The south is often seen as hostile territory for the LGBTQ+ community — not wholly without cause. But for the queer and trans folks who call the south home, there's power in loving one another during unlovable times.
; laughing with my best friend in Miami; crash-landing on rural, trans-owned land and staying for months on end. I think about the elders who shaped me. The motorcycle-driving butch who left me small, perfect eggs from her farm. The wryfrom a 65-year-old doula or the hilarious truisms dished out by a gay barber who’d seen it all. I think about the strong shoulders of the south I’ve not only leaned on but stand on, too.
Southern queer life is intimate by nature, out of necessity — because if we don't got each other, who does? Carlos and I met during our freshman year in the library of our university during finals week. We laughed, shared music and snacks, and did very little work. That night started a nine-year friendship. We’ve seen each other through teary conversations about platonic and romantic love, graduations, couch co-rotting, playing Fortnite from states away, resume reviews and job searches, family events and holidays.
When I couldn’t see myself in the outside world when I was coming of age, I found glimmers of my own possibility in queer community spaces. These sanctuaries helped me hold a future for myself, especially during the 10-year wait for lifesaving gender-affirming medicine and surgery. As a trans man, my journey in self-validation and self-love has been the most challenging and rewarding emotional and spiritual experience of my life.
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