{"id":1286,"date":"2025-09-15T19:21:14","date_gmt":"2025-09-15T23:21:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/lgbtqlit\/?p=1286"},"modified":"2025-09-15T19:21:14","modified_gmt":"2025-09-15T23:21:14","slug":"i-have-a-secret-can-you-keep-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/lgbtqlit\/2025\/09\/15\/i-have-a-secret-can-you-keep-it\/","title":{"rendered":"i have a secret… can you keep it?"},"content":{"rendered":"

After reading Insomniac<\/em> by Saeed Jones, I knew I had to post something about it. Honing in on the second stanza, I was enthralled by the idea of locking something up or keeping something hidden. At first, I only believed it was surface-level; the idea of queerness or showcasing of a queer identity was hidden. Yet, after further reflection, I wonder if this “mother of sorrows<\/em>” we hear of once was, or is actually a queer woman herself. “In a language,” I’m guessing, refers to the language of a minority. Of our<\/em> kind. The history of ballroom. A facade given to the public and only seen in our spaces. What we swore we would never tell anyone.<\/p>\n

This language that the “mother of sorrows” may be keeping from her son is one that she speaks herself. Her tongue may also be a queer one. I wonder if she knew the repercussions of this sacred language, but wanted to do anything and everything in her power to keep her son alive, and maybe one day see the world outside of that locked room he is banished to. The idea of gatekeeping queerness is fascinating to me, and it suggests to me that the mother has seen the hurt it causes firsthand. Was her husband an abusive man? Did he partake in hate crimes against LGBTQ+ people – maybe a law enforcer at that time? We will never know. We can only let our imaginations take us to unseen and unspoken places. What I am trying to say is that I think these lines are a commonly lived experience reference to masking queer identities and\/or presentations within a traditional, non-accepting household. That’s all from your favorite literary icon’s favorite literary blogger. Para Scisccors out.<\/p>\n

#masking #queer #facade<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After reading Insomniac by Saeed Jones, I knew I had to post something about it. Honing in on the second stanza, I was enthralled by the idea of locking something up or keeping something hidden. At first, I only believed it was surface-level; the idea of queerness or showcasing of a queer identity was hidden. … Continue reading i have a secret… can you keep it?<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5704,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[344663],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1286","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fall-2025"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/lgbtqlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1286","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/lgbtqlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/lgbtqlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/lgbtqlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5704"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/lgbtqlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1286"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/lgbtqlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1286\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1287,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/lgbtqlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1286\/revisions\/1287"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/lgbtqlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1286"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/lgbtqlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1286"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/lgbtqlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1286"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}