#2 Hope Antonellis

Tuesday June 27th 2023 3:00pm

📍Charles River, Boston MA

shot on: canon eos rebel t3i 18-24mm 75-300mm

What does being queer mean to you and how does it affect the way you move through the world and different spaces(social, economic, cultural, political)?

Being queer to me means ending generations of gender violence. Roles are to be played with and not to be taken too seriously as human beings. Roles are important because they define who we are and what part we have to play in our communities, but it can be a fluid undertaking based on what is needed or feels good. Being queer to me means loving whoever you want to or can’t help but love without shame. Being queer is an investment towards world building and inventing vocabulary to define the multiple ways there are to love and be.

When did you first identify as queer and why?

I first identified as queer at the youngest age of 9 when I realized I was in love with my childhood best friend. We would play pretend together as kids and always played romantic roles together. I took on the masculine role in the relationship most of the time, which led me to reconsider my own gender identity. I had a masculine alter ego in our relationship that I loved to embody and felt the most affirmed that impacted my psyche during puberty. Playing pretend became our own private dream world that we could escape to, to shelter us from abusive environments and homophobic family members.

How would you define your queer identity?

I define my queerness as my power to shape shift. I’m gender fluid and a true switch, and enjoy balancing out environments I find myself in. As a Gemini Sun, I find that I have a multitude of different ways of being and defining myself as queer helps me understand my multiplicity. My queerness is expansive and a little private because I’ve been so used to having to protect my queerness from where I came from.

What is one thing you wish the younger you would’ve known in order to make deciding to get out of bed each day easier?

I wish my younger self knew that there were other people who were experiencing the same fear of coming out. In fact, most of my peer group were experiencing similar feelings in the stifling climate of the late 2000s and early 2010s; we just didn’t know how to talk about it. I wish I could teach my younger self the language to fight for themself. I would tell them that there are queer people thriving ; who don’t have to hide or demonize themself in order to be a successful person, and meeting these people will teach them too to be less destructive towards themself.