Natasha Alterici

Hello! I just saw your comic about the church girls. I grew up incredibly devout, as you said, it was a way to deal with and feel okay in a lot of chaos and doubt in my life. I’m still thankful for many of the church girls I had to lean on in that time of my life. I had older church girls who took me under their wing, one remains my best friend to this day. I became the older church girl for others, as the only clearly queer woman in the church I was a target for a lot of bullying by peers and pastors alike. But I stayed a lot longer than I should have, because I felt I needed to be there for the younger queer girls who had found some solace with me. I wound up finding my safe person in one particular church girl. We kissed for the first time in a worship room before youth group, and held hands through the sermon. We became an inseparable duo, tried our best to get as close to god as we could and love God the best we could. We found that wasn’t really our calling, but in the process we grew close to each other and learned how to love each other the best we could. We are coming up on our 7 year anniversary soon. She sent me your post, we both shed a tear and praised your art. Thank you for sharing. It’s sometimes hard to take a walk through those memories, but you’ve done a wonderful job bringing them to life in a more positive way.

I am forever thankful to the women in my life who made the scripture and church walls comfort for a time.

I am thankful for anything at all that led to me to her:) I am so happy to see you found someone that brings you that same comfort.