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fairplayforwomen · 6 years

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Last week I read a post on MumsNet that is so good it just has to be shared. Lesbian erasure is real. As a lesbian myself, I’ve noticed friends who of course want to be LGBT friendly and show their solidarity by sharing LGBT links. But without knowing it they are sometimes inadvertently sharing and supporting an ideology that is contributing to the erasure of my own lesbian community. This guest post is a must-read for all lesbians and anyone who cares about us.

Nic Williams.

Guest post by Iwantmycommunityback

I’ve been thinking a lot over the last few days in particular about transactivism and lesbians and thought I might try to put some of it into writing, partly to try to make sense of it and partly because I still keep seeing people refer to the ‘LGBT’ or ‘LGBTQ’ community and equating transactivism with lesbian and gay rights.

I think the most obvious impact of transactivism is on young lesbians being encouraged to identify as heterosexual transmen and to subject themselves to damaging medical treatment, the effects of which they will have to deal with for the rest of their lives. I think Janice Turner’s article in the Times already covers that issue very well (here).

One of the problems for young lesbians (in addition to the rise in lesbophobia particularly among the young) is that, when they reach out to ‘their’ community, eg join an LGBT group for support, what they get isn’t their community at all but something very hostile.

Gender critical feminists will be familiar with the idea of trans-identified males co-opting women’s identities, women’s rights, women’s spaces etc for their own ends but there are other forms of appropriation going on, particularly in the (former) LGBT ‘community’ (including transsexuals themselves having been co-opted by people who don’t have body dysphoria and who marginalise them as ‘truscum’) . For lesbians, in addition to the appropriation of womanhood, I think the two main additional identity appropriations that cause problems are:

Transbians

These are heterosexual biological males who identify as women and, therefore, as ‘lesbians’ and have hijacked our community (support groups, social groups, bars, forums, you name it) and believe that lesbians should be open to having sex with someone with a penis if they ‘identify’ as a woman (see ‘the cotton ceiling’). This group has widened further e.g. including ‘transfeminine men’ and men who identify as a woman part-time (so get to walk through life as a heterosexual man but just ‘identify’ as a lesbian for a few hours to access a lesbian group or lesbian club night where they are of course the most oppressed person ever and must be centred at all times).

As well as being included in our groups, they are held up as examples to us. For example for International Women’s Day one group had a talk from an ‘inspirational woman’ who was a biological male, who hadn’t had any surgery, was dressed as a bloke (not that that should make any difference.), had a bit of stubble going on and identified as non-binary (pronouns something like ‘zie’) not as a woman. Like, not only could they not find an actual woman who was inspirational enough to fill that spot, they couldn’t even find a man who was prepared to say they were a woman. Stuff like this is being funded by charity grants intended for women and for lesbian and gay people.

Don’t quite believe it? Here’s just a random selection of biological males who identity as women found on the lesbian section of some well known on-line dating sites…..

‘Queer’ straight trans allies

This is pretty much a consequence of the above. For those who don’t know, queer is now used as an all-encompassing term for anyone who doesn’t identify as a heterosexual “cis” person. However, it is also preferred by certain people over terms like lesbian, gay and bisexual because it does away with what are considered the rigid boundaries of ‘gender’ and sexuality e.g. Homosexual, lesbian and gay meaning being attracted to the same sex, bisexual as being attracted to ‘both’ sexes. This allows people to reject these categories and the idea that there are two sexes.

Take, for example, Lily Madigan who is a biological male who has now come out as a lesbian and is dating a woman. Let’s presume for a moment that this woman (let’s call her Chloe) is a) a biological female b) and a passionate trans uber-ally. Chloe is a bio female who is dating a bio male with a penis who wears a pink hoodie and identifies as a woman. Say, before that, Chloe was dating a bio male with a penis who wears a blue hoodie and is, therefore, a man. Maybe in her next relationship, she will date a bio male with a penis who has purple hair and identifies as ‘genderqueer’. Therefore, Chloe can now say that she dates men, women and genderqueer people, including both cisgender and trans people. Therefore, she is a queer or pansexual woman.

