🌈 Caged Pride | Pride Month Author Q&A
An Intimate Look at Identity, Truth, and Self-Freedom
Makitia Thompson opens up about the deeply personal themes behind Caged Pride, a haunting story of survival, shame, and self-liberation. In honor of Pride Month, she reflects on Jerome Clarkson’s story—a man whose silence nearly cost him everything—and how this fictional journey reflects real struggles still endured by many in the LGBTQIA+ community.
1. What inspired you to write Jerome’s story in Caged Pride?
I wanted to create a story that had less to do with drama influencing a person's behaviour and more to do with fear. Jerome was scared to be open with himself because he thought it would hurt his mother. His mother had been in a toxic relationship with a man—Jerome’s father—who had been secretly gay, and she transferred her heartbreak and anger onto gay men in general.
So when Jerome realised his sexuality, he already knew how she would react. Caged Pride is about people who live a lie to keep others comfortable, even when it destroys them. I also needed this story to exist because society still shows hypocrisy—being more tolerant of gay women than gay men. I wanted to speak directly to that.
2. What did you want to say about conformity through Jerome’s marriage?
I wanted to show not only how depressed and lost Jerome was, but how miserable the people around him were. He and his wife Pauletta married straight out of high school. She suspected, and eventually knew, that Jerome wasn’t truly in love with her—but both of them felt stuck.
They thought it would be selfish to leave when in fact, honesty would’ve been the most selfless act. Through Jerome, I wanted to say that conformity doesn’t work for anyone. It makes the conformer miserable, and the people it’s meant to protect know it’s not real. So none of it matters.
3. What does the title Caged Pride mean to you?
It’s about a bird trapped inside a house, never able to fly or fulfill its purpose. Jerome is the bird—his true self is locked away so he doesn't upset his mother. But by doing that, he’s unable to feel joy. He forgets who he is. The “cage” is made of shame, fear, and the pressure to be what others expect.
4. How does shame play into Jerome’s identity struggle?
Jerome carried shame for being like his father—a man who couldn’t commit and used women to hide his true self. Even though Jerome’s life looked different, he felt that loving a man would make him just as “bad” as the man who hurt his mother.
His mother punished him emotionally for reminding her of his father. And his father, even without saying a word, made being gay look shameful just by how openly he lied to cover it. So both parents passed that shame down, and Jerome held it like a curse.
5. Why was it important that Jerome was a Black man?
Because there’s a specific kind of homophobia Black men face. I’ve seen it in real life—in my family and community. Gay Black men are often told they aren’t “real men.” Femininity is denied to them in a way that cuts deep.
This book comes from experience. Not because Jerome is me, but because I’ve seen how damaging these ideas are. I needed to write a story that says: Black men can be soft, emotional, vulnerable, and they deserve to be loved fully and freely.
6. What role does Bradley play in Jerome’s growth?
Bradley is the man who finally showed Jerome what it looks like to live in truth. He’s openly gay and proud. That made Jerome want to stop hiding. At this point in life, Jerome is tired. His wife is in love with someone else, his kids are mostly grown, and he’s been working for the affection of a mother who never gave it freely.
Bradley doesn’t just awaken Jerome sexually—he awakens Jerome’s understanding that life is meant to be lived, not endured. That was the final push Jerome needed to break free.
7. What does Jerome’s marriage to Pauletta teach us?
Their marriage is about desperate love. Pauletta wanted a family so badly she accepted a man who couldn’t love her. Jerome wanted his mother’s love so badly he married someone he didn’t love.
They never truly talked. Never connected. Their marriage shows how dangerous it is to live for someone else—and how wasteful it is to give your life to someone when you don’t even know who you are.
8. What does Caged Pride say about childhood trauma?
That pain doesn’t leave just because you pretend it’s not there. I wanted to show that trauma sticks to you like glue—and hiding it doesn’t make it disappear. Jerome grew up without love, and that taught him to believe he wasn’t worthy of being loved.
He represents what happens when trauma isn’t faced—it grows with you. It ages with you. Caged Pride is a warning: sweep your pain under the rug, and it’ll rise like dust in every corner of your life.
9. What do you hope this story gives to queer readers—especially those still hiding?
I want them to see Jerome and understand: you deserve freedom. You deserve to be loved for who you are, not who someone wants you to be. I hope they see that hiding who you are might keep others comfortable, but it’ll keep you in pain.
Let go of the people who expect you to suffer for their comfort. Don’t wait too long—because not everyone gets the chance to find happiness if they keep putting it off.
10. What would you say to someone about to read Caged Pride for the first time?
Prepare to not have all the answers. You might not understand why someone would live a lie for so long, or why others enable it—but that’s the truth of life for many people.
There is no neat explanation for why someone hides who they are. But what I can say is: by the time you finish reading, you’ll understand what it costs to stay in that cage—and why breaking free is the most powerful thing you can ever do.
🖤 A Message for Pride Month:
“You don’t owe anyone your pain. You don’t have to shrink for people who refuse to grow. Let yourself out of the cage—even if your voice shakes when you do it.” —Makitia Thompson
#Mindsindesign #Makitiathompson #LGBTQIA+
Comments
Post a Comment