Dear Reddit, 

BAN DYKECONVERSION

(This subreddit exists under the guise of a "kink," but the ideas and content presented within it are inseparable from perpetuating a cycle of homophobic oppression. It's not "just a kink" when it involves the degradation and hyper-fetishization of the identity of a marginalized minority. Lesbians make up no more than 2% of the population. The primary source of our oppression is not merely our attraction to the same sex, but the lack of sexual attraction to men. Because we are a sexual minority and live in a strongly heterosexual world, things like representation are of great importance - in the media, public space, entertainment, etc. Reddit is a public site, and this subreddit is extremely easy to find and is growing every day - the existence of such a place is unacceptable. The existence of an entire subreddit dedicated solely to promoting lesbophobic ideas in a sexualized context is putting our community at risk. It plays into the fetishization of the oppression of a very small and vulnerable group, and much of the content posted here relies on the dehumanization and degradation of our IDENTITY – something that is intrinsic to us and makes us who we are as people. This has a significant impact on how others perceive and view our sexuality. This isn't a fetish about sexualizing certain activities or situations, universal to all people – it is the dangerous sexualization of lesbophobic ideas, which is especially harmful in a world where homophobia is still deeply entrenched. A kink is only a kink when it involves consenting parties and affects only them. The dehumanization and degradation of the sexuality of a marginalized minority is neither safe nor consensual. It's also worth noting that much of the content posted here is simply blatant and open homophobia – no longer even disguised).

(All of the examples from this community used here comes from diffrent authors) 

The problem of this sub on a larger scale was first raised a few months ago on Twitter (now x) and Reddit. 

Posts about it on Twitter received thousands of likes from shocked and disgusted lesbians, who clearly expressed the discomfort and anxiety this community causes in them. One of the most popular posts against this sub received 500k+ views. On one of the most popular subs for lesbians (r/LesbianActually, 250k+ users), a very disturbing post from this community has been posted, which has caused outrage and resentment among  queer women - the post has 2500+ upvotes and is one of the most popular posts of the year:

 

 

 

 

There are dozens of such fake-sounding posts on this sub that seem to draw sick "inspirations" from various queer women experiences; the way they are described and the level of obvious ignorance or really pathetic fetishization of the narrative clearly indicates that the authors of these "confessions" are largely horny men.
The manner of writing also indicates that the author is a guy - anyone who has had any contact with nsfw online spaces where no verification is needed knows how extensive and frequent the phenomenon of men masquerading as women in order to fulfill their fantasies is. Dozens of men even create accounts on regular SFW lesbians subs just to harras women and write about their fantasies in DMs. There are literally hundreds of posts against them on the most popular lesbians subs, and a subreddit like this one will especially attract such types.
Men getting off on the oppression that lesbians face or using this story as , "proof" that lesbians are secretly interested in men (which is a very popular homophobic stereotype that this sub is almost based on, but more about that later) - is absolutely disgusting and unacceptable, especially given the nature of this sub and the risks it carries. 

Before we get to the problem of the blatant homophobia that this sub fuels and the risks it creates for the lesbian community, it is important to point out who actually engages in this sub - and unsurprisingly the vast majority are non-lesbians.

To make this point in more detail, it's worth quoting first a graphic that shows the subs with whom r/Dykeconversion  has the greatest overlap (users who engage with these communities):

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lots of subs shown here are dedicated to ,,misogyny kink”, lots of fetishized racism aka ,,raceplay" and a few other awful communities. (Some of these subs are already banned and some are not). Few of them are/was not even disguised as ,,kink” but are/was spaces dedicated to just pure bigotry. 

The overlap with subreddits for kinky lesbians? Nsfw communities used by lesbians? Zero.  It's worth noting that the biggest overlap in this graphic is shown by the sub r/,,Fucking Evil” which FORTUNATELY got banned a few months ago. It is really shocking that this subreddit existed at all and managed to reach thousands of users, even more than this one. It was one of the most disgusting, vile, hateful subs that has ever been on this site. It was full of very disturbing posts about extreme misogyny and abuse blurring the lines between fantasy and reality; fetishizing real rape, trauma, child sexual trauma, incest, human rights violations, extreme levels of violence, homophobia, transphobia, racism, softcore CP, and even murder/suicide. 

