Why I Didn't Like The Word "lesbian"

Why I didn't like the word "lesbian"

So, when I first realized I was gay, there was a small pit in my stomach realizing I was officially a “lesbian”. Even after over two years, I’m still uncomfortable with the term at times. Here’s the reason why, and why we need to change the stigma. Now.

1. When you’re walking down the halls in middle school and hear boys chastising a girl for not wanting to hang out with a certain boy after school, accusing her of being a “lesbian” with a sneer across his face, that’s the first hint that being a “lesbian” is a bad thing.

2. Before gym class, in the locker room, hearing the popular girls whispering about some girl who “wouldn’t stop staring” as they changed and was probably “a lesbian”

3. When it’s your freshman year of high school and you hear a group of girls talking about a quiet and “outcast” girl, accusing her of being a lesbian and using the word as if it were a disease.

4. When a girl with a water bottle with rainbow strings around it is questioned about it, and someone asks “what are you, a lesbian?” and she immediately gets defensive, saying “what? No! Of course not!”

The bottom line is that, growing up, being a lesbian carried such a bad stigma, negative connotation, and was used as an insult. the word was thrown around and treated like it was something dirty. When young girls first have an inkling that they may not be straight, their first thought cannot be of dread, realizing they may be a “lesbian.” It is not a dirty word. It is not an insult. It is valid, and all young girls need to know nat they are valid as well.