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subrapture · 3 years

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It appears it's time to post this again, for the newcomers and the curious.

THE OLD GUARD, HISTORY, ORIGINS AND TRADITIONS.

By Guy Baldwin M.S.

Guy Baldwin, M.S. a Los Angeles psychotherapist, served as International Mr. Leather and Mr. National Leather Association during 1989-90

While reading a recent interview with Brian Dawson, I came across some of his comments about that '0ld Guard' In the leather lifestyle. Although I used that label in a piece I wrote almost three years ago, I only recently realized that there was a strong likelihood that large numbers of leather guys don't quite know for sure what the phrase, '0ld Guard' really means. I'm sure that I have never seen a description of the style (and it is a style, so I want to offer one now. I have carried my own '0ld Guard' card in my wallet right next to my Selective Service Registration card (draft card) for long enough that I probably qualify to offer what follows so, here goes...

First, a bit of historical perspective will be more helpful than you might guess. '0ld Guard' is really a misnomer - a misapplied name - for the earliest set of habits that jelled by the mid- to late 1950s in the men's leather community here in the U . S. It is very important to remember that the modern leather scene as we now know it first formalized itself out of the group of men who were soldiers returning home after World War ll. (l939-1945).

For many gay men of that era, their World War ll. military service was their first homosocial experience (first time being thrown together mostly in the company of other men for significant lengths of time), their first time away from their growing up places, and their first experience of male bonding during periods of high stress. War was (and is) serious business; people died, buddies depended on each other for their lives, and the chips were down. Discipline was the order of the day, and the nation believed that only discipline and dedication would win the war and champion freedom: (Ever notice the especially strong patriotic feelings that happen at leather events?)

Anyway, these gay war veterans learned about the value and pleasure of discipline and hard work in the achievement of a noble purpose. They also learned how to play hard when they got the chance for leave time. Indeed, military life during wartime was (and is) a mix of emotional extremes born out of sure knowledge that one could literally be 'here today, and gone tomorrow. ' Lastly (for these purposes), the gay vets had the secret knowledge that they fought and served every bit as well as straight soldiers, and this information strengthened their self-esteem. All of these things came to be associated with the disciplined, military way of life as it existed during the wartime years.

Although not all gay men of that time served in the military, those who didn't were exposed to the military attitudes through their contact with the vast numbers of military men who were everywhere to be seen and cruised both during and immediately after the war years. In any case, all these things greatly influenced the shape of masculine gay sexualities. Mars

Upon their return to the States about 1946, many of the gay vets wanted to retain the most satisfying elements of their military experience and, at the same time, hang out socially and sexually with other masculine gay men. They found that only in the swashbuckling motorcycle culture did such opportunities exist and so the gay bike clubs were born. It was here that they found the combination of easy camaraderie, the stress and thrill of real risk taking (the riding), and the masculine sexuality that they had known during their military days.

Since one can tell who is and is not in the military only when uniforms are worn, these gay men unconsciously (in most cases) transferred their loyalties to their own uniform-the leather gear of bike riders with a few paramilitary touches thrown in. Club insignia often recalled hose insignia of special military units: Thunderbolts, Warriors, Blue Max, and Iron Cross to name only a few. Club members would exchange their insignia with members of other clubs in friendship; christening rituals were transferred from tanks, ships and airplanes to motorcycles and piss was substituted for champagne; the military dress uniform hats became the leather bike caps-all these elements were just as had been during military service.

Incidentally, during the war, the soldiers would often put on skits for their own amusement. Since women were not allowed at the front, some of the men would play the parts of women by doing a kind of mock dress-up (as in one scene from 'South Pacific'). Later, this tradition would be expressed in 'drag' shows during bike runs. So, masculine men pretended to be pretending to be women-not truly 'drag' at all. (lt. still happens in a few places.)

In any case, being in the military also meant following lots of rules. And just as in the military, there were (unspoken) rules about what you did and did not wear, how you handled your personal affairs, who you could and could not socialize with and more. All this was overlaid with a kind of ritual formalism just as in the military. Those men who were really into dominance and submission, SM, or leather sex tended to take these rules rather more seriously than those guys who simply thought of themselves as butch. The butch ones wore just enough leather to be practical when riding, and those into the exotic sexualities tended to wear more gear than necessary to signal this fact about themselves, but they all hung out together in the same settings. As you might guess, in some cases, any particular person might be into both riding and the exotic sexualities.

Just as an aside here, before and during the war, kinky folks seeking to identify each other would sometimes defensively ask, 'Do you play the mandolin or the saxophone?' to discover which of them was the masochist or the sadist by the first letter of these instruments. All this while wearing street clothes! The creation of a butch subculture by the gay vets began to allow people to specialize their sexual interests in a way that had been impossible earlier. Prior to this development. it was not apparent that there were very many ways to be gay.