What's even more frightening, dozens of these posts (which were also very popular and liked in this space) were made by creeps stealing everyday, mostly non-sexual photos of women who were simply celebrating life. The users of these subreddits were adding to these photos extremely vile, disgusting captions that dealt with the themes described earlier. For example, posts like a photo of an unconscious woman with captions about "begging to be raped and traumatised". Sometimes, photos of women whose murder or rape cases were public/popular were also posted there with these captions added - for example, photos of Gabby Petito, a woman who was killed by her boyfriend in 2021.

The problem of this sub has been raised many times by r/ banfemalehatesubs, which is dedicated to banning subs full of CP, non-con media and misogynistic crap on this site (dykeconversion sub has also been posted here many times).  r/ ,,Fucking Evil” also pretended to be ,,”just a kink” subreddit. 

Some links from banfemalehatesubs on /r,,Fucking Evil" before the ban exemplify the nature of misogyny of Reddit:

-https://www.reddit.com/r/BanFemaleHateSubs/s/Aeb1AExTha

-https://www.reddit.com/r/BanFemaleHateSubs/s/247Fr6K9dd

-https://www.reddit.com/r/BanFemaleHateSubs/s/2jrnyF7Dxd

-https://www.reddit.com/r/BanFemaleHateSubs/s/wcZDjOecGZ

-https://www.reddit.com/r/BanFemaleHateSubs/s/lH3am0phYd

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The ,,dykeconversion” sub is mostly used by men who are a little too much attracted to ideas of homophobia and misogyny. Most of the comments and a large portion of the posts are openly from men. In poll posts, most of the responses have always been from men. However, there is some percentage on this sub that is made up of women -it is a minority, but they are present. The vast majority of them are straight/bi women with ,,misogyny kink” which is confirmed by both the overlapping graphics and the content they post, or even what they say in their bios - majority of women posters/commenters here are openly straight/bi/pan etc - using lesbian label only for a sick fantasy. 

 They have two main tropes of this fetish which are taken from these misogyny subs; some weird , "gender traitor" thing in which they fetishize idea of "betrayal on women." - they fantasize/confess about forcing lesbians to have sex with their male partners, invalidating lesbian identity, playing with a lot of homophobic beliefs etc.  
Second trope - very popular on these misogynistic subs (same with ,,feminist”, ,,manhater” etc - all of these including lesbian label is used by them); is pretending to be a lesbian in order to be , "conquered by the patriarchy/men" which is related to dozens of posts made by women on this sub (not counting those by men LARPs, which probably make another half of this type of posts ). Regarding lesbians - most of the women here (who are already a minority) are NOT lesbians. However, there are posts and users who seem more "genuine" in their identification - they may indeed identify this way, but their presence here still doesn’t make it okay. 
Some of them might be bisexuals in denial or exploring, with a significant amount of internalized homophobia and misogyny. For others, it could be tied to self-harm or self-sabotage (as a trauma response) due to a lack of acceptance of their own sexuality. Their participation in this space is neither healthy nor safe for them personally, nor for the greater lesbian community. It is an extremely toxic and dangerous environment that actually promotes various forms of hate based on identity, including also the internalised one. 

A good example of it is a honest comment from one of the actual sapphic women who participate in this subreddit 

 

 

 

 

 

This place is a haven for men and women who want to freely take part in fueling the cycle of lesbian oppression - from those with mild internalized homophobia, which only deepens here, to outright homophobes who hide behind the "kink" excuse. Real lesbians/sapphic women (who are already few in number here) are simply perpetuating an unhealthy cycle of a very deep self-hate and exposing themselves daily to toxic messages, which can eventually lead to harmful behaviors. Lots of these women confess here about ,,hating this fetish” and having many sexual traumas/ porn addictions.

