06/25/2025
As a therapist I feel so blessed to be able to create a safe space for LGBTQIA+ youth. Approaching this last week of pride month I'd like to share some of my story.
My first crush on a girl was in kindergarten. We used to play a game we called, "aladin and jasmine," I didn't understand having a crush on a girl so I told myself it was because she was pretending to be a boy
When I was 10 I asked my mom what a "le***an" was, I had overhead her use the word - she told me to look it up. The dictionary said, "homos*xual," I still had no idea what any of it meant and moved on.
In 8th grade I had a much stronger attraction to a girl and again was confused. I told myself it was because she was "tom boy-ish."
I came out to my mom that same year.
Where I am from there are non-profits that support LGBTQIA+ youth. I am blessed. I am blessed that these places existed and that my parents let me go to them.
Regardless of what gender my partners were, I never felt like I fit any of the labels. Sometimes I dressed masculine, sometimes feminine, sometimes I loved men, women, trans people.
In my life people wanted me to say I was bi-s*xual people told me I was a le***an. Neither of these felt right.
Senior year of high-school I fought the school to accept same s*x couples at prom. I made a petition, I went to the local news, I didn't succeed, but I made waves and I stood up for the community
Almost 15 years after coming out, a good friend of mine asked me if there was a word that felt right, a "label," what would it be? I spent a lot of time and came to the word "q***r."
I am q***r. To me it means, weird, strange, unique, different. I am those things.
I am who I am and I love who I love.
