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I think I’m queer and I have childhood trauma that makes dating men difficult.

I think I struggle with some features of Quiet Borderline Personality Disorder and I have complex PTSD.

I think I’m irritated at the mental health system and I think it’s also a system worth fighting for.

I’m tired of watching YouTube videos on, “Is it Borderline Personality Disorder or Complex PTSD?”

It’s often both. Try to tease them apart if you’d like, but many of us have both.

Also, those questioning their sexual orientation may be interested in both sexes and still struggle to date one because of childhood trauma.

I may be a PhD student and be an at-risk student as well.

I may smile with all my teeth and still struggle with mental health.

I may be all of these things and still be a human being with a beautiful heart that beats to the sound of Portuguese.

Please stop making either-or statements about human beings.

We are complex individuals created in a complex system.

Put away your DSM and say hi.

Sit down next to us.

Hear the way our hearts beat with each activity that brings us joy—and focus on it.

What brings us joy in life is our path toward healing—not your DSM and your cookbook made up of DBT and CBT activities.

It’s time we reconsider the way we speak about people.

We are more than the color of our skin.

We are more than some boxes to check in the DSM.

We are each a unique bag of fractals ready to shine when we are seen and supported for who we are.

It’s time we speak more about intersectionality.

No more black and white, either-or statements, please.

In closing, let me introduce myself.

Hi, my name’s Rebecca.

I was born on March 20th.

That makes me a Pisces.

I’m a 28-year-old bisexual white female writer who speaks Portuguese and Spanish, studies Psychology, and listens to country music on occasion. I’m also the adult child of an alcoholic, a speech-language pathologist, and a person who left home and never returned so she could finally fly.

I write here tonight for all of us who walk around with this anger inside our chests.

Please stop putting us human beings in boxes. We are more than just the color of our skin, our sexual orientation, the language we speak, and emotional instability.

We are human beings made up of many colors.

Sit down with us, so you can see.

~