ABSTRACT
The word 'lesbian' is barely used in public, and many euphemisms are used by lesbians to conceal their lesbianism, such as 'queer' and 'non-binary'. This situation is being called by concerned lesbian feminists 'the erasure of lesbians'. Lesbian meeting places had to change to 'gender-neutral' venues under pressure from queer and trans-identified people, mainly men, who complained about them being transphobic and exclusionary. The disappearance of the word 'lesbian' and the reluctance of new and younger lesbians to use it prevent lesbians organising and make it very hard to create lesbian culture. This proliferation of euphemisms enables new lesbians to avoid a term that has become, since the eclipse of lesbian feminism, unpopular because it is seen as 'exclusive'. The butch lesbian blogger Dirt, who is no feminist, goes further, saying that women who have ever related sexually to men can never become lesbians. The harm to these young potential lesbians is severe.