The bike clubs and the bars where they hung out became the magnets of their day which attracted those gay men who were interested in the masculine end of the gay spectrum, but it was the leather men who defined the masculine extreme at that time. (Nowadays, we know there are many ways to be masculine.) This meant that those who had an inclination to kinky action pretty much felt compelled to explore kink in the context of the leather SM scene since it was the only game in town. If motorcycle riding or black leather itself was not 'your thing', that meant one felt obligated to visit the hang outs and look and act the part as much as possible to find one's way into the inner circle of those who looked like they knew something about the exotic sexualities. This meant finding out what the rules of inclusion were (how can I be included?) in order to gain access. To some extent, all this is still true because the attitude still prevails that the 'uniform'' indicates experience and social access to the Knowledgeable People.

And so, the Scene became EX-clusive rather than IN-clusive, meaning that the people in the Scene understood the rules and tried to keep outsiders out-to exclude them. An outsider became defined as anyone (butch or not) who did not have a primary interest in and experience with the exotic sexualities or at least an interest in motorcycles. (This excluding attitude was probably also reinforced by guilt about being kinky.)

I know that this combination of kinky men mixed in with motorcycle riders may sound a bit odd now, but that's how the Scene worked and, to some slight extent, still does. All through the 80's, with the emergence of kinky organizations and specifically leather/SM events, the motorcycle riding community and the kinky leather community have grown apart such that now those in one group are pretty much ignorant of or indifferent to the events happening in the other.

This growing separation is more true in larger cities which have the numbers of people that are necessary to support each of these two communities, each with separate needs and agendas. Consequently, many old and venerable bike clubs have experienced a drop in membership and some have disbanded altogether.

But for the most part, kinky people have segregated themselves out from the riders as the process of erotic specialization has continued. Generally, the riding community seems not to have minded this development perhaps because many of the members of riding clubs are either turned off or embarrassed by the erotic visibility of the kinky crowd "Birds of a feather". But for this discussion, it is noteworthy that many of those kinky people retained the paramilitary trappings, manners and attitudes of that early, core group of returning World War ll. gay vets.

Most importantly, these features of the military mind-set joined with inky interests and became erotic in and of themselves became fetishes. These men then were the original '0ld Guard', and so it will come as no surprise that their quasi-military rules of inclusion and exclusion still influence kinky society today.

So what exactly were the (unspoken) "Old Guard' rules? Here are a few of the more important ones that had prevailed by 1970:

About Attire

Always wear boots, butch ones, and preferably black.

Always wear a wide black leather belt plain, not fancy.

Never mix brown leather with black leather.

Never mix chrome or silver trim with gold or brass trim.

Long pants only, Levi's or leather, and no shorts.

Chaps indicate more commitment than Levi's, and leather pants more commitment than chaps, especially when worn consistently.

Leather Jackets must have epaulets (bike riders excepted).

Head gear is reserved for Tops or experienced or heavy bottoms only.

Bottoms may not own collars unless a particular Top has allowed that bottom to be the custodian of the Top's collar. A bottom wearing a collar is a slave, and belongs to the owner of the collar who, presumably, has the keys. Other Tops are not to engage a collared bottom in conversation, but other bottoms may do so. Should such a relationship end, the collar must be returned to the Top.

Never touch the bill of a bike cap, including your own.

Never touch another man's cap (or head gear) unless you are very intimate friends or lovers.

Keep studs and other decorations to a tasteful minimum unless they happen to be club insignia.

Never wear another man's leather unless he puts it on you.

Leather, other than boots and belt, must be 'earned' through the achievement of successively challenging 'scenes.'

Wearing gloves is reserved for heavy players, glove fetishists or bike riders.

Always indicate SM preference, only with keys left or right.

If you are cruising seriously, wear the keys out; if not seriously, tuck them in a back pocket. Always indicate strictly leather sex or 'rough sex' interest by wearing no keys at all.

Those who 'switch' are second class players and not to be taken as seriously because they haven't made their minds up. If you must switch, do so in another town.

'Full' leather is reserved for after 10:00 P.M. only and only with 'our own kind'.

Respect the public by wearing less of it during the day--don't frighten old ladies (l did once by accident), or anyone else for that matter.

About Socializing and Cruising:

Experience in the Scene determines social seniority (Top or bottom) , not age, not size, not amount of leather worn, and not offices held in organizations, awards received or titles won.

Tops and experienced bottoms should be accorded higher respect and deference unless and until they behave rudely--all are expected to observe rules of social courtesy-bad manners are inexcusable and can lower one's status in the Scene (thereby reducing access to the Knowledgeable People for information or play),

Real Leathermen keep their word: they do not borrow or lend money; they conduct their affairs with honor and integrity-they don't lie.

