Queer Bait/Misdirection

Sometimes…

Sometimes it seems that

In an effort

To make queer living more palatable

To the questioning, troubled youth

It seems that we tell them things like

It gets better !!

And

All relationships, all identities —

Any kind of queer relationship you can have

Is no more or less bad than “the normal kind”

There is always a comparison

From queer to “what everyone else does”

In a world where loads of people

Are proudly, openly queer

With media using

LGBTQAI identities

To broaden their reach and

Bait more viewers—

I know that

The goal here

Isn’t necessarily to make

All queer identities sound like

A total piece of cake— but

I think that is a side effect

Of the nonstop promoting

Of everyone’s identity

From people who are

Not that, personally.

To me, it’s almost like

A nonstop onslaught

Of queer bait

Even the fucking guides they create

Are fucking queer bait.

They trick you into thinking

That it’s some sort of queer thing

But when you get in

It’s all just

Motivational speaking

About how you can love anyone

And that the world will accept you

Exactly as you are.

Oh, and I guess

Loving yourself

Also means having an Instagram

And a narcissistic attitude

Towards your own life and body.

It’s almost like

The queer bait from TV

Has trickled down

Into our lives—

Now queer identity

Is only ever

Something nice—

A positive, enticing mantra

A show that makes you feel

Alive!!

With queerness

Or whatever the fuck that is

Sometimes I think

I’m the only one who notices

That we went from

Begging for rights

To begging for directions.

I don’t see any of this as progress,

I see it as misdirection