#typewriter kitty

I Am Not Afraid to Keep On Living: A Queer Perspective On The Black Parade

By: Lachlan (thats me)

You may have heard that when I was a young boy, my father took me into the city to see a marching band. And he said, “Son, when you grow up, would you be the savior of the beaten, the broken, and the damned?” It’s an experience I share with everyone who has listened to My Chemical Romance’s 2006 album, The Black Parade.

MCR is well known for having a largely queer and teenaged fanbase, so it’s no wonder why so many people have been able to directly connect to the lyrics.

Many transgender people feel a connection with lyrics from the second verse of Mama, “You should’ve raised a baby girl, I should’ve been a better son.” My friend Sunny (@suns-pott), who is a trans man like me, describes their connection to the lyrics: “It really resonates with me in the way that as a trans man, I can’t be the daughter my mom expected and wanted me to be. Then the last person in my family to come out as trans got disowned so... maybe I could’ve been a better son by being born as a guy.”

I personally find the bridge from Welcome To The Black Parade heart wrenchingly empowering, “On and on, we carry through the fears / Disappointed faces of your peers / Take a look at me, 'cause I could not care at all / Do or die, you'll never make me / Because the world will never take my heart / Go and try, you'll never break me / We want it all, we wanna play this part / I won't explain or say I'm sorry / I'm unashamed, I'm gonna show my scars / Give a cheer for all the broken / Listen here, because it's who we are…”

It’s quite long, but it’s extremely important to me. It’s me joining in with all of my queer siblings yelling to the world that we always be who we are and not be sorry about it, we will be unashamed in our expression, we will carry on through the hardships and persecution, we will not the world take our compassion or force us into “normality”, and just so, so, so much more.

Almost a week ago, on September 13th, I was at the Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, seeing My Chemical Romance perform. When they got to that bridge in Welcome To The Black Parade, I actually teared up. I cried. It was a surreal experience to be able to scream those lyrics in tandem with thousands of people and the band right there on stage.

Welcome To The Black Parade reminds me to keep living, to not give into despair and end it all. It reminds me that I need to keep fighting not just for myself, but for all of my trans and queer and marginalized siblings. And to carry on the memories of those who have died.

While my view most likely isn’t all that uncommon in the queer community, it’s still an extremely powerful message of acceptance and hope that we desperately need during my generation's political turmoil.

image captions:

A group of people hold up mcrtransflag’s (insta) Black Parade jacket that turns into a transgender flag outside of the Rogers Center in Ontario, Canada, before MCR’s Long Live The Black Parade Performance.

CD insert poster for MCR’s The Black Parade album.