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