Along with the transbians, these ‘queer’ woman become involved in what was formerly the lesbian and bisexual women’s community. However, these trans uber-allies have a lot of views that are contrary to the interests particularly of lesbians. They believe that lesbians have ‘cis’ privilege and also that lesbians (along with gay men) are the most privileged people in the LGBT community. They believe that lesbians are narrow-minded and transphobic for only wanting to date other biological women and oppress transwomen who can’t break through the ‘cotton ceiling’ of their underwear.

I’m not even sure when this stuff started because, like most of us, due to the blurring of the meaning of words, I just didn’t see it happening. A lot of the main online websites, blogs and forums for lesbians started to change, with different women running them and, over time, a shift in the tone – lots about trans inclusion and more references to being ‘queer’ and open to relationships with anyone, about how some people (the lesbians) had privilege in our community and should prioritise these other people, less representation of butch women (despite the talk of blurring of gender boundaries/genderfluidity) etc.

It was only years later, when someone who knew the women who had been running one of these websites was talking about who they were and who they were in relationships (bio females in relationships with bio males, basically) that the penny finally dropped with me.These were straight women appropriating our identity and lecturing at us and marginalising us in our own community.

This blurring of the language enables them to do it – but even in cases where you can see it for yourself (e.g. if you are looking at what is clearly a straight couple, who you know will be read by everyone they meet as a straight couple, even if the guy is wearing a bit of eyeliner) you couldn’t say anything because now it would be transphobic to say that he wasn’t a woman (or genderqueer or whatever).

Why aren’t lesbians speaking out more?

It’s no always easy to spot what’s happening

Firstly, I think it takes a while to see what is going on. This for a number of reasons including the deliberate blurring of language, the shutting down of any discussion or even thought on the issue through the repetition of mantras such as transwomen are women and the misrepresentation of this issue in what we consider to be ‘our’ trusted (LGB) news outlets, organisations, websites etc. We also might be relying on our positive experience of and friendships with traditional transsexuals without understanding how much the trans movement has now changed (traditional transsexuals are often demonised in this new world order too and called truscum). There is also the tendency to conflate trans with gay issues when they are not the same at all. From my own experiences of coming out and being oppressed on the basis of being different, I know its so easy to automatically feel solidarity towards and feel angry about any oppressed group, especially if you are being told that other views are ‘anti-LGBT’ and coming from ‘anti-LGBT’ organisations.

Many lesbians aren’t aware things are different now

Some lesbians aren’t really that involved any more so aren’t aware of what is going on. Many lesbians will have accessed the LGB community, lesbian support groups, lesbian/gay bars when they first came out, when they were looking for a relationship, in times of difficulties etc but are now happily settled in a relationship and don’t feel the need to access those resources. They will still have their lesbian ‘community’ but that will mean texting their friends Sarah & Jo and Claire & Debs and arranging to meet up at their (straight) local pub for the evening. Any involvement with the wider LGBT community will be more minimal like maybe watching the Pride Parade once a year or occasionally reading something on an LGBT website about some awful transphobes who are attacking the LGBT community. They will think back to the transsexual people they knew 10 – 15 years ago who were nice people who just wanted to get on with their lives.

Young lesbians have no where to go

3) Young lesbians these days are more likely to be identifying as transmen rather than as lesbians. For the few who do, they lack access to a real lesbian community which could introduce them to an alternative to the current discourse. They have little opportunity to discuss shared issues, learn from others’ experiences and have other lesbian women on their side. Young lesbians who aren’t accepted or feel isolated in their school, family, community etc will seek out an LGBT youth group and this community they reach out to will heavily endorse the transactivist agenda as part and parcel (and absolutely central) to their identity. Where else do they go and how do they know that there is anything else?

Nobody listens to lesbians anyway!

4) The low status of lesbian women within the LGBT community also stops some speaking out. I don’t think people outside are really aware of how much misogyny and in particular hatred of lesbians there is from some gay men.

