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Toxicity within the LGBTQ+ Community: Policing the Lesbian Terminology
By Andrea Caceres
Contrary to popular belief, one of the most amazing feelings a person can experience is not necessarily falling in love romantically with another person, but it does have something to do with love. It is the feeling when, after questioning so long whether you belong at all, you find a group, a community, of people who share something special with you, a community who accepts you for who you are unconditionally and wholeheartedly. It’s the feeling of being able to love others but also loving yourself.
The importance of finding community
In our hyper-heteronormative, White-dominated American society, it’s often difficult for people in marginalized communities to feel as though they belong anywhere. For those who are LGBTQ+, finding a community seems naturally imperative — finding people who relate to topics of sexual, physical, mental, and emotional health and wellbeing, who understand the effects of discrimination, who will accept them for who they are. But one thing that often goes unmentioned is how toxic the LGBTQ+ community can be to those within the community.
