According to the mainstream, lesbians and queers are integrated and accepted today. In fact, we are so successful that we don't need our own spaces anymore. Apparently, I can meet a lesbian anywhere, 24/7.
Is it true? I thought I'd check in with the ones who know: the lesbians.

Did they have the same experience as me, navigating mainstream reality, or had we indeed reached a society where sexuality does not matter at all?

I'm Gry Ellebjerg, a Swedish journalist and photographer. I created this website and hit The Pink Road in Europe to look for queers and lesbians.
I wanted to know how they lived their lives in post-pandemic Europe.

To me, they are a symbol of practical democracy. Like no other, they challenge norms in a way that has never been done in public before. Whether it's conscious or unconscious, just by breathing, lesbians are tearing down the walls of patriarchy. Is that not worth an investigation?

Inspired by Gertrude Stein and Svetlana Alexievich, I wanted to do it the "gut way," without planning interviews beforehand or doing tons of research. I was not writing about the facts of legislation, or which country got which rights when. I wanted to capture their experiences.

I had already started using this method in a project at my former job and wanted to explore it further. I believe the gut method also had to do with my general state. 

I was I was 53 years old in no mans land: I was divorced, had lost my parents and the world's best cat, Doris. Grief makes you raw, like a baby. With three Interrail passes in my pocket, I showed up, met people and had heart-to-heart conversations without too many filters. Without too many ready-made ideas in my head.

Traveling in the footsteps of lesbians has been an overwhelming experience. Instead of entering countries, I entered different queer rooms. If you put them next to each other, they build a country of their own with similar challenges and structures.

I travelled alone. Many lesbians live in a reality where they have to find queer rooms over and over again, often alone. I felt like a puppy confronting a pretty harsh reality. Let's be honest. Lesbians are not always the easiest crowd.

I decided to do this project in English. The queer world is international, and English is the language that binds us together. I wanted these stories to reach as far as possible. I had to accept imperfection and loss of control. Perhaps cracks were what I needed. Slowly I start to understand what I have done.

From the very start, my goal was to write a book. Now I am in the process of finishing it. In the book, you will find the conversations I had with queers and lesbians in Europe. On this site, I share some of the stories.

Welcome!