A review by stevenjpitt
Growing Up Queer in Australia by Benjamin Law
Quotes:
• “The gift of being queer is in the close contact it gives you with the nature of identity, the great many possibilities for becoming and for telling stories.”
• “You can reveal yourself in parts, or as a whole, and make revisions. For better or for worse, sooner or later, life conspires to reveal you to yourself, and this is growing up.”
• “Those many Christians who still oppose sex education use the rhetoric of intimacy, innocence and faith. What they’re fundamentally about is cultivating shame.”
• “Growing up queer is questioning how you see the world - because we are repeatedly shown it is their world, not ours.”
• “So do what I am still learning to do: be honest about what you want. Be open to loving and to being loved. You’re part of something special; get here as quick as you can.”
• “The word queer [is] like a question, a question mark, a reminder. I’ve always asked questions. Have driven myself halfmad with them. I embrace the word queer. It’s a query, a reminder to ask: who are you? who might you become? I hope I don’t get to the end of that question before I die.
• “Queer is middle ground, blurred boundaries, somewhere a productive discussion might be had instead of a slogan-shouting match. Come in, let’s talk, let’s try to figure something out.”
• “The gift of being queer is in the close contact it gives you with the nature of identity, the great many possibilities for becoming and for telling stories.”
• “You can reveal yourself in parts, or as a whole, and make revisions. For better or for worse, sooner or later, life conspires to reveal you to yourself, and this is growing up.”
• “Those many Christians who still oppose sex education use the rhetoric of intimacy, innocence and faith. What they’re fundamentally about is cultivating shame.”
• “Growing up queer is questioning how you see the world - because we are repeatedly shown it is their world, not ours.”
• “So do what I am still learning to do: be honest about what you want. Be open to loving and to being loved. You’re part of something special; get here as quick as you can.”
• “The word queer [is] like a question, a question mark, a reminder. I’ve always asked questions. Have driven myself halfmad with them. I embrace the word queer. It’s a query, a reminder to ask: who are you? who might you become? I hope I don’t get to the end of that question before I die.
• “Queer is middle ground, blurred boundaries, somewhere a productive discussion might be had instead of a slogan-shouting match. Come in, let’s talk, let’s try to figure something out.”