letter from the editor
To the readers of honey & lime:
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I’d wanted to do a queer-themed issue since I started this magazine and I’m so excited that we got to do this just in time for pride month! I can’t properly express how important this theme is to me, nor how touching and incredible it was to go through all the talented submissions we received.
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As a bi woman raised in a devout Catholic (and, thus, homophobic) environment, it took me many years to accept my own sexuality— to be able to proudly say I’m bi, to come out to the people closest to me, to regard my attraction to non-men without guilt or shame. My experience as a queer person has thus far been full of confusion and heartache, but with even more sheer joy and a deeper understanding of who I am. I would not trade it for anything in the universe.
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I wanted to hear from other queer creators in our community because, of course, there is not one singular queer experience. Each of our contributors spread open their hearts and poured out a dizzying array of emotions and stories: the tenderness of new love that is accepting and compassionate, as described by Honor Ford; the raw splitting-open of finally coming to terms with one’s own identity in Juliane Worthington’s essay; the strength and hard determination in Kat Cassar and Samuel Gratton’s message to cisgender artists; the world-shaking grief in Randi M. Romo’s poem about a beloved HIV-positive friend.
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In her essay, “Sushi and Tears,” Emma Bishop says, “I wanted to be loud and unashamed.” This truly encompasses what this issue is all about: the desire to just exist, simply and unabashedly. Find within these pages this desire, sometimes whispered and other times bellowed: for love, kindness, understanding, acceptance. To my fellow queer creators, readers, and members of the literary community, I hope this issue brings you the comfort that you are not existing alone. We’re in this together, and we share in your pain, joy, rage, and sadness. May we all arrive at the place where we can live loudly, unashamedly.
Wanda Deglane
Editor-in-Chief
honey & lime literary magazine