Big Brother’s Ali praised for ‘flawlessly’ explaining lesbian labels to housemates

Big Brother UK housemate and self-described “late-in-life lesbian” Ali has won over viewers with her expert explanation of the different types of lesbians.

During a recent conversation with Emma, Khaled and Rosie on the ITV reality show, London-based forensic psychologist Ali said: “So, in the lesbian community, you call lesbians like me, [who] are feminine-presenting, ‘femmes’. You have femmes, mascs, studs.”

When Emma and Rosie asked what “stud” meant, Ali continued: “A stud is a bit of a controversial label. You shouldn’t really call someone a stud unless they self-identify as [such].

“[It’s] used by the Black community, because back in the day, the lesbian community was a bit exclusive, and so stud lesbians developed their own name, which is not to be used by white people at all, it’s very offensive. It’s a Black woman who’s masculine-presenting, basically.”

In short, not all masculine-presenting Black women are studs, but all studs are Black women, because the term was originated by them to categorise their specific experiences as Black lesbians. 

“Oh, and you have black-cat lesbians. Black cat would be more like me, a bit aloof,” Ali said, adding that her partner was more of a labrador lesbian. “She’s like: ‘I love you, I wanna be with you for ever’.

“Then you often find black cats paired up with golden retrievers. Then we have butches, someone who’s masculine-presenting.”

Black-cat lesbians are essentially lesbian women who share traits with black cats: enigmatic, femme, but with a fierce side when needed.

Golden retriever or labrador lesbians are very much the more-enthusiastic person in a partnership. They might wear their heart on their sleeve, be unashamed in telling you how they feel, and be easily trusting.

“Some people still call themselves d**es, but again that’s one of those ones that, don’t ever call [them that]… they have to self-identify as [that],” Ali warned again.

“Everyone always says to me: ‘You don’t look like a lesbian, blah blah blah’, because they expect lesbians to be masculine-presenting. But I’m like: they’re just the ones you can see.”

Ali was widely praised on social media for bringing the conversation to TV, and doing so in a way which made her housemates “listen intently”.

One viewer wrote: “I’ve never heard a conversation like this before on TV, it’s so important.” A second said: “She explained this flawlessly.”

And a third chipped in with: “Finally, someone saying the definition of stud,” while someone else said: “This made me cry, such wonderful lesbian representation and understanding.”

This is not the first time Ali has been commended by LGBTQ+ Big Brother viewers who were happy to see her wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with the words “trans rights are human rights”.

Big Brother continues on week nights at 9pm on ITV2 and ITVX.

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