“Queer joy for me is seeing other Queer people being openly Queer or being able to be openly Queer myself.
Being out and proud is scary sometimes, especially as a trans person, and especially in Texas. But I remind myself, and I think it's important for other people to also remember: we have to be out and proud, we have to be visibly Queer just to normalize it more. I try to remember how much seeing my community really brings me joy whenever I start to feel nervous about presenting a certain way, it helps me to be more comfortable with myself.
I think my first encounter with Queer culture was when I was pretty young and my parents took me to a pride parade. It was Longview Pride and I just remember walking around and seeing all the drag queens super dressed up. I don't think I even realized what the event was for, I was just going around having fun. I went another time when I was in middle school and that was the Longview pride also.
That year was really, really small, it was outdoors, and just a handful of vendors. There was like no one there, my mom was there with me and she was like “sorry it’s so small.” But even with it being small, I never got to see Queer people, just the fact that there were some Queer people out and about was really meaningful to me. I think people underestimate how much it means to see Queer people existing.”
-Galvin Smith (They/Them)
Check out this video interview of Galvin at Iowa State! Humans of Iowa State - Galvin Smith
