"I made the word “queer” a part of meright around when I started collegeduring a time whennothing..."

“I made the word “queer” a part of me

right around when I started college

during a time when

nothing really made sense

and I was looking for a place

to call home.

I know what it is.

It know it’s a word with

skeletons in it’s closet.

A word with a past.

Queer is a word with a body count.

And we took it back.

Because queer was the word they threw

along with their fists

when they wanted it to hurt,

and we smiled back,

bruised knuckles, clenched teeth,

“Come and take it.”

Queer loved us

when our fathers looked through us

and talked about grandchildren

we didn’t know if we’d ever be able

to have.

Queer loved us when the law

said we didn’t have the right

to love each other.

Queer loved us when the townsfolk

were setting their fires

and sharpening their pitchforks.

I won’t ask for a show of hands.

I know it’s not safe for some of us.

But I’ll extend my hand to you.

I use this word to stand for love

after all the years it was used to hate.

I use it, because it saved me:

a word like heavy rainfall

on a crop dying of thirst.

I made the word queer a part of me

during a time when no other word

seemed to fit right,

and it’s still the warm hearth I come home to,

and if that’s not revolution,

I don’t know what is.

Because to me,

that’s liberation.

Because if queer can save

that lost little kid

then maybe there’s hope for the ones

who are let down by their parents,

beat up by their peers.
I have to believe that this word can do better.

Because it’s been causing harm for too many years.”

- THE “Q” WORD, by Ashe Vernon (via latenightcornerstore)