Arnaud Pontin (Photo : Pixabay)
Why Are Lesbian Women So Invisible?
Occasionally, though not very often, we are asked why lesbian women do not have the same visibility in society in general, in the media, and even in gay media as homosexual men do. The answers are complex and deserve explanation, because too many prejudices circulate about this community, which is very different from gay men and which I would almost call sovereign.
Presence in Traditional Gay Media
There have been a few attempts to launch media, magazines, radio stations, or news websites for lesbian women in the past, but these efforts were never conclusive and, generally, these media outlets have not lasted long. There was the magazine Gazelle, a division of Fugues, Femmes entre elles, Sapho mainly in Quebec, and a few websites, but these publications were never financially profitable. This is one of the fundamental problems when trying to fund a publication specialized for lesbian women.
What Is the Place of Lesbian Women in Business?
There are very few statistics on the place of lesbian women in the business world, and despite lengthy research, I have found nothing truly specific (except the Lightspeed study), whereas the situation is quite different when looking at the place of gay men in the economy. Here are nevertheless some studies and figures showing that women, lesbian or not, occupy a lesser place than gay men in commercial and financial sectors.
According to a study cited by Lightspeed, “female entrepreneurs and business owners are significantly underrepresented among LGBTQ+ businesses”: about 70% of LGBTQ+ businesses are majority-owned by men.
In the American report “LGBTQ-Owned” by the Small Business Credit Survey (SBCS), more than one-third of LGBTQ businesses are “women-owned” (34%) by their definition (LGBTQ persons owning 50% or more of the business). This report is American and not directly representative of Quebec or Canada, but it gives an idea.
The Nielsen report (2019) for the CGLCC (Canadian LGBTQ+ Chamber of Commerce) indicates LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs who own or control businesses but does not clearly detail the proportion of lesbians versus gay men.
The statistical database of Statistique Québec indicates that in 2024, 1.1% of businesses had a majority owner “from the LGBTQ2 community.” This figure does not distinguish lesbians from gay men; it includes the entire LGBTQ2 diversity.
No Female Entrepreneurs Means No Advertising
Following the logic demonstrated above, if there are far fewer lesbian women in business within LGBTQ communities, the visual and advertising presence will inevitably be lower, even nonexistent.
Take the example of Gay Globe, which has existed for decades. After verification, the media has no record of ever having a single advertiser from the lesbian community. The magazine initially tried to offer a few pages dedicated to topics specific to lesbian women, but after a year without any advertiser contributions, the concept was abandoned without any reaction from the lesbian community.
So Where Are the Lesbian Women in Society?
Lesbian women are often invisible in our societies because they exist at the crossroads of several discreet realities. Their history has rarely been front and center, partly because female homosexuality was long perceived as less disturbing or less “to be shown,” which led to less discussion about it. And in a world where women in general have had less access to large visibility spaces—whether in the media, politics, or the economy—this reserve is still felt today.
Many lesbian women also evolve within more intimate, cultural, and associative networks where presence is strong but less visible to the general public. They create, organize, and gather but often away from the spotlight, in places and formats that do not fit the logic of “official” visibility.
Their discretion does not come from a lack of importance or interest, but rather from a set of social and historical circumstances that have kept them somewhat in the background. They are there, very present, but in spaces that society does not always spontaneously highlight.
Visibility and Recognition: Positive Initiatives
Fortunately, in most countries in North America and Europe, there are lesbian visibility days that remind us they are here and that they share many of the struggles and aspirations of gay men. There are also gay games or the Outgames, which highlight lesbian women’s teams, and especially Pride events around the world, where lesbian women can fully assert themselves.
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