Welcome to Women Like Us. Make yourself comfortable. Pull up a chair. There’s tea in the pot. Have a look around, and you’ll find blogs by incredible LGBTQ+ women, our inspirational life stories, our art and our poetry.
The original vision for Women Like Us was as a spin-off of my work as a ghostwriter. I’ve become obsessed with the stories of women, particularly LGBTQ+ women, and I wanted to find another way to present my work, create a platform for other writers and artists, and maybe even a community for queer women to come together and share stories.
I only know the LGBTQ+ experience from my own perspective, and I wanted to change that, so I decided to go out and interview other LGBTQ+ women, specifically about the most challenging, life-changing moments of their lives, and how they overcame them, how they were changed by them.
“That’s really what Women Like Us is all about: the hope that we might find ourselves in the words, and empathy for others, that it might help us on this path is some small way … and that we might be inspired, cry, laugh and smile together.”
We are all so different and, sadly, this divides us at times. I’m not sure why that should be when we’re united by so many common challenges. Maybe reading about each other’s lives without judgment will help to bring us together. L+G+B+T+Q+any other queer letter that you want to throw in, all in it together.
Learning to live honestly and openly has been a lifelong, rewarding challenge for me. Being open about my own struggles has made me a happier person, and brought me closer to others. Equally, exposure to the stories of other women, seeing myself in them, relating to their struggles, realising that I’m not alone, is always healing, and that’s really what Women Like Us is all about: the hope that we might find ourselves in the words, and empathy for others, that it might help us on this path is some small way … and that we might be inspired, cry, laugh and smile together.
If you have a story to tell, or would like us to showcase your art or poetry, find out how you can get involved.
Enjoy.
Hayley
Chronically Fabulous: The Critical Role of D&D in an Isolated World
By Josie Quinn: “In a year of isolation and fear, Dungeons & Dragons has not only kept me connected with the outside world, but given all of us the much needed chance to escape our current reality, even if only for a few hours.”
Random Thoughts: Dear 15-Year-Old Me …
Janine Norris: A letter of hope and understanding from the future to her struggling teenage self.
Giving Shame the Finger!
Louise Clare Dalton. “Let’s talk about shame baby, let’s talk about it and me, let’s talk about all the good things and the … oh wait. Hon, let’s not kid ourselves, there isn’t much ‘good’ to speak of when it comes to the shame surrounding sexuality and queerness.
Women Like Us 