Dec 26, 2024

Ptown and queer joy!

As 2025 begins, and my 10th season in Provincetown approaches, I am reminded how lucky I am to spend time in one of the queerest spots on the planet. To not only have a business, but to be able to speak freely and politically, in a sex-positive, and an unabashedly queer manner is a gift.

Over nine summers I have met countless people from all over the planet, all over the political, sexual, and gender spectrums. In recent times, with increasing attacks on the LGBTQ+ community, I’m acutely aware how all the rhetoric lands more heavily on the ears of queer kids. This past summer drove home repeatedly how much Provincetown and access to safe spaces like, Adam’s Nest mean to people, especially when they’re coming from places far less accepting.

I have had the privilege to hear so many stories and have had so many amazing magical moments with so many people and I wanted to share a particular moment from this summer that serves as a reminder how important it is to be an ally and to have a voice, and to be visible and how much your actions can have an impact on someone.

I have a customer named Alex who comes in every season, she puts down her books, sits on the floor and goes through every book on the shelves.

This year when Alex came in to the shop I had to snap a picture, and as she was going through the bookshelf with her back toward me she says, “I wrote about you."

I reply "What do you mean you wrote about me?"

Alex replies, in my college entrance essay.

I asked to read it, and she shared it with me. She was kind enough to let me share this with you.

JOY????

Visiting Provincetown for the first time, a feeling of exhilaration and comfort rolled through me in waves. A canopy of Rainbow flags floated above the hustle of Commercial Street, drag queens posed for photos on street corners, and same-sex couples walked holding hands.

I realized I was sapphic in middle school, and after being outed and othered, I insisted I wouldn’t come out publicly until college. At school, I locked that part of myself away as if it were dangerous, but in Provincetown, I felt free to dance with my queerness. Pride finally replaced the fear I’d always associated with my sexuality.

Provincetown embodies queer joy. Whenever I visit, I love speaking with long-time locals including Adam Singer, who runs a store selling queer merchandise. He knows me as the girl who goes straight to the book section, where I learned all my early queer theory, and as we’ve discussed the evolution of queer activism, he’s seen me grow from a confused girl into a confident woman.

As my finger hovered over the “post” button next to a coming-out photo of myself decked out in rainbow in August of 2022, I remembered the warmth Adam and others had extended to me. That post was more than sharing my identity; it was my first step in showing other questioning and closeted teens that there were supportive and welcoming communities out there, and I’ve been working to build those spaces at school and beyond ever since.

alex and adam in provincetown at adam's nest

It is the quiet moments like these that happen that make my heart full. I am reminded to be the change I want to see in the world and that queer joy is a form of resistance. What lies ahead is all hands on deck.

Have a Happy New Year. Love fully. Spread joy. Stand up for what you believe in.

✌🏼💜🌈🦄😘

📸 Robert Maxwell for TIME

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