Summary

"Lesbian." is a powerful poem by Lisa Luxx. It's about the word “lesbian”, and the decades of toxic connotations that have made it feel like a hostile piece of language: so much so that today, many queer women hesitate before using it. Rosemary Baker's short film of the poem, which features a cast of real queer women, uses intricate body painting to bring to life what those layers of toxicity feel like. In an era of headline-hitting attacks on lesbians in public, it is a call to arms to take the word back.