COURTESY OF JOEY KILLMEYER

One of the first moments of 2016 that made us proud to be queer came in the form of a young boy named Ethan realizing his dream of learning how to paint drag make-up Ethan's mother brought the 8-year-old into a MAC cosmetics store in Florida last January where he told make-up artist Joey Killmeyer that he wanted to learn drag make-up like he'd seen in YouTube videos online.“Society needs to steer away from what is typically known as the gender roles and stereotypes and accept the fact that it’s OK for a boy to wear makeup to express himself as an artist,” Ethan's mom told The Huffington Post . “This does not define his gender identity nor his sexual preference. He’s just exploring and being a kid! Being judgmental and close-minded on such issues not only is hurtful to our children, but it also inhibits their freedom of self-expression and prevents the opportunity for them to embrace their true identities.”