Carl Ray (1943 - 1978)

Spirit Fish

c. 1975

Nex Benedict's death wasn't just for being transgender, it was for being native too. 2 Spirits are revered in many native cultures and it is a native-specific identity. This wasn't just a hate crime against trans & NB individuals, this was also a hate crime against Natives of Turtle Island.

You cannot separate Nex's trans identity from their native identity - this is a case of MMIWG2S (Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and 2 Spirits).

Native children being killed at school is nothing new, so it's equally important to talk about Nex's native identity and being intersectional, this is a devastating tragedy for indigenous people, the queer community & especially those of us who are both indigenous and queer.

May Nex rest in peace 🪶

reminder that indigenous queer folks do not need to fit your colonial definitions or conceptions of queerness in order to be valid, worthy, and spectacular.

if your concept of what a lesbian looks like requires that all lesbians have shaved or short hair, then you’re excluding ntv lesbians who honour our ancestors by growing our hair long.

i’m no less of a butch for having hair that goes down to my tailbone. i’m no less of a butch for wearing my hair in a braid. i’m also still butch when i wear beaded earrings, a ribbon skirt, and moccasins.

if your idea of queerness is tied to whiteness, that’s just a shame. indigeneity and queerness go together like inhaling and exhaling. one cannot exist without the other.

I was originally planning on holding off sharing this until June, but then decided to hell with that; why wait?

FURTHER RESOURCES:

Intersections: Indigenous and 2SLGBTQQIA+ Identities – this booklet from the Native Women’s Association of Canada is more intended towards 2S folks, but is still a great read for anyone.

Two Spirits, One Voice – This video from Egale is a great, no more comments needed.

A Two-Spirit Journey: The Autobiography of a Lesbian Ojibwa-Cree Elder – This book by Ma-Nee Chacaby can be a difficult and emotional read, but very much worth it.

Becoming Two-spirit: Gay Identity and Social Acceptance in Indian Country – I have yet to read this book by Brian Joseph Gilley myself, but heard positive things about it.

Please feel free to reblog with more suggestions, if you have them!

I should have known if I brought up wc I’d have to talk about. But it includes of a lot of issues with feral/furry designs that use feathers in hair. I don’t necessarily know why the conversation only started and stayed in the wc fandom when horse/wolf/lion feral fandoms are still doing the same thing.

Now having feathers in the design isn’t a racial attack first thing off because there’s a lot of context around what feather’s are used, the shape, and where they are placed. If the look is anything like "rave Coachella looking tribal fantasy feathers and beads" it’s probably insensitive. I’m not to sure why it has to be feathers, I honestly think the wc fandom are holding themselves back when it comes to forwarding designs in a unique way. Tail feathers are also left out in this conversation as well, one or two feathers or feathers in the shape of a birds tail are fine but bunched together feathers are leaning to close to how we have our horses wear feathers. This is in the context of the design already looking like a "medicine cat" already its bad. it’s like those yt girls wear feather head bands but animal addition.

I’ve talked about this before but silhouettes are so important, like Native American stereotypes are on the global scale you cannot escape this silhouette you just have to avoid it. There’s no "but it’s in so many other cultures" no it’s not it’s totally unique to our people that’s why people flock to it because it’s so "mysterious, sacred" whatever their weird twisted up reason is. There’s so many unique ways to break this silhouette you just gotta be more creative. And I feel like instead of being more creative and coming up with totally different ideas it’s just easier to lean on these visual native stereotypes to get across "wild mythical nature fantasy"

I could get into the horse fandom and the weird situations they’re doing over there but that’s another crazy thing. I should say because someone will ask, ostrich feathers on like show horses or knights or puss in boots style is fine not the same thing (breaking the silhouette) they’re not related.

And it comes down to understanding what you are drawing and where this imagery comes from, I’m not gonna get my feelings hurt because of your design but I’ll question why are you drawing stuff like that. You cant remove that cultural/stereotypical imagery, and if you don’t care about it then you don’t care about the history or how it looks on your character and art.

I made it this far on the internet but if you want to be conscious about these things good on yea it doesn’t take much☺️👍

Edit: can’t believe I gotta say this but yes other cultures utilize feathers, if people are using feathers that are used in their culture then don’t harass them. That’s weird have some common sense. Ostrich feathers, peacock feathers it’s actually so interesting how native birds to an area affect the culture there.

okay ive been seeing this a lot and its been kind of getting on my nerves

nex benedict, pobrecite, was hatecrimed- murdered- because of a law that REQUIRED them to use the girls' bathroom.

but what is truly annoying me, is the usage of the word nonbinary. nex is choctaw and lived on a cherokee rez. nex was not nonbinary, they were two-spirit

keep speaking about them. dont let their name be forgotten. and dont let their culture be forgotten either.

inshallah, their sould will rest in peace. they deserve to be in peace.

Happy Juneteenth from your favorite Indigenous 2Spirit Hottie. Help me pay some bills and thrive the rest of the month.

Cash*pp 💓 V*nmo 💓

Shop my website: 20% off all of June!

just catching the end of lesbian visibility week but !!! ndn lesbian love <3

REALLY in love w this design, i had it sitting in wip for ages bc i wanted to get it done just right. tip me or cop this on my bonfire and inprnt !

I will not let anyone forget.

Also a flag I made during these times. 🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈🇵🇸

I also want white people to realize that it is incredibly common for two-spirit people to use a different label and pronouns when in predominantly white queer spaces because of how two spirits are treated. You can also be trans and nonbinary and also two-spirit separately.

