Last week was Lesbian Visibility Week, which typically takes place during the last full week of April, with it falling from April 22nd to April 29th in 2026. This week is specifically tailored to lesbian representation, because despite being the first letter in the queer community’s acronym, lesbians often face higher levels of misinformation, discrimination and media misrepresentation.Â
In the back half of the 1970s, a strong conservative spokeswoman named Anita Bryant ran a campaign called “Save Our Children,” which focused around making the queer community appear as a threat. Putting anti-Anita Bryant content into queer protests became very common, as posters, signs and flags popped up firmly denying her claims in every possible way. Anita Bryant had been the face of the Florida Citrus Commission, and had popularized a slogan about orange juice, stating: “Breakfast without orange juice is like a day without sunshine.” In June of 1979, during what is widely considered to be San Francisco’s first ever Gay Freedom Day parade, a large banner appeared, stating “A Day Without Lesbians Is Like A Day Without Sunshine.” As Lesbian Visibility Week takes place each year, this photo resurfaces, having become one of the most iconic pieces of lesbian history as one of the first public stances against targeted sapphic hate.Â
Lesbians have been one of the biggest backbones of the queer community for a very long time, and one of the biggest examples of this is the solidarity during the 1980s AIDS crisis. When the AIDS epidemic first began, the societal misconception was that the disease only affected gay men, leading to incorrect assumptions, furthering a lack of research and funding. The refusal to assist the queer community caused HIV and AIDS to take the lives of thousands. Due to the little social support of gay people at the time, many healthcare professionals decided that helping people with HIV/AIDS was not worth their time. This time is often recognized as one of the most isolating and vulnerable times for gay men and anyone living with HIV/AIDS. With family leaving them, community friends dying of treatable disease, and society turning their backs on them, there were few people left to surround them.Â
Lesbians stepped up.
Prior to the AIDS epidemic, it was not uncommon to find lesbians involved in protests, movements, and organizations furthering queer rights. However, it was uncommon for them to receive recognition. Many people do not hear about the ways that the lesbian community helped prior to the AIDS epidemic, but they were involved in things such as reproductive rights, anti-poverty/war movements and housing equality for all queer people. Coming from a variety of backgrounds, lesbians took on the role of jack-of-all-trades when it was needed.Â
A multitude of roles were filled by sapphic women, the most notable being giving blood. Due to the misconception that AIDS was only a disease found in gay men, men who slept with other men were disallowed to donate blood, for fear of spreading HIV. Lesbians organized blood drives, donated blood, and worked closely with local banks to make sure there was enough blood for the transfusions required to treat those suffering. While this is one of the most reported charity actions, lesbians also became the healthcare, hospice and social workers for those living with HIV/AIDS, on top of fighting to spread awareness on HIV/AIDS, removing stigma and increasing safe sex education.
This solidarity between lesbians and gay men was culture-changing for queer people, bringing the community to a united front.
Lesbian relationships are one of the most underrepresented relationships in media and film. We see this often with shows about queer women being canceled consistently. Just off of Netflix, titles such as Away (2020), Everything Sucks! (2018), First Kill (2022), GLOW (2017-2019), Gypsy (2017), I Am Not Okay With This (2020), Marco Polo (2014), One Day at a Time (2017) and Rebelde (2022) are only a few picked off of a long list of canceled media featuring lesbians. Just two months ago, Bottoms (2023), was removed off of Netflix, a film with a happy ending for a sapphic main relationship, which has become a rare find.Â
When the lesbian community is represented, it is now uncommon to see the relationship shown as anything other than toxic or tragic, if not both, as though the community is always destined for failure. This concept is known as “bury your gays,” and is applied more often to lesbian roles than any other queer identity. This begins to feel as though it serves to remind the lesbian community that society will always find it easier to stomach a gay man than a gay woman.
Because of this, the push for accurate representation during each Lesbian Visibility Week is still desperately needed. A day without lesbians is like a day without sunshine. Everyone deserves sunshine.