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This is a thing I've been thinking about a lot. I think a lot of younger people involved in queer discourse don't understand the timeline.
50 years probably seems a long time to people in their 20s. But my generation were raised by people who still thought of it as a crime.
For our parents, it was something that had only recently been decriminalised. They grew up with is being a crime, an unspeakable thing.
When I was 14, and first coming out, the age of homosexual consent in the UK was 21.
When I was 15, it was lowered to 18, and that was a BIG FUCKING DEAL.
Throughout my time at school there was a thing called Section 28 in effect. I recommend reading about it.
It was meant to outlaw "promoting homosexuality" in schools. Among other things, it specifically forbade intervening in homophobic bullying.
That law very nearly killed me, tbh.
Anyway, point I'm working toward is this: situation we have now, with kids being out as queer at school, queer characters on kids shows etc
This is EXTREMELY recent. The experience of queers over 30 is massively different to that of younger people.
Post internet especially, things have changed seismically, and super fast.
So, when we tell our stories in fiction, they are messy, they are complicated, they do not conform to an idealised narrative
It's become a thing now, where I see one of my peers tell their story, then get dogpiled by 22yr olds for furthering problematic narratives
Well, I'm sorry, but our lives have been fucking problematic.
And I'm not saying things aren't hard for young queer people. Of course they are, and will continue to be for some time to come.
But I am dismayed by the lack of understanding of our shared history. And the implied lack of understanding of how fragile things are now.
I'm sorry, I think people thought I was going to say something big and wise and I'm basically saying "bloody kids today, eh"
But for fuck's sake learn your fucking history and pay attention to the dates.
And if you've ever wondered how it was I came out at 14, then voluntarily went back in the closet at 21, there you go.
Those 7 years weren't good. I'm honestly glad I had the choice, as a bi man who could pass easily.
