"When I was a kid, I didn’t know gay people could live normal lives. I didn’t know they went to brunch and that they had normal jobs and friendships, that they could have a dog and that they went grocery shopping and experienced joy. I never gave it a thought, the reality of the mundane or the normal or the everyday. I’d only ever heard about the sadness and despair, the hardship and the pain and the inevitability of disclosure, the rawness and the exposure of having to come out, declaring yourself in such personal terms even to people you didn’t even care about. ⁠ ⁠ It genuinely never occurred to me that there might be a light at the end of the tunnel. I never thought for a second that being gay might be something I would one day enjoy, let alone something that I loved so deeply about myself and would lead me in such extraordinary directions. My terrified twelve year old self wouldn’t have been able to hold the idea that I’m now literally relieved that I am gay. God, it’s funny. Whenever I think I know myself, I remind myself of that. That humility is mostly admitting you have no idea what happens next." ⁠ ⁠ --⁠ ⁠ Beautiful words by the wonderful @nickwitherow - Nicks full monthly column went live over at Patreon.com/ButchIsNotADirtyWord this morning. Link in stories to the full piece.⁠ ⁠ 📸 by @esthergoodboy & internet thirst provided by the babely Isabella & Frankie.⁠ ⁠ #gay #butch #lesbian #lesbians #itgetsbetter #lgbtqia #lgbtqiaplus #gaypride2022 #dyke #dykes #butchdyke #butchdykes #butchesofinstagram #lesbiansofinstagram #gaysofinstagram #queerportraits #gender #gendernonconforming⁠ ⁠