There’s a big personal cost to speaking up

There are big risks to speaking out for women. These risks are increased if you are a lesbian as it is coming from your ‘own’ community and being a lesbian puts you under suspicion of being trans-exclusionary (ie penis-exclusionary) anyway. If you run a lesbian business or events, you can’t risk being anything other than pro the trans agenda or they will destroy your livelihood. And I’m sure most of us have seen the threats and actual violence meted out to those who dare to disagree. There’s also a fear about just broaching the subject with another actual female lesbian because you don’t know how many of you are onside so it’s a risk. From tentatively raising the issue with a select few, I do know lesbian friends who have got concerns about this but we are very cautious and tentative about saying anything to other women because of the risk. The bigger stories like the closure of MichFest and the men wielding baseball bats to keep the lesbians in check on Women’s Marches and Pride Parades are just symbols of the way we are being policed. This is now what happens to what is left of lesbian events, lesbian-run businesses etc, if we don’t keep in line.

Our lesbian voice has been diluted from within

Finally, simply, as I’ve explained above, another reason some of ‘us’ don’t oppose or seem to actively support transactivism is that not all of ‘us’ are actually ‘us’. As lesbians step away from the LGBT ‘community’ and more ‘lesbian and queer women’ emerge from the two groups referred to above, an increasing proportion of ‘us’ are actually a subset of heterosexual men and women who loathe lesbians and support the transactivist agenda – but, because of the way language is being twisted, you’d never know that.

Lesbians are an endangered species. I want my community back! Last week I read a post on MumsNet that is so good it just has to be shared.

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flamekeeperwitch · 7 years

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There are masculine deities and feminine deities. Are there any deities who represent the in between, or genderless deities?

I actually have a document from a class that was all about this. The Instructor gave me permission to post it on here for you. Her name is Darlene Wagner and she’s a huge activist for LGBTQ+ rights. These notes probably have what you’re looking for and much more!

The Spirituality andCultural Diversity of Transgender Persons

An individual with inborn traits, appearance, or social roledifferent from the traditional definitions of gender within his/her society istermed “Gender Non-Conforming”. Different societies around the world andthroughout human history have had different names for gender non-conformingpeople, while in Western societies, transgender has become thepreferred term. Many traditionalcultures attribute religious or spiritual meaning to gender non-conformity. In some traditional, non-Western cultures,lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals are grouped with gendernon-conforming individuals. Bycomparison, Western society considers LGB persons as separate from transgender. Western society also seeks to exclude LGB,transgender, and other gender non-conforming people from religious andspiritual life. Here, I seek to empowertransgender, intersex, and LGB people with a sense that the Divine encompassestheir gender non-conformityand sexuality.

I. Terminology of Gender Non-Conformity

- Modern Western

Transgender is the mostwidely accepted term in developed countries for gender non-conforming personswho self-identify as gender role distinct from biological sex. Transgender is considered an umbrella termencompassing individuals who permanently change their gender, individuals wholive as the opposite sex without permanent physical change, individuals bornwith ambiguous sexual anatomy, or individuals who self-identify as neither malenor female. Sexual orientation oftransgender individuals can be gay, lesbian, heterosexual, bisexual, pansexual,or asexual.

Cisgender is used to refer tonon-transgender people. Anon-transgender person performs gender roles or have a gender identity thatconforms to expectations of his or her society. Cisgender remains a controversial term since it tends to dismiss gendernon-conformity among non-transgender people, such as gay men and lesbian women.

Male-to-Female Transgender- Transwoman - MtF. Born anatomically male but identifies asfemale or feels “inwardly” female. During transition or change to living full-time as female, maytake estrogen as pills or injection. Sometimes have “bottom surgery” or sex-reassignment surgery. Not all transwomen living full-time as womentake estrogen or seek bottom surgery.

Female-to-Male Transgender- Transman - FtM. Born anatomically female butidentifies as male or feels “inwardly” male. During transitionor change to living full-time as male, may take testosterone injections. Sometimes have “top surgery” or breastremoval. Not all transmen livingfull-time as men take testosterone or care to have top surgery.

