Over a period of a few months, the BBC spoke to dozens of young lesbians in a country where homosexuality is illegal. They told us about their day-to-day lives and how they use secret memes to connect with each other on social media platforms and chat apps. We have substituted those images with that of a violet for the purpose of this report. The women are in high spirits, chatting animatedly, playfully sketching patterns on each other using body paint, and sharing a picnic. They meet once a month, in different places. Sometimes in public but mostly behind closed doors. Most of them are wearing jeans and T-shirts in various colours, patterns and styles. The T-shirts are important because printed on each one is a discreet, matching symbol. Something only they understand. They could be fined or imprisoned.

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Your eyes meet across the room and a spark seems to pass from her eyes to yours. So how did you get to sharing your plaid shirts and rainbow suspenders? For a deeper discussion of the science supporting the existence of gaydar , see our article from last year, but a good summary of the field can be gleaned from a study conducted at Northeastern University that sought to confirm whether lesbians had better gaydar than straight women. In the study, 67 straight women and 43 lesbians were asked to identify lesbians and heterosexuals among nine target subjects. The lesbians were much better at identifying other lesbians, which makes a ton of sense from a mate identification point of view. The brain plays the biggest role in attraction sorry, heart! The orbitofrontal cortex, an area right above the eyes, for example, is involved in decision-making and emotional processing—and is the first to activate when your eyes lock with hers. In , a research team based at the Stockholm Brain Institute used positron emission tomography a PET scan in an effort to test how the brain processes sex pheromones—chemicals emitted by the body to attract sexual partners. Their research determined that lesbians and heterosexual men exhibited more blood flow in the brain after sniffing a female pheromone-like chemical called EST and that their anterior hypothalamus activated in contrast, normally it is the piriform cortex and amygdala that are activated when the brain processes odors. The hypothalamus is suspected to be associated with sexual arousal.
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I have already used both while reading these and plan on crying independently later at home. Seriously, these stories are so great. It was just two months into my first relationship with a woman and on that day, I knew I was head over heels for her and that we were going to be together for a long time. She was so radiant and sweet. I knew it was more than just a crush. I went back to visit campus a year after I had graduated and we met up at a party. I had to see her again, and I made the trip up to visit every weekend after that. On my third trip, I went up to take care of her when she was feeling sick. She was in this loose pink shirt, hair in a messy ponytail, and just a little bit sweaty from the flu, but she still made me lunch. She turned to wash the dishes the second we finished eating which is not something everyone does, and later I have learned, something that she never does and while she was washing them, I knew that I had fallen in love with her and wanted to have domestic moments like that with her every day.
But you are setting yourself up to leave the Church more easily, and even if you agree the children will be raised Mormon, your kids will likely not continue to participate in the Church as adults. The church essays that address that linked at www. Might be worth working through the missionary lessons and CES letter to see if they can agree at least to disagree. I don't think we could have a real conversation about those points either. I would think that a comprise between you getting missionary discussions and her reading the CES letter would be even.