I thought it should go without saying, but hey. If Ireland can still win the Quidditch World Cup without the Snitch, anything and everything is possible.

So hi, I’m Kris, and I’m pretty gay.

A year ago I thought that was enough.

I thought on 2016’s National Coming Out Day, I could just throw that fun little tidbit back into the universe and keep going with my life as Kristina Atienza, a tiny little queer Asian woman trying to be a journalist.

Now if you don’t know, last year, I wrote an opinion piece about National Coming Out Day and how the fear of being out shouldn’t keep people from coming out.

It meant well. I knew that at the end of the day, National Coming Out Day was meant to celebrate those who were brave enough to live their true life, whether or not they willingly came out of the closet.

What I thought was the end of my journey, or at least the part where I constantly answer “yes I’m into guys and girls, no it’s not a phase, please go away” was actually the beginning of my newest one.

My entire life I had been trying to figure myself out (but let’s be real, who hasn’t?) I had tried everything in trying to understand why my life never made much sense. No matter how much I tried to be happy with who I was, there was just something that was always missing.

A few weeks after coming out, one of my favorite YouTubers released a slam poem about being nonbinary. And instead of me just going ‘Oh word that’s a dope poem,’ it was a curveball that hit me square in the face and changed everything.

Each word cleared the fog in my head and finally turned the light on in my head – nonbinary wasn’t just a concept, it was me.

Being nonbinary was my truth. And now, I was terrified. Not even a few weeks after realizing the truth about my gender, everything changed with the election. I immediately wanted to shove myself into the closet and pretend everything I had suddenly grown to love about myself was fake, just so I could get through the next four years safely.

But my friends reminded me that wasn’t the way to live. I was someone who was brave for others, who lived aggressively proud of who I was and was not afraid to let people know exactly what my heart and my truth looked like. I was making a small difference in people’s lives, and being brave even when I was terrified was the price I was willing to pay.

I wasn’t going to stop being me. I was going to be a little more careful, sure, but if I could continue being the light and hero for others to be brave in this dark world, I wasn’t going to stop.

Every day I get more and more concerned about my fate in this society.

Every day I wake up with what feels like less and less protections being there for me for who I am.

Every day I face the challenge of pretending being called the wrong gender doesn’t bother me.

Every day the world reminds me of that fear I had on the morning of November 9th, 2016.

But I’m not quitting. You can disrespect me, my gender and my sexuality, but you will never make me quit.

I will make a difference in the world by protecting friends and inspiring others to be brave in the darkest moments of adversity.

So let me say it again.

Hi, I’m Kris. I’m queer nonbinary person who uses they/them pronouns. I’m in love with this beautiful girl. I am still very gay. I am still very proud.

This my reality. This is who I am.

Respect that and respect everyone who is brave enough to come out today and every day. To those who are not in safe situations that they can be out, I love you and support you. I will keep fighting for you to be in a safer world where we won’t need a day to celebrate coming out and we can just be out.

Happy National Coming Out Day. Be Kind and love each other today.