{"id":30388,"date":"2020-06-26T14:00:43","date_gmt":"2020-06-26T12:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lelo.com\/blog\/?p=30388"},"modified":"2020-06-24T10:54:08","modified_gmt":"2020-06-24T08:54:08","slug":"k-elizabeth-dear-younger-queer-self-contest-finalist-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lelo.com\/blog\/k-elizabeth-dear-younger-queer-self-contest-finalist-story\/","title":{"rendered":"K. Elizabeth &#8211; &#8220;Dear Younger Queer Self&#8221; Contest Finalist Story"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Dear Younger Queer Self,<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One day, you won\u2019t be afraid of people finding out who you are. One day, you\u2019ll be proud of yourself and how far you\u2019ve come.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-30401\" src=\"https:\/\/www.lelo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/pride5.jpg\" alt=\"pride\" width=\"660\" height=\"330\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.lelo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/pride5.jpg 660w, https:\/\/www.lelo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/pride5-300x150.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 660px) 100vw, 660px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I know what you\u2019re thinking when you look towards your future. You told everyone you didn\u2019t want to get married or have kids, because you believed that wasn\u2019t an option for you. That was something that got whispers and dirty looks.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The words \u201cfag\u201d and \u201cdyke\u201d are thrown around casually in your world, but this won\u2019t last forever. One day you\u2019ll find your voice. And that voice will tell homophobes to fuck off. You\u2019ll even stand up to your dad one day. He will say something sexist or homophobic, and you\u2019ll look him in the eye and say that it\u2019s not okay. And he will stop. He\u2019ll listen. And one day, he will even walk you down the aisle, towards your future wife.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Instead of reading books like, \u201cAnnie On My Mind,\u201d in secret, you\u2019ll study gender and sexuality in college. The thing you held so close to your chest as a child, will be something you teach to others. You can become a beacon of compassion and empathy. You will surprise yourself one day. Maybe the day you write this letter. Your life has evolved into one that ten-year-old you would never envision.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You\u2019ll have a wedding, a wife, and a house with two dogs. Your life will be filled with the joys and heartbreaks that you never thought would be achieved. One day, you\u2019ll decide that you DO want children, and you will cry the most sorrowful tears when you\u2019re told your baby\u2019s heart has stopped beating. When you get to this point, don\u2019t lose faith&#8230; Because around the corner are double \u201crainbow\u201d babies&#8230; twins&#8230; that will make your life better than you could ever imagine.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One day, you\u2019ll live in a world that won\u2019t always be kind or safe&#8230; but you\u2019ll have the voice to make a difference. You\u2019re raising the next generation of loving, free-spirited, fighters that will not let others be called names. Make your voice louder. Fight for what you believe in. And no matter what those dark voices in your head say&#8230; Don\u2019t give up.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You have so much to live for.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Love,<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Your Future Queer and Happy Self<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dear Younger Queer Self, One day, you won\u2019t be afraid of people finding out who you are. One day, you\u2019ll be proud of yourself and how far you\u2019ve come.\u00a0 I know what you\u2019re thinking when you look towards your future. You told everyone you didn\u2019t want to get married or have kids, because you believed that wasn\u2019t an option for you. That was something that got whispers and dirty looks.\u00a0 The words \u201cfag\u201d and \u201cdyke\u201d are thrown around casually in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":196,"featured_media":30401,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[921],"tags":[71],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-30388","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lelo-newswire","tag-contest"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.8.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>K. 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