"When Lesbians Define Lesbian!" By Bess Hungerford

I so liked this definition and stand by it in my heart and soul, that I HAD to include it on my blog, with full permission from the author. So enjoy Dykes!-MasterAmazon

"When Lesbians define Lesbian(!), we have a shared understanding that NO PENIS is involved. “No penis” goes without saying because attraction to physical traits (not gender presentation) is inherent to Lesbians’ definition of Lesbian. I can easily prove this by reference to the Lesbian tradition of butch/femme. Lesbians, as a class, do not have a problem accepting gender non-conformity in our ranks, thank you very much. You might even say that Butch Lesbians wrote the book on gender non-conformity. So this queer misinterpretation of ‘Lesbian’ as a GENDER preference belies one’s ignorance of Lesbian history, community, and our relationship to gender. Lesbians are attracted to female bodies, not the feminine gender.

Further, in addition to suggesting that we are confused about what our own sexuality means, you demand that Lesbians change the way we talk so as not to “insult” any male bodied persons with penises who believe that their subjectively asserted “gender identity” gives them license to claim entry to our Lesbian community and identity. This is not Lesbians’ responsibility. This is not Lesbians’ error. It is “queer feminism”‘s error. It is not millions of Lesbians with decades– even centuries– of history who should change our knowledge of each other in order to avoid insulting the “gender identities” of penised people who want access to us. It is penised people who must stop arrogantly colonizing “Lesbian.” We are not bigots, transphobic, or politically regressive for maintaining CONCEPTUAL boundaries around our Lesbian identity. It is our RIGHT." -Bess Hungerford