Preliminary social contact should be on the formal side.

'Senior Persons' (Top or bottom) are not to be interrupted when in conversation.

Experience being equal, Tops lead the conversation.

Junior Tops defer to Senior Tops and Senior bottoms in social situations.

Junior bottoms defer to all others in the Scene but not to outsiders.

When walking together, bottoms walk half-a-step behind and to the left of Tops with whom they are involved or playing.

It is up to the Top or the experienced bottom to extend a hand to invite a handshake. (All touching is highly restricted during initial contact between strangers.) NEVER over-indulge in drugs or alcohol in public, or otherwise attract scornful attention to one's self--to do so brings dishonor on the men in the Scene,

Tops should always have the first two opportunities to make verbal or physical contact,

The more submissive one is, the less direct eye contact one makes-glance frequently at or stare at His boots only when cruising; less so in non-sexual conversation. The more dominant one is, the more direct the eye contact is unless there is no erotic interest (cruising only).

Men in the Scene do not discuss (or write about) the Scene with outsiders. All men in the Scene must be able to spot outsiders with the 'right stuff' and be ready to facilitate them into the Scene after they indicate sincere interest.

None of these rules are taught or explained to anyone except by innuendo, inference, or example.

Erotic technical information is only shared among peers.

Maintain formal and non-committal relationships with those outside the scene; avoid contact with feminine men. Women are not allowed although Senior People may occasionally have intellectual or brief social relationships with the occasional qualified kinky woman, but only in private.

Very few men maintained full compliance with all these rules all the time, and some, flatly refused to follow rules they personally objected to. But, to be included one was expected to follow at least most of these rules most of the time. Also, confusingly, there was some variation in some of the rules depending on what city you happened to be in at the time. The list above is not complete although it conveys the sense of the style.

Understandably, a certain stiffness surrounded the men who followed these rules, just as a certain stiffness surrounded the military men of the era. Those who sought inclusion had the challenge of finding a relaxed and easygoing way to follow rules. However, this required considerable social skill and many kinky people lacking those skills (or patience ) simply gave up and accepted a frustrated role on the fringe.

As time passed, there were more and more guys in their twenties whose early sexual development had not been influenced strongly by contact with the military. Therefore, they lacked the early raw material with which to fetish-ize the military features of the '0ld Guard' leather/SM scene. Still, they needed information and experiences to help shape the urges of insistent kinky longings.

These people were essentially without resources until the establishment of kinky organizations brought about new educational opportunities that were not bound by '0ld Guard' rules.

Consequently, there is a lot more support now for new people coming into the leather/ SM scene who have other ideas (non- military) about what is hot. Long hair, rockers with wild designs on their jackets, road racing bikers with brightly colored leathers, leather faeries, skinheads, women and others now are found on turf once dominated by the '0ld Guard' system'.

So, '0ld Early Guard' or perhaps thought of as 'Early Guard" or perhaps 'First Guard' because that style makes sense given the erotic influences that shaped the inner lives of the men who were coming of age sexually at that time. The Old Guard made some real contributions and made some real mistakes, and still does both.

It is more useful to understand than to criticize. And, perhaps most importantly, what the Old Guard did for the development and expansion of kinky life and butch gay male sexuality can best be appreciated against the backdrop of what had existed earlier--not much of anything!

But remember this, as long as we have a military, and a paramilitary police system, and as long as that military has traditions of initiation, ritual, inclusion/exclusion, honor and service, there will always be an '0ld Guard'. Its size and influence in the leather/SM scene will probably always be proportional to the role played by the military and other paramilitary organizations in society-larger following wartime and smaller during peace.

I thought maybe you'd like to know.

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crossdreamers · 6 years

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What definition of "lesbian" and "feminist" does this blog use? I appreciate that male-inclusionists use the term egalitarian for themselves. Why use feminist for yourselves when you support gender essentialism and refuse to acknowledge sex-based oppression?

On lesbians, transgender people and feminism

What is a lesbian?

A lesbian is normally defined as a homosexual woman, meaning that she is sexually attracted to people of her own gender. I believe that sexual orientation can often be more fluid than the binary this concept grows out of allows for, but for many this represents a perfect description of their sexuality.

Feminism

A feminist is a person who supports feminism. As I see it, feminism should at least include the following:

1. A clear understanding of how our societies (which are dominated by men and the Patriarchy) stop women from from achieving equals status to men as regards real power and influence, employment and salaries, legal framework, social welfare and services, as well as personal respect and validation. Moreover, feminism will have to include political means by which to change this.

But that is not enough. The oppression of women is so effective, because it is part of our language, the mental maps we use to navigate the world, and our institutions. This explains why women sometimes are as strong supporters of the status quo as men are (as in women voting for Trump and Putin).

