A Florida politician accused of a Sapphic affair has defended herself in a strange way, by suggesting she doesn’t look like a lesbian.

An administrative assistant says she walked in on a sexual encounter between Florida’s Lt. Governor Jennifer Carroll and her travel aide. Carroll now responds:

“The problem is that when you have these accusations that come out, it’s not just one person you’re attacking. It’s an entire family. My husband doesn’t want to hear that. He knows the type of woman I am. I mean, my kids know the type of woman I am. For twenty-nine years – I’m the one that’s married for twenty-nine years. The accuser is the one that’s been single for a long time.

“Usually black women that look like me don’t engage in relationships like that.”

Whether the accusation against Carroll is ever proved to be accurate or not, her denial has sparked much commentary in the local LGBT community, who are reminding her that lesbians come in all shapes, sizes and looks.

Alysia Gradney wrote to Carroll via the Huffington Post: “As a black feminine lesbian woman…. I would also like to inform you that black lesbians look just like you.

“Within your moment of ignorance you have reminded me why being visible and remaining visible is so important. You have labeled lesbian gender expression as being deviant, and have both denied and revoked black lesbian femininity. Since I don’t have a visual lesbian identifier you have tried to silence me. As a femme I walk through the world with a sense of invisibility because some may automatically assume that I am straight. By claiming my femme identity and speaking about the invisibility I face, I hope to create a safer and more free flowing existence for other femme identified lesbians and queer women. I hope that this action outweighs the influence of your ignorance.”

Responding on Twitter using the hashtag #ThisIsWhatALesbianLooksLike, many other women were quick to advise Carroll now to make any assumptions about what lesbians look like. Here are two cool examples:

Dear Lt Gov. Jennifer Carroll #ThisIsWhatALesbianLooksLike @HuffPostGay twitter.com/Kiryatraber/st…

— Kirya Traber (@Kiryatraber) July 18, 2012

Can you add us? @huffpostgay: #ThisIsWhatALesbianLooksLike slideshow ://t.co/AJMkReaU” #noh8 xoxo twitter.com/IDigYourGF/sta…

— IDigYourGirlfriend (@IDigYourGF) July 18, 2012

The Huffington Post now features a gallery of women who have tweeted their responses to Carroll’s statement. See it here.