Is the L WORD for real?

The subject of lesbians came up among some straight friends recently, as it usually does around me.

"Are lesbians really like those girls on the L Word?"

I cocked my head ever so slightly to the side and chuckled. How are we supposed to be?

First of all, I must say this - I came up with "The Chart" YEARS before the L word. Of course, I didn't call it the chart, but I came up with my own version of how our community is so incestuous at times. Sitting down to dinner while Lindi and I were dating, I was meeting a bunch of her friends for the first time - keeping in mind, of course, I didn't know a single person at the table, I decided to break the ice.

"I bet I am connected to everyone at this table simply by the women we have slept with."

You could have heard a pin drop. Suddenly, everyone was talking and laughing.

22 women - all connected, 7 minutes.

I guess, in a lot of ways, we are the girls on the L word. There is usually the proverbial "married" couple, the ones who have been together forever, solid, stable. The Wild Child; the Vixen; the insecure, newly out friend; the Drama Queen; the obligatory straight-side contribution or two.

I think, however, it is so dangerous to pigeon hole us all into some sort of category.

I think for the most part we are ALL the L word ladies, rolled into one. There are times I am a Carmen, a Shane, a Bette, an Alice - all of them. I remember when I was Dana - not so very long ago.

It's comforting to know that I can change. And that I don't have to be labeled to be appreciated.