We learn so much from our kids! My youngest is under 18. This kid is queer in the most uncategorizable way and I am here for it. This one will answer to any pronoun, is not offended when people assume and assign a gender, and takes delight in being themselves without conforming to gender norms. This one hangs with all genders and honors others' preferred gender expressions. In short, gender is not an issue for this human.
This kid is the one that called me a baby gay.
And rightly so. This kid has been expressing themselves for years now. I started to explore my own queerness journey only two years ago. Hearing my kid call me that gave me the biggest smile that day. It's a cute term that succinctly identifies the newness of this journey. It's hilarious hearing offspring use a youthful term to address their birth giver.
I'm expanding my friendship network and actively cultivating friendships with people who identify as non-heterosexual. I'm enriched by it and am slowly reprogramming my childhood norms. I'm reading and learning about LGBTQIA+ history and finding that my experience of being human is more fulfilling than previous versions. For me, it's all about finding and making that comfortable niche as I travel this human experience. I'm not having my experience dictated to me by external factors, I'm exploring and experiencing and connecting and partaking.
To my kids, thank you for loving me through my past versions. Thank you for loving me now as I finally figure out more of who I am.
The author generated this image in part with GPT-3, OpenAI’s large-scale language-generation model. Upon generating draft imagery, the author reviewed, edited, and revised the image to their own liking and takes ultimate responsibility for the content of this publication.
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