Erik L. Midtsveen 🏳️⚧️🏳️🌈<p>When it comes to my friends, like Martin, Haakon, and some coworkers, it’s kind of more of the same. Most of them honestly don’t care about queer stuff or are even outright anti-pride, like Thomas from work. Most just want to sit in front of a PC or at the movie theater, which barely interests me anymore. What actually makes me happy is being with other queer people, talking about queer topics, just being my authentic self, and of course, <a href="https://social.linux.pizza/tags/TransRightsAreHumanRights" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>TransRightsAreHumanRights</span></a>. Adrian’s probably the only one at work who actually gets it, mainly because his girlfriend is trans, and honestly, I’m trans too (some days, other days, not so much; that’s gender-fluidity for you).</p><p>It gets to me when I spend most of my day talking with my new queer friends, and then my mom nags me for not hanging out with my so-called “friends” from work. Like, what am I supposed to do? It feels like she doesn’t want me to meet new people or grow. Sometimes it makes me so depressed, like I’m being pushed back into a friend group that I just don’t fit in with anymore.</p><p>I’ve grown out of those childhood hobbies like video-games and found joy somewhere else. Maybe it’s my autism over-calculating, overreacting, but it honestly feels like I’m being forced into friendships that don’t fit who I am now, and here I am, happy at the gay bar where I actually belong, and someone still can’t just be happy for me.</p><p>What I’m really trying to say is, I might not fit into what’s considered “cis-het standards”, but why should my mom care? I’m fucking queer, I’ve kissed a guy, and honestly, that’s who I am. But right now, I just feel lost, like I can’t be with the people who actually make me happy, and I’m stuck hanging around people who only leave me feeling unhappy.</p><p>Sorry, Mom, I don’t have pictures of me looking sad being queer and gender-fluid. All I have are depressing photos from when I tried to look “normal.</p><p><a href="https://social.linux.pizza/tags/FamilyIssues" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>FamilyIssues</span></a> <a href="https://social.linux.pizza/tags/MomIssues" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>MomIssues</span></a> <a href="https://social.linux.pizza/tags/Autistic" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Autistic</span></a> <a href="https://social.linux.pizza/tags/Queer" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Queer</span></a> <a href="https://social.linux.pizza/tags/Bisexual" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Bisexual</span></a> <a href="https://social.linux.pizza/tags/AskFedi" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>AskFedi</span></a> <a href="https://social.linux.pizza/tags/LGBTQIA" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>LGBTQIA</span></a></p>