A Letter to San Francisco
Dear San Francisco,
Thank you for the best two weeks of my life. I feel like I have had some pretty amazing opportunities in my life, but visiting you is definitely the coolest thing I’ve ever done. I crossed things off my bucket list, like the Golden Gate Bridge (which was stunning, by the way), experiencing my first Pride, and going to the Frameline film festival. I miss all of this, but I think I miss the little things even more. It’s what has me thinking and reflecting back on the trip. While we all only visited for two weeks, it felt much more than that. Your city has made me feel more like myself, but also like a completely different person.
Thank you for letting me be completely myself, without having to hide who I am. Your city naturally feels like a place where someone can be themselves, and I felt that too. Just last week, a group of us interns watched the screener for Plainclothes, and I can’t stop thinking about one part of it. This one character talks about how he’s going to move to San Francisco and how he hopes the other character can find his own San Francisco too, someday. It made me think about how special your city is, not only to me but to many others in the queer community. It felt like a breath of fresh air compared to other places that I’ve stayed. In many ways, it has become a second home. In San Francisco, there were no obligations to hide parts of myself that could be seen as “too much” for some people to handle. I could simply exist without the stress of having to worry about what others thought about me. I don’t think I have smiled or laughed as much as I did when I was in your city because I was just so happy. I felt completely like myself. That was the biggest culture shock for me, which isn’t something I thought I would say. I thought the culture shock would be something different, like having trouble settling back into work or readjusting to not being around queer people all the time. For me, it was feeling so free to be myself that when I came back to Wisconsin, I felt like I had to dull my “sparkle” just slightly. As I’ve been settling back into my routine, I’ve been trying to bring some of the joy I felt in your city back to Eau Claire. I’ve realized that it’s made the transition back to “normal life” a lot easier and has let me be more of my true self.
I miss the sense of community that you champion and celebrate in your city. It honestly took a little bit of me getting used to when I was there. Now that it’s been a minute since the immersion trip itself, I have found myself wanting more of that community here. Eau Claire does have a decent sized queer population and its own sense of community, but there is something that sets the two cities apart. I think it felt different being in a city that holds so much queer history. Your city, together with most of its people, celebrates this history and strives to remember it as you move forward in time. I remember walking to the Herbst Theatre with Adrian, and right across the street was your very own city hall, where Harvey Milk was elected, and then where he and George Moscone were assassinated. I felt the weight of history sink in, as if I could feel that something important had happened there. I felt the same way when I visited Alcatraz Island, and I felt it as I watched documentaries like The Librarians or Heightened Scrutiny. It’s a very different feeling of seeing these places in person or in a documentary than it is scrolling through TikTok. Physical reminders of history are so important, especially in today’s age of social media. We can find pictures of these places whenever we want, but there is something so different about experiencing them in person. It can make you think about how we got to where we are today in history and how far we have to go. I still haven’t forgotten about how visiting these places made me feel, and I know that it will stick with me for a while.
When I’m looking back on my college days, I know I will forever cherish this trip. I was a bit nervous going into all of this, but your city is so vibrant and magical that I couldn’t help but feel at ease the moment I walked off the plane. It was truly a life-changing experience. Thank you for bringing out the best version of me and bringing me so much joy. I’m leaving your city with so much gratitude, the fullest heart, and the hope that I will return soon.
