To put into words how you identify yourself is quite an interesting task. You see to identify yourself, you must first know yourself and this is not always as easy as it sounds. Every person in this world has a million different forces and factors that make up who they are, but most people, if faced with this question, would freeze.
I can’t say that one thing or even a few things have made me who I am today. Every experience, every moment that I have had has affected me. When defining my identity I have to look at all the different cultures and background that have affected my life so far.
Every community I have been a part of has taught me something: good, bad, or both. Growing up in the South I was taught to be polite, have good manners, stick to the social norm, etc. That community ran side by side with the Christian community, which taught me a lot of values and morals, but also taught me a lot of hate towards others and often hate for myself.
One of my identities that I have struggled with the most is my sexuality. Although I do not believe that who I date should or does define everything about who I am as a person, it is something that has played a huge role in my identity. It took me many, many years to accept myself and I could not have done it without the help and support of new communities that I chose to surround myself with. The LGBT community is full of strong, empowered men and women, who have taught me to be myself and even love myself. Being a part of the GW community has played a massive role in creating the strong, independent person I am today. When I first came to GW, I was young and scared of people finding out my ‘secrets’ for fear of the judgment that I had felt my whole life in the South. Two and a half years later and I am a total weirdo who is not afraid to be herself. GW’s diverse community has taught me that it’s not worth it to waste your time being anyone but yourself.
The US is still very divided on the issue of gay rights and when I am back home in the South I still do not feel one hundred percent safe disclosing this part of my identity to others. With that said, times are changing and I have found that opening up about myself has lead to love far more often than it has lead to hate, and for that I am grateful.