We Have Always Been Here: A Queer Muslim Memoir

by Samra Habib

Who belonged if none of us did?

There is power in giving off the aura of belonging.

Once again, my friends had seen me before I saw myself.

As we grow into ourselves, we amass a network of friends who embrace us as we are and nurture us in ways we never were while growing up.

My friends, my soul mates, see all of me—the messy and the tender parts. They know what needs to be celebrated and what still needs healing.