From touring Europe at fourteen to shaping her own grungy, soulful sound, this musician reflects on two decades of writing, performing, and finding community through music. A candid look at creativity, identity, and the mentors who helped her grow.

Step behind the academic curtain with Dr Kerryn Drysdale as she reflects on Sydney’s drag king scene, lesbian community-building, and the everyday queer moments that shaped a cultural movement.

Bloom LGBTQ+ started as a cross‑continental love story between Lennie Maré and Ninna Andersson. Today, it’s growing into a community‑driven digital space for dating, friendship, chosen family and queer belonging — built independently and shaped by LGBTQ+ voices across South Africa, Sweden and Australia.

For years, she felt like everyone else had been handed a manual for life that she'd somehow missed. In this deeply personal essay, one woman reflects on coming out in her late 30s, receiving an AuDHD diagnosis in her 50s, and finding a sense of belonging in the queer community after feeling like she'd arrived late to the party.

Award‑winning queer artist Emmanuelle Mattana takes us inside the world of Trophy Boys, drag king culture, and the performance of masculinity. From Melbourne’s vibrant drag scene to their move to London, Mattana shares insights into creativity, gender, and the future of queer theatre.

Sandra Willson spent 18 years behind bars despite being found not guilty. Her story reveals the brutal intersection of homophobia, psychiatry, and the justice system — and the feminist and queer activists who refused to let her be forgotten.

In 1950s Melbourne — a city where queerness was criminalised and lived in whispers — Val Eastwood quietly built a sanctuary. Her iconic Val’s Coffee Lounge became one of Australia’s earliest LGBTQ+ hubs, offering a lifeline to queer people who had never before seen themselves reflected in public. Val’s unapologetic style, entrepreneurial spirit, and fearless visibility changed the course of sapphic history.

Some LGBTQ+ spaces still struggle with trans inclusion — but why? In this powerful reflection, cis lesbian Catherine Mellors explores fear, generational tension, shared queer history and the courage it takes for trans women to simply show up. A call for empathy, dignity and genuine allyship within our own community.

Alexa and Zara’s relationship began with an unexpected knock at the door and grew into a six‑year partnership defined by honesty, humour and resilience. In this intimate Q&A, they open up about their careers, their first impressions, surviving a difficult move during COVID, and the foundations that keep their love strong.

Drag kings are reshaping the way we understand masculinity — not by imitating men, but by exposing how constructed masculinity really is. Through swagger, satire, taped chests and bold performance, kings claim power, confidence and desire on their own terms. This piece dives into the theory, the rebellion and the magic behind Australia’s drag king revolution.

Laura McPhee‑Brown’s Worry Doll is a queer novel that refuses to be neatly defined. Through Heloise and Lacey’s shifting perspectives, the story unravels obsession, projection and the fragile realities we build around desire. This LOTL review explores the book’s haunting ambiguity and its rare, nuanced portrayal of queer women.

A groundbreaking exhibition is opening in Melbourne this October, showcasing three decades of lesbian activism, creativity, and community-building. Lesbians Leap from the Archives 1970–2000 brings together rare materials from personal collections and national archives to honour the women who shaped feminist and lesbian culture across Australia.

For decades, bisexual women have been pushed to the margins of lesbian feminist spaces — from separatist ideology in the 1970s to modern dating apps and community discourse. This article traces that history through archives, old LOTL issues, and lived experience, revealing how exclusion was justified, how it persists, and why solidarity between lesbians and bi+ women is vital for our shared liberation.

Step behind the curtain with Australia’s original GlamourBoi King, Sexy Galexy. In this intimate Q&A, Sexy shares how drag transformed shyness into confidence, how identity shaped his iconic GlamourBoi style, and why preserving drag king history matters now more than ever.

Limerence isn’t just a crush — it’s the overwhelming, involuntary longing that can take over your entire emotional landscape. In this intimate reflection, Jody Ekert explores how desire, projection, and queer culture collide, revealing why sapphic limerence can feel so intoxicating, so consuming, and so hard to recognise.

A deliciously camp recipe for creating your very own drag king. From swagger and contour to choreography and confidence, this guide serves one ridiculously handsome king.

Meeting Joan Nestle at the Letters From Ger exhibition felt like stepping into living queer history. Everything I’d learned about the 1950s, Stonewall, and the early days of lesbian activism had always come from books or documentaries. Hearing Joan speak — a woman who has been out since the 1950s and founded the Lesbian Herstory Archives — awakened a hunger in me for real, tangible stories from elders in our community. What began as a chance encounter quickly became a friendship that reshaped my understanding of queer lineage, activism, and love.

Lesbian activists played a pivotal role in shaping Australia’s early gay rights movement. From the Daughters of Bilitis to CAMP INC, Gay Liberation, and Women’s Liberation, lesbians were central to public education, protest, and political organising throughout the 1960s and 1970s

Travelling to Uralla for a Winter Solstice celebration becomes an unexpected moment of reflection — on ageing, queer community, regional life, and the small rituals that help us navigate the longest night of the year. Among lanterns, bonfires, and shared wishes, a sense of connection emerges in a month where acceptance has felt fragile. It might just be the most beautiful night of the year.

Activist, athlete, 78er and late‑blooming storyteller Kate Rowe joins Silke for a powerful conversation about lesbian identity, protest, community, and aging out loud. From the night of the 1978 Mardi Gras arrests to the shifting “queer alphabet” of today, Kate reflects on courage, conflict, humour, and finding her voice in her seventies. Her stories bridge generations - reminding us why lesbian history matters now more than ever.