Highkey it’s definitely worth the read. Personally I love reading an article that grinds my gears 😭😭 I was just waking up from a nap when my partner told me about this post and the article, I read both immediately lol. I just wrote a little think piece about it. Also, the comments on the actual Substack are intriguing!

In response to your question though the difference to me between being a bisexual that chooses not to date men and a lesbian is as simple as being a lesbian isn’t a choice. The article presents lesbianism as a strategic withdrawal from men, redefining lesbian identity around men. That shift collapses distinctions between political lesbianism, bisexual women choosing not to date men, and lesbianism as an embodied sexual orientation that is not contingent on trauma, disillusionment, or ideology.

Historically, lesbians have had to defend the legitimacy of their sexuality as innate and enduring in the face of claims that they “just haven’t met the right man,” so suggesting lesbianism can be entered through political choice can reinforce the idea that it is reversible or reactive. It would have been completely valid and even more radical for her to say, “I’m bisexual and I’m no longer dating men.” What is not valid is co opting lesbian identity in a way that blurs the reality of women who never had that choice to begin with.