The main LGBT+ news site in the UK, PinkNews, has published a list of "
11 heroes who made 2017 so much better". Incredibly, whilst they feature gay men, one bisexual woman, trans women, and straight allies, there were
ZERO known lesbians in the list. The word lesbian is not even mentioned in their article. There were also no trans men included.
Sign now to tell Pink News to add some lesbians to their list, and to make a concerted effort to feature lesbians in their stories moving forward. Every part of the LGBT+ community should be valued, and the profile of lesbians has historically come second to that of gay men, within our community. There is misogyny behind this lack of visibility, and this needs to change. In missing out lesbians from its important list of LGBT+ heroes, PinkNews is perpetuating this inequality.
PinkNews need not look far for suggestions for lesbians who've made an impact in 2017.
Karen Ingala Smith makes some suggestions here. A couple of examples:
Mhairi Black - the SNP MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire since 2015, currently the youngest member of the house of Commons, a strong critique of universal credit, putting the fight against poverty central to her work.
Phyll Opuku-Gyimah (pictured above - photo credit Southbank Centre)- co-founder and executive director of UK Black Pride. She sits on the TUC race relations committee and refused an MBE in 2016's New Year's Honours list in protest of LGBTQI persecution by colonial regimes.
NB: Whilst some of the trans women already included might be lesbian, PinkNews haven't mentioned this, showing that these women have been included by PinkNews due to their profile as trans women, and not as lesbians.