I probably sound like a broken record in praise of Sarah’s writing – this is another book that captured my heart.
I read it on the way to and from Pilgrim Cross – where Northern Leg is relaxed in its inclusion of Trans, Non-Binary, and LGB + pilgrims, it is a delight to be in a space where you are included by default – we have travelled far since the moment when I nervously came out to my Northern Leg friends in the Jesus Arms at Greenbelt the best part of twenty years ago. But enough about me…
This book is about two stories, Jesse’s story today and Lisa story of 1988, it is a bit of a history lesson but a necessary one – so much queer history is forgotten we need people to tell our stories – to remind the increasingly toxic society we live in that we have always been here.
My relationship with Section 28 is complex – I was seven when it came into force and 22 when it was repealed – my engagement in the campaign to get rid of it in Scotland was one of the first expressions of me coming out to myself – but it is only in recent years that I have understood the shadow it cast over my sense of self - “pretended families” is a phrase that has settled deep in a well of shame that I carry with me everywhere.
Sarah writes books of hope but this one feels more 50/50 – we have no explicit happy ever after for Lisa, for Jesse there is a ‘Stand up, Stand out’ affirmation, we wish them well as we send them off into the storm clouds...
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