25 Ways to Survive as a Queer Under Authoritarian Rule

1. Nap: because this sh*t is tiring.
2. Celebrate: your identity (also insert your identity into the title).
3. Love: tell people you love them and ask them to say it back to you.
4. Sex: have it and also observe consent and the enthusiastic yes!
5. Eat: fulfilling snacks because they are there when you need them.
6. Sit: in the sunshine and even for one minute feel brightness.
7. Block: people who need to go, you don’t have to explain, just bye.
8. Self-care: do all the things, as in all of them, as in items 1–7.
9. Watch: queer content, movies, YouTube, anything.
10. Make: queer content, say the things, do the dance, post the post.
11. Tattoo: just go ahead.
12. Draw: make lines and shapes because the world is yours.
13. Write: whatever you feel, let your fingers form the words.
14. Read: learn about QTBIPOC+ LGBTQ+ history and also combine letters as QTBIPOCLGB+.
15. Talk: about QTBIPOCLGB+ figures and share all important juicy details.
16. Walk: especially with a friend, and the destination is not the goal.
17. Exist: maybe while having a snack, because that’s all it takes.
18. Breathe: fill your wonderful lungs.
19. Finish this sentence: I deserve to feel safe because_____.
20. Finish this sentence: I deserve to feel happy because_____.
21. Finish this sentence: the b*tches who will die first in the zombie apocalypse are_____.
22. Claim: your spot because when humans first started skipping over the earth, you were there, and you made evolution better.
23. Schedule: your activism, and then do fun things, like items 16 or 11.
24. Remember: you don’t have to justify anything to anyone, and the people who are grasping for power don’t have good snacks, do not nap enough, and their boring, narrow ideas mean they don’t see the gorgeous world, which is sad for them.
25. Stay: beautiful and fierce, you are family, thank you.

This story is a response to the Prism & Pen writing prompt, Let’s Write About How Queer People Live Under Authoritarianism.

Let’s Write About How Queer People Live Under Authoritarianism

Other stories so far →

Queer People Wore Pink Triangles in Nazi Death Camps. And Today?

Barring a Trans Kid From the GSA and Don’t Say Gay

Authoritarianism Surges in U.S. as Texas Attacks LGBTQ Families and Republicans Praise Putin

Can Authoritarianism Be Subtle?

My Experience of Authoritarianism as a Gay Man in Semi-rural Texas

Living as a Queer Person in the United States.