Therefore feminism must include:

2. The goal of replacing the Patriarchy with a new understanding of biological sex, sexuality and cultural gender where men, women and non-binary people are understood as equals – politically, socially, and culturally. This is a society where being a man is no longer understood to be the default norm for being human, and where men no longer dominate.

Biological sex should be irrelevant. Sexual orientation should be irrelevant. Gender identity should be irrelevant. Everyone should be seen as human first, anything else second. But we are definitely not there yet. I live in a country where the three most powerful politicians are women, but where women continues to be belittled, ignored, dismissed and harassed because they are women.

In other words: As long as women continue to be oppressed in this way, it makes no sense to pretend that everything is all right, because the legal or formal frameworks are supposed to treat men and women in the same manner.

End the misogyny

The Patriarchy is upheld by contempt for women, by misogyny. Even in a liberal and egalitarian country like Norway, young boys and men continues to be socially conditioned to think of being female as something inferior, shameful and embarrassing. Many of those who violate this cultural taboo are called “sissies”, “faggots” or the worst slur of them all: “girls”.

Under the current racist, homophobic and transphobic backlash it is easy to see that this misogyny is part of toxic masculinity that puts dominance, aggression and violence above collaboration and compassion.

Which brings me to your real agenda.

I am, according to you, a “male-inclusionists” and a “gender essentialist".

I am not a gender essentialist

I am not a “gender essentialist”. I do not believe there are unique “female” and “male” brains and that trans women have a “female” brain in a male body.

My own life experience and my reading of current research tells me that “masculinity” and “femininity” – regardless of how you define these diffuse phenomena – are widely distributed among both men women and non-binary people, gay, bi and straight. This is also one of the reasons why I disagree with any attempt to reduce cultural or psychological gender to genitals or chromosomes.

The current consensus among natural scientists studying sex and gender, is that gender identity development in humans is the end result of a complex interplay between genetics, epigenetics, hormones, various environmental factors, social pressures and cultural concepts.

Transgender identities are real gender identities

The very existence of transgender people tells them (and us) that gender identity cannot be explained by social conditioning alone, since we are punished severely if we violate the gender binary and the traditional gender roles.

In spite of all the violence, transgender people consistently and persistently, keep their gender identity, even when they desperately try to live up to the expectations of society. Conversion therapy never works, in the same way it never works on homosexual men and women.

I believe this persistent gender identity has a biological component, but it is real even if it does not have one. It is as real as the sexual orientation of a lesbian, or the gender identity of non-transgender person. This is an observable fact.

My guess is that this “factor X”, if you will, is an inborn drive towards expressing yourself as a woman, a man, or someone non-binary, in the same way cis kids over time develop a need to be affirmed as a boy or a girl. Many girls embrace Disney princesses, not because they are genetically programmed to go for pink, but simply because society tells them that this is a good way to be affirmed as a girl. Through play and conversation, they are trying to find out what it means to be a woman in their place and time. We have to tell teach them that a pink princesses are not the default role models for women.

In the same way some transgender persons embrace stereotypical feminine or masculine expressions, not because they are essentially “queens of the ball” or “lumberjacks”, but because it is a way of exploring their identity in a social and cultural context. Like many cis people, most transgender people find a way of presenting their real personality in their end.

In other words: Biological sex, the gender identity continuum, sexual orientation and masculinity/femininity are four separate, but interacting, dimensions. That explains why you can meet a transgender, femme, lesbian woman.

Women may be diverse, but they have the political struggle in common

The feminist philosopher Catherine MacKinnon has said that “male dominant society has defined women as a discrete biological group forever. If this was going to produce liberation, we’d be free… To me, women is a political group…. I always thought I don’t care how someone becomes a woman or a man; it does not matter to me. It is just part of their specificity, their uniqueness, like everyone else’s. Anybody who identifies as a woman, wants to be a woman, is going around being a woman, as far as I’m concerned, is a woman."

Her respect for the individual’s uniqueness rings true to me. African-American women has a different life experience from white American women, college educated women one that is different from blue collar women, and Norwegian women lives in a different framework than women from Indonesia. Politics and the struggle against the Patriarchy bring them together.

The transgender contribution

The life experience of transgender women can bring new insights into our understanding of the repressive nature of the Patriarchy. Sure, they have in some ways experienced male privilege, but all of them have a system that does its best to beat their real identity out of them, because a "man” is not supposed to feel like a woman.

Many trans women are sexualized, raped and killed, just because they are women and because they threaten the fragile masculinity of men. At least 28 transgender women were killed in 2017 in the US alone, a majority of them black women. The survivors have a lot to teach other feminists about intersectionality and the oppressive power of the Patriarchy.

