#queer ageing

[respirelejasmin]

The erotica of us is not the same - there is no longer the unknown. There is safety and pleasure in the knowing. The unexpected does not yield its edge - the expected is wanted and desired. The excitement of discovery is replaced by the excitement of long loving and everlasting desire. I still warm at the unevenness of your walk, the melody of your laugh, the fire breath you exude when you are crossed.

Rosemary Hathaway, Anniversary, from Sinister Wisdom 53: Old Lesbians/Dykes, 1994

[respirelejasmin]

Because it once felt like the whole of my lesbian identity was a dark, cut-off place, not only in my real world, but also in my head. It was 'over there', it wasn't real, and it was something I did in my spare time. Whereas now - this is me. You know what you see now is what you get. I'm out, and I'm happier now than I've ever been. Happy as Larry, whoever Larry was. I hope she was a woman.

Brenda, in Now you see me: lesbian life stories, ed Jane Traies