If you know me, you know that my go-to accessory is a backwards hat. Whether it be a baseball or a snapback, you will always see a hat on my head.

I wear this hat not as a means to cover my hair. Don't get me wrong, it definitely helps with a bad hair day, but I do not wear it to cover my head. I wear my hat because well, it makes me, me.

I haven't been out of the closet for that long, maybe about 2 years now. But during the time when I believed I was straight, I did not dress how I wanted to. I wore leggings and a sweatshirt almost everyday, and I hated it. Now, being gay doesn't have that big of a part in my wearing my hat, but if I'm going to tell you why I wear it all the time then I'm going to tell the whole story. I didn't wear what I wanted to wear for almost 17 years of my life, because I was an insecure teenager and I was scared of what people would think.

My hat is a way for me to express who I truly am, without the fear of being judged. Sure, I still get looks and some comments, because it's not everyday you see a girl wearing a backwards hat. But for me, my hat gives me confidence.

I know it sounds dumb, a hat giving confidence? Really? But it's true; it really does. It's like wearing your favorite shirt; you just feel better with it on. The most common response to my hat is stares, the usual assumptions that I am indeed a lesbian, and mostly “Why do you wear it so often?”.

None of those reactions really bother me except one, that they assume I am gay. Yes. I do indeed look like a stereotypical gay woman, but my hat doesn't define my sexuality. My hat defines my style. I like to wear hats, I like the way they look. But for straight women, wearing a hat that is backwards or even forwards is disheartening because a simple piece of clothing that they love, automatically links them to being gay. Not okay. Another thing about my hat is, I understand that YOU might think that I look better without it, but that is also YOUR opinion. Just because you don’t like the hat doesn't mean you need to comment on it.

I like my hat, and that's all that matters to me.