Hey Jen, Josh, Pumps, and Kylee!
I want to start by saying that I adore you all. I really do. I was an early adopter of the podcast and I Hip News. I’ve brought so many people into the fold, and everyone I introduce to it becomes obsessed.
But…there’s something we need to sort, Jenn. Honestly, I’ve had it with your use of the word “lezzie.” I want to scream every single time I hear you say it!!
I’ve known I was a lesbian since I was three years old. Like, I have literally loved everything about women for as long as I can remember. I grew up in a small Midwestern town - a tomboy trying trying to fit in, but my eyes and my heart betrayed me at every turn.
The mean girls called me a “lezzie” behind my back—and some, right to my face. It was a derogatory term hurled at me often, and it hurt. So when I hear someone as amazing and straight as Jenn use that word freely to refer to lesbians, it makes me absolutely crazy.
I know you mean it affectionately. I know there’s no malice behind it. But intent and impact aren’t always the same thing. To me, “lezzie” feels diminutive—a cutesy version of an identity that deserves to be spoken about with the same respect as any other. And when someone outside the community uses it, it can land as condescending or, frankly, like a cringe ally trying a little too hard.
And I know you’re better than that.
So, please, stop. Just call us lesbians. It’s what we are, and while I obviously can’t speak for everyone, I freaking LOVE being one, and I wouldn’t want to be anything less than a full fledged, out-and-proud lesbian
Okay, rant over.
Because despite all of this, I still love you. I love the podcast, I love what you all do, and I will never stop listening.
Anyway, keep fighting the good fight against fascists and the twats who vote for them.
Byeeee! ❤️
p.s. if you really want to make this right, my wife and I are available to be your plus-one-times-two for the Chelsea Handler show in Tampa. I meant to buy tickets, but by the time I got around to it, there were no good seats left. Then she added a second, later show—but let’s be real: a 10 p.m. start time is just bananas.
We can’t hang like Chelsea. She can smoke weed, microdose, go to bed whenever she wants, sleep until God knows when…and I say good for her! But she’s missing out on cool LES-Bi-ANS like us!
p.s.s. Sorry about FL. We know it’s a republican hellscape and we hate it too! Go Angie Nixon!!
