Lesbian erasure is a form oflesbophobia that involves the tendency to ignore, remove, falsify, or reexplain evidence oflesbian women or relationships in history, academia, the news media, and other primary sources.[1][2] Lesbian erasure also refers to instances wherein lesbian issues, activism, and identity is deemphasized or ignored withinfeminist groups,[3] or theLGBTQ community.[1][2]
As withgay men, many historical lesbians or suspected lesbians are oftenstraightwashed, particularly by past historians who considered lesbianism unseemly.
Accounts of the 1969Stonewall riots have been said to paint a "false narrative of white gay men leading the charge" while diminishing the critical involvement by butch lesbians,people of color,drag queens,transgender people.[10][11][12][13] According to eyewitness accounts, the riot was initially sparked by police brutalizing a butch lesbian, sometimes believed to beStormé DeLarverie.[14][15][16]
In 1974,Kathy Kozachenko became the first openly gay politician to win an election in the United States. This achievement is often incorrectly ascribed toHarvey Milk, the first gay man to do so in 1977.[17][18]
In 1976, Frenchlesbian feministMonique Wittig left France for the US,[19] spurred on by fierce resistance she faced from other feminists while trying to create lesbian groups within theMouvement de libération des femmes.[19] At the time, the wordlesbian was deemed an "un-French" American import, and Wittig recalled other MLF members seeking to "paralyse and destroy lesbian groups".[19]
In South Africa, both during and afterApartheid, Black South African lesbians continue to face erasure, discrimination, and violence from other South Africans who consider lesbianism "un-African".[20][21]
Some contemporary historians believe that American poetEmily Dickinson had an intimate relationship with her sister-in-law, Susan Gilbert, leading some academics to assert that she was a lesbian.[22] Dickinson experts Ellen Louise Hart andMartha Nell Smith wrote that Gilbert was a muse to Dickinson, stating that "Emily's correspondence to Susan unequivocally acknowledges that their emotional, spiritual, and physical communion is vital to her creative insight and sensibilities."[23] However, theEmily Dickinson Museum is ambiguous when discussing Dickinson's sexuality.[24]
Author and women's history scholarBonnie J. Morris wrote that many lesbian singers and musicians are erased from music and its history. As an example, she notes that her college students are unaware of the thriving lesbian music scene that existed several decades ago.[25]
After the introduction of theHays Code in the U.S. in 1930, most references to homosexuality in American films were censored. Censors removed lesbian scenes from films, and originally-lesbian works were adapted into heterosexual or nonsexual ones. Lesbian films from abroad were not permitted to be shown in the U.S. The Hays Code was relaxed beginning in the 1960s.[26]: 102
Lesbian characters in 1990's American television were often depicted as side characters with little to no definitive information on whether they were lesbians or not. If an episode portrayed two women kissing or some form ofhomoromantic interactions between female characters, there would be a parental advisory for that specific episode. This was seen with the seriesRoseanne, where some advertising companies requested that their commercials be excluded from the"Don't Ask, Don't Tell" episode. There was also the issue ofEllen DeGenerescoming out on her showEllen through her character Morgan in "The Puppy Episode", which received considerable pushback and backlash because ofheteronormative views and theheterocentric culture of television.[27]
The "bury your gays" trope (also called "dead lesbian syndrome") describes the tendency for lesbian and bisexual women in television to disproportionately die or meet tragic fates. In the 2015–2016 TV season,Vox writers noted that 22 of 242 permanent character deaths were queer women, or about 10%.[28]
In Russia, any content containing positive portrayals of lesbianism or promoting "nontraditional" sexual relationships is banned by the government. Books and movies were pulled from shelves, and people who break the law are subject to court cases and fines of up to 5 million rubles.[29]
While the traditional academic canon has recognized the contributions ofgay men, those of lesbians have not received the same scrutiny.[30] Political theorist 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 that and "dangerous gayness". As a result,lesbian sexual practices were not criminalized in Britain in ways similar tothe criminalization of gay male sexual activities. Smith also points to the exclusion of women fromAIDS research at theCenters for Disease Control and Prevention. Smith argues that these erasures result fromsexism and suggests that these issues should be addressed directly by lesbian activism.[31]
Somelesbian feminists reject the use of the umbrella termqueer, which they perceive as rendering lesbians less visible within the broader LGBTQ community.[32][33] In her bookThe Disappearing L, lesbian scholar Bonnie J. Morris despairs thatdyke has been replaced byqueer among younger LGBTQ activists, a term she says represents a "disidentification" from womanhood and lesbianism.[34] Writers have calledlesbian a dirtier word thanqueer orgay, pointing to negative stereotypes of lesbians as well as the term's association withlesbian porn aimed at heterosexual men.[35][36] Other writers argue that decreasing use of the term "lesbian" is due to an increase in trans identification and desire for gender-neutral, inclusive terms.[37][38] However, recent data suggests that lesbian identity, if anything, is increasing in prevalence, leading Claire Thurlow to suggest that these fears are hyperbole.[39]
Anti-trans feminist groups including theWomen's Liberation Front cite stories of young womendetransitioning to claim that young people's transition is asocial contagion which "erases butch women".[40][41][42] In 2017,Ruth Hunt, a butch lesbian and then-CEO of the LGBT charityStonewall, wrote that transphobic groups present the advancement of trans rights as erasing the identities of younger butch lesbians, but argues that this claim is unsubstantiated.[41] Writing forThe Economist, trans author Charlie Kiss argued that the stereotype of trans men being "lesbians in denial" is "demeaning and wrong"; he said he "could not have tried harder or longer to be a "true lesbian" but that it never felt right.[43][a] According to Claire Thurlow, these gender critical arguments are not supported by empirical data and the concern that butch lesbians will be lost to trans identity is hyperbolic.[39]
There is discord between those who do and do not believe that trans women can be lesbians without erasing what it means to be a lesbian.[45][46][47] Gina Davidson ofThe Scotsman summed up the conflict by asking if lesbianism is attraction to "female bodies" or to "feminine identity".[46] In an article forOverland,Melbourne historian Liz Crash said trans-exclusionary lesbian advocacy groups use claims of erasure as a "pseudo-progressive cover to anti-trans hate".[48]
Disputes around the inclusion of lesbian-only groups in LGBT events have occurred in various countries.[45][46][47] In 2019, UK anti-trans group Get the L Out clashed with several pride festivals, includingPride in London where they forced their way to the front of the parade with signs claiming "transactivism erases lesbians".[49][50] Organizers apologized for the incident and condemned the group.[51][52] Also in 2019 New Zealand group "Lesbian Rights Alliance Aotearoa" reported being banned from theWellington Pride Festival for its views on transgender people.[53][54][55] Canadian group "The Lesbians Collective" was asked not to march in theVancouver Dyke March with signs honoring "lesbian heroes" known for theirgender-critical views.[56]
^The idea that most or all transgender men are solely attracted to women is considered outdated and a stereotype. A 2023 USA-based study found that, while 28.3% of trans men identified as straight, a further 23.9% identified as bisexual/pansexual, 15.8% identified as gay, 15% identified as queer, and the remaining 17% identified as other sexualities.[44]
^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.ISBN978-0415064200.
^Tyler, Robin (June 5, 2018)."Don't call me 'queer'".Los Angeles Blade.Archived from the original on June 9, 2016. RetrievedOctober 1, 2019.
OLOC Boston (Old Lesbians Organizing for Change) (2016)."Erasing Lesbians".The Proud Trust. Archived fromthe original on June 22, 2019. RetrievedJuly 17, 2019.
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.ISBN978-0997146707.
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.ISBN978-1476668161.
LGBTQ portal