Intersex Individuals born withgenital configuration, endocrine function, or genetic characteristics givingbiological characteristics of both sexes or indeterminate sex. Not all intersex people identify as part oftransgender community.

Genderqueer is a broadcategorical term for individuals not strictly to identify as male norfemale. Sometimes prefer to be called bynon-gendered pronouns such as they or ze. Genderqueer may include agenderor non-binary persons who identify as no gender. Genderqueer may also include bigenderor genderfluid individuals who are comfortable presenting as either/bothmale and female. Not all genderqueer people identify as part of transgendercommunity.

Transvestite is widelyconsidered a derogatory term in Transgender community. Cross-dresser is a more acceptable term, butsome biologically male individuals who dress as women prefer terms such asgender queer or gender fluid.

Tranny , Shemale,and He-she are very derogatory — often used in hate-speech bynon-LGBT persons and is too often inappropriately used as a term of endearmentby LGB persons.

Hermaphrodite is alsowidely considered a derogatory term in Transgender community. Hermaphrodite is occasionally used inacademic or medical contexts to to refer specifically to intersex individualsborn with both male and female anatomical characteristics.

Transsexual is acceptable,but is becoming less commonly used. Typically only transwomen and transmen who permanently change theirbodies and societal roles are inclined to self-describe themselves as ‘Transsexual’. Some individuals in the transgender communityonly use transsexual to self-identify with respect to surgical change, as inpre-operative or post-operative. Somepostoperative transsexuals do not identify as part of the transgendercommunity.

- Historical Western World

Eunuch - An individualborn male but having testes removed (partial castration) or both penis andtestes removed (full castration). Giventhe association between castration and slavery in Byzantine and OttomanEmpires, it is not surprising that the term eunuch, is not favored inthe modern world.

Castrato - In renaissanceItaly, opera singers having testes removed before puberty to maintain sopranoor alto singing voice - usually dressedand presented as male, so not necessarily transgender or gender-non-conforming

Gallus or Gala- Cross-dressed and/or castrated males transformed into priestesses to variousGoddesses in the Roman Empire. Galliserving Cybele, the Great Mother and Protector of Rome, have the most writtenaccounts surviving from the ancient world. The Galli were systematically exterminated during the 5th Century ADafter Christianity was made the official religion of the Roman Empire.

Note that there are no historical termsknown to the present day for female-to-male gender non-conforming individuals

- Traditional Societies and non-Western World

Indigenous cultures of Asia andOceana -

Māhū - Hawaiian third gender

Fakaleiti - Tongan third gender

Fa’afafine - Samoan - sometimesyounger sons raised to perform female household tasks when a family does nothave daughters

Katoey - “second-type female” of Thailand

Mak Nyah - trans femalesand cross-dressed males of Malaysia

Pak Nyah - trans males ofMalaysia

Takatāpui - literallymeans “intimate partner of the same sex”. Maori LGBT individuals often prefer this term.

Waria - traditional third genderrole found in modern Indonesia

Mukhannathun - Arabian peninsula- function socially and sexually as women - do not fit neatly into western gaymale nor trans-female categories

Indigeneous cultures of Africa andthe Americas -

for Aboriginal people, sexualorientation or gender identity is secondary to ethnic/tribal identity. SomeNative American Tribes recognize four genders: feminine woman, masculine woman,feminine man, masculine man.

Astime - Third sex individuals inMaale culture of southern Ethiopia

Mashoga - Third sex individualsof Swahili Coastal Kenya

Mangaiko - Third sex individualsof the Mbo people from Congo

Two-spirit - is a pan-Indian termchosen to express the Native/First Nations’ distinct approach to genderidentity and non-conformity. AmongNative American communities, ’Two-spirit’ replaces the imposed non-Native termsof berdache, gay, lesbian, and transgender. Most Indigenous communities have specific terms in their own languagesfor the gender-non-conforming persons and the social and spiritual roles theseindividuals fulfill within their communities.

