Spell “Beautiful”

It was my first time attending an amateur strip spelling bee. I was among friends in the audience and we laughed and drank with ease in support of our friend who was participating. The event was queer and trans-friendly, and in keeping with the spirit of the evening, the participants were an array of body types, genders, and orientations. There were 3 rounds and if the participants failed to spell their word, they were to take off a third of their clothing. A no booing and no photos policy strictly in effect. These were the rules to ensure everyone was comfortable, that everyone up there felt safe and not exploited.

Once we reached the third round, each participant who got their word wrong disrobed as much as they comfortably felt. It was, all of it, so very beautiful. Some disrobed to their underwear. Many exposed everything.

The audience cheered, and I mean true cheers of celebration and support.

And the cheers roared loud and I applauded until my hands hurt. There was one participant who exposed so very much, stood there in front of all of us, and the room exploded in the loudest cheers of the night and, in that moment, I just felt overwhelmed with how full my heart was to be in the presence of that much support and unrestrained love. It makes me well up every time I think about it because sometimes we forget how much love we are capable of as people, as human beings. And I wish so very much that more people in the world could recognize how much beauty is in the world, and to celebrate it. Confidence is sexy. Owning the way you look is sexy. Owning who you are is sexy. Never let anyone tell you otherwise.

It’s a beautiful world of beautiful people. We should do our best to keep it that way. We should do our best to let everyone be beautiful.