That Time I

     The first time I got yelled at on the street by a stranger in a car was this week. I was walking on a sidewalk bordering campus, on my way to pick up dinner, when all of a sudden I heard something to my right. Now mind you, I’m listening to music, so I couldn’t hear what was said until I took out my headphones. I do that, and I see a young man peer out of the backseat of a car, and he said,  “You’re disgusting.” 

      All I could say was, “What?” before the car moved on.

     I’m a queer person of color. I don’t know if the fact that I’m queer is “visible,” but I do paint my nails, and sometimes I wear clothes that might not be from the men’s section. On this day, I was wearing a pair of women’s shorts. While what I was wearing is not the focus, I can only assume that this might have been part of what drove that young man to yell at me.

     The strangest thing about this experience is that I wasn’t offended.

 I’ve had homophobic comments aimed at me before, and the same feelings came over me then. I was more upset and sad than offended. I know I’m not disgusting, but the fact that people feel entitled to say things like that is disheartening and disappointing, to say the least. 

This is my fourth year at UNH. I hope events like this can be dealt with so that they don’t escalate.