What the heck is a 'lesbian boyfriend?' The sapphic trend explained
Sapphic social media is all abuzz with the idea of a "lesbian boyfriend," but if you're wondering what the heck that means, you've come to the right place.
While doing press for her most recent film, Nosferatu, Lily-Rose Depp has occasionally made reference to her relationship. This drew particular attention during an interview with MTV in which the interviewer brought up a locket of hair Depp's character gives her husband.
"I think that's cute, honestly," Depp said. "I have a locket of my boyfriend's hair, kind of like in the movie."
Lily-Rose Depp keeping a locket with her boyfriend’s hair in is SO cute 🥹💖 who else can’t WAIT to see Lily and Nicholas Hoult in Nosferatu on New Years Day? 🧛🏻♂️ #lilyrosedepp #nosferatu #nicholashoult #filmtok #mtvmovies
The comment gave some fans familiar with the actress's personal life pause — she's been dating rapper 070 Shake (Danielle Balbuena) for the past two years. So why is she talking about a boyfriend?
The answer is as simple as it could be: "boyfriend" is just the term she uses when referring to 070 Shake, even though the rapper is a woman.
And that's all there is to it. Some people may put additional expectations on the term, suggesting a lesbian boyfriend may present more masculine, or handle tasks that are traditionally expected of boyfriends in a heteronormative society, but there isn't actually some defined list of requirements in order to be a lesbian boyfriend. Someone only has to identify as a lesbian and be referred to by their partner as a boyfriend.
Coloring outside the lines of the gender binary shouldn't be a new concept to anyone in 2025, but especially members of the LGBTQ+ community. There's a broader awareness of trans and nonbinary identities, and we also understand that cis queer people might present themselves in a way that doesn't follow gender norms or expectations.
So the idea that some people also don't use terms that align with their gender identity shouldn't be hard to grasp either — especially considering the concept of a lesbian boyfriend isn't some brand new thing that just popped up out of nowhere.
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But, of course, some people are still determined to try to fit everyone into neat little identity boxes with predetermined labels.
As social media lit up with debate over the concept of lesbian boyfriends, one thing that has repeatedly pointed out is that this sort of thing is already perfectly normalized among gay men. Even beyond the LGBTQ+ community, male celebrities of all orientations have been getting broadly referred to as "babygirl" these days.
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Fortunately, it ultimately doesn't matter whether anyone takes umbrage with the idea of a lesbian boyfriend, or if they decide they just can't wrap their brains around it. The people who want to use the term are going to use it, as they should.
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Will 2025 be the year of the lesbian boyfriend?
Trick question. Every year is the year of the lesbian boyfriend.
- YouTube
