Sarah Hendrica Bickerton 🏳️‍

One of the things about being an elder queer now is that you see young queers, baby-gays, being out & being themselves and it makes you so proud & so happy.

I saw a couple girls waiting for their lunch near me, about uni age, obviously a couple with those light touches & closeness of togetherness.

Mar 23, 2024 at 11:29pmWeb
Show threadSarah Hendrica Bickerton 🏳️‍Mar 23, 2024
And I think of how much we fought for THIS VERY THING back in the day when honestly we didn’t even dream of marriage equality, rather just of being ourselves and not be harassed or beaten up for it. And I see these girls and I’m so proud of being part of those struggles so they can just ‘be’ now.
Show threadSarah Hendrica Bickerton 🏳️‍Mar 23, 2024

I kinda wanted wanted to make eye contact and beam stupidly and proud, but I maintained my cool and didn’t be that creepy elder lesbian :)

I just felt good and happy. We still have a long way to go yes, but we have also come so far, and we made it happen.

Show threadChristopher PhinMar 24, 2024
@sarahhbickerton YESSS. It’s one of the reasons I explicitly maintain my visibility: I was denied queer elders, though societal pressures, through laws and through AIDS, and I want to help model queer joy so the next generations can see that. And they’re doing JUST FINE.
Show threadJay MutzafiMar 25, 2024
@sarahhbickerton I was a little surprised and sad to encounter some gatekeeping of elders (by one generation further, i.e. teens). I hope it’s not representative, or at least more indicative of a teen brain trying to figure out selfhood and identity and hopefully just grow out of it soon enough.
Show threadPhil Tanner Mar 24, 2024
@sarahhbickerton I saw something similar about 3 weeks back. Slightly older, maybe early 20s, walking, talking, smiling, holding hands, with the soft smiles and eye contacts of those utterly enamored with each other... And yes. It made me so happy they could be themselves, during the day, without guilt or watching themselves.
Show threadSarah Hendrica Bickerton 🏳️‍Mar 24, 2024
@Phil_Tanner Yeah, I think on my world when I was their age, and we could never have. I am so joyously happy now that they have the possibility now to. And that our work over the decades has mattered.
Show threadKay   Mar 24, 2024
@Phil_Tanner @sarahhbickerton I remember as a young and not yet out queer being so happy to see TV cooks Hudson and Halls shopping at a department store, No crowds, just them sharing quiet moments and obvious love ❤️
Show threadKarl SheaMar 24, 2024
@sarahhbickerton literally had the same thought today at the grocery store, along with how glad I am I moved to a city where this can happen without anyone blinking an eye: deep-voiced queer kid wearing a short red pleated skirt and spiked combat boots just casually making everyone’s smoothie orders
Show threadJayMar 24, 2024

@sarahhbickerton I feel so happy when I see elder queers because I know the hell they’ve gone through but they’re still here because we’ve ALWAYS been here, no matter how much others have tried to erase us, and I’m glad they get to enjoy the fruits of their labor and all this new space to just…be.

I know there’s been a hell of a backlash, but I have hope that it’s a lot harder to shove us back into the closet ever since we’ve all looked around and seen how many of us there are.

Show threadSarah Hendrica Bickerton 🏳️‍Mar 24, 2024

@WhiteCatTamer There has been a hell of backlash, but you know one of the benefits of having been around for a while? Recognising how unoriginal these attacks are. They're the same ones we faced, almost to the word.

And yes, they'll create pain & damage & death ... but we'll win. Why? Because we have before, and we're even stronger now.