this post was submitted on 17 May 2026
18 points (66.7% liked)

Ask Lemmy

39596 readers
1310 users here now

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions


Rules: (interactive)


1) Be nice and; have funDoxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, toxicity and dog-whistling are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them


2) All posts must end with a '?'This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?


3) No spamPlease do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.


4) NSFW is okay, within reasonJust remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either !asklemmyafterdark@lemmy.world or !asklemmynsfw@lemmynsfw.com. NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].


5) This is not a support community.
It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions. If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email info@lemmy.world. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.


6) No US Politics.
Please don't post about current US Politics. If you need to do this, try !politicaldiscussion@lemmy.world or !askusa@discuss.online


Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.

Partnered Communities:

Tech Support

No Stupid Questions

You Should Know

Reddit

Jokes

Ask Ouija


Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu


founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] tanisnikana@lemmy.world 1 points 22 minutes ago

Do I have to get a divorce if it comes out that the answer is no?

[–] RoddyStiggs@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

Transgender women are women.

Women who love women exclusively are lesbians.

So, yes.

[–] erev@lemmy.world 2 points 1 hour ago

Slight correction: the contemporaneous usage of the word lesbian in the queer community does not specifically say it is wlw, but that it is femme/non-masculine attraction to femininity/non-masculinity. In that sense it may be more closely aligned with being sapphic than strictly wlw.

Yes cuddling with my gf right now

[–] Tedesche@lemmy.world 6 points 8 hours ago

Trans status is about gender identity; gay/lesbian/bisexual is about sexual orientation.

So, a trans woman (MtF) who likes women is a lesbian, because she identifies as a woman who likes women. Her sex identified at birth is not considered a legitimate factor. Likewise, a trans woman (MtF) who likes men is not a gay man, she is a straight woman.

[–] webp@mander.xyz 3 points 9 hours ago

Can women be lesbian 🤔

[–] Diva@lemmy.ml 2 points 11 hours ago
[–] rumschlumpel@feddit.org 88 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Yes, women can be lesbians.

[–] Klear@piefed.world 23 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[–] Tar_alcaran@sh.itjust.works 11 points 1 day ago

Or full-time, or even both

[–] SharkWeek@lemmy.blahaj.zone 44 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Yup.

Cisgender woman here, I've had two trans girlfriends in the past. They were definitely 100% women ... I checked very very thoroughly.

[–] ccunning@lemmy.world 41 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Wait.

Are you saying cisgender women can be lesbians too?

[–] SharkWeek@lemmy.blahaj.zone 25 points 1 day ago

Yes, these days that's allowed too - we're living in the future, after all!

[–] kkj@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 19 hours ago (1 children)

Ah, but were they lesbians? Did you make sure they weren't bi or pan?

[–] SharkWeek@lemmy.blahaj.zone 4 points 16 hours ago

One of them definitely was, lol

[–] venusaur@lemmy.world 1 points 23 hours ago (1 children)
[–] Assassassin@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 23 hours ago

Their lesbian license, obviously

[–] Forgottengoldfish@lemmy.world 44 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[–] Karl@literature.cafe 16 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[–] BucketBong@p.hobo.social 13 points 1 day ago (1 children)

We can close the post now.

[–] Karl@literature.cafe 6 points 1 day ago
[–] chocrates@piefed.world 29 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Trans is their sexual identity and lesbian is their sexual preference. They are not mutually exclusive.

Gender identity*

[–] rumschlumpel@feddit.org 3 points 20 hours ago* (last edited 20 hours ago) (1 children)

Pretty sure their sexual (or gender) identity is "woman". The trans thing is usually more a stumbling block than an identity.

[–] chocrates@piefed.world 2 points 20 hours ago

Yes you are right

[–] ada@piefed.blahaj.zone 25 points 1 day ago (2 children)

About a third of all trans women are as a matter of fact

[–] Noodle07@lemmy.world 16 points 1 day ago (1 children)

About 2/3 of Lemmy as well /s

[–] Skullgrid@lemmy.world 11 points 1 day ago

That's just blah.zone .

[–] Karl@literature.cafe 2 points 1 day ago

Thats interesting.

[–] ThunderQueen@lemmy.world 4 points 19 hours ago

Ive been a trans lesbian for 5 years now. Its great. Im technically pan but i dont really hook up with guys.. women are just so 🤌🤤

[–] Noel_Skum@sh.itjust.works 17 points 1 day ago (3 children)

If born on the island of Lesbos then, yes, definitely… if born somewhere else then the answer to this question might depend on where you get your definition of words.

Love is love, whatever, but sometimes labels can do damage.

[–] owenfromcanada@lemmy.ca 31 points 1 day ago

Otherwise it's just sparkling homosexuality

[–] SeductiveTortoise@piefed.social 4 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Woman*

~*lesbian_style~

That's a bit cumbersome, isn't it? I'm fine with "lesbian woman", no matter where they're from 💖

Oh my, I'm having a hard time setting the markdown right...

[–] applebusch@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 1 day ago

If they're not from the Lesbos region pf greece it's only sparkling homosexuality

[–] daggermoon@piefed.world 4 points 21 hours ago
[–] ImgurRefugee114@reddthat.com 4 points 21 hours ago* (last edited 21 hours ago) (1 children)

Sex, gender, expression, and orientation are separate dimensions and can vary independently. While there is coupling and correlation, they are distinct

[–] rumschlumpel@feddit.org 2 points 20 hours ago* (last edited 20 hours ago) (2 children)

"lesbian" inherently couples gender identity and sexual preference, no? Language and identity are certainly malleable, but it would be news to me than "lesbian" got the "gay" treatment (where the meaning did change from "homosexual man" to "just homosexual", depending on the social circle).

[–] Apytele@sh.itjust.works 2 points 19 hours ago* (last edited 19 hours ago)

And even within that, T4T is a common preference categorization as well, whether it's for inherent attraction or just practical reasons. There are terms that prefer solely to the target gender so for instance I'm androphilic (vs gynophilic) mostly in my romantic aspect. I don't mind both sexually, I've just found women's personalities to be difficult to deal with / have difficulty dealing with me romantically (practical preference). Now, gender wise I'm roughly here:

♀️<----------|×--------->♂️

And my visual preference for a partner is about

♀️<------|---|------|---->♂️

And my personality preference is about

♀️<---------||---|------>♂️

so really CAN I be gay? Especially if I was right on the line there. I will say hubs seems to prefer roughly:

♀️<--|-------|-----|---->♂️

which is pretty neatly bisexual.

[–] ThunderQueen@lemmy.world 1 points 19 hours ago (1 children)

A trans woman is a woman. If they are attracted to women, they are a lesbian. Regardless of whether or not they are trans.

[–] rumschlumpel@feddit.org 1 points 19 hours ago

yeah, I never implied otherwise

[–] GarboDog@lemmy.world 3 points 20 hours ago

Yeah- if women love other women you’d typically call that lesbian coded.

[–] nightmare786@leminal.space 8 points 1 day ago

they call it a transbian

[–] queerlilhayseed@piefed.blahaj.zone 9 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[–] ThunderQueen@lemmy.world 3 points 19 hours ago

Usually with my tongue or fingers. Or hers.

[–] thechosen2nd@piefed.social 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

The Ancient Pact of the Covenant allows it.

[–] Grail@multiverse.soulism.net 1 points 1 day ago

On the blood of our fathers. On the blood of our sons...

load more comments
view more: next ›