About the Archive

It was the summer of 2023 when I first began sharing lesbian historical stories on Rednote. To my surprise, they quickly gained popularity. The first story I told came from a small exhibit I encountered in a museum in Manchester, UK. 

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Bit by bit — and then with growing consciousness — I began collecting lesser-known lesbian stories (at least, lesser-known in China). From Natalie Barney’s Parisian salon to the story of a U.S. lesbian astronaut Sally Ride (recently adapted into a film), I shared stories that resonated widely.

 

For those unfamiliar with the political climate in contemporary China, sharing LGBTQ content — especially stories related to China — carries serious risks of censorship or outright banning. I learned this firsthand: in the past, my Weibo account was banned simply for posting factual information about the 1990s Chinese LGBT movement, a particularly sensitive topic.

 

And yet, this danger also speaks to the hunger, the passion, among Chinese lesbians and queer women to learn our own herstory. With the rise of feminist discourse on Chinese social media over the past decade, more women have begun to question compulsory heterosexuality and search for alternative forms of intimacy. Many are realizing, for the first time, that their sexuality may have been hidden even from themselves.

 

Over time, by sharing stories and fragments from all kinds of texts and sources, I’ve gathered more than 60,000 followers — mostly on Mandarin-speaking platforms. Now, I want to introduce my archive to the English-speaking world.

 

First, because I’ve unearthed many Chinese and East Asian lesbian stories that deserve to be seen and shared globally. And second, because learning English, and reading in English, helped me escape the carefully woven cage of being a “good woman” — the kind my native society would approve of.