Lesbian Caucus

The Lesbian Caucus is a political working group whose aim is to address public issues involving lesbians as they are occurring today, from a lesbian perspective and using a radical feminist analysis, and with reference to both the Declaration and also to the LBOR. The WDI USA Lesbian Caucus is also a member organization of LBOR International.

THE LESBIAN BILL OF RIGHTS  

The purpose of this document is to describe lesbian reality, lesbian rights, and lesbian political potential consistent with radical feminist principles.

WHEREAS, lesbians are females sexually attracted exclusively to other females, consistent with Article 1 of the Declaration on Women’s Sex-Based Rights;

WHEREAS, lesbians have historically experienced discrimination based on our female sex and our homosexual orientation; 

WHEREAS, lesbians have historically been either ignored or represented inaccurately and negatively in media; 

WHEREAS, it is especially those lesbians who do not conform to the sex stereotypes enforced on females who have faced the most oppressive discrimination; 

WHEREAS, the discrimination experienced by lesbians has occurred in the areas of education, employment, housing, physical and mental health care, public accommodations, and at the hands of virtually every public and private institution;  

WHEREAS, lesbians have historically been specifically targeted, on the basis of sex and sexual orientation, for rape and other sexual violence by men and institutions; 

WHEREAS, lesbians have historically been specifically targeted for so-called “conversion therapy” and other abuse by the institutions of psychotherapy and religion; 

WHEREAS, lesbians, as women, are affected by the same biological, cultural, and political issues as every other woman; 

WHEREAS, lesbians exist at the intersection of ‘woman’ and ‘homosexual’, and experience systemic discrimination on those bases that is synergistic; 

WHEREAS, the enshrining of so-called “gender identity” in law has resulted in the erasure of lesbian-only spaces and the demonization of lesbians who, recognizing that homosexuality is based on sex, refuse dating and sexual relationships with men who say they are lesbians; 

WHEREAS, compulsory heterosexuality is imposed on all girls and women to some extent; therefore be it 

RESOLVED, that the following definitions apply: 

1. ‘Woman’ means adult human female; 
2. ‘Girl’ means minor human female; 
3. ‘Lesbian’ means a human female homosexual; or, a woman or girl who is exclusively same-sex attracted; 
4. ‘Gender’ means sex-based stereotypes whose purpose is to force all women into a subordinate position in relation to all men; 
5. ‘Compulsory heterosexuality’ means the patriarchal pressure, indoctrination, and coercion exercised on all women and girls to partner sexually with men and to serve men as sexual and domestic servants; 
6. ‘Conversion therapy’ means attempts by members of the psychotherapy profession or by religious counselors or others to change a lesbian’s sexual orientation to include sexual attraction to or sexual acceptance of men; 
7. ‘Man’ means adult human male; 

RESOLVED, that lesbians have the right to be recognized and referred to as a discrete and independent category; that is, as lesbians rather than ‘LGBT’ or ‘LGB’ or ‘gay’ as a catchall;

RESOLVED, that lesbians belong in every women-only space and activity to which every other woman is entitled;

RESOLVED, that lesbians have the right to differentiate and separate from gay men, who are first and foremost men;

RESOLVED, that lesbians have the right to create and maintain lesbian-only spaces;

RESOLVED, that as we do not yet, and may never, fully know the origin of sexual orientation, lesbians have the right to be protected as lesbians regardless of how their lesbianism arose – whether inborn, socially influenced, or chosen;

RESOLVED, that lesbians have the right to be free from conversion therapy;

RESOLVED, that lesbians have the right to be free from forced sterilization; 

RESOLVED, recognizing that if not intervened upon, the majority of ‘trans-identifying’ youth grow up to be lesbian, gay, or bisexual, the right to be free from conversion therapy includes the right to be free of indoctrination into gender identity ideology and its accompanying cosmetic medical procedures designed to disguise one’s sex;

RESOLVED, that lesbians have the right to be free from “corrective” rape and sexual coercion, including rhetoric intended to coerce or persuade them into engaging in sexual behaviors with men’;

RESOLVED, that lesbians have the right to have their sexual and romantic boundaries respected. This includes dating apps, where lesbians have the right to both avoid men and actively seek women;

RESOLVED, that lesbians have the right to be free from discrimination on the basis of their lesbianism in employment, housing, physical and mental health care, and public accommodations;

RESOLVED, that lesbians have the right to be free from having their relationships and sexuality eroticized and fetishized in media and pornography;

RESOLVED, that lesbians have the right to make private domestic agreements with their sexual partners that are as enforceable as any other contract, without having to enter into a state-defined marriage;

RESOLVED, that lesbians have the right to be free from discrimination in adopting children; 

RESOLVED, that lesbians have the right to be free from sex stereotypes in all forms and to present and express nonconformity to sex-based stereotypes without discrimination or other interference. 

 

Other Organizations that have Adopted the LBOR:

* adopted with minor modifications

 

Blog Posts by The Lesbian Caucus

Fine-Tuning the Boundaries of Lesbian Spaces
LBOR International on Conversion Therapy Bans
WDI USA Lesbian Caucus writes to the U.S. Department of Education
Lesbians in the Crosshairs: How the Forced Teaming of LGB with TQ+ Has Harmed Lesbians
Statements submitted in support of Lesbian Action Group (Australia)
The “Respect for Marriage Act”: Response by WDI USA Lesbian Caucus
Should a Lesbian Mother’s Spouse Be Presumed to Be a Co-Parent? 
The WDI USA Lesbian Caucus comments on USAID “inclusion” policy
HRC Declares a State of Emergency for Big Trans
Announcing Lesbian Bill of Rights International: An International Network of Lesbian Radical Feminist Organizations
The Effects of Losing Lesbian-Only Spaces in Germany and How to Get Them Back
Lesbian Caucus Letter to the Journal Sinister Wisdom

 

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