Watson

We’ve been together nearly 2 years and yet I’m still getting tweets and seeing threads accusing me and J of being ‘fake’ lesbians & are together for some sort of publicity or male attention. Those who know us personally know the real shitshow & huge danger we went through.

I’d say at least once a week, women we know, activists in our movement, feminists we followed or looked up to make homophobic comments about us. It’s been a real eye-opener, especially as we once felt so safe and so protected when we were so scared to come out.

We’ve seen threads about our actual sex life by so called ‘feminists’. Mocking us for what we look like, our personal lives, our childhoods and backgrounds. We’ve made conscious decisions to step back from so many things we love because of the harassment and homophobia

Until you’ve been in a situation where you cannot come out as gay or lesbian, or be who you really are because of fear or control or abuse - you’ll never know what me & J lived through. We expected some level of understanding & support but instead met with suspicion and misogyny.

We were both scared about coming out, but I don’t think we were ever scared that feminists would relentless mock us We were scared of horrible homophobic abuse from men and trolls, and that did come, and it was vile, but we never expected this months and months of shit

We’ve both spent much of last year reflecting on how unsafe we both now feel, in places and groups that we once felt completely at home. It’s incredible how many feminists can wax lyrical about comphet and misogyny, but can’t apply it to real women in that position.

And I will say, don’t think I haven’t noticed how many have stayed completely silent but have watched us get sent this public abuse. Don’t think I haven’t seen women I trusted and looked up to laugh reacting and liking abusive comments about our bodies or our relationship.