This is amazing, thank you for sharing! I’m nonbinary and I’ve been looking for ways to present more masc without looking stupid for ages. Reading this was super helpful, I know what I’ll be paying attention to during my next shopping trip now. :)

I didn’t really sit down and choose a name, it was given to me. Some friends started calling me by a shorter version of my deadname and I really liked the vibe of it, so I started going by it.

I just want to tell you… feeling invisible is not a privilege. Feeling like you have to hide who you are because you might never be able to explore it fully is not a privilege. Feeling like you have to pretend to be someone you are not is not a privilege.

“Straight privilege” for queer people is not a thing. It’s a form of erasure, plain and simple. And it seems to really hurt you.

Please don’t feel like you being able to hide your sexuality is something you need to feel guilty about. It sounds more like you suffer because of this. You have the right to call yourself queer, you are not taking away anything from anyone by coming out and you have the right to be comfortable with who you are.