EDITOR’S LETTER
October, as I’m sure you know, is Black History Month in the UK, and once again we’re using this as an opportunity to centre and celebrate queer women and non-binary people of colour. Women like the incredible Rainbow Sisters, who share their experiences of navigating the asylum system in the UK on page 72. Their stories are heartbreaking yet hopeful, and we’re so grateful to them for talking to us. Elsewhere, DIVA Books Editor Erica Gillingham chats to author Nicole Dennis-Benn, we hear from the stars of groundbreaking TV show POSE, and writer, singer and performer Cheryl Martin gives us a history lesson on Black theatre ahead of this year’s Homotopia festival. And, of course, there’s our gorgeous cover star Maisie Richardson-Sellers, who took time out of her busy filming schedule to chat to us about growing up as a mixed race woman and how she is leaning into her queerness. Not feeling very celebratory at the moment? I don’t blame you. We are living in extraordinarily turbulent times, after all. With the increasing polarisation of politics, a global shift to the right, and violent attacks against QTIPOC on the rise both online and in real life, many of us are feeling tired, despondent and scared.