I have made many a bad decisions

aces who feel invalid because they only became ace after trauma

bi/pansexuals who feel invalid because most/all of their romantic interests so far have been a specific gender

enbys who feel invalid because their fashion style is stereotypically masculine or feminine

lesbians/gays who feel invalid because they've had childhood, celebrity, or fictional crushes on the opposite sex

aces who feel invalid because they also suffer from hypersexuality

trans people who feel invalid because they still appreciate some things about their agab

aces who feel invalid because they still get aroused despite not wanting to have sex

lesbians/gays who feel invalid because they were in straight relationships before they were out

trans people who feel invalid because they don't want to go on hormones or get surgery for whatever reason

poly people who feel invalid because they've never been in a polyamorous relationship

genderfluid people who feel invalid because they identify as one gender more than others

trans people who feel invalid because they've enjoyed sex as their agab

aroace people who feel like being on the aroace spectrum invalidates their non-straight identity

non-straight people who feel like being non-straight invalidates their aroace identity

any queer person who feels invalid because they've been "fine living in the closet so far"

any queer person who feels invalid because they change their labels a lot

any queer person who feels invalid because they have a lot of labels

any queer person who feels invalid because they only have a few labels

any queer person who feels invalid because they can't find labels that describe them

any queer person who feels invalid because they don't want to find labels that describe them

any queer person who feels invalid because they've been told they're "too young", "confused", "going through a phase", "wrong", "unnatural", "letting their family down", "satanic", or anything else to suppress their queer identity.

You are valid. You will always be valid. Even if you didn't feel like this until recently, even if you don't always feel like this, your queer identity describes who you are and how you feel right now.

You are loved.

Happy Pride.

Don't give up.

TRIGGER WARNING: Discussion of neglect, emotional abuse, manipulation, child abuse

SPOILERS AHEAD FOR THE ENTIRE PLOT OF STEVEN UNIVERSE!!!

For the first leg of the series, Pink Diamond was painted to be a major antagonist. However once the Gems learned that Rose Quartz and Pink Diamond were one and the same, many fans began to resent Pink/Rose for her selfish actions. When looking back at the pain she has caused, it can make one wonder why she turned out to be so selfish in her decision-making. I propose that the answer lies in her upbringing by the other diamonds, primarily the two that had the most contact with her, Blue Diamond and Yellow Diamond.

Yellow Diamond made it quite clear to Pink that she did not view her as an equal, but a child to be looked after. In Stevonnie’s shared dream/flashback sequence in “Jungle Moon”, Yellow Diamond directly attacks Pink’s maturity by snapping at her and telling her that she doesn’t behave how someone of her status should. When Yellow isn’t lecturing Pink, she neglects her needs entirely, seeing Pink as a hindrance that would distract her from her work running the empire.

Blue Diamond, instead of neglecting Pink, emotionally abused her by using her power of projecting her emotions onto others to make Pink feel just as upset (if not more) than her. She also guilt-tripped Pink for behaving immaturely and manipulated Pink into always feeling like the problem, which we see very clearly in Steven’s flashback/dream in the series finale, “Change Your Mind”. Steven makes this point of Blue’s abusive behavior best when he confronts her with the question; “How many times did you lock her in here? How many times did you make her cry?”

The most damning of all, and also illustrated clearly by “Change Your Mind”, they locked Pink away in a tower by herself when she misbehaved. This is just textbook child abuse, as it completely isolated Pink from the outside world. She would be kept in that tower for ages until the other diamonds felt she had been in there long enough to show improvement, like some twisted version of a time-out or grounding. While Pink Diamond did do many things I can’t agree with, I would argue that with the information as to why she is the way she is, it makes more sense that she tended to fend for her own happiness above all else.

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