Patrick Scattergood's Blog: Tales to Tell - Posts Tagged "pride-month"

It's slightly more than half way through Pride Month and it's made me start thinking about my own story. My story about how I came out, how I became more confident in myself and how I identify.

I've always identified and put myself forward as nonbinary and pansexual but I've also been very private about it for years. There's always been a lot of stigma around not being straight. There's always been a lot of stigma around not identifying as the stereotypical man or woman. I hate that.

So recently, I've been putting it out there a lot more often. I've been adding that I am an LGBTQ+ writer to my posts on my social media. I've been talking about how I identify more often on my personal social media too. It has felt like a more confident me and that, that I like.

What I haven't liked is the fresh torrent of homophobia I get. It seems to be the more I talk about it, the more abuse I get. It's an effort, I feel, to get LGBTQ+ creators to stay behind the curtain, so to speak. I'm not going to be doing that. Quite the opposite.

Someone on Twitter described Mother, Dearest and The Man Who Died Twice, as "gay shit with magic" and, at first, I was offended. Then I started thinking more about that. I'm an LGBTQ+ writer. So, yes, I do have LGBTQ+ characters and I am proud of that. I'm also proud of someone thinking that describing my work as "gay shit with magic" was an insult whereas I have turned it around in to being a compliment. I put out an advert with that quote and it brought LGBTQ+ readers and allies to my books. I'm thankful for that. I've had the most supportive of messages, some wonderful reviews and even made some amazing friends from the whole thing.

So, be yourself. Love who you want to love. Identify how you want to. Just be you and be proud.