This is our “Excerpts from a Dairy” series. We publish excerpts of thoughts and reflections from emails, dairies and journals of people from the queer community. These excerpts could be complete entries or uncompleted and unstructured excerpts that show our personal thoughts and reflections about our lived experience. 

We welcome submissions and they can be sent to etqueerfamily@gmail.com. 

The below excerpt is taken from a dialogue about how one navigates societal expectations of femininity in Ethiopia as a queer masculine presenting ciswoman.

“I ignore them for the most part, and I realize that comes from a place of privilege. There are times when I feel concerned, such as when we are out with my femme girlfriend (partner) and I am read as a lesbian. I am also putting her at risk, and I worry people might try and attack us. I think the way that I navigate it is by just being myself. My family is very accepting of my gender expression, and they don’t pressure me to change in any way. They are my safe space, in a sense. The fact that they stand up for me also gives me the strength to face the larger Ethiopian society. I don’t like words such as ‘Kebe,’ and I speak up when people use such words. I have learned to be unafraid and to just live my truth. It does not mean I take unnecessary risks, but I have gotten to a point where I speak up much more.”