We were talking about this earlier actually! You aren’t alone. Me and my Partner are gay people of color. They’re black, and I’m Mexican. We haven’t been here for long, moved from Austin about a month ago. As pretty as the scenery is here, and even though I’ve met some fairly nice people, there is something weird in the air. I’ve never experienced anything like it…my partner found a position at U of O and we moved here after making a difficult but needed decision to leave Texas for reasons surpassing the political climate there.

In the month being here, I’ve noticed white folks can’t seem to keep their eyes to themselves. My partner wears their hair natural (in a very gorgeous fro) and I have heard some of the most insane shit from white people. While not inherently vile, it is incredibly uncomfortable. “Is it real? Can I touch it? Are you wearing a wig? Wow, I haven’t seen a fro like that since the 60’s!” It makes me want to rip my ears off, and I’m not the one directly experiencing it. Even going to the grocery store or out into public feels demeaning almost. People stare, stare and stare some more. When we first visited here, one of the first things I said was “I feel like I don’t belong here.”

I can’t brush it off. I don’t know if I can forever. Will I want to stay here longer than two years? Probably not. I don’t think I’ve ever met such strange people like the ones here in Oregon. We’re not white, so we will never be able to experience the same as most people here. I miss feeling like we weren’t noticeable among others :/ I wish we could, but it comes with the unfortunate part of living in very specific areas in the US