Lesbianism
Lesbianism refers to the emotional and physical attraction between women. Historically, the term "lesbian" was first associated with female homosexuality in the late 19th century, drawing from the writings of Sappho, a poet from the Greek island of Lesbos who expressed affection for women in her work. Throughout history, societal acceptance and legal recognition of lesbian relationships have varied widely, often influenced by cultural and religious norms. In many ancient societies, emphasis was placed primarily on male same-sex relationships, leading to a lack of documentation and visibility for lesbian experiences.
Legislation concerning lesbianism has evolved, with some periods enacting severe punishments for same-sex relationships among women while others saw a more lenient approach. In modern times, the acceptance of lesbian relationships has progressed, particularly in Western countries, where same-sex marriage has been legalized in several nations. However, many countries still enforce harsh penalties for same-sex acts, reflecting ongoing societal and religious opposition.
Today, organizations such as the Lesbian Avengers advocate for the rights of lesbians and work to address issues like representation and gender equality within the LGBTQ movement. While acceptance has grown, challenges persist, including discrimination and violence against LGBTQ individuals, highlighting the need for continued advocacy and support.
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Lesbianism
Lesbianism is the emotional and physical attraction between two human females. The term lesbian was not associated with female homosexuality until the late nineteenth century; until then, Lesbian was the adjectival form of a person who lived on the Greek island of Lesbos. Only when someone made a connection between the Lesbian poet Sappho and her writings about other women did the word lesbian describe female homosexuality.
Historically, many lesbian women, like gay men, hid their sexual orientation to be accepted by the larger community. Legislation surrounding lesbian relations varies depending on the area and time period. Ancient societies focused on same-sex male relationships, especially in ancient Greece and Rome, rather than on female same-sex relationships. While male same-sex relations were illegal during the Victorian period of England, female same-sex relations were not since Queen Victoria did not believe a woman could be homosexual.
Legislation has been slow to change regarding attitudes toward members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, intersex, and sexual (LGBTQIA+) community. Many countries still do not recognize same-sex marriages as legitimate, restricting the ability for partners to have a choice in many decisions. Although dependent on the country, oftentimes members of the LGBTQIA+ community are unable to adopt children due to their sexual orientation. Most religious attitudes toward LGBTQIA+ individuals have not changed drastically since ancient times. Notably, however, in 2016, Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church, issued new statements about the church becoming more accepting of welcoming members of the LGBTQIA+ community into the religious fold, although the church's official stance on same-sex marriage did not waver.
Background
Less information has been recorded historically about lesbian women than gay men. However, there are records of legislation banning same-sex behaviors for women and men on similar grounds. Lesbians supposedly defied nature by being sexually attracted to other women instead of men. Reception toward lesbians varied depending on the area and cultural influences of the time. Lesbian history only made a resurgence during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries; because of this, most known lesbian history focuses on Anglo-European experiences.
In the ancient world, lesbians received a mixed reception. The Code of Hammurabi marks the earliest references to women called salzikrum, meaning "daughter-men." These women were allowed to marry other women, marking them differently for treatment in society. In ancient Greece, however, little is known about female homosexuality. Certain cases of same-sex relations between adolescent boys and adult men were accepted, known as eromenos-erastes relationships. The only suspected lesbian of note in ancient Greece was the poet Sappho. Sappho lived on the island of Lesbos, near modern-day Turkey, during the seventh century BCE. A poet in a closed female community, Sappho has been largely associated with her erotic and romantic works. Her writings include unrequited love, adoration of the goddess Aphrodite, and intimate relations with men and women. Much of the scholarship surrounding Sappho is conjecture, as very little information survived about her life. There is no substantial proof that Sappho was a lesbian, despite her love poems with female subjects.
In the Middle Ages, female same-sex behaviors began to become added into legislation. As the Catholic Church took a harsher stance on same-sex relations, a series of pamphlets entitled Paenitentiale began circulating the British Isles and mainland Europe between the sixth and eleventh centuries. If convicted of participating in same-sex acts, a woman was forced to complete three years of penance. The earliest record of anti-lesbian law comes from France around 1260. If a woman was twice convicted of participating in a same-sex act, she would be dismembered; a third conviction was punishable by burning at the stake. However, historians are unsure of how a woman would have been dismembered and theorize that the woman's breasts may have been removed. The earliest recorded case of a woman being put to death due to participation in same-sex behaviors took place in Speier, Germany, around 1477; the woman was drowned. Yet, some historians believe that, due to the popularity of female homoeroticism in English literature and theatre, lesbianism was fashionable during the Renaissance.
In the traditional Roman Catholic faith, same-sex acts involving both men and women are prohibited. Protestant teachings reflected traditional Catholic scripture regarding same-sex acts.
In traditional Islamic teachings, females caught participating in same-sex acts are punished less harshly than males convicted of the same offense. Because the focus is on penetration itself, Islamic law holds that lesbians are viewed as unable to properly penetrate another woman. However, female same-sex acts are just as offensive as male same-sex acts, according to traditional Islamic teachings. Islam stresses the importance of deep platonic love among members of the same sex but actively prohibits sexual behavior between the same sex.
Traditional Jewish teachings emphasize the sinfulness of male same-sex relations and discuss very little about lesbianism. Most rules regarding same-sex acts by women from early Judaism come from early rabbinical prohibitions, disassociating Jews from the less strict marriage laws of ancient Egypt. Lesbianism, while still taboo, did not constitute as harsh of a punishment as male same-sex relations. Acting upon sexual desires for a person of the same sex required punishment.
