Lesbian Visibility Day 2023

In celebration of Lesbian Visibility Day, here are five real life lesbian adults who are out, proud, and living their best lives.

CHANTELLE

I come from a small town in New Jersey. Growing up, I spent time living on my grandmother’s okra farm. I know not to pick okra with your bare hands. It itches and it burns! I ballet danced my way through a traumatic childhood, got injured, started acting, started acting out, made music, and partied to cover up my pain.

In a world that puts men first, it took me a while to figure out that I was a lesbian. When I was younger, I was told that if a man is bisexual, then he is really gay and if a woman is bisexual, she is really straight. My truth turned out to be the exact opposite. As much as I skated by using the term pansexual, I came to realize that I was only in relationships with men when I was down on myself. As my self-esteem grew, I realized that I only wanted to date women.

At some point, several years ago, I got a job as a cashier at a health food store, so I could get insurance. After I gave birth to my son, Kai, I ended up being drawn to the vitamin department of the store I worked at. I learned more and more about natural remedies to care for my son without taxing his tiny system with over-the-counter drugs. Kai, is the literal light of my life. Before I knew how to love myself enough to do what was good for me, I loved him for the both of us because he needed me to be okay. I grew up and worked through the pain of my past to ensure that I wouldn’t repeat old family patterns as a mother.

I now live in East LA with Kai, my amazing girlfriend, and our dog, Ruth. I try not to drive them crazy with my natural remedies for everything. I am happier than I have ever been.

GABBY

I’ve known for a long time that I like women – although I went through a period of trying to find a different word for it than lesbian. A few years ago, I started to see other women online who inspired me to reconcile with being a plain ol’ dyke – women who reminded me there’s nothing immoral or wrong about being a lesbian. In fact, being a lesbian kicks major ass. Many of those women are right here on Lesbians Over Everything, a place that I’m proud to say I’m now a contributor to. My lovely fiancée has been with me through this journey over the past 7 years. This year, we’re finally getting gay married! I’m so happy to have a community like LOE to share the joys of lesbianism with. My biggest hope is that someone else will see my writing and have the same revelation.

FAITH

I am an Atlanta-based storyteller. In my career as a User Experience designer, I learn from users’ stories about their experiences with technology. As a screenwriter of heartfelt and comedic stories, I love creating characters and narratives that mirror people’s experiences with love, failure, and self-expression.

If “turning Ls into lessons” was a novel, I’d be on the cover. Despite having been a great student from elementary through high school, I was as awkward as they come. That’s probably how I ended up hiding behind books from an early age. Give me a story about a kid with magical powers, and I was good. By high school, I expressed my awkwardness through poetry (because what’s teen angst without a worn journal of poems and art).

Although high school and college were dominated by track and field, both awkwardness and stories still found their way back to me. My successes and harsh failures (and I mean harsh and embarrassing failures) as a high school athlete, Division I collegiate athlete, and professional athlete inspired my 2020 new-adult sports novel, SPRINT DREAMS. When that novel did not reach the level of success I had hoped it would, that “failure” led to my discovery of screenwriting.

Since then, I wrote my award-winning animated short script, I SEE YOU, which won the Atlanta Film Festival Screenwriting Competition, was Runner-up for the SoCal Screenplay Competition, and was Quarterfinalist for the Los Angeles International Screenplay Awards. This heartfelt story of sibling love and self-love would not have existed without my failures and awkward struggles. The hope is to produce this short and share this story with others. With other screenwriting projects in the works, I am excited to see where my awkwardness and love of stories take me.

ELO

I was born and raised in Brussels, Belgium and have always been passionate about travelling. I would be lying if I said that The L Word didn’t play a big part in why I decided to visit Los Angeles in the first place. My baby dyke 17-year-old self was amazed to see how much was happening in the lesbian scene there, and how communities were organizing. I found similar events and connected with the people who made them possible when I came back to Belgium. I progressively got involved in collectives and multiple LGBT spaces, and they truly helped me become the person I am today.

I have a bachelor’s degree in graphic design and I am currently finishing my master’s in digital design, so I make visuals and create websites and digital tools. I am also a model/actor. I like to think of myself as a creative at heart. I am now trying to move to LA permanently after I graduate in order to pursue these careers without having to compromise on any of them.

KRISTIN

I grew up in a single parent household that was unstable to say the least. I was given a lot of adult responsibilities from a young age. I found my escape from that in TV, film, and music videos. From the age of 14, I decided I was going to direct music videos when I “grew up”. This seemed like the perfect way to combine all of my artistic interests. I wasn’t necessarily musically talented, but I absolutely loved the music scene. I went to live shows constantly. Before I could drive, I would convince my older brother or cousin to take me to concerts to see my favorite bands.

I got into the film program at California State University Long Beach and did well. I was one of the first people to be accepted into the production track program based on a music video submission.

Living in Long Beach while I was figuring out my sexuality was really a blessing. It is such a diverse city. I was able to mingle with all sorts of people in an effort to figure out where I fit in. Being a lesbian in that city was easier than most so my coming out was fairly seamless. I know I’m very fortunate in that way.

I graduated from college and went directly into TV production. The writers strike of 2007 and the lack of money in making music videos detoured me through the world of unscripted television for a while, but I eventually got into Local 44 (union) and have recently started working in scripted television almost exclusively as a prop assistant or set dresser. I’ve had the honor of working on a variety of LGBT shows including The L Word and Love, Victor.

It’s been amazing to see the population of women who love women grow dramatically in the TV industry over the course of my career. I hope to see that continue and to be able to do my part in fostering a work environment where everyone is valued for their contributions and free to be who they are.