Oh, Naya. I haven’t posted on this in a very long time. I can’t put into words how much her performance on Glee has meant to myself and a lot of my friends who had trouble coming to terms with who they truly are. All it took was one YouTube clip of her for me to start watching Glee. Numerous nights were spent live tweeting with a group of friends under the hashtag #GaySharks I would play the “Rumor Has It/Someone Like You” mashup on replay so much that it drove my older brother crazy. Friends would randomly send me her interviews and photoshoots (I’m terrible at deleting messages on FB so I still have an old chat full of them). I grew out of fandom not too long after Glee ended and haven’t followed her as closely since I’ve joined the military, but she still held a place in my heart. 2 days before news broke about her disappearance, I tweeted something about Glee to which a friend of my replied “you were a gleek?!” And my reply was that I will never apologize for my massive crush on Naya Rivera. It doesn’t feel real. I keep thinking about how she died. I almost drowned when I was 5 and I can’t help but think about how scared she must’ve been. I just can’t believe this. She brought so much light and many fond memories into my early 20s. Sending all my love to her son, family, and friends. May they be at peace knowing how loved she is and that she left a positive impact on a generation in the LGBTQ community.
