There’s something deeper to be said for the subject of lesbians loving pets.

If you’ve watched the L-Word or been a part of the lesbian community for any period of time, then you’ve no doubt noticed our predilection for pets. Cats, dogs, hamsters, birds – if it has feathers or fur, chances are there’s a lesbian somewhere who owns, lives with, and loves one.

The obvious assumption is that ingrained mothering instincts go into overdrive when you put two women in a house together, and without the risk of unplanned kids, we can afford to choose the tidy elegance of a cat, the unrequited expressive love of a dog, or the simple pleasures of a rabbit, instead of IVF, adoption audits, and the public scrutiny of being lesbian ‘parents’.

I think there’s something deeper to be said for the subject of lesbians loving pets. Lesbians are, by and large, caring, loving, and tough. Even the luckiest of us has had to deal with some difficulties growing up, whether it’s society’s conservative nature, or problems close to home. It can make us fiercely protective, but when we find something worth caring about, we do so better than most straight people who may never have faced such prejudice for being who they are.

What I’ve noticed about lesbians isn’t that they tend to own pets, but that they tend to be extremely close to them. I have one friend who seems to buy a new dog toy every time she goes out, and another whose dogs receive more walks per day than meals!

Whatever the reason, I think it’s a great thing that we’re known for loving animals. The pithy stereotype of a vegan, liberal, alternative lesbian, may have been used to dismiss us in the past, but its one that I’ll proudly live up to. After all, my cat doesn’t care, so why should I?