Trans men can also be of help in the feminist struggle, partly because they have been raised as girls, and partly because they have experienced the contrast between being treated like a woman and next as a man. They might help us develop narratives that make more men understand. The same applies to non-binary people who have actively developed a language that makes it possible to go beyond the binary.

Including men

If you by “male-inclusionists” mean that I think men can be feminists, the answer is yes. In the same way some women uphold the Patriarchy, many men do their best to undermine it.

if you by “male-inclusionists” refer to the idea that trans women should be respected and embraced as women, the term becomes a slur. Trans women are women, not men.

For a constructive butch lesbian feminist take on transgender lives, see this interview with gender philosopher Judith Butler.

Illustrations based on designs by Sonya_illustration and Jorgenmac.

Keywords: transgender, trans, LGBT, LGBTQA, lesbian, homosexual, feminist, TERF, TERFs, masculinity, femininity

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dudeithinkimgay · 4 years

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Terminology

Agendered – Person is internally ungendered.

Ally – Someone who confronts heterosexism, homophobia, biphobia, transphobia, heterosexual and genderstraight privilege in themselves and others;a concern for the well-being of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and intersex people;and a belief that heterosexism, homophobia, biphobia and transphobia are social justice issues.

Androgyne – Person appearing and/or identifying as neither man nor woman,presenting a gender either mixed or neutral.

Asexual – Person who is not sexually attracted to anyone or does not have asexual orientation.

BDSM: (Bondage, Discipline/Domination, Submission/Sadism, and Masochism )The terms ‘submission/sadism’ and ‘masochism’ refer to deriving pleasure from inflicting or receiving pain, often in a sexual context. The terms ‘bondage’ and‘domination’ refer to playing with various power roles, in both sexual and social context. These practices are often misunderstood as abusive, but when practiced in a safe, sane, and consensual manner can be a part of healthy sex life.

Bicurious– A curiosity about having sexual relations with a same gender/sex person

Bigendered - A person whose gender identity is a combination of male/man and female/woman

Binding – The process of flattening one’s breasts to have a more masculine or flat appearing chest.

Biphobia - The fear of, discrimination against, or hatred of bisexuals, which is often times related to the current binary standard. Biphobia can be seen within the LGBTQI community, as well as in general society.

Bisexual – A person emotionally, physically, and/or sexually attracted to males/men and females/women. This attraction does not have to be equally split between genders and there may be a preference for one gender over others.

Bottom - A person who is said to take a more submissive role during sexual interactions. Sometimes referred to as ‘pasivo’ in Latin American cultures.

Bottom Surgery – Surgery on the genitals designed to create a body in harmony with a person’s preferred gender expression.

Butch – A person who identifies themselves as masculine, whether it be physically, mentally or emotionally. ‘Butch’ is sometimes used as a derogatory term for lesbians, but it can also be claimed as an affirmative identity label.

Cis-gender – describes someone who feels comfortable with the gender identity and gender expression expectations assigned to them based on their physical sex.

Femme – Feminine identified person of any gender/sex

Gay – 1. Term used in some cultural settings to represent males who are attracted to males in a romantic, erotic and/or emotional sense. Not all men who engage in “homosexual behavior” identify as gay, and as such this label should be used with caution. 2. Term used to refer to the LGBTQI community as a whole, or as an individual identity label for anyone who does not identify as heterosexual

Gender Binary – The idea that there are only two genders – male/female or man/woman and that a person must be strictly gendered as either/or. (See also‘Identity Sphere.��)

Gender Confirming Surgery – Medical surgeries used to modify one’s body to be more congruent with one’s gender identity

Gender Variant – A person who either by nature or by choice does not conform to gender-based expectations of society

Genderqueer – A gender variant person whose gender identity is neither male nor female, is between or beyond genders, or is some combination of genders.Often includes a political agenda to challenge gender stereotypes and the gender binary system

Heteronormativity—The assumption, in individuals or in institutions, that everyone is heterosexual, and that heterosexuality is superior to homosexuality and bisexuality

Heterosexism – Prejudice against individuals and groups who display non-heterosexual behaviors or identities, combined with the majority power to impose such prejudice. Usually used to the advantage of the group in power. Any attitude, action, or practice – backed by institutional power – that subordinates people because of their sexual orientation

Intergender – A person whose gender identity is between genders or a combination of genders

Intersexed Person—Someone whose sex a doctor has a difficult time categorizing as either male or female. A person whose combination of chromosomes, gonads, hormones, internal sex organs, gonads, and/or genitals differs from one of the two expected patterns

Lesbian – Term used to describe female-identified people attracted romantically,erotically, and/or emotionally to other female-identified people. The term lesbianis derived from the name of the Greek island of Lesbos and as such is sometimes considered a Eurocentric category that does not necessarily represent the identities of African-Americans and other non-European ethnic groups. This being said, individual female-identified people from diverse ethnic groups, including African-Americans, embrace the term ‘lesbian’ as an identity label.

