Lesbian. Lezbian. Lez-beeyun.
I took the longest time to say the word. Even longer to put my name in front of it. When I first caught grasp of what it meant to me, I’d mouth it ever so slowly, never letting the sound of it escape my lips for fear I might actually hear it. When I mustered up the courage to whisper it, I hated the way it sounded; it seemed so dirty, filthy, unnatural.
It’s the first word I’m teaching my kids to say. Not mum, not mommy. Lesbian.
This article appears in Mar 29 – Apr 4, 2012.