Dear Gender Roles

Dear straight people
You stare at us when we’re walking in the store, sitting in a restaurant
Dear straight people
You stare at me in the store like I’m some two headed freak and I stare back until you get
uncomfortable and turn away
Dear straight people
You give us labels and that’s what you call us.
“The person with two moms”
“The gay girl”
“The girl that looks like a dude”
Actually I’m not any of those things.
Yes, I have two moms but I’m not going to be called that
And yes, people assume I’m gay because I have two moms or I just don’t have the same style
that they do but – I’m actually asexual.
At one point I thought I was gay
At one point pan
And now I think I’m asexual.
Yes, it could change. But here at COLAGE someone taught me something
“Disabilities” have spectrums
Genders have spectrums
But sexualities do too.
And I just figured that out.
I thought I liked girls at a time because I thought ‘oh she looks cute’ or ‘oh she’s pretty’
But I don’t like them.
Dear gender roles
Screw you. I will not let myself be given another label. I’m not a girl. I’m just me.
Gender roles have spectrums. I’m on the line where I sometimes feel like a girl and most times I
feel nonbinary. This is known as demigirl but I’m not labeling myself that.
Yes. People call me by she/her but I don’t like telling people that I got by they/them because I
don’t know what they’ll think. My friend back home calls me by they them because I know he
won’t judge me.
I call him a he because he respects my pronouns. He identifies as a girl but he doesn’t like the
judgements people make when he is known as a girl.
Someone in COLAGE said normally pronouns connect with your gender identity but it doesn’t
always have to. It doesn’t have to.
Dear straight allies
Thank you for supporting us.
Dear lgbtq+ community
Don’t label yourself if you don’t want to. You can like girls or boys or gender queer or
genderfluid or nonbinary or just people.
Just – love is love. We all need it and deserve it.
Whether it's from a friend, family partner or pet (the cutest ones).

-Anonymous