I know Dan was self-conscious as he wrote about the "battle scars" of queer people, but I'm glad he spit it out. I actually like this element about queer folks. It's something that binds us together. We took the social prescriptions, realized they didn't fit for us, and had to undergo a thorough process before realizing who we are. There is a confidence in this. During the process, it sucks, it weighs on us, and not everyone gets through it, but there is something to be said about the life of a person who had to evaluate themselves so thoroughly and live to tell the tail.

People who finish the journey (turn it into something positive) make for excellent friends.