I feel jealous of the new generation's freedom to love (in a good way)

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This post contains references to homophobia, bullying, sexual violence, and trauma related to growing up gay in early 2000s Chile. Please read with care.

For context, I grew up in the 2000s in Chile, it was a completely different country from what it is today. Back then, if you were a gay child or gay teen, your childhood would be hell. People would treat you as less than human. They would harass, attack, bully, sexually assault, and in some cases, even try to murder you only because of your sexuality. It was hard. All of that was treated as normal. People would blame you for the things that happened to you, or that others did to you, including themselves. They would justify attacks against you because "Well, you are gay, what do you expect?" and "Gay people deserve to live like that". From a young age, I learned that I deserved everything bad that could happen to me just because I'm gay. It didn't matter if I hadn't done anything wrong or hadn't hurt anybody, in society's eyes, I deserved the worst of punishments. But outwardly, everyone would act as if nothing happened, like they were doing nothing wrong at all. Schools were accomplices to terrible acts, covering up everything, including crimes committed against you, only because you are different, because being gay meant being the perfect target of all kinds of sick or evil people, and they were "justified" for their actions in almost all cases, nobody would support you, sometimes not even your own family, in some cases your own family would act against you, and in others, they would turn a blind eye.

This is the Chile I grew up in, every aspect of you would be questioned, every aspect of your identity was dissected, judged, criticized and used against you, trying to make you hate yourself as much as possible for no other reason than you being gay, people would feel free to be the worst they could be towards you with no consequence at all, and behave completely differently when they interacted with you and when they interacted with others, the only way to be safe was to not be noticed, nobody should know you were gay, or else they would turn your life into a nightmare. Every day was a different struggle, being a gay child or teen in the 2000s was honestly the worst that could happen to a person.

But someday that changed, I don't know when exactly, but society started to change, now they would point out the people that were doing the evil instead of the victims, they started pointing out the accomplices, the crimes, and slowly changing that mentality of "Gay people deserve to suffer just because they are gay", to a mentality of "Gay people have the right to have a peaceful life", and yeah, it was a slow process, but now life in Chile for gay children and teens is way better. I still think people haven't really changed their mentality, but at least they don't enact their dark thoughts on innocent people anymore, because of the fear of actually having to face consequences for their actions. But on the bright side, at least the new generations aren't being raised with this hate, and I do have faith that they will grow up without this hate mentality of the past.

And that takes me to this post's topic, I'm jealous about this freedom to love and to be who you are that this new generation has, I really wish I could've had that back in my childhood, life would have been so much easier for me, and with a lot less trauma, that's why I want to finish this post by saying, be who you are. Love who you are. You deserve love, happiness, and respect. Always fight for your rights and never take them for granted. Fight for the lives of future generations, so they have a better life than the past ones, grow up in a safe environment, and never live in fear or guilt because of being who they are. Unlike past generations, who didn't get that chance. Never give up the wish for a better future, because sadly, there will always be people who will want to take away your rights and make you, your family, or your community a target for their hate and misery.

Spread love, be strong, be happy, and never back down. You are worthy of a good life. Never let anyone tell you otherwise, no matter how hard they try to deceive you.

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fly-day

1754893609

Powerful story. It's horrible you had to go through a time where you couldn't accepted for who you are because of who you wanted to love.

On the other hand the freedom that we have been given today is owed to people like you, who share their story and spread peace and love.

I learned a lot about Chile in high school. About Pinochet and the disappearances. The corruption, dissapearances, and heavy privatization. The Chilean people have gone through so much, being gay on top of living through corruption and atrocities must never have been easy. But all of that also speaks to the strength of the Chilean people.

I hope you are living safely and well in you country. Cuidate hermano. From a Dominican in NYC.

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Thank you so much for taking the time to read my post and leave such a thoughtful comment. It truly means a lot to me.

You're right, Chile has been through a lot, and that has left its mark on society and people as well. But hearing from people like you, who understand and who send kindness across borders, reminds me that there is so much strength and solidarity out there, even if sometimes it feels too dark to realize.

I’m grateful for the progress we’ve made and for being able to live more safely now, even if there’s still work to do. Your words really touched me.

Cuidate mucho también, hermano. Sending you a big hug from Chile. 🌈🇨🇱🤝🏻🇩🇴

by Tebaxmun; 1754895343; Report