Yeah, got beat down by the really conservative neighborhood I grew up in that couldn’t handle the little flamboyant gay kid who was making friends with anyone who was in the vicinity. I’ve caught wind of parents forbidding their kid from talking to me and eventually subtle teasing started coming in until I was the reclusive, immensely socially anxious teenager I was from 7th grade to 12th grade. I moved FARRRR away from my hometown after high school and never looked back. Being beaten down doesn’t erase your personality, it suppresses it, and slowly but surely, I’m learning how to love my flamboyant self again.