Dear Closeted Queer Person,
You are not broken,
You are not ill
You are not confused,
You do not need fixing
You are not an abomination
You are not defined by another’s terms
You are not going “through a phase”
You are not the many words
Others use to invalidate your truth
Your gender, sexuality, identity
Are completely valid
Your life is a tale, a journey
Of survival and strength,
For you continue onwards
In a world that never meant
For you to survive,
You hid and changed yourself
In order to live in a world
That should have changed for you
Thus, Always remember that
You are worthy of respect
You are worthy of love
You are worthy of validation
You are uniquely you,
And you are never alone
In this journey of acceptance,
For there are those who have walked
That path before,
And they are waiting for you
Along the road to the light
On the other side of the storm
Poem and illustration by Austin Wang