gay people have always existed. you don't realize the truth of it, until you look at the countless examples throughout time, not just the well-known ones, but the ones you know from stories told to you, about everyday people leading humble, "unremarkable" lives. as a young girl, my grandmother delivered love letters between two lovestruck teenage girls. she was unaware of the contents of the letters, and when she caught the two of them kissing, she did not realize they were lovers. later in life, she told me, the two left their husbands and ran away together. my other grandmother was kissed by a girl, when they were both workers at the same factory. she was about seventeen years old. back then she did not know girls could fall in love with other girls. i knew it was wrong, she said to me, but i kept her secret. in both these stories, what struck me the most is how love between people of the same gender was so little known, so hidden. we have always existed but, in the past, our existence had been a secret even to us. how in love must have all these people been, to keep going, despite the loneliness they must have felt. a love deeper and steadier than most straight people could ever hope to know. i don't know what happened to those women, or if they're even alive. but i hope, wherever they are, they have finally found the peace and warmth they deserve
