I've met more non-binary people in the few weeks that I've lived here in Montana than I did in all my 19 years in South Carolina. Back home, it was a rare and joyous occasion when someone used the right pronouns for me. Here, it's a complete non-issue. I haven't once felt weird or gross or out of place for my queerness. In South Carolina, the experience of queerness is defined by othering and difficulty. Here, I feel that I doubly benefit from the opportunity to make queerness a part of my identity from the outset in new relationships, but also, from a culture where queerness is not necessarily universally accepted, but certainly normalized.
- Iggy Shuler