The Opposite Lens

The world that once felt like hope is crumbling around me. I feel the weight of their stares - heavy, sharp, and narrow. I hear the whispers they don’t try to hide: "He’s too much." "He’s too gay." "The makeup is a mask." They speak of me as if I am a contagion, a threat to their carefully guarded existence. How do I tell them it is the exact opposite?

While they see a threat, my eyes see them as iconic. I see them as beautiful, empowering, and rare. I look at them and think: Let them try a new style. Let them stand tall in their skin.

Where they see danger, I see a sanctuary. I feel safe in their presence because they have the rare strength to be vulnerable. To me, their existence feels like the family I have been longing for... for ages.

I am not the storm they fear; I am the one looking for a place to rest within it.