contributor musings
“in a world full of stigma against us, this book provides validation that lesbian love is real love.”
“for me, this book is important because future generations can look back and see our (lesbians) existence - a luxury that our elders were deprived of. aischa, this project is brilliant and i am so pleased that we could be a part of it.”
“i love that this book is showing the soft, loving and deeply wholesome side to lesbian relationships. in the few occasions that we see lesbians in the media, our relationships and bodies and so often hyper-sexualised, so it’s hard to relate. since following the lesbian love notes instagram, i have seen so much of myself through others, and i can’t wait for the world to see us properly through this book. i love identifying as a lesbian; it is a massive part of who i am. i am beyond grateful and excited to see our love and existence portrayed in this positive and honest light.”
“it is so important that all communities have accessible representation in one form or another. this book is an opportunity for representation, and, more importantly, it normalises the expression of lesbian love.”
“while lesbian representation is usually subjected to a simplified formula, this is how we love is an authentic documentation of the present-day lesbian experience of love. to have this genuine representation of our community feels like a victory for us all. this anthology will be a meaningful archive of our lives for future generations to appreciate. i am so honoured to be featured in this project, which i appreciate immensely.”
“this book will mean so much to me, my wife and our baby due in may 2022! it will demonstrate the love i have had for my wife since the day we first met until now, two years later, and how it hasn’t changed a single bit.”
“this book is important to us because we want to honour lesbian history by archiving our present!”
“there is a significant lack of authentic, non-demonising or sexualising media representation of lesbian women and gender non-conforming folks. at the end of the day, showcasing love is only ever a good thing. it makes me so happy to see other lesbians celebrating their love and experiencing joy in a world that does not actively celebrate us most of the time.”
“having this representation of lesbian love is really important. it makes us feel part of a community, as we are; it makes us visible; it encourages self-expression and validates our experiences and identities.”
“i cannot tell you how unbelievably happy i am that my submission has been selected for publication in this book. i was so excited that i couldn’t fall asleep last night! what a great way to start the week. i grew up in a little town in romania. thinking back on my adolescence, i felt like i was the only lesbian in the town or even the country. of course i wasn’t, but i couldn’t talk to anyone about the way i felt toward girls, so of course nobody would have opened up to me, either. i felt like there was no place on earth where me or my feelings would belong, and i was incredibly lonely. in the culture i grew up in, it was as if gay people simply didn’t exist. i had to dig pretty deep to find someone i could even begin to relate to, but even then, it was years before i felt ‘normal’ and before i would read so much as a lesbian love poem. thank you so much for taking this wonderful initiative, aischa! i can’t wait to purchase this book.”
“this book helps to validate lesbian love, which is rarely done in mainstream literature or media. i have read old texts that feature stories and interviews with lesbians conducted by other lesbians, and it is amazing to be part of this tradition of archiving now. i am grateful that you have taken the time to do this. we have to write our own history - no one else will!”
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“this anthology is important to me because it allows me to see reflections of myself and what i want to share with my partner, and gives her the opportunity to do the same. it gives closeted lesbians and bisexuals a glimpse into the happiness they can attain for themselves, when they open themselves to allow it in. it allows lesbians who struggle with consider themselves capable of achieving something close to ‘happily ever after’ in their hearts, minds, bodies and souls. it is a reminder of the love we really want to see in the world.”
“seeing that our submission had been selected to feature in this book was an incredible joy to my girlfriend and i. we have accumulated dozens of letters and little notes between us at this point, and i am infatuated with her words. i’m so proud to be the one that gets to read them that i almost want to show them off, but at the same time, i want to keep them to myself because they are so special. this book is a nice work around for that, because it takes the showiness out of sharing them with people myself. it puts our words to each other in a wider context of how beautiful and grand lesbian love is, and how viscerally women understand women in order to love each other more gently and deeply. if i had seen this book when i was first coming to terms with my sexuality, when i was younger, this book would have made me feel normal instead of lost. witnessing the love that exists between lesbians, in a book made by and for lesbians, is of endless value to anybody that has ever loved somebody. thanks again for granting the world with this work!”
“we have all grown up with very few references to lesbian existence in books and on television, meaning we never knew that love in all of its forms is possible and beautiful, until we searched for this validation ourselves. we need to give the next generations of adolescents examples of real, healthy and tender examples of love shared between lesbians, and this book is a perfect start.”
“this is how we love means representation. it represents all of the feelings i have inside me since i was young and could not even begin to identify or understand because i couldn’t see them anywhere. it is totally life changing to read the words in this book and know they could have been said by me.”
“love is such a beautiful thing,. but unfortunately, a heteronormative narrative is regarded as the norm. it is vitally important to share stories that reflect the vastness of love, in all of its variations. whether they are to educate, welcome or simply normalise, the stories in this book are a part of a wider picture.”
“for many reasons, queerness often brings with it immense loneliness. not being able to physically gather with other queer people for a large part of the past two years during the pandemic has been a struggle, so it is amazing to feel finally connected through this book. sharing and celebrating lesbian joy is so essential, and it is incredible to be a part of that.”
“this is how we love provides a space for the expression and celebration of genuine lesbian love. it gives us the opportunity to take back power by telling our own stories. thank you for all your hard work in creating this beautiful book, which celebrates the ways we love and exist.”
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“we need small archives of all marginalised people, including lesbians. publishing our voices and experiences ensures that, in the words of sappho herself, ‘someone will remember us / i say / even in another time.’”