Words: Hanna Lee-Brighi (she/they)
The wise words of my hairdresser seemed absurd then but ring true now more than ever: ‘Trust me, you’re only ever one lesbian away from any lesbian in Glasgow.’
Arriving in Glasgow as a fresh-out-the-closet 18 year old, like many “baby gays” before me, I sought to affirm my newfound lesbianism with a haircut. The wise words of my hairdresser seemed absurd then but ring true now more than ever: ‘Trust me, you’re only ever one lesbian away from any lesbian in Glasgow.’
‘It’s so nice to have a community that you’ve never had before. Even with you, I don’t really know you but I feel like I do. It’s cool.’
Niamh (she/her), student/hospitality/lesbian
On the 1st September 2004, The L Word aired on Showtime. A seminal work of queer television, created and produced by Ilene Chaiken, the series centred around a group of lesbians in early 2000s Los Angeles. The show is underpinned by ‘The Chart’, a graph invented by character Alice, mapping the relationships, situationships, and one night stands of the lesbians of LA, drawing them together into an interwoven and seemingly-infinite web. Alice famously states: ‘Name any lesbian you know. I can link her to me in six moves’.
Chaiken’s gloriously messy universe of interconnection seems to have transcended the fictional, and woven its way into the real lives of lesbians. Inspired by The Chart, the recently coined and popularised “lesbian web theory” describes the tight-knit, interconnected nature of lesbian communities. Ordinary people have begun mapping their own lesbian communities, from university social circles to sapphic influencers, seemingly creating a global, infinite constellation of lesbians.
‘I think we all want that connection with other lesbians. Lesbianism can be really lonely if you don’t have that, because everything is so male-centred all the time…’
Kay (they/them), content creator/butch
Evidence for interlinked lesbian communities has existed from the earliest documentation of lesbian existence. Born 570BCE, ancient Greek poet Sappho of Lesbos is hailed as the first written documenter of lesbian life and love. She sang of her community of maidens and their complex relationships with one another, in terms platonic, romantic, in-between and beyond. The Shane McCutcheon of 6th century Greece, her poems reveal a vast number of romantic connections with other women, and observations of romantic connection between her female friends. In Fragment 102, she tells of her own paralysing infatuation: ‘I cannot weave – slender Aphrodite has overcome me with longing for a girl’ (IYKYK).
With its name inspired by a fictionalised lesbian contemporary of Sappho, The Daughters of Bilitis was the first lesbian civil and political rights group in the United States. Rosalie “Rose” Bamberger, a Filipina factory worker from San Francisco, founded the group in 1955, initially aiming to create a community of lesbians and advocate for the decriminalisation of homosexuality. By 1960, various chapters had been founded nationally, with members such as Ernestine Eckstein travelling to Washington DC and Philadelphia to participate in two of the earliest pickets for gay rights in the US.
‘A lot of the lesbians I know are well involved in activism. If you think back to the AIDS epidemic and how lesbians were on the frontline of that, it’s almost been ingrained in us the whole time. A big part of lesbianism is fighting for other people.’
Niamh (she/her), student/hospitality/lesbian
‘Shoutout to [grassroots activist group focused on raising lesbian visibility, fighting discrimination and transphobia] Glasgow Lesbian Avengers. Let me in please!’
Soph (she/they), student/bartender/dyke
Nightlife has been crucial to nurturing the deep-rooted interconnectedness of both the lesbian and wider queer community. In Boots of Leather, Slippers of Gold (1993), Kennedy and Davis construct an oral history of working-class and Black lesbians in the 1930-50 Buffalo bar scene. Bar life created densely connected social ecosystems, with such profound social intimacy beginning to mitigate pervading individual isolation – and its perils. This fostered a foundation of collective consciousness and solidarity that was vital for political movements to come.
‘The first time I went to Grind Yer Axe [Glasgow based queer night focused on lesbians, queer women, non-binary and trans folks], I didn’t know that lesbian-centred events even existed. I was like, ‘what the fuck, there’s so many people we know’. It was so affirming. I just felt very comfortable there.’
Katie (she/her), student/chef/dyke
‘[Edinburgh Dyke Bar] is centred around connection and talking to other people. We are hoping to set up a Glasgow Dyke Bar. It’s in the making. I think it would be really nice.’
Katie (she/her), student/chef/dyke
As American butch lesbian activist, Leslie Feinberg, stated ‘my right to be me is tied with a thousand threads to your right to be you’. These complex webs of interconnection are fundamental to lesbian existence, longstanding in our history and crucial to our survival and resistance, from 6th century Greece to 21st century Glasgow.
