“At the time, gender variation was not as accepted in mainstream media. In the 90s and early 00s ‘lipstick lesbian chic’ became a trend in media where feminine-presenting lesbians were pushed forward as more ‘normal’ than their gender non-conforming counterparts in the community. “Unfortunately, there was very little lesbian representation in the media at the time and some femme-presenting lesbians started self-identifying as ‘lipstick lesbians’.
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"I’d love to see a flag for queer women that I can identify with" None of them have caught on in the way the Pride flag or the trans flags have caught on.
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Lesbians have had several variations of flags over the years. Meg Cale, the former LGBTQ+ rights activist behind website, says, “The rainbow flag is a universally recognised symbol of queerness that is helpful in identifying queer-friendly people and places. It helps those who are most marginalised to find their safe spaces, find belonging, and find their tribe.” “The rainbow flag is wonderful, but it is empowering to fly your own flag too. That’s just one of the reasons that having our own colours is important," says Carrie Lyell, editor of DIVA magazine, Europe’s best-selling magazine for lesbians and bi women. Despite featuring prominently in the acronym, lesbians too have been made to feel unwelcome and uncomfortable in 'gay' spaces, where unchecked misogyny is allowed to fester.
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When we’re not erased completely, we’re vilified and attacked. “ Bisexual people, trans people, intersex people and people of colour have too often been all but invisible within the LGBTQI community.