Rachel
What makes you feel empowered in your identity?
I've never necesarily felt like a girl/woman throughout my life, so now having the language and the pronouns more accessible just helps with understanding who I am and who I always have been at a soul, at a spirit level. All my life I have just considered myself "Rachel" or "a human," so my queerness and reluctance to play into the gender stereotypes that feel wrong for me is me giving myself over and over again so much love. And--it all makes me feel at home in my soul--the most "Rachel-y" that I know how I can be.
What does your 2SLGBTQ+ identity mean to you?
My queer identity makes it so that I do not have to be tied to the "identity" of who I was taught to be--when the world got its hands on me and told me "do this" or "do that" or "love like this" or whatever. It is freedom. It is a celebration of my soul, my mind, my heart--not just this body. It's forgiving and healing my inner child, my younger self who always felt lost and unsure. I'm still figuring out the language that feels most comfortable for me, but my identifying as queer and leaning into the non-binary and/or gender fluid or non-conforming realm has given my soul the pathway to feeling like it can be expressed more fully and in-tune with the multitudes it holds and is.
What is one (or more) of your favorite things about yourself?
My creativity, my brain (even though she's kinda rude sometimes), my expansive and generous heart, my connection to my inner child, my devotion to my healing and my spirituality.
What is your favorite part about the 2SLGBTQ+ community in Oklahoma? What would you like to see more of?
Oh, gosh. It may be cliché to say "their/our existence" but that is how I feel. Their existence, their joy, their trying and triumphing and resilience. Most really, each beat of each heart. I'd like to see more welcoming, affirming, loving, resources (perhaps while working with creativity/art) for queer youth (I have ideas...).