LGBTQI – A common abbreviation for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersexed community.

Lipstick Lesbian – Usually refers to a lesbian with a feminine gender expression. Can be used in a positive or a derogatory way, depending on who is using it. Is sometimes also used to refer to a lesbian who is seen as automatically passing for heterosexual.

Metrosexual - First used in 1994 by British journalist Mark Simpson, who coined the term to refer to an urban, heterosexual male with a strong aesthetic sense who spends a great deal of time and money on his appearance and lifestyle.This term can be perceived as derogatory because it reinforces stereotypes tha tall gay men are fashion-conscious and materialistic.

Pangendered – A person whose gender identity is comprised of all or many gender expressions.

Pansexual – A person who is sexually attracted to all or many gender expressions.

Polyamory – Refers to having honest, usually non-possessive, relationships with multiple partners and can include: open relationships, polyfidelity (which involves multiple romantic relationships with sexual contact restricted to those), and sub-relationships (which denote distinguishing between a ‘primary" relationship or relationships and various "secondary" relationships).

Prejudice – A conscious or unconscious negative belief about a whole group of people and its individual members.

Queer– 1. An umbrella term which embraces a matrix of sexual preferences,orientations, and habits of the not-exclusively- heterosexual-and-monogamous majority. Queer includes lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transpeople, intersexpersons, the radical sex communities, and many other sexually transgressive (underworld) explorers. 2.This term is sometimes used as a sexual orientation label instead of ‘bisexual’ as a way of acknowledging that there are more than two genders to be attracted to, or as a way of stating a non-heterosexual orientation without having to state who they are attracted to. 3. A reclaimed word that was formerly used solely as a slur but that has been semantically overturned by members of the maligned group, who use it as a term of defiant pride. ‘Queer’ is an example of a word undergoing this process. For decades ‘queer’ was used solely as a derogatory adjective for gays and lesbians, but in the 1980s the term began to be used by gay and lesbian activists as a term of self-identification.Eventually, it came to be used as an umbrella term that included gay men,lesbians, bisexuals, and transgendered people. Nevertheless, a sizable percentage of people to whom this term might apply still hold ‘queer’ to be a hateful insult, and its use by heterosexuals is often considered offensive.Similarly, other reclaimed words are usually offensive to the in-group when used by outsiders, so extreme caution must be taken concerning their use when one is not a member of the group

Sex Identity – How a person identifies physically: female, male, in between,beyond, or neither.

Sexual Orientation – The desire for intimate emotional and/or sexual relationships with people of the same gender/sex, another gender/sex, or multiple genders/sexes.

Sexual Reassignment Surgery (SRS) – A term used by some medical professionals to refer to a group of surgical options that alter a person’s “sex”. Inmost states, one or multiple surgeries are required to achieve legal recognition of gender variance. Also known as “Gender Confirming Surgery.”

Sexuality – A person’s exploration of sexual acts, sexual orientation, sexual pleasure, and desire.

Stealth – This term refers to when a person chooses to be secretive in the public sphere about their gender history, either after transitioning or while successful passing. (Also referred to as ‘going stealth’ or ‘living in stealth mode’.)

Stem – A person whose gender expression falls somewhere between a stud and a femme.

Stud — An African-American and/or Latina masculine lesbian. Also known as‘butch’ or ‘aggressive’.

Switch – A person who is both a ‘Top’ and a ‘Bottom’, there may or may not be a preference for one or the other.

Top — A person who is said to take a more dominant role during sexual interactions. May also be known as ‘Pitcher.’

Top Surgery - This term usually refers to surgery for the construction of a male-type chest, but may also refer to breast augmentation.

Trans - An abbreviation that is sometimes used to refer to a gender variant person. This use allows a person to state a gender variant identity without having to disclose hormonal or surgical status/intentions. This term is sometimes used to refer to the gender variant community as a whole.

Transactivism- The political and social movement to create equality for gender-variant persons.

Transgender – A person who lives as a member of a gender other than that expected based on anatomical sex. Sexual orientation varies and is not dependent on gender identity.

Transphobia – The irrational fear of those who are gender variant and/or the inability to deal with gender ambiguity.

