"I used to be afraid of my Queerness.
I used to think that people would no longer see me for who I am before I came out, that "lesbian" would be the only thing they saw. I didn't want them to think that I've changed just because I'm gay. I'm still loud, goofy, and funny. And damn it, I'm still loveable.
But my Queerness has in fact changed me.
My Queerness elevates me and allows my personality to shine brighter. I'm louder and braver now. I laugh more and love harder, and that shit is contagious.
To truly love myself is to revel in my Queerness." -Sadie
"Dysphoria is a bitch but sometimes I feel good and powerful in my skin. There are rare moments I am able to see past the veil of my outer societally recognized masculine appearance and I can see the soft beautiful ever-shifting entity that exists underneath." -Orrin
"I’ve been thinking a lot about queerness as a journey, not a destination. Not getting caught up in labels of queerness. Over the years, I have more so identified as queer because it gives people space. It gives anyone space to just be themselves and for me to be myself and not have to define what that is in any sort of way. Because I can wake up and feel or do a certain thing, dress a certain way, and that’s queer in its own regard. No matter what." -Minx
“From a young age, like many queer youth probably, I feel like I was taught to hide. When that lesson was taught to me, I think I tried to compartmentalize myself, which caused a vivisection of my ideas and actions and labeled them right and wrong. If I was my own house, I felt like I had rooms I couldn’t go into. They were already there, but their contents too sinful to be explored. For a long time, I never opened those doors because I was scared and ashamed they were a part of me I couldn’t get rid of. For me, being queer has been a journey to a new home of a self-acceptance. An acceptance so radical I feel freedom greater and deeper than I ever have before. Beautiful and loved. I feel like I live in a mansion of a thousand sun-lit rooms with enough joy to fill each one.” -Caleb
"Growing up on the east coast I was always judged by my appearance (masc-hetro). I moved to San Francisco and was automatically labeled as a homo. Truth be told neither are true. My sexual desires don’t define me as a person, I choose not to label myself because I’m ever evolving. If I was to put a label on who I am it would be as follows:
Sober, Solo Poly, Kinkster, Pansexual, Alpha who is content without having intimate partners.
Don’t get me wrong intimacy is great but I try to look beyond the sexual attraction to others and see if they are a relationship I want to have."
-Kenneth