Lesbian Visibility Week

 In calendars--both secular and church calendars--a person who looks at the calendars knows when the usual holidays roll around, as well as special holidays or holy days of the year. In a church calendar, we know Easter and Christmas, we also know when it is "Disability Sunday," or "One Great Hour of Sharing" Sunday. Such reminders remind us, for a few minutes or a day, of the specialness of the day, and more or less guide our thinking. In the world in which we live, in this country, we have Black History Month (February), along with Pride month (June).

This week happens to be Lesbian Visibility Week. It was created by Linda Riley, a lesbian, and publisher of Diva Magazine. While it was once a "day," she thought that the L in LGBTQIA2S+  had become more marginalized. She writes, "I am a proud cis lesbian and a proud trans ally. But many in the LGBTQ+ community were beginning to equate cis lesbians with transphobia, which is fundamentally untrue. I wanted to help create a narrative that shows once and for all that the vast majority of cis lesbians are inclusive. We are intersectional. We want to remove any negative connotations associate with the word. So this is why during Lesbian Visibility Week we celebrate and center all lesbians, both cis and trans, while also showing solidarity with all LGBTQ+ women and non binary people.

Let's remember that there are women and non-binary women and non binary people out there who face homophobia, lesbophobia, and transphobia. After decades--or even centuries--of being sidelined, ignored, and vilified, it really is incredible to see that LGBTQ+ women and non binary people are now making their presence felt in the arts, politics, business, and the third sector. With so much more visibility than we have had in the past, it is easy to assume that the legal rights of marginalized groups are on a permanently upward, positive path. But the sad truth is that equality and human rights can vanish at the stroke of a pen.

LGBTQ+ rights are being rolled back globally. In the US, there is a slew of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, including Florida's "Don't Say Gay" law, that is rolling back the rights of our community. 

The fight is far from over. Let's remember that this is Lesbian Visibility Week, and let's tell the world how proud we are to be who we are."

Here's a link to the opinion piece: https://www.advocate.com/commentary/2022/4/25/founder-lesbian-visibility-week-linda-riley-why-it-matters.

To my lesbian friends, we, who make up the other parts of LGBTQIA2S+, honor you. Celebrate you. Recognize you. See you. Hear you. And we walk in solidarity with you.

Forward together, not one step back.