I am 100% an LGBTQ+ inclusive photographer, and as of today I am out as bisexual. Man, this is nerve-wracking. I could go into what spurred this, but instead I want to talk about why it took so long. This is a completely personal post with a sprinkle of relevance to photography, so if that’s not your cup of tea we’ll catch ya next time.
Well, hi!
I’m Cat! 25, happily married to an amazing man, and I’m bi. I have struggled with this part of my identity since (at least) high school, and today I realized how my own bi-erasure was hurting me. I have always considered myself as an ally to the LGBTQ+ community, but not a part of it. It felt like since I haven’t ever dated a woman I couldn’t ‘be’ bisexual. Especially since I married a man!
So what changed?
I realized that every time I called myself an ally, it felt like I was cutting myself short. Of course I am proudly and openly an LGBTQ+ inclusive photographer, so why not be proudly and openly LGBTQ+ as a person? I, like many other non-straight people, worried about the judgement. Honestly, I still do. I have received nothing but positive responses so far, but it still scares me. What if my female friends don’t want to hang out alone anymore? What if my peers see me differently? What if I’m not just Cat anymore, now I’m bisexual woman Cat? I know I’m still me, but I don’t know that everyone else will.
Why share this?
I’m sure someone is wondering this, so I might as well answer. I have a lot of why’s, honestly.
- I want to be transparently and authentically myself, always.
- I want to make it clear I’m not just trying to ‘look’ supportive of my LGBTQ+ friends – I stand with them.
- I want to stop feeling like I’m not who I am because of who I’m with.
There are a lot of valid reasons for anyone to come out, and these are some of mine. For me to truly be an LGBTQ+ inclusive photographer, I needed to do this. So…I did it!
Thank you to everyone who has and will accept me for everything that I am – a tattooed, man-loving, phrog queen dog mom who takes pictures of people in love.
Always your witchy hippie,
Cat
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