You call me a queer and I hope you do,
for I do differ from what’s normal to you.
You call me queer and I hope you do, because it’s true.
You call me queer and I hope you do,
because these words will never cease to spew from my mouth like pride in myself from my heart.
I am a work of art, an original piece by the mother cosmos.
You try to make me feel ashamed for who I am,
but I won’t cower in fear or shame,
I won’t change for you and I won’t remain the same as you.
I am queer and my body and my life are canvases for me to paint,
pages for me to write,
wars for me to fight,
from every stretch mark to every scar,
to my long hair and the paint on my nails,
I shall only grow queerer,
I shall never conform.
Being Feminist 
Great poem. I love the unabashed resoluteness. Whenever I think about queer identity, I always return to the New Romantic movement of London in the late ’70s and early ’80s, which was inspired by glam rock (David Bowie, Lou Reed, etc.). Androgyny and genderfuck were the norm, and this at a time when Thatcher and Reagan were taking the helms of power in their respective countries. Annie Lennox, Boy George, Princess Julia, Marilyn (the singer), Steve Strange, Siouxsie Sioux, and other New Wave artists totally screwed with people’s expectations of how men and women should look and act. How odd that their statement should still seem so relevant today?
I’m glad you enjoyed the poem! It seems to be one of my most popular. I think there could be a couple of reasons for the relevancy of those people’s statements. The first that comes to mind is the idea that these statements widely aren’t taken seriously due to the affects of capitalism, where these people are androgynous, but they’re allowed to be because they’re entertainers. The general population will commodify them, and thus stop any conversation on different gender expressions before they begin.
Growing up I admired Marilyn Manson, I still have posters of him on my walls with a pale white face and dark red lipstick, but he gets vilified as a freak, instead of applauded as a catalyst for conversations.
Musicians (from members of The Talking Heads, to David Bowie, to Marilyn Manson) aren’t afraid to start a conversation about gender expression, it’s just somewhere in that median the conversation becomes one-sided or gets commodified.
Great poem! It sounds like you just described me! 🙂