1.7k shares. Read Article. As a result, the wide array of lesbian characters in OITNB is important, as is the debate about lesbian identity encapsulated in the back-and-forth dialogue around the word "gay." The history of media portrayals of lesbian women has been one primarily of silence, with the occasional villainess-who-gets-her-comeuppance thrown in to emphasize the naturalness of passive heterosexuality for women.