No queer child of color deserves to go through an emotional gauntlet just to find themselves.

-JeCorey Holder
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by JeCorey Holder

Lord knows, shits been REAL fucked up for us who are out here actively participating in capitalism (What’s good, internet bill?), but I feel so bad for baby Black queer folks and other young queer PoC who have no access to the mental tools and support they need to survive in this hostile white cisheteronormative world they’re growing into.

It’s not like this oppressive shit really begins in adulthood. Oh no. It starts fresh and early, and it shows up in a particular way in educational institutions.

Curriculums in K-12 schools are designed from the ground up for cis hetero white children of a certain tax bracket. The vast majority of Health/Sex-ed classes have straight-up neglected folks on the LGBTQ+ spectrum. These LGBTQ+ erasive lessons fuck us up right from the get-go by stifling our creativity, our drive to express ourselves, and cultivating a foundation of self-hate.

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Now let’s talk a little about everyone’s favorite subject: Race!

This current crop of faculty members who are in charge of our Black and Brown kids… THEY CONCERN ME. They keep using these dog-whistle terms like “inner-city” and “urban”. Hell, some teachers just straight-up call students actual slurs.  

Teachers have already given up on these kids. They have given in to the stigma that these kids will only grow into violent criminals and will end up in jail anyway, and so they put forth no effort to undo the damage white supremacy, patriarchy, and cisheteronormativity has caused.

I’m not just out here advocating for myself. I’m doing this for the kids like me. No queer child of color deserves to go through an emotional gauntlet just to find themselves and I refuse to leave behind a scorched earth for them. 

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Gamer, geek, and social activist. JeCorey Holder has been weaving tapestries of shade and fury since the early 2000’s. Pro-LGBTQ, pro-black, and pro intersectional feminism, he is full of feelings and opinions that try to call out and tear down the oppressive status quo.