Statement of Values
Labrys Lit is a book group run by, for, and about lesbian women. It was founded on the belief that lesbians, like every other marginalised group of people, have the right to self-organise. To that end, it is single-sex and lesbian-only. We are aware that this stance may prove controversial. After all, the idea of lesbian separatism has been met with hostility and suspicion since it was first suggested as a political strategy in the 1960s. But lesbian-only space is a principle we stand by.
This is because lesbians around the world are still met with prejudice, discrimination, and even violence in response to our sexuality. Same-sex relationships between women remain illegal in 45 countries. Here in the UK, a lesbian MP (Joanna Cherry) was recently threatened with corrective rape. And lesbians seeking asylum in Britain are made to let a stranger rake through the most intimate details of her life, or risk being criminalised, raped, and murdered after forced repatriation. We still have a very long way to go before all women, lesbians in particular, are free.
Labrys Lit was founded to give women a space that’s free from homophobia, misogyny, racism, classism, and any other form of prejudice that continues to act against lesbian lives. We also seek to redress those inequalities by celebrating the contributions that lesbians from a broad range of backgrounds have made to our society and culture. We believe that women can grow in confidence, skill, and knowledge in community spaces that actively centre our voices, lives, and experiences. This holds doubly true of women who are lesbian.
Labrys Lit recognises that lesbian lives and stories remain undervalued in this society; that we are marginalised even in the social movements that should promote our liberation. Some of the most radical gay and lesbian campaigns this country has ever seen fell apart due to gay men’s misogyny. And androcentrism continues to side-line women’s interests in the LGBT community. Therefore, Labyrs Lit is committed to creating a space where women are not pressured – in a tacit or explicit fashion – to subordinate our voices, perspectives, or concerns to those of men.
Lesbians have also been marginalised in the feminist community. At the height of the women’s liberation movement, Betty Friedan notoriously described lesbian feminists as the “lavender menace” – homophobia that has, unfortunately, continued within mainstream feminism. For this reason, Labrys Lit is open to lesbians as opposed to all women.
With Labrys Lit, we are opening up a space where lesbian lives, loves, and desires are the norm; where being lesbian requires no explanation or justification, because it is standard; where lesbians can simply share ideas and conversation without being made to do difference-work in order to be understood by women who love or are open to romantic relationships with men.
We have a right to spaces that are by, for, and about lesbians. Those uncomfortable with the idea of lesbians having our own community spaces are invited to reflect upon why they feel that discomfort.