2024 Positionality Statement

TW: mention of su*c*de, trauma, houselessness, DV/SA, colonization, racism, oppression

Identity and Background
I am a nonbinary queer author and sex worker. My pronouns are they/she/fae.

My experiences and unconscious biases are shaped by the privileges and opportunities I have experienced as a white-passing, woman-passing, straight-sized, able-bodied person.

Cultural Heritage and Duality
I grew up with a brown father and a white mother in a Christian household, navigating a predominantly Mexican and Asian elementary school community despite being white-passing. While my family did not celebrate Mexican-American culture, I have spent most of my life in close proximity to it, forming personal and professional relationships with many Mexican and Mexican-American individuals. This experience often required me to rely on Spanish for communication in the workplace.

My Latina heritage was erased through assimilation, while my Scandinavian roots were celebrated within a colonial narrative. This duality of erasure and lived experience has profoundly shaped my perspective on the impacts of colonization.

Contrasting Experiences of Privilege
I grew up affluent in an upper-middle-class suburban neighborhood in the Bay Area. As a teen, I lived on a rural ranch in a Mormon-dominated community. However, I later experienced poverty and houselessness during my late teen years and early adulthood. These contrasting experiences have profoundly shaped my perspective on privilege and survival.

Trauma and Healing Journey
I am three times divorced and a survivor of domestic violence, sexual assault, mental illness, conversion therapy, alcoholism, and suicide attempt. I continue to navigate healing from these deeply rooted traumas and C-PTSD. Journaling has provided a space for reflection and self-expression, while witchcraft and nature have offered me solace and a deeper connection to the world around me. Additionally, therapy has been invaluable in helping me process my experiences and develop healthier coping strategies.

Unlearning Patriarchy and Religious Influence
As an ex-Mormon, I’ve had to unlearn patriarchal structures that erased my sexuality and gender, realizing how deeply these systems shaped my identity and worldview. These structures enforced strict gender roles and heteronormativity. I experienced religious, familial, and community traumas, and loss of home when I left this establishment. I am still healing these wounds, and I am grateful for the LDS people in my adulthood who have loved and embraced me for who I am, reminding me that love and acceptance can transcend the structures I’ve left behind.

Experiences as a Sex Worker
I have experienced social oppression and systematic rejection and erasure as a sex worker. I have participated in sex work out of desperation for survival, but also as a self-designated choice that has provided personal enrichment. I have briefly experienced exploitation in sex work, though the majority of my work has been self-designated. I have experienced oppression by banking institutions which have erased and denied my legitimacy as a licensed sex worker at a legal brothel and tax-paying citizen. These multifaceted experiences have deepened my understanding of the intersectionality of gender erasure, the impacts of patriarchy, and the resilience of those I work alongside from marginalized backgrounds within the sex work industry.

Impact on Writing and Storytelling
These experiences have enriched my writing, allowing me to approach taboo topics with empathy and nuance, offering voices to those often erased from mainstream narratives.

Educational and Professional Background
In my youth, I attended a public elementary school, with a year in a homeschool co-op. My teen years were mixed in a private LDS school, homeschooled, co-ops, and in public schools. I was a licensed cosmetologist for six years, and have been a sex worker for 14 years. I did not complete formal education at a university.

Interests and Passions
Some of my special interests include animals, writing, human psychology, sex, taboos, herbalism, witchcraft, and dancing.

Commitment to Social Justice
I am committed to donating a portion of all book proceeds to reparations within marginalized communities and eco-conservation including BIPOC communities, LGBTQIA+ communities, and intersectional environmentalism.