We were raised believing that the “gay agenda” was an attack on the white picket fence American dream. While the traumas that accompany queerness range from constant victimization to harassment to rejection, there is something purely evil that comes with internalized homophobia.
Being only 22 years old, we both have seen how much the gay liberation movement has grown in the past decade. This ranges from the mere shift in the mindset of our parents' generation to the queer representation in the media.
The one thing that never seems to fade away, unfortunately, is the personal denial, alteration, and over achievement that comes as a consequence of a bid for attention. Even now there continues to be a constant fluctuation in who queer people choose to have relationships with and what they want.
As hard as it is to admit, immediate gratification has led to the tendency to discount longer-term rewards. For the generation we grew up in, it is hard to know the line between healthy space and abandonment, and oftentimes, we are all in a constant state of emotional pain.
We were raised in a society that rapidly changed, but that doesn’t mean that the homophobia of the 2000s had no effect on us. We are hurting, growing and flourishing every day trying to move past our own experiences with oppression.
None of us need to be fixed or to have our problems solved for us; we just need to be validated. But again, when we are so stuck on that instant gratification that we lacked for so long, how can we move past the one thing holding us back: ourselves.
That’s where Queeries came in. A space for us to celebrate and unabashedly relish the joy of being a queer student at Tufts. We could discuss topics we usually shared with one another, knowing that for the other queer readers of our column, maybe some of the discourse they wished they could see somewhere was present in our weekly musings. If there’s one thing we want anyone who has ever read any of the iterations of Queeries, it’s that there is space for YOU! Keep talking, keep dreaming and keep changing the conversation. We love to see underrepresented voices and narratives spotlighted, and we are so blessed to have had a space to share and discuss queer stories, and we owe that to the queer community at Tufts. We have nothing but love and appreciation left to share.
Signing off from Queeries,
Saba and Jack
