For new series to acknowledge Pride celebrations taking place across the UK in September, we've asked LGBTQ+ musicians and figures to write a love letter to either the community or a queer person who has inspired them, along with an Apple Music playlist to pay tribute. Here, UK Black Pride co-founder, executive director of Kaleidoscope Trust, and inspirational LGBTQ+ activist Lady Phyll honours love in its many different forms. LADY PHYLL'S LETTER Toni Morrison said, “love is divine only and difficult always” and this moment we inhabit and navigate together is such a concrete example of her wisdom. Side by side, we are trying our best to keep our heads held high while we fight against a rising tide of hate. In a time as fraught as ours, the love we offer to each other is balm and flame: we at once offer a soothing and love-filled embrace and ignite in each other the fire we need to keep fighting. The divinity of and in love is us. We are the tough, divine stuff that make love real. It is from within us, and consequently around us, that love pours forth into a world desperate for it. I offer these songs, which touch on self-love, erotic love and communal love, in the hope of both escape and return: float away here and come back to us when you’re ready. Our love, and our future together, is waiting.