This Much is True

by Miriam Margolyes

Might a certain level of uncertainty be a good thing? Complete confidence carries smugness alongside – and I do not want that.

It’s possible that my insecurity is the very quality that connects me to everyone else. I don’t hide my vulnerability. I don’t know how.

But may I say strongly that being a lesbian is not enough – it’s not all there is; it’s simply another adjective to describe a person. And when people say, ‘Oh, you must meet X, she’s a lesbian too,’ I groan with irritation. I don’t want to live in a lesbian world. I want to live in The World, with everyone else. I would never deny my sexuality – indeed I am often accused of trumpeting it far too stridently and often – but please don’t shut me or anyone else in a lesbian cage. Some gay women only want to be with gay women. I don’t. I pick the people in my life because of who they are, not because of who they sleep with. Let’s open the closet and take our place in the world.

Life is sweeter shared.

Everyone I’ve known leaves footprints on my life. Thank you. Friends bring out the best in me, and that’s what I cherish: they make me feel that I am worth knowing. Maybe it’s a good idea, as Shakespeare said, to bind your friends to you with hoops of steel. They certainly are my armour and my fortress.

Boris Johnson is like Trump: a ruthless, dangerous narcissist, drunk with power.

Many of them call themselves Christians – evangelicals. I call them ‘evil-gelicals’.

I’m constantly being reminded to keep it clean. I regret I offend – it’s a bad habit I got into very early. But saying ‘fuck’ and ‘shit’ and ‘cunt face’ isn’t as bad as racism or selling drugs. Get real!