I am dropping in for Pride month with a queer love note to all of you. This love note does not discriminate, it is for you whether you are in the LGBTQIA+ community or not. I name this love note queer in the original definition of the term. This is a love note to the parts of you that are just adjacent to what has been normed, the parts of you that live outside the lines, the parts of you that stretch beyond and thwart the status quo. This love letter aims to turn upside-down the notion that any part of you is unlovable.
My invitation to you is this: reach out and wrap yourself around the aspects of you that have been made to feel unsafe, unworthy, or othered. Bring those parts in close, so they may feel into what I am about to say.
I love you.
I love the parts of you that we share, and the parts of you that I’ll never understand.
I love the you that fits into words and labels, and the you that may never ever be named.
I love the you that is “too much,” the you that overflows, the you that is big, and full, and uninhibited. I love that you as much as I love the you that goes unnoticed.
I love the parts of you that are unknown. I love the parts of you that have been outgrown. I especially love the parts of you that were disowned.
I love the parts of you that have been there all along and the parts of you that you never knew were coming.
I love these parts for merely existing. They remind me that the criteria we were given to measure our worth are simply too small to hold our humanity. I love you for re-writing what it means to be lovable.
You show my heart a new way to love every day. In the margins of you I learn to love parts of myself I would have never known existed if not for the full expression of you.
This is the sacredness of what is queer: the expansion of our hearts to encompass more of what is possible for humanity – more of you and more of me.
In a world where we are taught to confine, tame, and shame our love, embracing all of you is a radical act of sovereignty. Please, love yourself in a way the world told you not to.
May this queer love letter unshackle your heart, your mind, and your body. May this love letter change the very way that you love. May your love, your pleasure, your full unfettered embodiment be a small revolution towards a world more free. Happy Pride.
In queer love,
Terra Anderson
Terra Anderson (they/them) is a leading voice for LGBTQIA+ inclusion in the sex education and health industries. With over 15 years of experience working in the social justice arena and 20,000 hours fine tuning their expertise in gender justice, Terra’s dedication to ending gender and sexuality-based violence has set a standard for gender inclusion that is revolutionizing healing professions across the board.
Terra is the founder of Embody Emerge and the Queer Competency Certification, a trauma and sex therapist, published researcher, and a Certified Erotic Blueprint Coach™.
