chloë’s world 🩵

Bobby Smith and Mary VanderWall, circa 1950s.

“Bobby Smith, the 69-year-old Tampa lesbian, has been strip-searched by police, harassed by neighbors and screamed at by strangers who told her to join the circus. She lives with her partner of 33 years in a neighborhood near MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa. Smith is one of the rare lesbians from her generation who never married or pretended to desire men. She has always been a ‘butch,’ the masculine partner common in old-fashioned lesbian relationships. ‘I’ve always liked boy’s clothes,’ she says, smiling. ‘I didn't go to college because I would have had to wear a dress. But I took a look in the mirror and said, ‘You can go and make it big in the world, or you can be at peace with yourself and eat beans.’ Five decades later, she says, ‘I am at peace with myself.’”

You, who opened suns in my heart.

Two Women Kissing in Nature (b. 1859)