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This sub likes to pretend that it does not support , "genuine lesbophobia." However, actions speak louder than words, and contrary to its description, in fact this sub does not only allow lesbophobic hate speech and beliefs, but encourages them. (Not to mention that the whole idea and purpose of this sub is inherently homophobic). A good example is one of the first times the problem of dykeconversion was pointed out by lesbians; the creator of this sub (a bisexual man, a former moderator who resigned of his own accord some time ago) responded in this way to lesbians who were shocked and disgusted by it: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This creator (and moderator) also once claimed that this place "doesn't support lesbophobia or conversion and this is just a kink!" However, he eventually revealed his true colors, clearly illustrating both the true nature of this sub and his real attitude toward gay women. His disgusting behavior aligns closely with the behaviors and interactions of the users; this place has always been a homophobic cesspool that reinforces these beliefs about lesbians. With this post, he's literally promoting the idea that "lesbian sexuality isn't even real or serious," using an old, homophobic, and dangerous trope that "lesbians secretly desire men." This is not only incredibly disrespectful but also spreads hate speech against a sexual minority- undermining the existence or significance of our lesbian sexuality and trying to explain away our outrage. It is blatant lesbophobia! Main moderators (there are two,women) who have been moderating this place for a long time, are associated with this homophobic former moderator and CREATOR. They were in good terms with him, in the past; going so far as to moderate with him.  

For the users here, homophobia seems to depend on their own definition; some of them (including the mods) go to great lengths to frame this sub as something acceptable, yet they fail to recognize that it has been steeped in lesbophobia from the very beginning. This is evident in the posts, comments, and the fact that it has predominantly male users and most women are not even lesbians, the name of the community, and the ideas it promotes or normalizes-the entire premise of this sub was harmful from the start, and now it has only expanded on a bit larger scale. Even if this sub were , hypothetically "strictly moderated," it would still be deeply homophobic-its very nature is inseparable from that.

It’s also worth mentioning that in this community, there have already been several instances of disgusting sexualization of characters from queer cartoons who are MINORS. They depicted repulsive pornographic drawings of 14 YEARS OLD GIRLS FROM OWL HOUSE. Many of these posts weren’t removed, and lots of users liked the content. In a recent case from just a few days ago, one user asked whether the characters were minors and mentioned that they "had problems after posting something similar before." A male mod responded by confirming that "both characters are minors" but did... absolutely nothing about the post. It was only later removed-by Reddit itself.

 Lesbians do not feel comfortable or safe with bunch of men fixating on and fetishising their identity. Lesbians do not crave men sexually or want to be converted by them. Lesbians are not sexually attracted to men and don’t enjoy sex with them. 
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Now let's look at the problem of blatant homophobia that this sub promotes and why this sub is dangerous for us. Just as disgusting and disturbing enough is the very name of this community (it has a literal slur!), the content on this sub is even worse. This place encourages and perpetuates blatantly homophobic beliefs, which on top of that goes hand in hand with a huge degradation and disrespect for our identity.  "It's just a fantasy" is simply a buzzword to justify their actions and avoid getting banned. 

This sub has a great deal of posts that promote and glorify actual "conversion" :

 

 

 

 

 

There are dozens of such posts here. 

This is not even presented as a disturbing ,,fantasy", it is a literal glorification of dangerous homophobic ideas about,,conversion" and an attempt to present it as something real. Not to mention how much hatred and disgust towards lesbians comes out of these messages. Regardless of how many of these posts are actually fake (probably a majority), and how many are disturbing fantasies of women who may have discovered they are not lesbians, this is still presented as something very real and translated into reality - pushing this narrative into actual lesbians. While there is nothing wrong with changing the understanding of your sexuality/label that you use, these posts have an extremely homophobic narration and message;  this is a literal perpetuation of one of the most oppressive homophobic beliefs against lesbians, that homosexuality can somehow be "fixed/cured” and lesbians ,, just need a right man/dick” - The way it is presented shows the amount of disgust and disrespect towards lesbian sexuality: defining us by a slur, reinforcing the belief that , "lesbians will always feel some kind of attraction to men/ sexuality can be converted on some degree," portraying lesbian life as incomplete and abhorrent and , "conversion"/heterosexual relationships as healthy and proper, driving the narrative of , "right man/dick" and providing , "proof" for these claims. These posts are always full of disgusting blatantly lesbophobic comments from men like: , "it's just natural". ,,all lesbians need it/every woman has a desire for men", ,,now this is normal", ,,female homosexuality does not exist". ,,you should help convert more dykes” etc.

All these comments as well as posts here are very popular, common and highly upvoted. 

