#queer innocence

[queercounselor]

From Queer Failure to Queer Innocence

What comes after acceptance and pride?

Pride challenge day 13: When did I realize I wasn't straight?

The image I used for this Psychology Today post is yours truly at age 7, I'm sharing the link because I had to relearn how to claim my childhood innocence. At age 7 I grew out my hair and was instantaneously perceived as a girl, which was incredibly liberating....and also problematic given all the violence that came next. It was also around that time I became very aware of my attraction to men. So, essentially, I've been as queer for as long as I can remember. In retrospect everything was always so serious. I like to tell people now that I'm aging backwards. I laugh more now than I ever have in my laugh, and I definitely cry way less.

[dasgigler]

queer innocence is something I think about a whole lot, and I want to remind you that you have a right to your innocence. you are queer, you are Muslim, you are sexual, playful, thoughtful, brown, gentle, trans, a young parent or a sex worker, you are a precious benevolent presence in the world and you have the right to claim it. it is our challenge to protect our softness and our innocence in defiance of people who use a racist, cis-sexist, and hetero-supremacist culture against us. you have your innocence. wield it.