themintycupcake:

golbatgender:

I remember being a baby gay and feeling like I had to Do Certain Things to Prove My Queer Cred, and the truth is you actually don’t have to prove anything and it’s much more fun and less stressful to just do and wear things that make you happy for their own sake, and in a few years you’ll just one day realize that you’ve organically become the Obvious Gay you looked up to back when you started.

Really, you don’t need to gatekeep people or have the right shoes to be “valid.” There isn’t a checklist. Just be kind to people and do things that make you happy, not anxious or angry. You’re enough without putting others down or trying to measure up to someone else. The only wrong way to do this is at the expense of others.

Also keep in mind: even though gatekeepers will talk big and make themselves sound like authorities on the Internet, they’re really not. The Internet might give them the power to bunch up in numbers, but offline they don’t have nearly as much power as their virtual gangups make it look. Physical safe spaces are also full of people who will react negatively to gatekeeping attitudes and actively try to prevent it. Chances are this isn’t their first rodeo, and it won’t be their last. Any group that interrogates you for your life story before you’re allowed to participate is not a group that you want to be part of.

Be yourself and be kind. This is all we ask of you.