 2016). "Who Crushed the Lesbian Bars? A New Minefield of Identity Politics". Willamette Week. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
22. ^ Cauterucci, Christina (December 20, 2016). "For Many Young Queer Women, Lesbian Offers a Fraught Inheritance". Slate. Retrieved January 7, 2020.
23. Robertson, Julia Diana (January 30, 2018). "Shhh! Rachel Morrison and Dee Rees Are Lesbians—Why is the Media Trying to Erase the L Word?". AfterEllen. Retrieved January 7, 2020.
24. Lewis, Julia Diana (July 13, 2018). "'Lesbian' Isn't a Dirty Word and More Millennials Need to Use It". The Advocate. Retrieved January 7, 2020.
25. ^ Fox, Tristan (April 26, 2019). "A Butch Eradication, Served With a Progressive Smile". AfterEllen. Retrieved December 19, 2019.
26. ^ Herzog, Katie (June 28, 2017). "The Detransitioners: They Were Transgender, Until They Weren't". The Stranger. Retrieved December 19, 2019.
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Further reading

• Barnes, J.J. (July 8, 2017). "Lesbianism is under attack, though not by the usual suspects". Feminist Current.
• Brownworth, Victoria A. (March 5, 2015). "Erasure: The New Normal for Lesbians by @VABVOX". A Room of Our Own. Archived from the original on March 11, 2015.
• Brownworth, Victoria A. (June 11, 2015). "Erasing Our Lesbian Dead: Why Don't Murdered Lesbians Make News". Curve.
• Dobkin, Alix; Tatnall, Sally (January 29, 2015). "The Erasure of Lesbians" (PDF). Old Lesbians Organizing for Change (OLOC).
• Elbir, Dilara (17 September 2019). "Why films about lesbian characters should be called lesbian films". Little White Lies.
• Feng, Jiayun (April 15, 2019). "Weibo Is Taking Down Posts Hashtagged #Les, Short For Lesbian". SupChina.
  • cindy (April 17, 2019). "Weibo Reverses Ban on Lesbian Content Amid Uproar". China Digital Times.
• Fleming, Pippa (July 3, 2018). "The gender-identity movement undermines lesbians". The Economist.
• Heuchan, Claire (July 1, 2017). "The Vanishing Point: A Reflection Upon Lesbian Erasure". Sister Outrider. (Sister Outrider received the 2016 Best Blog award from Write to End Violence Against Women.)
• Heuchan, Claire (29 July 2019). "What has the LGBT community got against lesbians?". UnHerd.
• Kirkup, James (16 May 2018). "The silencing of the lesbians". The Spectator.
• OLOC Boston (Old Lesbians Organizing for Change) (2016). "Erasing Lesbians". The Proud Trust.
• Pidd, Helen; Greenfield, Patrick (3 September 2018). "Plaque for 'first modern lesbian' to be reworded after complaints". The Guardian.
• Rimmer-Tagoe, Holly (30 September 2016). "From pulp to corsets: lesbian literary stereotypes". The Skinny.
• Robertson, Julia Diana (January 30, 2018). "Shhh! Rachel Morrison and Dee Rees Are Lesbians—Why is the Media Trying to Erase the L Word". AfterEllen.
• Robertson, Julia Diana (December 21, 2018). "Co-opting the L: Homophobia & The Thought Police". AfterEllen.
• Robinson, Dinean (October 15, 2014). "On Raven-Symoné and Erasing Black Lesbian Identity". HuffPost.
• Syfret, Wendy (6 June 2016). "how instagram can be a weapon against the erasure of lesbian culture". i-D. Vice Media.
• Waterhouse, Liz (February 24, 2015). "Is the "L" in LGBTI silent?". Star Observer.

Books and journals

• Barrett, Ruth, ed. (2016). Female Erasure: What You Need To Know About Gender Politics' War on Women, the Female Sex and Human Rights (1st ed.). California: Tidal Time Publishing. p. 225. ISBN 978-0997146707.
• Derry, Caroline (Autumn 2018). "Lesbianism and Feminist Legislation in 1921: the Age of Consent and 'Gross Indecency between Women'". History Workshop Journal. 86: 245–267. doi:10.1093/hwj/dby021. ISSN 1363-3554.
• Hawthorne, Susan (2007). "The Silences Between: Are Lesbians Irrelevant?". Journal of International Women's Studies. 8 (3). Bridgewater State University: 125–138. ISSN 1539-8706.
• Hodson, Loveday (2017). "Queering the Terrain: Lesbian Identity and Rights in International Law" (PDF). Feminists@law. 7 (1). University of Kent. ISSN 2046-9551. (via University of Leicester)
• Jeffreys, Sheila (2018). "Postcript: The erasure of lesbians". The Lesbian Revolution: Lesbian Feminism in the UK 1970-1990. Routledge. p. 186. ISBN 978-1138096561. LCCN 2018012144.
• Millward, Liz; Dodd, Janice G.; Fubara-Manuel, Irene (2017). Killing Off the Lesbians: A Symbolic Annihilation on Film and Television. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-1476668161.
• Munt, Sally R. (1998). Heroic Desire: Lesbian Identity and Cultural Space (1st ed.). New York University Press. ISBN 978-0814756065.</ref>
• Wilton, Tamsin (1995). "Invisible and erased: uses and abuses of history". Lesbian Studies: Setting an Agenda. Routledge. pp. 50–65. ISBN 0-415-08655-8.

• Lesbian feminism
• Lesbian history
• Lesbophobia
• Political lesbianism
• LGBT erasure