#i am alive because Gay Elders (TM) recognized me & decided to look out for me as a baby gay

[chicago-geniza]

gotta figure how to articulate this better when i am less brain-clouded but intergenerational friendships & mentorships are lifesaving for ~*~queer kids in mukhosransk/buttfuck-level rural areas, like, places that don’t have paved roads or high-speed internet or public transportation or much in the way of Outside besides cow pastures, maple farms, & the odd general store. they’re necessary, they keep you from drowning yourself in otter creek, & this trend of casting suspicion on any Age Gaps re: interpersonal relationships of any kind like they MUST be motivated be pedophilia on the older party’s end makes me so insane i lose speech 

#when i was 13 my best friend was a 50-something gay man who indexed encyclopedias & loved indie music #we sent each other mix tapes & longhand letters in the mail & it kept me from killing myself #like #idk how to communicate this without coming across as melodramatic but??? #here is the short version: all the kids who bullied me viciously now identify as some flavor of Queer now #& i don't hold a grudge against them but #when you're dealing with Gatekeeping Young Adults consider how many of them might have been aggressively closeted middle schoolers #who made life miserable for everyone else before they went to college or whatever #& consider what the kids they're targeting need AT THE TIME #& who is likely to provide that; & what community consists of (continuity!) #& which stereotypes you're perpetuating when you assume that any queer adults taking queer kids under their wing #are doing so for Sex Grooming Reasons #& not like. nobody else is looking out for this fucking kid reasons #i am alive because Gay Elders (TM) recognized me & decided to look out for me as a baby gay