September 2006 Editorial

Our wedding approaches and to our astonishment, half the guests will be relatives. It’s amazing how transformative this process has been for us and our families. My mother has come out to all her friends and co-workers as having a lesbian daughter. To hear her say it, she wants to be able to talk about her life, her daughter and her daughter’s partner and people will just have to deal with it.My older brother, who visits with me when I’m single, but has so far avoided meeting any of my female partners, will be attending with his wife and son. Since I’ve had the good fortune to be with Jeanette for awhile, I haven’t seen him in six years. My younger brother has been incredible. He’s planning a surprise honeymoon for us and is going to be the MC.

My beloved’s family has really stepped up as well, which is a pleasant shock from a family she thought were essentially homophobic. Fourteen relatives on her side are attending, none of which have less than a five hour drive ahead of them to get here.

It’s beyond words to describe what all this means to us. Despite, or perhaps because of all this good fortune, organizing a lower-budget lesbian Wiccan (but ‘broom-closeted’) wedding and reception for 60 guests is no picnic, even if we’re not getting all Martha Stewart about it. Accordingly, I am swamped and was grateful that my call put out to the e-subscription list turned up pieces by Claire Robson, Emily Boyce and mysterious writer ‘Shep Wildwood’.

The resulting issue seems to have a distinct focus on a topic dear (and near) to lesbian hearts—breast health. We have butch bra shopping tips, a review of poetry about a woman and her breasts, a talk for lesbians on breast and other cancers and a piece on bicycle repair. Okay, bicycle repair isn’t directly about breasts, but I’m sure bicycling is good for them. Healthy body, healthy breasts. If you’re a lesbian and are thinking about writing something for LQ for December’s issue, contact me by November 1st for writers guidelines. You don’t even have to use your own name—ask Shep Wildwood…

– Sophia Kelly—Publishing Editor