What is the true meaning of lesbians?

Lesbians. The word evokes many different emotions for many different people but what is the true meaning of lesbians? To start, it was believed to be translated from French as "laies," which means "female who loves women." In the early 20th century, it defined a woman with a propensity to bond with other females. This inclination is usually displayed through heterosexual relationships. The definition did not stop there: There are also lesbian feminists as well as gay men and lesbian males that identify as lesbians.

In more recent years, scholars such as Kate Bornstein and Michel Foucault have expanded the meaning of lesbians to encompass various identities that are un-defined by sexual preference or gender identity. Although in the '70s and '80s, it was popular to identify as lesbian and to have a sexual relationship with another woman, it has since broadened to include gender-fluid individuals, bisexuals, and transgender individuals. Nowadays, the term is no longer exclusively used on women who have interest in women romantically or sexually. It can also be used to describe anyone with an identity that does not fit into the male or female binary. This can include labels such as agender (lacking gender) or bigender (having two genders).

The term lesbian is often used casually to identify a person who expresses a positive and non-monogamous attraction to women. The word itself, however, can also signify a woman who identifies as gay, bi or transsexual (gender dysphoria) as well. In 1969, the Women's Lib movement began and the term gained more meaning when Gloria Anzaldua coined what is considered a queer theory text. It detailed the feelings of oppressed people in society and how they felt about their place in it. However, the term queer was not accepted at all by mainstream feminists. It carried a negative connotation to it, as the women felt that they were being hindered by other people who did not have the same rights.

For example, African American feminists felt that they were being oppressed by white feminists and lesbians and bisexual people felt they were being oppressed by gay men. This was due to the fact that the movements were different and had different goals. Eventually, queer theory won out over these other movements. It eventually became more accepted when lesbian women started to bond with trans women and gender non-conforming individuals. For example, Loraine Hutchins and Lige Clarke met at Clarke's first drag show in San Francisco in 1965.