Lesbian
woman who is sexually or romantically attracted to other women
A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used as an adjective for women in relation to their experiences, regardless of their sexual orientation; or as an adjective relating to female homosexuality.
The term lesbian is a derivative of the Greek island of Lesbos, home to the ancient poet Sappho. Relatively little in history was documented to describe women's lives in general or female homosexuality in particular. The earliest mentions of lesbianism date to around the 600s–500s BC, including Sappho's poetry.
Lesbian relationships and attractions, along with gender nonconforming behaviors more often displayed by lesbians, have been treated in different ways throughout different ages and cultures. While there is a long documented history of lesbian behavior and relationships throughout different cultures, the idea of a 'lesbian' as a category of person innately distinct from other women emerged in Europe around the turn of the 19th century. Lesbians' current rights vary widely worldwide, ranging from severe abuse and legal persecution to general acceptance and legal protections.
Modern polls estimate that 1 to 2% of women are lesbian. Lesbian social movements often advocate for legal changes (such as anti-discrimination protections, child custody protections, and legal civil unions or marriages), as well as for cultural, familial, and religious acceptance of lesbian orientations and relationships.
“Lesbian” enters the record as woman who is sexually or romantically attracted to other women. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Lesbian, woman and sexually can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Lesbian” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Lesbian, woman and sexually provides the most credible route into that argument.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 18, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q9800899. The Library of Congress control number is sh85076160. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Lesbian”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Lesbian primary sources, Lesbian archive and Lesbian research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Lesbian”?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Lesbian” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.