The courageousness comes from living openly and authentically as you are regardless of what the public will do to you or how it will vilify you. Not every gay person’s authenticity lies in femme expression, but for the ones for whom it does, they have courage because they are clearly visible when being themselves. The ones who don’t are similar to everyone else, and it doesn’t take much courage to be like everyone else and a part of the cultural norm. Without the visibility and flamboyance of our predecessors, we never would have been able to organize and start movements for our rights to live out in the open. It was only after this exposure that others closer to the norm borrowed their voices and were able to push for legislation.