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Queer As Family

By

Brian Gresko

•

Image: A woman with long hair sits in front of a microphone. Her name tag reads "Ms. Greene." Text: Recently, in a Congressional hearing, Marjorie Taylor Greene told Randi Weingarten that she's not a mother because Weingarten is the stepmother of her wife's children, not the kids' biological parent.
Image: A person with short hair and dark eyebrows. Their face is angry, and they appear to be yelling. Text: When I heard that?!
Image: A pregnant woman in a nightgown. Text: I thought of my own family. In 1977, my mom was 23, single, unemployed, depressed—and pregnant with me.
Image: A pregnant woman in a nightgown. Text: My biological father told her to get an abortion. He said she was a slut and I'd end up a no good bastard.
Image: A nun with a long, black habit, and a man with short hair and a black robe. Text: Her father, who once attended seminar to be a priest, said the same. My aunt, a Carmelite nun, called her a stain on the family name. She wanted my mom to have me in secret then give me up for adoption.
Image: A woman holding a baby. Both are smiling, and the baby is wrapped in a towel. Text: My mom held fast. She went on welfare for support, determined to have me and make a break from these unhealthy relationships.
Image: A man and a woman, both smiling. Text: While pregnant, she reconnected with her high school sweetheart, John.
Image: A woman and a man smiling at a baby. Text: He was there the day I was born, and they eloped the following year.
Image: A man holding a young boy. They are sitting at a table, and the boy is blowing out candles on a cake. Image: John is my dad. Biology or not. He raised me, loved me, and cared for me as his son. His queer son.
Image: A man and a boy sleeping next to each other. Text: Once, on a Reddit thread in response to an article I wrote, trolls referred to my dad as a "cuck," an alt-right slur for men who are perceived as betas. He's a hero, really. My dad. But men unwilling to face their own patriarchal pain can't recognize that.
Image: The outline of a man and a woman, similar to outlines used on restroom doors. Text: And now with this Marjorie Taylor Greene BS I am reminded again, as I am on almost daily basis, how these right-wing fascists denigrate and dehumanize anyone who doesn't fit their narrow, bigoted, normative world vision.
Image: A white line stretches across a dark background. Text: "They want to bring us back to the 1950s," my mom says. "They want to do worse than that," I tell her. "It's just terrible."
Image: A clenched fist. Text: I pity their lack of compassion and imagination. A closed mind is like a closed hand—it's a fist, a weapon.
Image: A man, a woman, and a baby sit on a couch. They are reading a book. Text: We stay open, because love is who you choose—queer as family.

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Brian Gresko
Brian Gresko is a writer and illustrator based in Brooklyn. Gresko co-runs Pete’s Reading Series, Brooklyn’s longest running literary venue, and is a co-founding member of Writing Co-Lab, a teaching cooperative. You can find out more at https://www.briangresko.com/.

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