“My first in-person memory of Alice is when we first met. I remember standing outside the subway station, waiting to see which car Alice was driving. I soon learned that when she said ’pick me up,’ she meant she would walk to meet me and not literally have a car. We shared a good laugh. On the way home, we held hands.”
– Jennifer

“My first memory is when we FaceTimed for the first time. We hadn't met in person yet, and both thought this was a nice way to introduce ourselves. I was so excited to see if this mystical person I had been talking to for the last few weeks was real. We became partners and best friends immediately. Since then, we’ve been learning how to be the best of both of those things for each other. Jen brings out in me a version of myself that feels safer than when I’m anywhere else.  

Although the nature of our jobs has us separated for long periods of time, we talk to each other and grow together every day. Even if she's not physically standing with me, she's always got my back and stands by my side metaphorically. 

She inspires me in everything she does, and I love not to let her forget that. I’ve learned from Jen that asking for help does not make you a burden. She’s shown me that to be in a community, you must allow others to help you.”
– Alice

“The love story of Babe Franklin and Ruth Ellis inspires me. They lived together in Detroit in the ’40s and extended their home to the Black Gay and Lesbian community. Their home became known as the ‘Gay Spot’; it was a place for refuge. There are so many different ways to love, and their story shows how they extended their love to the community. I imagine Ruth and Babe would have been providing their home not just to their friends but also to friends of friends and strangers who were part of the community. They really advocated for the community. I was thinking about how different it must have been, being Black and queer in 1940s America and how special their home would have been to so many people.  

Ruth and Babe made me think about ways that I could do that more with my own home, sharing space and extending my love to my friends. Small ways of loving like that.”
– Joy Yamusangie

“We wouldn’t have met if she wasn’t so confident. Ellen and I actually met at work. We didn’t work together, but instead she worked on the floor above the shop I worked at. I was running some kind of errand for my manager which meant going into the offices upstairs, which rarely happens because people in retail never really go to that floor. She must have thought she’d never seen me before. I had never seen her because I had never visited the office. And then, at that moment, we met. She just asked me my name, and that’s how it all started.”
– Joy