When Nex’s community say they claim them as two-spirit, I believe them. Nex was one of our relations and the whole two-spirit community is grieving them. Please understand this is even more personal for Natives because this is yet another MMIP case that officials are attempting to swipe under the rug.

culturally-specific orientations and gender identities are real and they exist whether you want to validate them or not. terfs and truscum refuse to accept these facts because their ideologies can only be defended by racist and colonialist arguments, such as insisting that gender is biologically-dictated or that your gender is not real unless you experience gender dysphoria and pursue medical transition with hormones, surgeries, and legal document changes.

biological essentialism, cis-normativity, and the pathological idea of ‘transgenderism’ are racist, they’re concepts made up by colonizers that are violently enforced by christianity and white supremacy. when we say “gender is a social construct” we mean “the gender binary and the idea of transness, as it is defined by western standards, are ideas constructed by a white christian society.” i am ‘trans’ and ‘queer’ only because i am considered trans and queer by white christian standards. in my own culture, i would not have to ‘transition’ because my gender would simply be accepted.

colonizers force upon us their concepts of gender, biological sex, and sexuality while they continue to erase ours. you cannot separate the extermination of our culturally-specific sexual orientations or genders from the violent genocidal destruction of our cultures. the words that once existed for our concepts of gender and attraction were erased when our languages were banned and we were punished, beaten, and tortured for teaching them.

my own two-spirit identity can only be labeled using the language of my oppressors because the words for what i am are no longer spoken.

Black trans lesbians everywhere, I love you! Black trans people everywhere, I love you! Black queer people everywhere, I love you! Black gnc/gender-weird/gender-fucked/gender-fluid and agender people everywhere, I love you! Black asexual people everywhere, I love you! Black and indigenous people two-spirit people everywhere, I love you! Indigenous two-spirit people everywhere, I love you! Queer indigenous people everywhere, I love you! Trans indigenous people everywhere, I love you! Indigenous lesbians everywhere, I love you!

You deserve better. You deserve to be acknowledged, respected and celebrated. Your history and accomplishments deserve to be talked about and highlighted. You deserve love and protection. You deserve unwavering support. You deserve the whole goddamn world!!

I cannot be more crystal clear about this: Hatred against Two-Spirit folks isn't just homophobia/transphobia. It is also racism. 2S identities are part of Indigenous cultures. 2S identities are intrinsically linked to Indigenous identities. Refusal to accept the validity of 2S identities is racist. TERFs are racist.

Today is a great day to show support to Indigenous peoples of Turtle Island!

Ima TS Black Seminole artist and Im going to be selling my beadwork and maybe patches on my instagram @/wildwotko, Currently there arent any posts but Im going to be posting later today and after that pretty regularly!

If you wanna support a struggling black two spirit artist pls follow for my beadwork on insta @/wildwotko!

Thank you for supporting Mtvo!!!

Hey, can we talk about the violence against queer natives for a second?

Nex Benedict was a 16 year old nonbinary student who was brutally murdered by three of their female classmates. Not only that, they were a Native American living on a Cherokee reservation, though not enrolled in the tribe, and their actual heritage is that of Choctaw.

Their death was not properly reported on until the blog post that genderkoolaid shared was made. Their nonbinary identity had remained unacknowledged, and it took even longer for their native one to be.

They were a victim of the rising anti-trans rhetoric spreading throughout places like the US. They were beaten in a bathroom after Oklahoma had banned trans people from restrooms, designating them to only use that of their assigned sex. Nex was attacked in the girls bathroom.

A native, two-sprit, nonbinary teenager. Whose identity and the actual circumstances behind the incident, a hate crime, wasn't even published beforehand. They died tragically, a death that could've been easily prevented.

Do you know how scary that is? I'm just like them. A native, two-spirit, nonbinary teenager. I have to keep on hearing stories of people my age, who live in the same country, who share my identity, getting murdered. Not even just murdered, but erased.

I know for an absolute fact that if I died tragically, who I am will not be remembered. My deadname will be on everything. I would not be counted in trans statistics, nonetheless statistics on transmascs. My identity would not be respected. My native heritage wouldn't matter. I didn't get to be enrolled. And Nex had supportive family and friends, people who stood up for them. Not all trans kids get to have that.

I've had to think about this before many times. From the other trans youth deaths I've seen. From nearly becoming one of them. When is it enough? Why do the people in power do nothing to stop kids like me from being killed? Why do they only want to make our lives worse?

I'm very lucky to live in a state that has not wavered on it's protections on LGBTQ+ residents. Though I am reminded often that that can easily change, if things keep going like this.

I could've easily been them. I can still easily be them. There are many other kids who can be them. Everyone should be doing more to protect trans youth, and protect queer natives. We're so often forgotten about. I'm part of small tribes, and tribes who barely even exist anymore. My elders desperately trying to keep it alive. Please do not erase us. I'm queer, I'm native. Nex Benedict should have been protected, youth like me should be protected. I wish the best for their family and I hope their memory is never forgotten.

As Predicted, Anti-Drag Laws Are Being Weaponized to Silence Trans People | The Mary Sue

A few months ago, Adria Jawort and others testified before the Montana legislature that its law banning drag events at public libraries would be used to target and silence transgender people. Just as she and others anticipated, it’s now being used to bar her from speaking about LGBTQ+ history.

Jawort, a Cheyenne writer and transgender woman, had been scheduled to speak at Butte-Silver Bow Public Library about the history of the two-spirit tradition in Native American culture. “Two-spirit” is an indigenous term for the alternative gender status of tribe members who have both male and female traits, a fascinating example of how trans and nonbinary people have always existed in all cultures and societies. The library canceled her talk—again, a history lecture, not a drag show—out of fear that they would run afoul of the state’s new anti-drag law and risk losing their public funding.