This is a sign warning about radiation at Fermilab National Laboratory. Radioactive materials have extremely unstable nuclei. Radiation is the energy that is released during nuclear decay. While quite different in reality, I am able to relate to this in a way. My life, like the lives of so many other queer individuals, is so uncertain. Not being able to express my queerness, to express that I like girls, to express that I prefer to dress more masculine, feels like I am that unstable nucleus. The more I suppress who I am the more it feels like my personality, my identity, my spirit is decaying. And I’m sure that is how many others in the community feel. We are always under this ever growing pressure to fit in, to do better, to be who we are expected to be rather than who we want to be, who we feel comfortable being. And the longer that goes on in a person’s life, the harder it is. The sign in the image, warning about radiation can be thought of in two main ways. The first is that if we are comparing queer people to being radioactive, then this sign, metaphorically speaking, is warning against the queer community. The other way we can think of this is that it is a warning to us, as queer individuals, that we are going to decay, we are going to become less and less of ourselves if we keep letting society win. Personally, I like the latter option much better because it doesn’t have to be so much a warning as much as a reminder and an inspiration to never give up and to always be your wonderful, unique self.