“Part of my dread of wedding dress shopping came from the ways I believed I would be rendered invisible by the blinding brightness of heteronormativity.”

Note: Some names and details have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals mentioned in this essay.

Elle Warren is a writer from Michigan based in Chicago. She is working on a memoir about the intersections between OCD, queerness, grief, and a culture of silence. By day, she works as a mental health content writer. Find her at @ellewarrenwrites on Instagram.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost in June 2024.