Two weeks before the election, I visited my hometown—
a conservative Texas suburb of little appeal.
I went to see two queer YouTubers I’d grown up watching.
The YouTubers came out five years ago, shortly after I came out.
Their fanbase is queer and liberal, even in Texas.
At the show they dressed in the queerest outfits they’d ever worn
and announced proudly, “Yes, we are dressed like this. IN TEXAS!”
The audience went wild.
The queer joy was unparalleled.
I looked at the cheering fans around me and thought,
These are my people.
My people.
I belong here.
After every election, everyone jokes about eliminating the red states.
“Imagine if all the people in Texas, Oklahoma, and Florida just died”
“The country would be so much better without them”
“Those places are hellholes anyway”
And fuck, part of me agrees—Texas is a hellhole,
but it’s a hellhole full of my people.
Good people, queer people, liberal people who can’t leave
or choose to stay and fight.
Part of me is proud of them,
and ashamed I didn’t stay to fight with them.
Over four million Texans voted blue.
Over six million Texans voted red, true,
but four million people is SO MANY PEOPLE.
Too many people to dismiss or ignore.
I will always remember that I can go to Texas
and be surrounded by liberal love and queer joy.
Hate won, but we still exist.
We exist everywhere
—even in the darkest hellholes—
and they cannot erase us.