Lesbian until graduation

The slang term "lesbian until graduation" (LUG) is occasionally applied to college women who choose to experiment with lesbian sex or with adopting a temporary "homosexual or bisexual identity", but ultimately adopt a strictly heterosexual identity.

The term is often used humorously or pejoratively, and the phenomenon it describes is sometimes presented as evidence that homosexuality (or human sexuality in general) is purely a matter of changeable sexual preference as opposed to innate sexual orientation. One counterargument holds that such behavior is quite distinct from "true" lesbianism in that it is consciously elective, temporary, and "bi-curious" behavior. Another counterargument holds that such behavior is deliberately temporary, only engaging in homosexual behavior for hedonistic purposes, or for other purposes, such as:

1. allowing the participants to concentrate on studies without the distraction of "genuine" romantic relationships,
2. avoiding the attentions of unwanted male companionship,
3. surprising parents, relatives, friends, and acquaintances with news that is presumed to be undesirable, or
4. developing solidarity with an oppressed community.

The phenomenon is usually associated with women at elite (and often all-female) colleges or universities. In some cases these women may hide their experimentation from parents or guardians. Others consider coming out to their parents or friends to be an essential part of their experimentation with lesbian lifestyle.

A quote from a Reuters health story by Alison McCook:

Dr. Lisa M. Diamond of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City found that, among a group of women ages 18 to 25, one quarter of those who said they were lesbian or bisexual no longer identified themselves as such five years later.

In the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Diamond writes that this tendency to change identities among young, non-heterosexual women has yielded the joking term "LUG", or "lesbian until graduation", on some college campuses.

However, researcher Diamond opined that the change in "identity" is merely a semantic issue.

A quote from the New York Times:

At some colleges, women feel free to experiment with the entire concept of sexual identity. At Smith College last year there was a "questioning" support group, for students who were wondering whether they were lesbians. There is even a new term — "lugs", lesbians until graduation. Some of these women hide their sexual orientation on leaving college, fearing harassment. Some ultimately choose men. —Sara Rimer, "Campus Lesbians Step Into Unfamiliar Light", The New York Times, June 5, 1993 [1]

At Smith College, students prefer the term SLUG (Smith Lesbian Until Graduation) to LUG.

External links

• "Campus Lesbians Step Into Unfamiliar Light" by Sara Rimer, The New York Times, June 5, 1993
• "Confessions of a LUG", Cincinnati CityBeat, August 26, 1999, same article also "Confessions of a college lesbian", by A. Davis, Seattle Weekly, September 15, 1999.
• New York Metro article [2]
• hasbian (HAZ.bee.un) n. A former lesbian who is now in a heterosexual relationship. [3]

See also

• Sexual orientation