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This entire sub and its users are actively involved in fueling the cycle of lesbian oppression. Ideas of , "conversion" or a way of thinking about a certain inferiority of lesbian sexuality/identity, are fetishized and propagated here as well through accounts writing it in a perspective of a woman who have a disturbing fetish for ,,helping men to convert lesbians", strongly combined with the mentioned before (also awful) fetishes of misogyny. 

 

 

 

 

 

*the first post is literally written by openly bisexual person who sees absolutely nothing wrong with 'pretending' to be a lesbian and invalidating our feelings for sexual gratification and male attention.

Posts like these also reveal the true nature of this space; such a "fetish" is inseparable from, at the very least, a subconscious or internalized belief in the wrongness or unnaturalness of homosexuality and the desire to "fix" it, all underpinned by misogyny (the idea that lesbians must be "punished" for their lack of attraction to men or "cured" of their homosexuality). Fetishizing these ideas is not some kind of "taboo," as this sub likes to label it, but rather, it's rooted in the broader societal belief system where homophobia is still prevalent and strong. What’s particularly concerning is that many of these posts closely align with the, sadly not uncommon, problematic behaviours of predatory heterosexual couples who specifically target lesbians on dating apps with the intent to "convert" them (this is literally the same fetish) and obviously, it usually results in sexual assault, coercecion, or harassing. (This phenomenon involves women luring lesbians, to later force them into sexual encounters with their male partners, whose existence they hadn’t disclosed beforehand). This sub is literally a safe heaven for people with such ,,fetish”. This is especially troubling given that many posts on this sub have described real, unsuspecting lesbians (neighbors, coworkers, friends, partners, crushes, etc.) and shared disgusting fantasies about "converting" them— not all of these posts were removed by the mods, and sometimes only after multiple reports or someone bringing attention to it. (Such posts are generally common here). 

Normalizing such messages, combined  with fetishization and glorification of such thinking/ideas, is extremely harmful and potentially dangerous. This is a public space, and these posts have a blatantly homophobic tone, promoting ideas that have always been a primary source of oppression for lesbian women. Society has long discriminated against and rejected lesbians, primarily because of their lack of attraction to the opposite sex, leading to various forms of oppression born from this homophobia: conversion therapy, lack of acceptance, not being taken seriously, spreading homophobic messages on different levels, sexual assault, harassment, and fetishization. The fact that this problem has existed for so long doesn't mean it can't be improved or worsened-rather than encouraging people to deconstruct their internalized homophobia (something that affects most people to some degree, given the prevalence of these views in society and culture), this sub perpetuates and spreads homophobic ideas and beliefs while sexualising it, fueling the internalized homophobia in both the men and women who participate in it. 
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Some of the most dangerous and disgustingly homophobic behaviors on this sub (as well as visible effects of how this space influences its users) stem from the actions and content created by men, who make up the vast majority here. The men interact in various ways, lots of them are creating a slew of disgusting GIFs with extremely homophobic themes-mostly a few seconds of clips from heterosexual porn, often violent and sometimes difficult to determine whether the scenes are consensual or not (considering how common this issue is in the porn industry and the general lack of information on where these GIF creators source the footage). The men who create these GIFs add deeply disturbing and homophobic captions.

 For example, things like: ,,The exact moment she realized this wasn’t a rape, it was a conversion:” ,,eventually they all break, one by one” ,,dont leave corrective rape fantasies as just fantasies” ,,All dykes actually want to be converted” ,,Lesbianism is not real/female body is designed for cock” ,,Sex with men is actually the only thing that makes dykes useful” ,,Conversion is the best thing that can happen to a dyke” ,,Fixed dyke is the happiest dyke” ,,Normalise corrective rape” etc. This is just a drop in the ocean of TONS of these extremely degrading lesbophobic captions that are posted here everyday. 

These GIFs make up the majority of the content on this sub and are generally the most popular type.

