#esp when someone thinks i’m like showing some sort of privilege that i very decidedly never had in my life

[moonlightsapphic]

I can’t disagree that that was divisive of me to put it the way I did, so I do apologise for that. To be clear, I wasn’t being too serious and I don’t think young folks should be bullied at large by any means. I also don’t think users who are reblogging this want to pick on young queer folks. As a gen z I am also just shy of being a “young queer”. Most of the queer folks I am in community with are young.

But the gender essentialism-oriented separatist movement and “political lesbianism”, as well as the new exclusive definition of the identity “lesbian” (which was once used the same as the term “sapphic” to describe all WLW), all have a cultural starting off point in the ’60s, historically speaking. By definition, it’s not at all wrong to say that some shifts are contemporary phenomena. Have gatekeepers always existed? Yes. Do they sometimes exist on a larger scale, which speaks to the culture of the time? Also yes. Sapphics in the ’40s were more likely to know about the versatility of butch/fem than sapphics in 2025 might. Social media (in itself a modern phenomenon), while being an awesome resource to access diverse knowledge, has also fueled a misinformation trend where people will sometimes base their opinions on Tiktok videos and Tweets that don’t have sources. I would recommend everybody to watch the video and read the essay that I have cited as secondary sources to learn more. They’re super interesting and accessible, and they have many primary sources listed in case I have made a mistake anywhere!

In my country, not even queer adults have rights or visibility, though they might have some financial independence from their families. (That is also precarious because there are no legal protections for queer folks in employment.) It’s way more socially acceptable to be homophobic/transphobic than to be an ally, and even the word feminism is tabooed. The default is to stay closeted forever. I genuinely don’t even personally know any older queer folk, not even millennials (other than like, a couple of super lowkey public figures), in my country. I assure you I personally don’t need to be reminded of the vulnerability of young queer folk, but I appreciate the context added for users who come from countries that have more LGBTQ+ rights. I’m always glad to see older queer folks exhibit fierce protectiveness. I certainly did not have access to mentor figures like that when I was younger, but I try to get involved and do my part as an adult now.

At the risk of doubling down: Young people are as naïve as they are revolutionary, and that is just humans nature. My country has had some awesome sociopolitical changes led by youth and also some dumb as fuck ones. People of all ages have their quirks, some of which are, for better or for worse, generalizable. (Twenty-somethings like me, for example, unnecessarily meme on Tumblr about how exhausting young people can be, which is silly and egotistical too.) I haven’t really come across the queer youth hate train on here but I assure everyone my blog isn’t the place you’re going to find it. (Though you might find some desi millennial hate here and there if you’re into that, LMAO. I promise it’s justified and not that serious either.) It’s also … not very kind to knee-jerk mansplain a user you don’t know on a relatively non-inflammatory meme post. But I understand that the intention was positive and totally agree with everything said!

I learned a lot today from Obviously Queer’s video essay “FEMME: Lesbian History, Identity, Politics and Invisibility” and femmebis’ “The “Lesbian-Only Term” Myth: A Comprehensive Historical Essay on ‘Butch’ and ‘Femme’ ”.