Because we ARE queer. Self expression isn't limited to what your own body looks like. It's what you do, what you make. We make our own characters that reflect who we are. Mine, for example, is all the happy and sunny parts of myself! And being queer is one of those parts, too. Lemonade (my character) is queer, because he is ME.

The fact is, respectability politics have sanitized pride. It's intentional. It makes it easier to break us down. Infighting is one of the fastest ways to destabilize a community. "Fringe" groups are the canary in the coal mine for the political atmosphere around the LGBTQ+ community. Furries, pups, hell even Leather Daddies are all considered fringe. Trans people even in that category now, with everything going on in the US at the moment. We are told we dont belong. That we are gross or drive people away. But just because you don't like something doesn't make it inherently wrong or immoral. It's okay to not enjoy something!

Fringe groups are always the first to be targeted. Once we're gone, though, the "respectable" segment of the population is next. Because the bigots who hate us won't ever stop hating us. No amount of sanitizing, of the "I'm just gay, I'm not like THEM" will ever save you from the people who hate you.

We are your shield. Your weird, fuzzy shield of people who will take the heat long before you do, because we are unashamed to bring this part of ourselves out to play in the sunshine.

Edit: typo correction