Transsexual – A person who identifies psychologically as a gender/sex other than the one to which they were assigned at birth. Transsexuals often wish to transform their bodies hormonally and surgically to match their inner sense of gender/sex

Ze / Hir – Alternate pronouns that are gender neutral and preferred by some gender variant persons. Pronounced /zee/ and /here,/ they replace “he”/”she”and “his”/”hers” respectively

#gay #terminology #trans #lgbtqia #lgbt #cute #boys #girls #trending #am i gay #am i lesbian #master doc #am i a lesbian master doc #sexuality #orientation

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allspark · 5 years

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Brian Ruckley (A/CVR B) Bethany McGuire-Smith (CVR A) Jack Lawrence

All your favorite Transformers characters as you’ve never seen them before! Optimus takes the spotlight! Even a bot as wise as a leader of the Autobots needs guidance now and again, so Optimus turns to Codexa-a Cybertronian who has grown into the very planet itself. Will she help Optimus settle his problems with Megatron or will she lead them both to ruin? Transformers-now shipping twice monthly!

AMBER BLAKE #3

Jade Lagardère (A/CVR) Butch Guice

Amber Blake is a woman on a mission. She’s going to destroy everyone who has hurt the people she loves. But not all is as it seems, and some of her allies have agendas of their own…

BATMAN THE ANIMATED SERIES ROGUES GALLERY

Sen-Foong Lim, Jessey Wright (A) Chris Fenoglio, Jack Lawrence, More (CVR) TableTaffy

Defeat the Batman to rule the city! Gotham City’s coffers are ripe for the robbing, but one thing stands in the way of the city’s supervillains-the reviled Batman. It’s time someone finally took out that nuisance! Choose your favorite villain, then go on crime sprees, steal powerful upgrades, recruit nefarious accomplices, and race to complete your master plan and be the first to defeat the World’s Greatest Detective!

3-5 players o Playable from ages 12+ o 30-45 minutes

• Roll dice to go on crime sprees, collecting cash and avoiding capture. • Purchase various gear and accomplice cards on the black market. • Push your luck at the right moment to attract and defeat Batman.

DICK TRACY FOREVER #2

Michael Avon Oeming (A/CVR A) Michael Avon Oeming

Dick Tracy is Sisyphus, pushing the law boulder up the hill as he struggles for reason and order in a world with none. His attempts at law and order are met with crime and chaos, in the form of unpredictable and absurd villains. But Dick Tracy will never give up trying, no matter the era or incarnation. Join Eisner Award-winning creator Michael Avon Oeming on a startling case through time and space! Each issue has an exciting new take on one of the most iconic comic-strip heroes of all time!

FOUR SISTERS, VOL 02: HORTENSE

Cati Baur, Malika Ferdjoukh (A/CVR) Cati Baur

Second book in the series! Since the deaths of their parents, Hortense and her sisters have been on their own. Winter arrives, and, as the world is buried in snow, eleven-year-old Hortense buries her life in books. She wonders what she will become: a character in her favorite show? A surgeon of incurable diseases so she can save her new friend Muguette? Or world famous actress? But to go onstage, Hortense would have to overcome her shyness, which seems unlikely for a girl who’d rather write in her diary than express her feelings out loud. It’s in her diary where she exposes her innermost thoughts and shares the ups and downs of her life as a girl and a sister.

JUDGE DREDD TOXIC TP

Paul Jenkins (A) Marco Castiello (CVR) Mark Buckingham

Advance solicited for June release! Dredd’s investigation into the death of a seemingly unremarkable sewage worker spirals into a waste management crisis that could destroy all of Mega-City One, which has long used genetic modification on its waste workers to control the deluge of filth that flows under the city each days. When Dredd discovers that some of them have foregone that disfiguring procedure in favor of hosting protective alien symbiotes, it sparks a groundswell of anti-immigration fervor. Soon the toxic atmosphere spills into the streets, undermining the very infrastructure that makes the city tolerable. Can Dredd find a solution to save the now-indispensable aliens from the angry mobs? A perfect mix of satire and social commentary!

LIFE ON THE MOON HC

Robert Grossman (A/CVR) Robert Grossman

From an artist who reveled in illustrating “the un-illustratable,” a historical graphic novel based on the “Great Moon Hoax,” the most successful newspaper hoax ever. In 1835, New York newspaper The Sun published a series of six articles declaring the discovery of life-and even civilization–on the Moon, which the paper attributed to the famous contemporary astronomer Sir John Herschel. According to The Sun, the lunar inhabitants included unicorns, bison, bipedal tail-less beavers, and intelligent humanoids with bat-like wings.

Life on the Moon is a full-length graphic novel capturing this mythical world. Creator Robert Grossman said the book is set in a time when “many of the signal achievements of the 19th Century still lay well in the future, Andrew Jackson was president, the steamboat was the summit of technology, and news traveled slowly.” The unfettered novel includes real historical figures such as P.T. Barnum, Jean Jacques Audubon, Lorenzo Da Ponte, Charles Goodyear, and Edgar Allan Poe.

