Bowling Green native joins Queer Kentucky as editorial intern

Jasmin Kowalski

I grew up in Bowling Green, Kentucky on a 34-acre farm in a creaky cabin down a long circular driveway. Growing up, I was either outside causing trouble in the neighborhood or inside glued to my T.V. playing my favorite role-playing video game. (It’s Final Fantasy IX by the way and no, VII is not better). I didn’t know what make-up or a straightening iron was until I was in eighth grade, as I was always in baggy basketball shorts, an over-sized t-shirt and some type of skating shoe.

I knew that I was into more than just boys at a pretty young age, but I didn’t quite understand it. All I knew was when I looked at and spoke to a girl, I felt the exact level of attraction as I did while looking at boys; growing up in the Bible Belt taught me that that was not something to mention.

I was constantly surrounded by friends and family who were devout Southern Baptists and learned from them very quickly that relationships were strictly between men and women. Pretty cliché, am I right?

It was easy for me to play along with my peers and what their beliefs were; hell, I didn’t even know what I believed in. I was Super-Glued to another one’s way of life and views and had no clue how to get out or find my own wavelength of thought.

I didn’t truly find my voice and try to experiment with my sexuality until I was in my early twenties after a long-term relationship was ended. What I learned was something totally different than what I initially thought. I consider myself bi and to be quite honest, I don’t care what gender someone is at all.

I’m attracted to minds; the way they function and view the world. What does queer mean to me? Queer is anything that goes against the heterosexual norms of course, but to me it is much more than that. It is the way that I view the world and the people within it.

It is the way that my mind processes what I experience. It is something different and beautiful. It is colorful and free. It is organic and natural. I’m very excited to write for Queer Kentucky and show my voice. It’s something that I was afraid of displaying until recently.

My goal is to unravel the tension that we feel within our own community and shout out what needs to be heard. I want to have a voice for others who were in the same position I was only a few short years ago. Stuck. Paralyzed. Silent. I want to make a difference, even if that difference is in a single human.

Side notes: I am a full time student majoring in Gender & Sexuality studies along with Psychology.

My plan is to work my way through my PhD and become a safe place for anyone and everyone.

I started collecting used bags and stuffing them with essentials for the houseless (homeless is not the word I like to use).

I plan to start sculpting vaginas and uteruses to sell and send the profits to charities that help fund humans with uteruses searching for assistance on abortions.