EDITORIAL

TORIAL E D I

Welcome to issue 90.9 of On Dit–Queer Dit!

This LGBTQ+ focused issue of Queer Dit combines two of our favourite things: being queer and talking about being queer. No doubt some people wish we’d shut up about it sometimes. But queer people often spend a lot of time being ashamed of who we are and live in a society that reinforces that shame, so now it’s making up for lost time, you know?

We learn very quickly that to be queer in this world means needing a very thick skin, especially if you start doing it in front of other people at a young age. You’ve got to be willing to accept that your existence is a paradox to outsiders, and that other people are always going to have something to say about the way you are.

Writing about queer issues comes with many risks and uncertainties, long periods of doubt and bitter battles with anxiety, procrastination, and failure. It calls for a lot of faith and a good therapist (put mental health into Medicare, we beg!). But the most difficult trail to blaze is often the one that’s also the most important, and that means diving into who we are, individually and as a community.

We are incredibly lucky to be doing this work, and the only reason we can is because of the people who came before us. Who kicked down doors only to be greeted by another crowd of angry men shouting that it isn’t time yet. Who fought to gain the freedom to do and express as they pleased with no rule, regulation, restriction, or boundary to its respectability.

Wear it Purple Day’s theme this year was “Still Me, Still Human” - a bittersweet reminder of the rollback of LGBTQ+ rights that’s spreading across the world. The “global closet” is huge, with the vast majority of the world’s LGBTQ+ people - around 83% - forced to keep their orientation hidden. The dehumanising stigmas surrounding queerness must be destroyed.

Queer stories are art, and they have the potential to transform the world with truth. To move people by being moved. Truth is a light at the end of the tunnel for those LGBTQ+ in training, sitting in a small town, wondering what life will be for them. Maybe your truth is so quiet and delicate that only dogs can hear it whistle–nonetheless your writing will be on the wall. You were here.

We’re so thankful for everyone who’s sacrificed their time to contribute to Queer Dit and share their stories. There’s a lot going on in the world, a lot of tragedy to process, but know that you are loved. Not necessarily by us, but by someone.

Caitlin and Steph