“If I could tell my high school self something, I would say, ‘You’re going to be fine.’ I would have loved to meet me right now as a pediatric therapist. I would love to be able to counsel my younger self because all I needed was someone to be there for me. I think after all what you need to do is to put yourself out there. Everyone is nervous and unsure. Nobody knows who they are, even if they seem like they do. You can’t be afraid of rejection and it’s okay to get hurt and feel sad. But don’t sacrifice being your authentic self because you’re scared.
On the night of the Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando, I was in line to get into Club Cafe in Boston. It was a pride night and everyone was drinking and having fun. I noticed while in line that they were patting people down with metal detectors. I then turned to my friend and said that it was a good thing that they take time with the safety stuff because we’re about to be a very big group of minorities in a small dark space. And then that morning we woke up and heard the news about Pulse. And it just shook me that it could have happened to my friends. It could have happened to me. And I was scared for a long time of being myself and being in public. I’m Jewish and a Jewish queer person would blow their minds. But I’m not afraid. I didn’t stop going out and didn’t stop being myself. You just have to be yourself more.
Be your authentic self in the face of adversity and get your groups together to support each other. No one else is going to be you for you. And the rest of the world will keep going and people will keep hating. But you will keep being you, for you and for younger people like kids who want to come out but don’t know how. We need to be ourselves so that when that kid sitting in the backseat gets yelled at by their mom for being gay, they have support. When I was that scared little kid and my mom was yelling at me, all I needed was to look out the window and see two girls holding hands. So just be yourself.”
— Brie (she/her), 28, female, gay.
