Olivia Messer reflects on her own complicated sexuality while examining the huge, vibrant queer culture of Texas, “home to more queer people than all the queer people in Canada. And more than double the number of queer New Yorkers.” Texas is a place of “queer line-dancing . . . gay rodeos. Adult summer camps. Churches. Roller derby leagues. Queer fight clubs.” Unfortunately, it is also a place of discrimination and political opposition—giving Messer all the more reason to celebrate her community loudly.
There’s a reason that I’ve only really hinted online about my bisexuality until now. I know Texans can be conservative. I’m from here. My extended family lives here. I’ve been trying to avoid giving my aging grandparents a heart attack. And I have always been vaguely afraid of the lack of job protections for queer Texans. (See: the Texas Senate.)
Mostly it’s been about fear and privilege.
There’s privilege in the fact that I appear straight, and I’m bisexual — which means anytime I have dated men, I’ve been sort of invisibly queer. For a long time there was fear of discrimination at work, but now I’m very lucky to work somewhere that isn’t an issue.
But frankly, I’m starting to get sick of this narrative of disenfranchisement, hate crimes, discrimination, and threats being the only one.
More picks on Texas
Are We There Yet?
“A family trips and stumbles across 3,000 miles of Texas.”
Roadside Attraction
“The desert has a changeling effect, transforming lights into magic, desert into space, visitors into lovers, me into something apart from what I actually am.”
The Guadalupe Swept Us Away. This Is the Story of All That Came After.
“In the days after last July’s historic disaster, I wrote about the tragedy that befell my family. But crawling out of the river was only the beginning.”
Could the Girls of Camp Mystic Have Been Saved?
“Dozens died in a Texas flood, dividing families over whether it was an act of God or adult failure.”
Sense of Scents
“The annual olfactory rush of cedar pollen is a sign of home.”
One Man’s Quest for the End of the World Started on a Ranch in Texas
“A Texas businessman believes he was divinely chosen to help usher in the Second Coming of Christ—by finding unblemished red heifers and getting them to Israel.”
