{"id":89,"date":"2025-01-16T16:40:47","date_gmt":"2025-01-16T16:40:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emrah.domains.skidmore.edu\/?p=89"},"modified":"2025-01-18T11:37:32","modified_gmt":"2025-01-18T16:37:32","slug":"silenced-banned-erased-and-yet-here-i-am","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emrahjusufoski.com\/index.php\/silenced-banned-erased-and-yet-here-i-am\/","title":{"rendered":"Silenced, Banned, Erased\u2014And Yet, Here I Am"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

They tried to erase me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They shut down my voice, my platform, my presence. They whispered that I was too much, too loud, too defiant. They wanted me gone. They failed.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve been banned, shadowbanned, kicked out, shut down, erased from spaces I built with my own hands<\/strong>\u2014all because I refuse to be anything less than unapologetically myself<\/strong>. The world is terrified of people who are too fearless, too confident, too unwilling to shrink to fit its fragile expectations. And trust me, the world has tried everything<\/em> to break me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let me tell you a story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Gay Orphan They Thought Would Disappear<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

At 16, I stood in the ruins of what was supposed to be my home. A home that no longer existed for me. A family that had chosen to cut me off rather than love me. No money, no safety, no one to call. Just me against the world<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I remember thinking: This is how it ends.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because what do you do when the people who created you decide you no longer deserve to exist? When they erase you from their world like you were nothing?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You either fade away quietly<\/strong>\u2014or you rise from the ashes and make damn sure they never forget your name<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I chose the second option.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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UWC: My Escape, My Salvation, My Revolution<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I fought my way into UWC like my life depended on it\u2014because, in many ways, it did. UWC wasn\u2019t just a school; it was a lifeline<\/strong>, a chance to redefine everything they told me I could never be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was there that I learned how to reclaim my voice, how to exist without apology. I found my people\u2014the rebels, the outcasts, the ones who never quite fit into neat little boxes.<\/strong> UWC wasn\u2019t about following the rules of the world; it was about breaking them<\/strong> and rewriting them in a way that made sense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the first time, I was more than a mistake, more than a problem to be fixed.<\/strong> I was a force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And once you taste that kind of freedom, you never go back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Then Came Skidmore\u2014And the Next Chapter<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When I chose Skidmore, it wasn\u2019t because it was safe<\/em>\u2014it was because I was ready to build something bigger<\/strong>. I wasn\u2019t just here to get a degree. I was here to shake the foundations, to create a space where my voice and the voices of those like me could be louder than ever<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And that\u2019s exactly what I did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Blog That Wouldn\u2019t Die<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I created The Slaying Blog<\/strong> because I was tired of being shut down. Tired of watching the world try to silence queer voices.<\/strong> Tired of playing by rules that were never meant for people like me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And oh, they tried. They banned me.<\/strong> They blocked me.<\/strong> They reported me.<\/strong> They tried to bury everything I had to say under layers of censorship and fear.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But here\u2019s the thing about people like me: we don\u2019t disappear.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every time they tried to shut me down, I came back louder.
Every time they tried to erase me, I rewrote my name in even bolder letters.
Every time they thought they had won, I was already five steps ahead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So here we are. The Slaying Blog is alive. And this time, there\u2019s no stopping me.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This Is Your Warning<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This blog isn\u2019t for the faint of heart. It\u2019s not for people who want sugar-coated nonsense or watered-down opinions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is for the ones who know what it\u2019s like to be silenced.
For the ones who were told to sit down and shut up.
For the ones who refuse to shrink themselves just to make others comfortable.<\/mark><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And for the ones who hate me?<\/strong> Oh, you\u2019ll be reading this too. You always do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So welcome to my world.<\/strong>
Watch me slay.<\/strong>
Or stay mad. Either way, I\u2019m not going anywhere.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stay tuned\u2014this is just the beginning.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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