Winkte - historical Lakota culture - male-bodied people who adopt theclothing, work, and mannerisms that Lakota culture usually consider feminine.In contemporary Lakota culture, the term is more commonly associated with gaysexual orientation.

Nádleeh - intraditional Navajo culture, are male-bodied individuals described by those intheir communities as “effeminate male,” or as “half woman, halfman”

Ikwekanaazo - Ojibwe Men who chose tofunction as women

Ininiikaazo - Ojibwe Women whofunction as men

Travesti - In Brazil - any personwho is biologically male who has a feminine, transfeminine, or femme gender identity

Muxe - Zapotec Indians of Mexico- assigned male at birth individual who dresses and behaves in ways otherwiseassociated with the female gender; they may be seen as a third gender - “Vestidas” (fully cross-dressed)” and“Pintadas”(makeup but wearingmen’s clothes)”

II. Gender Non-conformity, Mythology, and Religion in the Ancient World

- Deities as Matrons/Patrons ofGender-Nonconforming Persons:

Inanna- As the Sumerian Goddess of Love and Sexuality, she presided over maleprostitutes and cross-gender prostitutes as well as female prostitutes. Her Assyrian/Babylonianequivalent, Ishtar, was also matron of male, cross-gender, andfemale prostitutes.

Cybeleor Kubala - Great Mother Goddess of Phrygia and Hittite Empire (central Turkey)associated with livestock fertility. Both the historical and mythological King Midas claimed to beson of Cybele. By 600 BCE, she wasworshipped in Greece but usually merged with Rhea, Motherof Zeus and his siblings. In 202 BCE,her icons and priestesses were brought directly from Phrygia to Rome. To the Romans, she wasGreat Mother and Protectress of Cities. She is often shown seated on a throneflanked by lions or seated in a chariot drawn by lions.

Attis- Phrygian deity of vegetation and shepherd lover of Cybele. Originally served Cybele assubordinate Grain-God consort. Attislater transformed to female, making Cybeleand Attis the only lesbian couple in the Greco-Roman pantheon.

Adonis- Lover of Aphrodite who is killed by a boar and is “reborn” as the anemoneflower. Like Attis, Adonis servesAphrodite in a subordinate, consort role. Adonis assumedfemale appearance to serve Apollo for a time. A few accounts suggest Adoniswas served by cross-gender or eunuch priestesses.

Hera- Wife of Zeus in mythological accounts. However, remains of extensive temples and ceremonialsites suggest she was the dominant Deity around the AegeanSea prior to the ascendance of Zeus as Sky God.

Atargatis- Syrian Water Goddess who was sometimes called “Syrian Hera”

- Deities Exhibiting Gender-CrossingAbilities or Gender non-Conformity:

Galaturraand Kurgarra - Eunuch-Spirits created by the Sumerian Sea-God Enki torescue Inanna from the underworld.

Asu-Shu-Namir- Eunuch created by Ea (Assyrian) to rescue Ishtar.

Athena- In the Odyssey, she transforms herself into the likeness of King Mentes tomeet with Odysseus’ son Telemachus. AsGoddess of defensive warfare, it is reasonable that Athenawould show female-to-male gender fluidity.

Attis- dies from self-castration and is resurrected by Cybele and/or Zeus to live infemale form. His/Her resurrection wascelebrated every spring in ancient Rome and involved theritual castration of Galli priestesses devoted to Cybele. Attis is the onlyWestern Deity appearing as a true, male-to-female transsexual.

Agdistis- an intersexed being born of Gaia and Zeus. Agdistis had both male and female sex organs aswell as a strong libido. The OlympianGods feared this hypersexual, two-sexed creature and castrated hir. After removal of the male organs, Agdistis became Cybele, the Great Mother andMatron of the eunuchs and intersexed. Alternate variations of the story haveAgdistis as the intersex child of Cybele. After castration,Agdistis’ severed male organs become the gender-changing Deity of vegetation,Attis.

