On the latest episode of Queer Times podcast, Harrison and I sit down and talk about our coming out stories. While Harrison and I had very different upbringings, neither one of us shocked our families by coming out.
That’s me on the left. I was maybe 5 or 6 years old. The hair cut was my mother’s idea but the hat was all me. As I listened back to our stories this week I couldn’t help but marvel at the cognitive dissonance in our society.
Young LGBTQ+ folks get picked on by other students, well before puberty. Gym teachers and football coaches seem unable to hide their disdain for those they deem less athletically inclined, even if those same boys have strong muscles from years of dancing. While coming out is important, maybe we as a society should stop pretending that we can’t pick a gay kid out at the playground. Stop acting like every grown up didn’t know why they were calling me a tomboy. Queer people have always been here, and straight people have always known it. As a matter of fact, straight folks know it before we do and waste ZERO time in letting us know we are different. They scowl at young women who are uncomfortable in dresses and scowl at young men who are not.
More often then not, we queers find our peers. How often have you met a cute gay boy and then found out about the lesbian best friend from his childhood? We find each other and something deep down feels safer . Innately.
Maybe the issue isn’t that str8 folks need us to come out of the closet, but that they need to stop thinking they can terrify us into going into one.
New Episodes of Queer Times Podcast comes out every Wednesday
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