Unbothered, Unapologetic, and Radiant

The holidays have a way of bringing everything to the surface.

For many queer people, this season doesn’t just mean cozy lights, shared meals, and time off work. It can also mean returning to spaces where your full self isn’t always welcomed, understood, or celebrated. Family gatherings can be layered with history—old roles, unspoken expectations, and subtle (or not-so-subtle) reminders of when your light made others uncomfortable.

And that can be hard.

You may find yourself shrinking just a little. Choosing silence over honesty. Softening your joy. Editing your story. Or bracing yourself before walking through the door, already tired from the emotional math of it all.

If that’s you, we want to say this clearly: there is nothing wrong with your light.

Your queerness is not a phase, a provocation, or something to be tolerated. It is a source of creativity, resilience, humor, depth, and love. It is part of what makes you radiant—even when others don’t know how to see it.

Queer community exists, in part, because so many of us learned early on that our brilliance wasn’t always reflected back to us in the places we first called home. And yet, here we are. Still shining. Still finding one another. Still building spaces where joy doesn’t have to be justified.

This season, you are allowed to protect your peace.You are allowed to step outside, take a breath, and choose yourself.You are allowed to leave early, set boundaries, or opt out entirely.You are allowed to feel grateful and hurt at the same time.

None of that makes you difficult. It makes you human.

If you find yourself in a room where your light feels unnoticed, remember this: somewhere else, it is deeply valued. In chosen families. In queer spaces. On dance floors. Around shared tables. In quiet conversations that say, “I see you,” without needing explanation.

Holidays can be hard—but you do not walk through them alone.

May we stay unbothered and unapologetically radiant this season.May we remember that our light is not up for debate.And may we keep finding our way back to the people and places that remind us who we really are.

You are seen. You are loved. And you belong.