LGBTQ+ People Are Not Going Back. We Have Always Been Here.

We aren’t going away.

The author and her wife. Photo by the author.

I’m a seventy-one-year-old woman. I’ve survived cancer of various sorts. I’ve survived being assaulted. I’ve survived being someone else’s punchline. I’ve survived all these decades despite being someone else’s scary monster.

Yes, I’m dangerous. Mama bear dangerous. Don’t mess with my kids, my found family, or those I love. I’ll chase you up a tree, and likely climb up after you.

I protect people.

Oh, you’ll pass unenforceable laws to try and render me invisible? Hah, too late! I’m old, and in a youth-worshipping consumer culture that renders me invisible already.

Published by the Office of Congresswoman Nancy Mace (R-SC)

I’ll glide past your “Women As Recorded At Birth” restroom signs, step into that cubicle, close the door, and pee! Then I’ll leave a little sticker on the wall, made using that Post-It adhesive to avoid tormenting the poor overworked cleaning staff.

Photo by the author.