Sapphic Angst Fest | Page 32

I have met my people – that was the first thing I thought after reading the tweets about Berena. After talking to them all – and they come from all over the world – I have found some of the greatest friends who have been there for me in my darkest of times. Being part of the Berena fandom has brought me a new group of friends… It has been wonderful to talk to people about my personal life and the issues I had with being true to myself. To have people I could talk to as I prepared to speak to my family. Their support, advice and kindness have been endless and I wouldn’t have been able to do it without them. Being 45 and 47 ourselves it was a great pleasure to see a relationship developing from friendship to lovers between two women of a certain age. To be represented doesn’t happen often and it makes us feel a part of the society instead of strangers on the side. I have ‘met’ women of all ages from all ar- eas of life and the world. We support each other not just deal- ing with the (very real) anxiety that their relationship is over but also with other issues such as health, coming out etc. Seeing real life friend- ships and rela- tionships form and the confi- dence of fans in their own selves grow and blossom through the love and care of others in the fandom. The way I could identify with the characters made me realise that bisexuality is not a deviant way of life (a prejudice I didn’t even know I had). It actually made me realise that even though the very low number of my relationship experiences, I am not reluctant to be in one with either a man or a woman. And I am absolutely enthusiastic! It took meeting my wife to give me the strength to come out to everyone. I knew that even if I lost everyone else in my life because of it, I’d still have her. Sometimes all it takes is that one person in your corner backing you up to make you brave enough. I think the Berena fandom is that for a good number of women who join it.