#6 Katy Lum
Sunday December 10th 2023 1:30pm
📍Brighton, MA
shot on: canon eos rebel t3i 18-24mm
When did you first identify as queer and why?
I think I’ve known I was queer since I was old enough to have/understand romantic feelings, but it didn’t really click consciously for me until my late teens. I remember having a crush on another girl in my high school and being open about the crush with my friends for weeks before coming out and labeling myself as anything other than straight!
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)?
To me, being queer means existing outside of the binaries our society enforces when it comes to romance, relationships, sexuality, and gender. Our day to day lives are constantly dominated by a collective subconscious of heteronormative and gender normative ideals, which can be difficult to identify without considerable work or experience living outside of these norms. In this way, being queer has definitely impacted who I surround myself with— it can be difficult (thought not impossible) to make connections with people who do not understand what the queer experience is like. Sometimes it can feel like existing in two separate worlds.
How would you define your queer identity?
I identify as a Gender Nonconforming Lesbian.
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?
Not necessarily one thing, but I wish I had known more about how many of our social norms are the result of straight up prejudice and capitalism. I would have had so much more to say!
