Lez Liberty Lit: The End

Hi and welcome to the last-ever Lez Liberty Lit!

What we pay attention to grows.

Over the decade-ish that I’ve been writing this column, the number of published queer and trans stories has exploded. It used to feel possible to read all of them, because there were so few. Then it felt possible to at least track all of them. Now, they simply feel abundant.

This is, in case it’s not obvious, an extremely good thing. But it’s also not a sure thing.

It can be tempting, when you fight for something and then start to get it, to see it as static. Now that we have it, we will always have it. What a relief that would be, right? But queer stories, like queer pleasure and desire and love, must be part of an ongoing practice. We must continue to give them our attention and consideration and care.

If you take anything away from this space over the years, I hope it’s this: Seek out the stories that resonate with you, and when you can’t find them, write your own.

If you’d like to keep in touch, find me at rl.yates (insta), rlyatesofficial (twitter), rlyates (venmo if you want to buy me a coffee), or rlyates.com. Thank you so much for being here.