Opinion: Parts of the lesbian community sometimes struggle to accept trans members despite their strong presence in our shared history and activism.
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The lesbian community is extremely diverse, with a fascinating history that spans generations. Within that history and going into the modern day, there are many people who defy conventional gender roles and identities. The lesbian identity isn’t just for cisgender women, meaning women assigned female at birth. Transwomen, nonbinary people and transmasculine people all make up the fabric of the community, too. Just as they have always been present, there has always been opposition from lesbians and non-lesbians alike. While homophobia is sadly expected by most, the intracommunity attacks often hurt even more. People want to find a space of acceptance in a world where that is not often possible elsewhere.
There have always been gender non-conforming people in our community, and being outwardly transphobic toward them for occupying a space they deserve to be in is intolerable. It is far better to have doors open to everybody than to slam them in the face of people who deserve to be valued and loved. We should not repeat the bigotry of the wider world amongst ourselves. All trans people deserve to be respected for who they are. To put it plainly, if you don’t include trans people in your activism, you are directly contributing to transphobia.
I sat down with Ella Gordon, who uses all pronouns and identifies as a nonbinary lesbian. Gordon first began identifying as lesbian in 2020 and found the community to be incredibly affirming.
“It’s a wonderful thing to have understanding right away,” they said.
A prominent example of a gender non-conforming lesbian is Stormé DeLarverie. Known for her presence at Stonewall, she was a drag king performer, and it is thought that her confrontation with police is what jumpstarted the Stonewall riots that came to define the American gay rights movement. DeLaverie often preferred to go by he/him pronouns in and out of drag, which aligned with her identity as a butch woman. Echoing this, Leslie Feinberg, a prominent queer theorist and trans butch lesbian said “Gender is the poetry each of us makes out of the language we are taught.”
When asked further about lesbian identity, Gordon said “It can be an alienating experience in heteronormative society, but also a beautiful one.”
Gordon didn’t really start to examine their relationship with gender until coming out as lesbian. “Once you fully reject the idea that your life or purpose is to please men, other norms disappear as well.”
The dynamic between lesbian identity and gender is a complex one; it’s unique to every individual and colored by patriarchal expectations towards those who are assigned female at birth. This patchwork of shared experiences is what should draw the community closer rather than causing division. Not only is there a rich history to look back on, but also a present full of unique individuals.
“The moment I stopped thinking about how to impress guys, I started thinking about moments throughout my life where I didn’t feel like one of the girls around me,” Gordon said.
The lesbian community is a place of radical joy and openness at its core, but everyone needs to do their part to uphold this.
