I grew up around punks and anti-racist skinheads, and while the community was very accepting, there was still a lot of unquestioned toxic masculinity and patriarchy that was pervasive. Bigots were rare and understood to be weirdos/idiots, but so many the background radiation of hate was way stronger, too.

There is more hate, but there’s a larger community and visibility. I could never imagine being queer when I was growing up in the early 2000s. I simply lacked any vocabulary or experiences to draw from, and all the casual hate and stigma that was around anything not cishet kept me from even questioning. Not only that, but I had a lot of internalized hate that really affected my mental health, and a lot of those issues were unresolved until I realized my own truth. Seeing so many kids happy to be themselves, or exploring because queerness is more visible, is a net positive in my eyes. Same for my situation with neurodivergence and race.