the boys i've loved and the end of the world

ode to the lgbt+ community

i am lgbt+ and proud.
i am part of a community
that has struggled its entire
existence, so people know that
it exists. but we are still here,
and we are so strong.

i am gay and proud.
i have fought against other
men who are insecure in their
masculinity, who view two men
holding hands as a threat
and not something beautiful.

i am lesbian and proud.
i have battled the stereotypes
and fetishization of who i am
because i am not a mold
and i am not something to
jack off to: i am a human.

i am bisexual and proud.
i continue to scream that
i am not in a phase
and i am not whatever sexuality
fits with whoever i'm dating,
and i am just as valid as you are.

i am transgender and proud.
i was born in the wrong body
but that doesn't make me any
less human, and it terrifies me that
people would rather kill us than
let us become who we're meant to be.

i am asexual and proud.
i have pushed back against
the idea that i am an emotionless
robot; i have feelings and emotions
just like you. why does not having
sexual desire mean i'm incapable of love?

i am genderqueer and proud.
i don't fit into the spectrum
and sometimes i lean more
in one direction than the other,
but i am know who i am,
even if you don't understand it.

i am pansexual and proud.
i am as valid as bisexuality,
but ever so different; i fall in love
with people with no regard for
their gender, they could be male,
female, or somewhere in between.

i am aromantic and proud.
i have worked to dismantle
the belief that i cannot have
meaningful relationships;
i may not fall in love as easily,
but i do love people, just not romantically.

i am an ally and proud.
i have marched alongside them
since stonewall, since the AIDS epidemic,
since DOMA, since the pulse shooting,
and i will march alongside them
until they no longer need me to.

i am lgbt+ and proud.
i am lgbt+ and valid.
i am lgbt+ and human.
                                                    -c.h.

~

EDIT (2020)
hi—just a brief note about this piece.

i wrote this in 2016 when i was 15 or freshly 16 (it was for pride month which is also my birthday month). at the time i intended it to be an uplifting piece. i wanted for members of the LGBTQ+ community to be able to see themselves in it, as well as allies. it was meant to be supportive.

in hindsight and after seeing some comments on it from members of the LGBTQ+ community, i know now that it was inappropriate, and just sort of uncomfortable, for me as a cis-het girl to take it upon myself to speak as a member of the LGBTQ+ community. my intentions were and always have been to support and uplift those who are LGBTQ+, and part of being a good ally is to learn when you have overstepped, even though you meant well.

i don't want to delete this piece because i don't want to seem as though i'm acting like it never was written. it was written. i wrote it, meaning only the best. at the time the reception it received was very positive and for many, it still is a positive and uplifting piece and i don't want to take that away. however, i haven't written a piece like this in a long time because i have learned that instead of speaking for the LGBTQ+ (however good the intentions may be), lifting up their voices is the best thing to do as an ally. so with that being said, please check out some of my favorite LGBTQ+ poets:

trista mateer
amanda lovelace
cyrus parker
andrea gibson
topaz winters

thank you.