The Black Flamingo

by Dean Atta

You are a full human being. It’s never as simple as being half and half.

“People are cruel, Michael. Kids are cruel. Adults are cruel. It’s just a part of life.”

“We don’t have to know each other to show each other love.”

Men are sandcastles made out of pebbles and the bucket is patriarchy: if you remove it, we fear we won’t be able to hold ourselves together, we pour in cement to fill the gaps to make ourselves concrete constructions.

You both need to understand the black woman, black man, black trans person is always last to be thought of as attractive in this white supremacist society.

To have a loving family is to feel afraid and yet believe you are going to be all right.

“So who is The Black Flamingo?” asks Katy, with genuine curiosity. I reply, “He is me, who I have been, who I am, who I hope to become. Someone fabulous, wild, and strong. With or without a costume on.”

I don’t perform for you or anyone else. What I wear is for me. What I perform is for me. What I write is for me. I’m my own man

You don’t know me. You don’t know my story and I don’t know yours, but right now I don’t want to.

Correct those who say they knew before you did. That’s not how sexuality works, it’s yours to define.

Remember you have the right to be proud. Remember you have the right to be you.