(For an example):

 

 

 

 

This is a space where men are encouraged and praised for promoting homophobic and misogynistic ideas. Another unacceptable aspect promoted by this sub is the normalization and trivialization of using the slur "dyke" to refer to lesbians. This word is used incessantly here, even in the community's name, which also references the disgusting practice and ideology that is the central theme. This word is being used here to even refer to lesbians as a whole - and while for some lesbians this is a reclaimed slur, it doesnt change the fact, that it is STILL a slur that is being used against us, and it is extremely homophobic to use this word in SUCH WAY by men and mostly non- lesbian women. These words carry weight-we are called this slur constantly when men harass us, when we are ostracized and hated, while not taken seriously, when we are thrown out of our homes, when raped in order to ,,correct” us etc.  Yet, for lots of the women on this sub, it’s just a hot silly word to play with, alongside homophobic men who get off on dehumanizing and degrading our identity-who we ARE. This isn't just a one-off experiences for some of us; it’s an inherent and unchangeable part of ourselves. 

This isn't a kink about some acts or situations with consenting partners-it's a dangerous fetish focused on the degradation of a marginalized minority, sexualising and promoting harmful ideas and beliefs that are the very root of our oppression.

The vast majority of our community does NOT feel comfortable or safe with how these homophobic terms, loaded with so much hatred and harm, are being used in a public space with over 60,000 users. Why does this site allow a place where men can anonymously post the most disgusting, dehumanizing, and oppressive things that bring them sexual gratification, encouraging and validating each other, along with a few women who cheer them up? Homophobia is homophobia. It doesn’t matter whether it’s hidden behind the shield of "kink" or is completely serious-a significant part of our oppression, which intertwines with the ideas and content presented here, is ALREADY being fetishized. These harmful beliefs are inherently sexual in nature, and a space like this only deepens this long-standing problem.

Men here also create a plethora of other homophobic posts and comments where the fetishization of lesbians escalates to a level of dehumanization, spreading and reinforcing harmful and oppressive messages. Many of these posts are also particularly alarming and encourage dangerous behaviors. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These examples illustrate the various types of posts made by men on this subreddit, highlighting the complexity of the problem and avoiding repetition due to the wide range of harmful attitudes and ideas being presented here.

The behaviours of men on this subreddit shows how much this space distorts their perception of lesbians and our sexuality, which creates potential risks for real gay women.

Dozens of posts on this subreddit involve men sharing stories about how they managed to "convert" a lesbian, encouraging other men to do the same and demonstrating that "it's possible." The men in this community are thrilled by such posts, calling the authors of these confessions "inspirations" and saying they are "living the dream." Normalizing and glorifying such narratives is extremely dangerous. In our society, the idea of "converting lesbians" is already heavily fetishized and pervasive-almost every lesbian has at least one experience with men who have tried to "convert" them or sleep with them, despite knowing they are gay. The severity of these experiences ranges from annoying or uncomfortable encounters with pushy men to deeply traumatic ones. Sexual "conversion" is impossible, and reinforcing this idea only perpetuates the cycle of lesbophobia. These posts are portrayed as if they have a basis in reality, with men eagerly fueling each other’s fantasies of "converting" lesbians and dismissing the legitimacy of our identity. This only reinforce homophobic sentiments that see female homosexuality as something temporary or insignificant (and lots of these thoughts are actually internalised), leading to the hyperfetishization of our entire existence. Lesbians are already viewed as inherently sexual by many, and the existence of a sub like this takes that dangerous fetishization to its peak. We are stripped of our full identity here, and harmful ideas that contradict the nature of our sexuality—like various forms of "conversion" or the notion that "lesbians can enjoy sex with men"-are promoted. This erasure of our boundaries and identity strips us of a crucial part of who we are, opening the door to the reinforcement of these damaging beliefs and practices. It also leads to dehumanization, which is clearly visible in the content shared on this sub.

Posts promoting the "biological nature" of heterosexuality are also deeply dehumanizing and have a strong influence on users, both men and women. As seen in several examples, there’s a fetishization of a supposed "natural need" for women to desire men, steeped in extremely misogynistic and homophobic undertones.The idea that every woman biologically experiences some form of attraction to men due to her body/ reproductive cycle is a lesbophobic myth that has been prevalent in society for a long time. The narrative in these posts treat us as though we’re animals with no control over our bodies, destined to "submit to men," as if that is our "actual and deep desire." These messages also push other blatantly homophobic ideas, such as "lesbians just have a distorted view of men/avoid them on purpose, but deep down they really want them," and that "attraction to men is primal." These are, of course, homophobic nonsense. Lesbians are not lesbians because they "choose" to be or because they fear men, nor do they feel "primal desires" for the opposite sex, because OUR HOMOSEXUALITY IS NATURAL. Promoting these narratives is deeply harmful and dangerous because it reinforces the damaging and sadly still very persvasive idea that homosexuality isn’t fully natural/  heterosexuality is the default. And importantly, this belief is widespread due to the deeply ingrained homophobic cultural codes. Even many queer people sometimes struggle with these thoughts, but they are extremely harmful ideas. Instead of reinforcing and sexualizing them, we should be actively fighting against them

