I exist
even if you are blind
I exist
even if you can’t hear me
I exist
even if you deny my genitals
being different from you
I exist
even if you are uncomfortable around me
and
want to try to convince yourself
we are the same when we are different
or worse, that I am a mental illness or a disorder
I exist and it is okay
Sympathy doesn’t work
when you are not in my shoes
Don’t even pretend you could imagine,
you can not
Empathy, maybe if you have the ability to care and see
beyond your own binary reality
that you think is the only right reality
What you see will likely overwhelm you
so beware
and don’t blame me if it is scary to you
blame society
blame cultural dysphoria
for lying to both of us
and erasing my existence
Yes it might be scary for you to see
what was called taboo, an abomination, a curse,
the unmentionable
surgically erased or aborted
and yet
here it is me sharing too much with the world
to help you open your eyes
to a different reality
a
hermaphrodite
I exist and it is okay
It is okay to admit we are different
That their hate is
cultural dysphoria
I am happy that you are at least trying
and I thank you.
You are welcome to come into my world
but It is not okay to pretend
we are the same
when we are not
don’t do that to me
dare to feel your discomfort
and don’t take it out on me
Help me end cultural dysphoria!
By Mx. Anunnaki Ray Marquez
September 23st, 2021
These graphics were all made by Lara Neira, a beloved friend, and an intersex survivor.
~.V.~
Mx. Anunnaki Ray Marquez 