On April 26, many women will come together to celebrate their sexuality and history as members of the lesbian community. But why do we need Lesbian Visibility Day when we have a whole month dedicated to the entire LGBTQQIP2SAA+ community? We need this because it’s important to celebrate the individual history and accomplishments of the lesbian community.

Lesbian women aren’t a new thing; in fact, they’ve been around since ancient Greece, as explained by One Institute. The works of the Greek poet Sappho of Lesbos is one of the earliest records of lesbianism in history. Many of Sappho’s poems express her love for women and how she is upset by society’s restrictions on her and her love. The term lesbian gets its name from Sappho’s home of Lesbos.

Fast forward to 1655 in New Haven, CT and lesbianism is outlawed under the anti-sodomy laws enforced at the time. The Supreme Court invalidated these laws in 2003.

In the United States, things have gotten better; ever since 2015, gay marriage has been legal. However, according to Fair Planet, in about 64 countries, just being a part of the LGBTQ+ community can get you thrown in jail.

The United States is better than that, however it’s not as great as it could be because many queer people, lesbians included, face discrimination. Lesbian individuals in the US don’t exactly have it easy either. In fact, in a study done by the Center for American Progress, we discovered that among all the people who reported sexuality related discrimination, 43.7% reported that it negatively affected their physical well-being.

Personally, I’ve had trouble finding sources from campus for this article because even though lesbian visibility day is all about showing that you’re proud of yourself and your sexuality, many students do not want to have their opinion or name in this article.

This could be for a variety of reasons. People could simply not want their name in the article for personal reasons, people could just not care or maybe they are worried about discrimination, because no matter how developed a country is, there will always be some form of discrimination. So it’s our job to speak out against discrimination, no matter how small. 

This Lesbian Visibility Day, if you can offer support to the community in any way you can, you should because by helping fight some discrimination by just being who you are, you are ensuring a bright future for everyone. If you want to help support the community, you can donate to many non-profits like the Trevor Project, Outright International or the Human Rights Campaign.