Most of the lesbians I know are married with kids. How long is she staying with you? If she's still getting over a bad break up, she may just want to hang with family or do fun touristy things. It's nice of you to think of her though.

Also check out Meetup groups. There are a ton of lesbian specific groups for various interests and in various areas (VA/MD/DC) (outdoor, dining, movies, young, old, blah, blah.) I find the bar seen around here tends to be very young and obnoxiously hipster.

I second Phase One and looking in The Blade.

I think the Gay Men's Chorus usually has holiday concerts--that might be fun. I think she'll probably not be around for the LGBT film fest, which is usually in October.

I recently drove by Apex - 22nd St. just south of P St., and it was quite obviously lesbian night based on the people hanging around outside. Unfortunately I don't recall what night it was.

For bars, Phase One if she's white, Lace if she's black. 17th and P is mostly gay men, but it's a fun area, you can find some women on the weekend during the day. There's a gay cowboy karaoke place in Arlington. Freddies? Something like that. I think Cobalt is mostly men.

I live in Takoma Park and there are a lot of lesbian and gay couples living in houses near me. There are also lots of hetero couples with small kids, because the houses are cheaper on this side of the county and the schools are decent.

Given the settled-ness of most people here, gay and straight, if you go to one of the few restaurants, there's no guarantee you'd be put next to another lesbian couple, let alone a single lesbian or pair of singles, in fact I would think the odds are fairly low.

That said, TP is indeed very tolerant of all lifestyles. (Although these days I would hope that Bethesda and Potomac are tolerant as well.)

So I guess it depends what your goals are. Do you want at least the chance of her meeting someone new, in which case I'd recommend Dupont Circle? Although you indicate she might not be ready for the singles scene. Or do you want a place where she can go to a restaurant and be comfortable just talking about her lifestyle and her recent romantic issues openly, with absolutely zero chance of rude remarks, in which case Takoma is your town for dining and shopping.

If you are looking for a different alternative, how about volunteering at someplace like Mautner Project. They have an annual fund raising gala and some other events. Just google it. Other than that, I'm with the PP, always chasing kids and hanging out with (mostly straight) mom friends.

Plenty of DC Lesbians around. http://www.cobaltdc.com/

It's still around!

http://www.washingtonblade.com/

OP, what a great post and I hope you get some good responses.

My guess is you won't get lots of good leads here. I taught Gender Politics at Georgetown 10 years ago, and knew of some great places/communities. But that was a decade ago.

I am not sure the Blade is still in business. Good luck!

Oh OP, these days I'm at work or chasing babies as are my friends. The old standbys are DuPont Circle and Takoma Park. Maybe try the Washington Blade washblade.com I think for events, etc.

Used to be that there was a bookstore, but assimilation got us a section at the Barnes and Noble. Good luck!

Is 17th street (near P) still openly LGBT?

Phase One on Capital Hill?

Some clubs have lesbian nites, like liquid ladies used to at the Apex. And it used to be pretty big I think.

How old is your cousin, OP?

Can't wait to see the meaningful replies you are due.
In my kids school, there are at least 3 lesbian couples. Unfortunately, like most of us married folk, they are not super social, and certainly not in any distinct way (I see them at birthday parties, grocery store, saturday soccer games, pta, etc, etc).
In any case, downtown silver spring and downtown takoma park are very live-and-let-live and very friendly to l, g, b, and t. not to mention single parents, divorced parents and others who don't fit the 1950s definition of nuclear family...

Sorry this is purely self-serving. My gay cousin (more like a sister) is going to be staying with me for a while in a few months. She's had a bad breakup a few months ago and is f. I'd like to introduce her to DC's awesome LBGT community, but I'm afraid I don't know much about the L side of things (I feel like gay men are everywhere in this city but fewer gay women?). Anyway, I'm not trying to necessarily take her out to meet women in a romantic sense (though it would be awesome, especially if said partner convinced her to move here!) but she's from a small city that does not have a big gay and lesbian community in the first place, and every where she goes, her old partner seems to be there. So when she visits, I'd like to take her to gay friendly places where a lot of lesbians hang out. She's not a huge drinker, but bars are fine, as are non-bars / daytime stuff.

BTW, I hope this message does not sound as creepy as I suspect it might. I promise you I'm not a lesbian-obsessed frat boy or anything. I'm a 39 year old mom who wants to help my cousin find a community during her extended stay with us.