By Rebekah P. (she\/they)<\/p>\n
It was because of a rare cancer that I came into understanding my gender and sexuality. <\/span><\/b>Of course, I wasn’t cognizant of this and didn’t put all the pieces together until the last 11 years.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n This is because I was coming of age inside a fundamentalist church, and that church from my childhood only approved of like-minded colleges for continuing education, especially if your soul was living in a female-presenting body. It wasn’t until I was 23 that I was able to take my questions from middle school and be free to explore what that meant for a Christian woman like me.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In middle school, I was receiving chemotherapy for a rare cancer I had. This resulted in hair loss, a puffy face, and new physical features. <\/span>After treatment ended and I was in remission, I liked having short, “buzz-cut” hair, and liked that I could style it like “one of the guys” in my school.<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n However, because my school rules mandated hair below the ears for females and hair above the ears for males, in both high school and college rulebooks, I had to grow my hair out after cancer treatment ended. Before Kindergarten, my mother would take me to get my hair done in short styles because I loved Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music. But once I was enrolled in school, I didn’t go back to shorter hairstyles for 17 years, omitting the time I had chemo. I also didn’t start wondering if I could date women and be a faithful Christian until I was 29 years old.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n It was life-changing for me to meet and speak with Reverend Kathleen Remund <\/span>\u2013 <\/span>a queer, female pastor leading First Congregational Church in Menomonie, Wisconsin. Finally, I had someone who looked like me AND geeked out about biblical theology!<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n I am 36 years old and for the first time am starting my journey into queer joy and happiness.<\/span><\/b> However, it’s still hard to exist as both Christian and queer in secular spaces<\/span> \u2013 <\/span>and that includes medical settings. I live in the Midwest, so unless my doctor’s appointment is specifically concerning my reproductive organs and\/or sexuality, I don’t divulge my queer identity.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n These days, I stay emotionally and mentally healthy with my inclusive friends in the Duluth chapter of the <\/span>League of Minnesota Poets<\/span><\/a>. In the Twin Ports (Superior, WI and Duluth, MN), we celebrate Pride the weekend of Labor Day as a community. I hope to support each of my <\/span>cystinosis<\/span><\/a> peers who identify under the LGBTQIA+ umbrella during the entire month of June for Pride on <\/span>Next Generation of Cystinosis (NGC)<\/span><\/a> with Adult Leadership Advisory Board (ALAB) Facebook posts!<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n About the Author:<\/strong><\/p>\n Rebekah is the VP of Advocacy and Awareness for Next Generation of Cystinosis<\/a>. They participated in a panel called “Beyond the Disability or Diagnosis: Rare Disease in Adulthood” at our 2023 Living Rare, Living Stronger Patient and Family Forum earlier this year. Watch it here!<\/strong><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Rebekah P. (she\/they) It was because of a rare cancer that I came into understanding my gender and sexuality. Of course, I wasn’t cognizant of this and didn’t put … <\/p>\n