Welcome!

We're all tied together by the fact that we are women who happen to love and share our lives with other women... yet the fact that we are lesbian is not what defines us as individuals. There's as much diversity within our community as there is within the human race itself. Yet we, as a "unit", constantly (desperately?) hunger for connection and understanding, acceptance and tolerance of this ONE thing-- and we, ourselves, quite often we forget that there's more to us than our sexuality. We are all interesting, beautiful, fluid and vastly different as individuals-- inspite of a common sexual preference that unifies us as one community.

"Defining Lesbian: beyond the stereotypes" is the current working title of this photo essay project.

We hope to somehow capture a sense of what these women do, where they live, HOW they live... and most importantly, who they are as individuals-- we want to explore the people behind the labels and get to the core of this group of women who are thrown and grouped together by one single aspect of their lives: their sexuality.

We will also delve into the marginalization that occurs within their own "marginalized community" and discuss the labels that DO exist while examining a few of these stereotypes that help categorize the individuals within the group. Many are considered negative; some-- positive. A good majority are true and several are painfully false-- but all of these labels/stereotypes exist for a reason, and we hope to discuss whether or not using/acknowledging them help or hurt these women, the community or the seemingly, never-ending fight for equality and social acceptance.

"By giving shape and voice to community experiences, documentary work can influence broader conversations about change, preserve local history, prompt new ideas, create better understanding among different parts of the community, and clarify common goals for the future." - Putting Documentary Work to Work ©2001 by the Center for Documentary Studies