May 13, 2021 (vol. 129, iss. 112) • Page Image 11
…An incomplete journey of identity and self-acceptance Trigger Warning: Homophobia; internalized homophobia W hen I was 12 years old, my mother told me to unbutton my collar because I looked like a lesbian. She assured me only a moment later, after I had undone two of the buttons, that it wasn’t bad to be a lesbian — I just shouldn’t misrepresent who I was. Years later, she would call me a “d*ke,” but I would laugh it off and prete...…