Lesbian Visibility Week 2024
Lesbian Visibility Week 2024
As we power our way through Spring, April 22nd marks the start of this year’s Lesbian Visibility Week and encompasses Lesbian Visibility Day on April 26th. This was initiated as a day to recognise and celebrate the achievements, contributions, and unique experiences of lesbian women. It is also a day to reflect on the challenges faced by these women, and to promote a greater understanding of the ‘L’ in the LGBTQ+ community. The lesbian label has evolved to encompass a wide range of identities and OMG firmly believes that the label of lesbian is inclusive of trans and non-binary, as well as cis, individuals.
While Lesbian Visibility Day (26th April) has been celebrated since 2008, Lesbian Visibility Week was introduced in 2020, by DIVA magazine publisher Linda Riley. In a Stonewall letter explaining why she introduced a week-long celebration, Riley wrote: “We needed, and deserved, more time to shine a light on some of the amazing women in our community, and to celebrate who we are without fear of prejudice, harassment or vilification.”
The theme for 2024 is #UnifiednotUniform with the intention of celebrating the broad spectrum of individuals who identify under the lesbian umbrella, and in spite of attempts from some areas to exclude trans women from the community. As PinkNews highlights, amplifying the intersectional voices of lesbian, queer and trans women has never been more important. The UK Census 2021 data showed more Gen Z are identifying as lesbian, gay and bisexual than ever – currently 6.91 per cent (436,000) of the population - and across all age ranges, more women are identifying as queer than men, at 3.32 per cent (830,000) versus 3 per cent (706,000) respectively. In the Gaming industry, according to the 2022 UKIE census, 5% of respondents identified as lesbian/gay and while we know that women remain underrepresented, making up just 30% of the respondents, that still indicates we have a lot of queer women to celebrate.
So let us enjoy Lesbian Visibility week this week but also remember to acknowledge the wonderful lesbians of our community all year round! For more information, follow any of the links below, or get in touch with us at leadership@outmaking.games
Jasmin Fox - Out Making Games
Resources
https://www.lesbianvisibilityweek.com/
https://www.stonewall.org.uk/our-work/campaigns/lesbian-visibility-week-2024
https://ukie.org.uk/resources/uk-games-industry-census-2022
https://www.thepinknews.com/2023/01/25/lgbtq-census-data-gen-z/
