What breaks my heart is that there are so many people in the world who struggle with acceptance- from family, friends, peers, even themselves. There's so much hatred in this world just because of who someone is. I believe that no matter who someone is, they are worthy of having someone who loves them for who they are, not for a facade they present to the world because they feel they have to.
When someone chooses to come out- whether it be about their romantic, sexual, or gender identity- they place a great amount of trust in whoever they are addressing, because it's almost impossible to know if they're safe. I've heard so many stories about physical, verbal, and sexual abuse, people with no way to support themselves being cut off from anything they know, and "corrective" rape (1). There's no excuse for the sheer amount of hate crimes that happen every day, everywhere.
Of course, in the society I live in, not everyone knows what the prefixes pan-, demi-, a-, akio-, gray-, mean. There's so many different ways for a human being to identify, but I believe in people's ability to learn about their fellow man. There are some who refuse to learn, I'm aware of that, but they're a whole other issue that I'm not sure I want to tackle right now.
I know that there are people- adults, teens, even kids- who don't fit into the strict gender binary and heteronormativity that's so prevalent globally, but they don't know what they do feel, because they don't know the name for it. Labels can be restricting, but they can also be freeing, because if you don't know what you are or how you feel, then that can just lead to feelings of dissociation and brokenness. If I could tell each and every person in the world that what they feel about who they are is valid, then I would.
That's what love means.
Love isn't just sex, love isn't just romance. Love is accepting people for who they are and where they come from, no matter what, even if you think their beliefs are wrong.
There are so many names I've heard people like me call themselves. MOGAI (2), LGBT+, queer, even the word "gay" is becoming an umbrella term. However, when those words are turned to slurs, then there's something wrong.
I want to change that, in the tiny community around me, in my city, in my country, in the world.
That's what I'm about. What about you?
Some informative links:
1. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corrective_rape
2. http://thedailyqueer.com/2014/10/19/what-is-mogai/
General list of orientations/identities:
http://safespacenetwork.tumblr.com/define
