For Just Like Us ambassador Deia Penn, Chappell Roan’s success is a reminder that queer women “deserve to take up space in our own community”.
WORDS BY DEIA PENN At 14-years-old I knew who I was. I had been raised near Manchester on a diet of old Hollywood films and Project Runway re-runs, and surrounded by women who do femininity in the loudest, brightest way possible.
I wanted to grow up to be one of these women, wielding hyper-femininity like a flick-knife. I also knew that I only wanted to be in relationships with other women.
The problem was that I wasn’t sure that I was allowed to be both. I had searched the internet for queer women and had come back disappointed.