It’s a joke made in the halls, 

               it’s a slur they call us, 

               it’s a kid beaten up on the sidewalk, 

               it’s a couple scared to get married. 

               The joke was directed at us, 

               the slur rings in our ears, 

               the kid will lie their without help, 

               the couple won’t get married. 

               Passed on will be the jokes, 

               normalized will be the slurs, 

               scared will be the kids, 

               ashamed will be the couples. 

Some of us will stand in the light, 

some of us will hide in the shadows, 

some of us will stand idle, 

some of us will strive for change. 

They say “do ‘something’” 

but we all do ‘something’ 

it’s about what we do. 

Because to do ‘something’ could be bad or good, 

to help a just cause or fight against it. 

We all have things to hide, 

               why? 

Did someone tell you that ‘flaw’ made you lesser than? 

               Weak? 

                             Unnatural? 

                                           Unworthy? 

                                                         Unwanted? 

                                                                       Unloved? 

We shake in “irrational” fear of the secret. 

not because of what we think will happen; 

but because we were shown will happen. 

Nobody had to directly tell us.  

               We hear the gay couple get called slurs, 

but the husband and wife on TV are smiling.  

               We watch queer women being seen as conquests,  

while straight ones get ignored. 

               We see trans people are over 4 times as likely to be murdered,   

while others roam the streets carefree. 

               We hear- 

                             We watch- 

                                           We see- 

                                                         But what do we do? 

We do ‘something’ 

but we as the quiet minority, 

will be drowned out by the majority. 

Because opposing teams won’t listen to each other. 

They argue and argue 

until both swords are bloodied, 

but no one wins. 

               Or at least no one has yet…. 

Time seems to skip forward and flashback.  

Gay marriage is now legalized 

               but they will struggle to find a wedding venue.  

We see a queer couple smiling on the TV 

               yet teachers in Florida are not allowed to speak of their spouses.  

The APA no longer considers homosexuality as an illness, 

               but churches try to save us from our ‘disease.’ 

Trans people can get surgeries  

               but still fear public restrooms.  

We are accepted by our school friends 

               but go home and fear if our parents found out.  

Although it seems to be 1 step forward and 2 back; 

change is all around us. 

Its invisible and moving  

hiding in plain sight. 

Change is the boy who stood up for us in 7th grade.  

Change is the girl who yelled at the kids who called us a slur in 9th.  

Change is the kids not letting the slurs leave their mouths.  

Change is a teacher who helped a few students in 11th grade. 

Change is grandparents accepting their grandkids with open arms. 

Change is not being afraid anymore.  

Change starts with us, 

grows into social movements then trickles down to law makers desks.  

It starts out as ‘something’ and will end the same. 

It started with those before us 

standing on their shoulders to reach up 

and will end with the ones after us.