These week is Lesbian Visibility Week, so in this column I want to highlight some lesbian history, as well as the accompishments of today’s lesbians.

The word lesbian itself is derived from the the Greek island of Lesbos, the home of the Greek poetess Sappho. Sappho wrote poems which artistically expressed her love and attraction towards other women.

I find this fact beautiful, as it represents lesbianism in an artistic and exquisite manner. However, in more recent history lesbianism wasn’t nearly as well depicted. Lesbians have been discriminated against social, politically, and even medically for decades.

During World War II in the 1940’s, lesbian prisoners were required by Nazi’s to wear black stars to mark them. Now the symbol has been reclaimed by many to show pride and solidarity among lesbians and feminists around the world.

Only a decade later the Lavender Scare came along in the 1950’s, that is categorized by the fear and torment of homosexuals in the United States and the United Kingdom during this point in history. Gay men and lesbians were labeled communist sympathizers, which rendered them vulnerable to social and criminal persecution.

Until 1973, the American Psychiatric Association actually considered homosexuality as a mental illness. This caused the development of inhumane “treatments” for same-sex attraction  that has traumatized countless lesbians and gays alike everywhere. 

Although the APA did remove homosexuality from it’s official diagnostic manual, the stain it leaves on lesbian and gay history will forever remain. These are only a few instances of grim lesbian history, but what I want to highlight now is lesbian triumph.

In the midst of one of the dakrest periods of gay history, the AIDS epidemic, lesbian “blood sisters” cared for HIV+ gay men in masses, reconciling the bit of animosity they had toward each other during the time. 

When many people were scared to even touch people with AIDS due to the mass hysteria and panic surrounding its unknown spread, groups of lesbians were coming together to tend to gay men dying of AIDS. They were donating blood and campaigning for research and treatments when medicine and even the government turned a blind eye to what was believed to be a “gay plague.” 

The compassion and solidarity lesbians showed during this terror-stricken period led to the L coming first in the LGBT community namesake. 

Throughout time lesbians have been a beacon of strength, compassion and power. Just recently in 2012 Senator Tammy Baldwin was elected as the first openly lesbian member elected to the Senate. During her term in Congress, she proved to be a strong advocate against bullying and suicide among LGBT youth. She helped push legislation condemning hate crimes and fought for marriage equality. 

This lesbian visibility week I had the pleasure of exploring some facts that make me proud to be a lesbian. If anyone else may be struggling with their identity, I hope this article can serve as a source of pride, and of course, visibility.