: For a moment I can forget the decades, the centuries, the ongoing efforts to rob us of this privilege: the privilege to exist unapologetic, unencumbered, uncompromised; the privilege to enter a space knowing that you’ll have no qualms over simply being yourself. We danced in bars where the gaze could roam freely from one face or body to another, where eye contact could linger indulgent and unhurried, where none of us were made to feel ashamed for how we dressed, how we spoke, or how we walked. We sat crowded watching a queen perform, reveling in a shared mirth both so fundamentally human and so unique to ourselves. The smiles, the screams, the snaps, the glitter—who would deny us this luxury? Who would dare deny us this paradise?