Lesbian until graduation

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The slang terms "lesbian until graduation" (LUG) or alternatively "bisexual until graduation" are occasionally applied to high-school or college age women who are said to be experimenting with or with adopting a temporary lesbian or bisexual identity, but whom it is assumed will ultimately adopt a strictly heterosexual identity. The term is considered pejorative or sometimes humorous.

One argument holds that such behavior is quite distinct from a "true" lesbian identity in that it is consciously elective, temporary "bi-curious" behavior. Another argument holds that such behavior is deliberately temporary, only engaging in lesbian behavior for hedonistic purposes, or for other purposes, such as:

allowing the participants to concentrate on studies without the distraction of "genuine" romantic relationships,
avoiding unwanted male attention,
lack of male attention,
surprising parents, relatives, friends, and acquaintances with news that is presumed to be undesirable,
developing solidarity with an oppressed community, or
avoiding the risk of unwanted pregnancy while remaining sexually active.

However it should be noted that these arguments are frequently used in a wide number of circumstances, primarily to invalidate bisexuality as a "true" orientation.

At one time the phenomenon was most frequently associated with women at same-sex high-schools, colleges or universities. In some cases those women remained closeted from parents or guardians. But in other cases they would come out to their parents and friends about their LGBT orientation.

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]

More positively, the phenomenon can be said to describe evidence that human sexuality is more mutable (sexual preference) as opposed to fixed (sexual orientation).

In recent years there is support, in a way, in fictional presentations. There are films such as Kissing Jessica Stein. Additionally, there are pop culture personalities that engage in close contact that can be seen as bisexual (e.g., the kiss between Madonna and Britney Spears). These expressions, fictional and real, can provide validation for young women that are solidifying their identity as bisexuals or lesbians. Therefore, these trends might mitigate against the trend towards abandoning any LGBT orientation for heterosexuality after graduation from college. For more discussion of this issue, see bisexual chic.