I say uncle, you guys.

Maryland has been a lot for me: full of a lot of lifelong best friends who always called me a f*ggot; street-harassment death threats from following strangers; baseball bats; a biological family that disinherited me for having the audacity to marry Kevin.

We need to escape the violence that has been and always will be waiting for us in that city. We’re preparing our move to DC in the next few months, and the realization that I can’t come back to Baltimore again is sinking in and taking root.

That just goes for Maryland in general, actually.

I can’t return right now.

I’m guessing not for a couple years, at least.

It also doesn’t feel safe for me to be on social media anymore, because I’m too visibly queer for the network of Trumpsters I came from. Please don’t ever be afraid to text a friendly hello or call from time to time. I would hate to lose touch with everyone.

Thank you all for giving me a space I could truly be myself for the first time in my life. Your company was the only redemptive thing about my relationship with the city of Baltimore; each of you is invaluable and irreplaceable to me.

And thank you for helping me break free from my past.

You truly are the surrogate family I needed.

Take care of each other, and I hope to talk to you soon.

❤️

TK