Lesbianism has existed across cultures and eras, though the modern idea of fixed “sexual orientation” is recent. In antiquity, same-sex desire was usually described in terms of acts, rather than fixed identities. The poet Sappho of Lesbos is the best-known ancient figure linked to love between women; her name inspired the terms “Sapphic” and “lesbian.” Female same-sex relationships were less documented than male ones, most surviving texts were written by men. In medieval Europe, religion condemn