Love Can Be Found: From Maisie

I first realised I was LGBTQ+ when I was 9. my best friend kissed me. I liked it… but I know I shouldn’t have, or that’s what I was told anyway. I didn’t grow up in a religious household just a very conservative one. From a very young age I had it drilled into me that women were only supposed to be with men. I knew something was wrong. Or I thought something was wrong. I came out to my Mum when I was 13. I’d learnt about the LGBTQ+ community and knew that I was part of it. She told me that I would marry a man and I’d be happy. We didn’t talk about it again. I found a strong connection with Naya Rivera and Heather Morris’ characters Santana and Brittany on Glee. Through them, I managed to find myself. I’ve had long term boyfriends and I’ve had one girlfriend. She was amazing. At the start she was anyway. She began to manipulate me, emotionally abuse me and made me cut ties with all my friends. I couldn’t even go out anymore. Eventually, I ended it. She then moved and we haven’t spoken since. More recently, I came out to my Nan and my Mum. My Nan was so accepting. She made me feel normal. She told me how she doesn’t care who I love and that “Love is Love”. My Mum was okay about it. She said she accepts me for who I am but doesn’t like talking about it. Now there’s this person. Conner. They’re amazing. I run a LGBTQ+ safe space account on instagram and I met them through that. They live 4,394 miles away from me. Across a whole ocean. However, despite all that, I love them. I’m still only a teenager but I have never felt so besotted with someone in my life. They make me laugh even in the hardest times. One thing I will always love about Conner is that no matter what life throws their way, they always come back fighting harder. Naya Rivera once said, “Butterflies can’t see their wings. They can’t see how truly beautiful they are, but everyone else can. People are like that too.” and i’ve never heard anything as true. Love is a scary thing. Love is hard. Love sucks sometimes but no matter what, Love is Love. Conner showed me how to love again and i’m eternally grateful for that. Conner saved me. Conner made me the person I am today. So no matter what, there’s always a light at the end of the tunnel. You will always find the right path and you will always find Love <3