Before the mid-twentieth century, LGBTQIA+ activists primarily held ground in Western Europe. However, on June 28, 1969, New York City police raided a gay bar called the Stonewall Inn. Patrons of the bar stated they were routinely harassed by police officers since public displays of same-sex desires, including kissing and handholding, were illegal at the time. Thirteen patrons were arrested; one, a lesbian, was beaten over the head while forced into a police paddy wagon. She reportedly shouted to angry onlookers to throw projectiles at police, instigating riots that lasted for six days. The Stonewall Inn riots have been identified as the defining moment in LGBTQIA+ rights activism in the United States.
Topic Today
Legislation and reception from communities about lesbians varies depending on the particular area. Most countries no longer adhere to previous rulings making lesbian relationships a social transgression or legal issue. In the United States, the Lesbian Avengers began in 1992 to fight misogyny and a lack of representation in the lesbian rights movement. The group claimed that gay men were more visible to the public and therefore at the forefront of the fight for acceptance. The Lesbian Avengers stated that lesbians often fought for AIDS protection and abortion rights, but their own needs as a general community were not met. Some chapters of the Lesbian Avengers focus on particular issues plaguing a certain area such as racial rights, gender inequality, and educational issues. The Lesbian Avengers have chapters around the United States and in countries abroad, including Canada, England, Ireland, Scotland, Germany, France, and Australia.
However, some countries still hold harsh stances toward female same-sex relationships. These countries usually have more intimate ties between the religious and governmental affiliation. Yemen's legislation holds that females convicted of participating in same-sex acts can be sentenced to a maximum of seven years in prison. In Mauritania, women convicted of participating in same-sex acts can also face an unidentified number of years in prison.
Same-sex marriage is legal in several countries, including the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, and Canada. In 2015, the United States Supreme Court declared same-sex marriage legal, striking down previous legislature such as the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) that stated only heterosexual marriages were legal. Before the ruling, thirty-six states and the District of Columbia already legalized same-sex marriages; only fourteen states refused to license same-sex marriages or recognize same-sex marriage certificates from other states. According to a Newsweekpoll, 57 percent of Americans supported same-sex marriage without issue, compared to the 39 percent that continued to oppose.
On June 30, 2017, the German Bundestag (parliament) approved same-sex marriage, extending the rights of opposite-sex marriages to same-sex marriages. Chancellor Angela Merkel moderated the Conservative Democratic Party's stance on same-sex marriage, urging the members of the Bundestag to vote by their conscience instead of siding with their party. Same-sex couples in Germany could become partners in civil unions since 2000; however, this restricted the ability for individuals to adopt children and receive health care benefits from their partners. By October 2017, Germans could legal enter into same-sex marriages. By the beginning of 2025, thirty-eight countries had legalized marriage equality.
The Catholic Church still holds to traditional teachings regarding lesbianism and other same-sex behavior. In 2016, Pope Francis tried to soften the church's stance on LGBTQIA+ individuals by saying they should be actively welcomed into the Catholic community. Although no official doctrines have been changed, Pope Francis called on Catholics to be more compassionate toward LGBTQIA+ individuals. While some conservative Catholics were angry about this new position, many proponents of the pope's comments state he is not advocating for same-sex marriage. The Vatican stresses that marriage remains the union of a man and a woman.
Modern Islamic reactions to lesbianism reflect the traditional beliefs held for centuries. Sharia law, or Islamic law, dictates that same-sex activities are prohibited. Abiding by sharia law, Iran, considered one of the harshest persecutors of gay men, also has harsh sentences for lesbian women. Women convicted of same-sex acts are usually sentenced to public whipping.
Twenty-first-century Jewish law varies in its dealings with LGBTQIA+ individuals. Homosexuality in the Orthodox Jewish religion continues to parallel traditional teachings. Conservative Jewish teachings have softened concerning homosexuality marginally over the years. Although same-sex acts are considered sinful, LGBTQIA+ individuals must be welcomed into the Jewish community without issue. Additionally, some synagogues started civil action programs to assist the LGBTQIA+ community. Reform Judaism, the largest branch in North America, rejects all traditional teachings regarding homosexuality. Reform Jewish communities allow lesbian and gay individuals to become rabbis, although they do not formally recognize civil unions as legitimate marriages. The official statement from the Reform Jewish community states that marriage is a legal rather than religious issue.
According to 2014 Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) statistics, more than 20 percent of hate crimes in that year targeted individuals based on their sexual orientation. In 2016, Omar Mateen murdered forty-nine people and injured another fifty-eight after opening fire in Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida. Initial reports called this a terror attack, as Mateen stated he was part of the Islamic State (ISIS), although most reports have dubbed this a hate crime. It was one of the deadliest attacks against the LGBTQIA+ community in US history. In 2023, hate crimes based on sexual orientation made up 18.1 percent of hate crimes, with a total of 2,389 incidents. This was up from 2022, when hate crimes based on sexual orientation made up 15.3 percent of hate crimes, with a total of 2,188 incidents.
Before this, other hate crimes against members of the LGBTQIA+ community occurred around the globe. In 2000, at the Backstreet Café in Roanoke, Virginia, a man shot and killed one patron and wounded six others. The perpetrator later told police his only goal was to kill gay individuals. In 2012, the DIY Club in Yerevan, Armenia, was painted with swastikas and firebombed by anti-gay groups. The owner of the club was threatened with fatal bodily harm if the establishment was not closed. A series of attacks on the Central Station gay nightclub in Moscow, Russia, in 2014 forced owners to close its doors for many months. Some incidents included gas attacks and drive-by shootings. In Jerusalem in 2015, an Orthodox Jewish man armed with a knife killed one and injured six more people who were participating in a gay pride parade. This man had attacked people at the same event ten years earlier.
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