Letters to the Moon....

Hello there, my name is Esperanza Habla. And I am a Face of Ace. Today is the last day of Pride month. As such, I thought I would take a moment to talk about my experiences after coming out. When I came out as demisexual three years ago, I had no idea how my life would change. I never dreamed of the responsibilities inherent in coming out, nor the opportunities that would come my way. Before I knew how I identify, I had always thought of coming out as a one time event, as when friends had come out to me. However LGBTQIA+ people can come out several times in their lives. When I share my truth with someone, that is another coming out. I think I have come out a dozen times. When a person comes out, they then become a representation-or face-of that orientation or identity. For example, when Janelle Monae came out as pansexual, her announcement broke the internet; millions went online to find the definition for the orientation. When people think of celebrities who are LGBTQIA+, it becomes e

Hello there friend, how are you? I am writing in the middle of Pride month. Happy Pride! Of course, Pride is looking quite different this year. Just like many celebrations that happened already this year-Easter, Passover, Ramadan-Pride is being held in isolation. Most Pride events around the world have been canceled. Any remaining Pride gatherings will be virtual events, held online for anyone to log on and participate. Not exactly the way any of us thought we would be celebrating the month. And let's be honest, there isn't much of a mood to celebrate right now. The unjust killings of black people in America have the country on edge. We were all traumatized by the pandemic, spending weeks-months-in our homes in isolation. Throw the righteous outrage and protest that is happening right now, no one is celebrating. There is no reason to celebrate at this time. It would be careless, and thoughtless, to celebrate when others are in crisis. In Indianapolis, most of the Pride events w

Hello there friend, how are you? I hope you are safe and well. I was going to write you and tell you of my week, my second full week back at work in the COVID crisis. But I can’t waste time with such a banal topic. There are more important things to talk about this week. As if a global pandemic wasn’t traumatic enough, the U.S. has been retraumatized. On Monday May 25, George Floyd was taken into police custody. The matter escalated, and Floyd was then held on the ground with a police officer’s knee pressed into his neck. Ten minutes later, George Floyd was dead. Video of Floyd’s murder at the hands of police began to hit national news. The video was played repeatedly in the media, with full audio and video. The sights and sounds of the video are equally disturbing. The video has been played daily since the killing. Last Saturday night I turned on the local nightly news, to see the news of the day. Instead I saw live coverage of a riot in downtown Indianapolis.  Earlier that