MARVEL ACTION CLASSICS SPIDER-MAN TWO IN ONE #1

Marc Sumerak, Peter David (A) David Nakayama, Mike Norton (CVR A) Patrick Scherberger

Two classic Spider-Man tales, pulled from the legendary Vault of Heroes! First-a chance encounter with the Enchantress pits Spidey against Thor-with the whole of Asgard right behind! Then, when Flash Thompson gets a bite from a werewolf, Spidey seeks the aid of the sorcerer supreme-Doctor Strange!

MEN IN BLACK UNDERCOVER

Jay Cormier, Sen-Foong Lim (A) Dan Schoening

Aliens exist! In Men In Black: Undercover, you’ll join one of three groups: the Men In Black, who work to hide aliens, the Shadow Government, who seek to capture and weaponize aliens, and the Conspiracy Theorists, who try to expose alien life. Join a side and influence the aliens to join your cause, but don’t reveal your true intentions-you’ll need to stay Undercover to win!

3-6 players o Playable from ages 12+ o 30 minutes

• Recruit various aliens to your faction’s cause by playing influence cards. • Target unique aliens to gain advantages over other players in your own faction. • Uncover your opponents’ faction affiliations while hiding your own.

MY LITTLE PONY NIGHTMARE KNIGHTS TP

Jeremy Whitley (A/CVR) Tony Fleecs

Equestria’s in danger! Powerless and threatened by a great evil, Princess Luna discovers she can’t count on her sister or any of the usual heroes of Equestria. Running out of time and with nowhere to turn, Luna assembles a team specially suited to save the day… made up of former villains! Will Luna, Capper, Tempest Shadow, Trixie, and Stygian all be able to work together and find a way into the most dangerous place any of them have ever been? Can Princess Luna and a team of reformed villains save the day?

MY LITTLE PONY SPIRIT OF THE FOREST #1

Ted Anderson (A/CVR A) Brenda Hickey (CVR B) Tony Fleecs

The Cutie Mark Crusaders are back! When Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle take a trip into the woods, they find a forest filled with trash! Just what could be causing this mess?! Looks like it’s another mystery for our favorite fillies to solve-and one where not everything is as it seems…

The Cutie Mark Crusaders return in this brand-new mini-series!

PUNKS NOT DEAD LONDON CALLING #4

David Barnett (A/CVR) Martin Simmonds

Butch and Sundance! Bonnie and Clyde! Laurel and Hardy! History is littered with great double acts, but the ultimate boy-meets-ghost odd couple is no more as Fergie and Sid go their separate ways. While Sid heads off to look up old mates, Fergie finally meets his dad in LONDON CALLING: “To the Imitation Zone.”

STAR TREK TNG HC MISSIONS CONTINUE

Brannon Braga, Scott Tipton, More (A) David Messina, Gordon Purcell, More (CVR) Joe Corroney

Follow the intergalactic adventures of Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise-D as they explore new worlds. Collects The Space Between, Intelligence Gathering, Last Generation, Ghosts, and Hive.

Collects five complete graphic novels into one oversized hardcover edition.

STAR TREK YEAR FIVE #2

Jackson Lanzing, Collin Kelly (A/CVR A) Stephen Thompson

As the last year of their original mission begins, the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise will have to use all of the skills they’ve acquired along the way as they prepare to face the biggest challenge of their lives-a dark threat that doesn’t just threaten their existence, but the existence of the entire Federation as well…

TMNT ONGOING #94

Tom Waltz, Kevin Eastman (A/CVR A) Dave Wachter (CVR B) Kevin Eastman

“City at War, Part 2.” As battle lines are drawn in the criminal underworld of New York City, Old Hob takes his mission to the next level, and he’ll have unexpected help from one of the TMNT!

TMNT URBAN LEGENDS #13

Gary Carlson (A/CVR A&B) Frank Fosco (CVR B) Erik Larsen

The entire TMNT Volume 3 run-all 23 issues-reprinted in full color for the first time! Culminating in 3 brand new issues to close out the series! The search for Deathwatch continues! The infamous killer’s trail leads Leo, Mikey, and a robotic Donatello to Sheldon, Arkansas, where they find themselves face-to-face with more murderous mayhem. Meanwhile, Raph, back home in New York, makes a chilling discover during his duel with the mob. Could it be… Shredder’s inner sanctum?!

UNCLE SCROOGE #45

Francesco Artibani (A) Alessandro Perina (CVR A) Marco Gervasio

When one of Gyro Gearloose’s inventions allows Donald Duck to “hear” what his plants are saying, Uncle Scrooge gets one of his biggest money-fueled ideas ever. But in true Scrooge fashion, the road to riches is anything but smooth-in fact, it’s downright magical! Find out how in “The Captain’s Sequoia!”

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