This is absolutely unacceptable, that there are space where men can write their disgusting fantasies about correctively raping lesbians, encouraging each other fixation on ,,converting/fixing” them, getting off to a various forms of oppression that we experience and training their minds to perceive our identity like this, believing that we ,,actually want to be converted/lesbians desire sex with men”. 

Participating in a sub which is literally named “,,dykeconversion” with its entire premise is built on these ideas greatly distorts many men's perception of lesbians. This is not a "harmless fetish"-these men are not harmless, and neither are the women involved. There's a lot of creepy, homophobic content on this sub and the promotion of these ideas is incredibly harmful. It’s also important to highlight the abusive behaviors encouraged by this digital space and the natural consequence of hyper-fetishizing the oppression and patriarchal violence against lesbians.  

 

 

 

 

 

The case above clearly involves someone struggling with a lot of internalized homophobia and likely unhealthy, intrusive thoughts. This is what the sub leads to— it deepens all homophobic sentiments, causing disgust and hatred toward lesbians, reinforcing the sense of homosexuality as "unnatural," and, in the case of queer people, fueling self-destructive thoughts related to self-hate and self-harm. The lesbophobic narratives propagated here, in various ways, harm everyone who actively participates in this "community." Moreover, the top responses to this post only reinforce and validate these feelings, which is yet another example of the dehumanization and hyper-fetishization of lesbians here.
 All ,,dykeconversion” does is promote homophobic hate, in various forms and perceptions. It doesn’t matter if a few people here try to justify it or performatively act as "allies"; the vast majority of this space is simply a safe place for homophobes, who outnumber anyone else. The ideas promoted and fetishized here both stem from and fuel homophobia.

There have been other similar cases, such as a post by a queer woman diagnosed with OCD, where she wrote about her unhealthy, self-sabotaging thoughts regarding her sexuality. The men in the comments literally validated those thoughts and encouraged her to act on them—this is pure abuse. There was also a case (likely and hopefully not true, based on the writing style, but still presented as a real event) of corrective rape, titled as a “,,true confession” and most of the comments were actually getting off to it, asking about details and calling it hot. When few people pointed it out, most responses were justying it as okay -,,because its better for a rape victim to be turned on by it than to cry” WHILE JERKING OFF TO SOMETHING THEY LITERALLY PERCEIVED AS A CASE OF ACTUAL CORRECTIVE RAPE. 

The last thing- posts that are just pure hatred. 

 

 

 

 

 

These kinds of fucked up posts also appear here, which intertwine with the issues analyzed earlier. It’s  even not “,,only” harmful hyperfetishization, the promotion of unhealthy behaviors, or lesbophobic sentiments -it’s outright hatred. It’s sickening that such a place exists on a public platform and continues to gain more followers. These posts are openly describing REALITY - violence  against lesbians is increasing year after year; in many parts of the world, lesbians are still LEGALLY raped, and support for queer people is declining globally. These posts illustrate extreme lesbophobia and dehumanization at their worst. The trivialization and fetishization of our suffering, in a space full of people who do not actually experience lesbophobia, only worsens this widespread problem. 

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It’s time to stop. r /dykeconversion should be banned from Reddit. It’s not safe or good, the whole idea of this subreddit is deeply lesbophobic and allowing it to grow and grow are creating a potential danger for lesbian community and putting queer women at risk. Reddit is a public site, and this subreddit is extremely easily accessible. It is not some obscure tiny private group or channel, but a whole subreddit with over 65k followers. By engaging in this on a public space with thousands of users, they further reinforce these ideas and beliefs to wider society. Any person with some homophobic background/internalised and undeconctructed homophobia (which generally impacts majority of people on some degree, both cishet and queer), could easily be swayed by this; instead of unlearning their lesbophobic sentiments and cultural codes, they are only reinforcing and fueling it.