Adolescence marks pride

In adolescence, you stop being a child and you 'reveal' against your parents and against the world. You discover yourself and forge your personality. You think you are invincible even though you have no fucking idea about life. You take risks, you stick, you learn, you get up and start again... You have your first girlfriend, your first kiss, your first fuck...

… all this, unless you are faggot, lesbian, trans, queer… where then, in the heavy of the time, an extra fee is added. If you're gay... I'll bet my balls that your adolescence wasn't 100% "normal."

Today, on the occasion of MADO and as a culmination of the fireworks we are carrying out this Pride month, we talk about LGTBIQ+ adolescence

The stolen adolescence of millennials and those who came before

Our grandparents had to deal with a timorous society and a prudish law .

Without any mirror to look at, the adolescence of gays at the time was... screwed... at best. They watched TV and the only faggot that appeared was in Arévalo's jokes. 🤦‍♂️ Let's not make more firewood.

Over time, legal rights were gained but, above all, street opinion went through tolerance... to acceptance. Still, many grew up in this era feeling like they didn't quite fit in:

• It was taught that to be happy you needed a university degree, excel in sports and have a wife and 1.7 children,

• The movies, books and video games were full of very sucky turkeys that made curvy mares get wet at the slightest display of violence and madafaka's gaze into infinity,

• Phrases like 'if my son is gay I will love him and I will have to accept him' or 'let them do what they want as long as it is in private' were very common.

• In the Disney movies the bad guy looked like a sarasa and in Physics or Chemistry the faggot got shot,

• In short, if a gay man compared himself to his colleagues (something that is absolutely normal in adolescence) he saw that... something was not the same.

There were a lot of signs that were coming in about what was 'normal' and what was not. And you, my darling... maybe you weren't completely "normal." 😜 With that scenario... the most "normal" thing is that one would decide to deny their feelings or put them on pause. Put on a mask to fit in .

Did they “stole” your adolescence?

If so, it wasn't your fault. You could not; We couldn't, we couldn't show ourselves as we are.

• For fear of ridicule, aggression or rejection,

• Or simply for the mere desire to fit in, to belong and to feel accepted and loved... like any human being.

That of feeling one thing but acting and trying to think like another... because in the long run it brings problems: problems establishing healthy relationships with others, trusting, idealizing referents and/or toxic patterns that we want to live now because we didn't do it in our life. adolescence (p.m.'s Peter Pan complex)...

Although it could have been worse. To have killed us (literally).

The new teenagers. No backpacks but… only in the networks?

Today's teenagers have already grown up with the legalization of gay marriage, the recognition of adoption and, as of this week, a Trans Law.

And they have a fresh new batch of references to look at and get inspiration to build their identity:

• Lil Nas

• There are interesting and non-cartoonized series like Pose, SexEd or Euphoria. In this category of series, I'm sorry, but season 4 of Elite is NOT included. 😜 Have a threesome with your boyfriend and a classmate in the locker room showers... anyway... 😅

• Disney has a series where the protagonist discovers his identity (with love, Simon)

• Approximately 50% of young people do NOT define themselves as exclusively 100% heterosexual and 80% believe that gender does not define a person.

• And there are many books, and movies and public figures,...

Social networks, in all this, have played a key role. Go to IG or TIkTok and you will see the new generations of influencers making all the realities of the rainbow visible from a perspective of identification and normality.

Is everything resolved then? Mmmm from our point of view... we're afraid not.

There are people who already talk about ' Reality privilege ' or how, online, we all have the same rights and can express ourselves however we want... but it is not true that all these people can transpose their virtual 'avatars' into real life.

The town faggot who has hundreds of likes on Tik Tok may continue to be harassed in the streets, the lesbian who participates in discussion forums from Nigeria continues to be persecuted, we still read news about LGTBIQ attacks or some, in a more sibylline way, They keep saying that we have to 'hide from the sightof children' protest festivals like Pride.

Pride to see (us) in the streets all

Those who already passed the age of 20 long ago now have no remedy when it comes to 'stolen' adolescence. But the visibility of Pride also serves to make up for lost time and to ensure that, in the future, no young person has to 'pause' (in the best of cases) their feelings and their experiences.

It's also okay, so that the new kids see more options from the beginning... so that they don't waste energy in covering up and hiding but rather invest it in being out, showing off and strutting.

And it serves, finally, to sweep away stigmas and anachronisms that, no matter how ugly they may be, are still present in depending on what physical environments... because the virtual ones have long since banished them.

Happy Temporary and Eternal Teen Pride!

PS: This pride, at Siwon we collaborate with the Eddy-G foundation that welcomes young people who flee from their environment due to abuse, family violence, bullying or any other type of LGBTIphobic aggression. We will donate half the amount of what you buy in our online store on July 3 and 4 on the occasion of MADO. 🖤