Hermaphroditus- son of Aphrodite and Hermes. Hermaphroditus and the nymph, Salmacis, made love sopassionately that they permanently fused into a singlebody having both male and female anatomy.

Dionysis- raised as a girl during childhood and was often portrayed in feminine attirewhen presiding over his bacchanalia

Hercules- Following his labors, Hercules spends three years in service to Omphale,Queen of Lydia. He dresses in femaleattire and learns to spin and weave. Eunuch or cross-dressedpriests could be found in the service of Hercules at his temple atAntimachia.

Thor- Convinced by Loki to dress up in a bridal gown and veil to sneak into Jotunheimto retrieve his hammer, Mjolnir. UnlikeHercules, who seems to have enjoyed exploring hisfeminine side, Thor was quite unhappy dressed as a bride.

Loki- dresses as Thor’s bridesmaid when retreiving Mjolnir from Jotunheim. Later, after the deathof Balder, Loki shape shifts to the form of an old woman in Hel. Loki appears to be quite gender-fluid and/orgenderqueer.

- Humans exhibiting gendernon-conformity and gender-crossing

Tiresias - Strikes a pair ofcopulating snakes with his staff. Herais displeased and transforms him into awoman. While in female form, s/he servesas a priestess in Hera’s temple. After seven years, s/he sees another pair of copulating snakes, leaves themalone, and is returned to male form.

Gallaturraor Galli - singular Gala- Eunuch or non-castrated cross-gender priestessesserving Inanna or Her equivalents, Istar and Ashterah. Galli are referred to as “templeprostitutes” or “eunuchs” in modern English translations of theOld Testament. The King James Versiontranslates Galli as “sodomites”

Gallior Third Sex - singular Gallus - Eunuchs living as women inthroughout the Roman Empire in service to Cybele or on theisland of Samos in service to Hera.Renowned as musicians and for their skills in divination.

Megabyzoi- Eunuch priests of Artemis at Her great temple at Ephesus

Bycomparison, female-born priestesses of Greco-Roman Goddesses were called‘Melissae’, singular Melissa

III. Gender Variance and Spiritual Communities in theModern World

Hinduism - Strongest enduringGoddess-Faith traditions. India’sGoddess traditions confer a connection between male-to-female gender crossingand spirituality.

- Gender-crossing Deities and MatronDeities of Gender Non-conforming people:

The three principal male Deities, Brahma,Vishnu, and Siva, are temporarily transformed to female form toenter into the presence of the Great Goddess, Devi Bhagavati.

Krishna- in the Mahabharata, assumes the form of a beautiful woman, Mohini, to givethe hero, Aravan, a chance to marry and consummate on the final night of hislife.

BahucharaMata - Current mythical accounts tell of Bahuchara’s marriage to a prince. Rather than consumate the marriage, theprince spends the night outside the house in the forest dressed as awoman. Bahuchara gives him rebirth throughemasculation. Bahuchara is served by acaste of cross-gender eunuch priestesses called Hijras.

Yellama- A local Goddess in Karnataka in southern India. She is served by cross-dressedmales, Jogappas, honored as a special caste of sacred female men.

Ardharnarisvarna- A Divine Androgyne with a female left side of the body and maleright side. Combines the Divine FeminineEnergy (Shakti) with the God, Shiva. Often worshipped by practitioners of TantricHinduism.

- Gender-crossing human

Arjuna- hero of the Hindu epic, Mahabharata. Arjuna was temporarily transformed to a eunuchfor one year by Urvashi, daughter of the Thunder God, Indra.

Hijras- castrated “post-operative” male-to-female priestesses of the Great Goddessor Bahuchara Mata. Undergo ritualcastration in the presence of icons of Bahucahra Mata. After castration, Hijra initiates undergo aperiod of secluded meditation to reflectupon rebirth and to take in the Spirit of the Goddess.

Jogappas- In the state of Karataka, boys who grow up with many feminine qualitiesare considered to be chosen for service to a local Goddess, Yellama. Jogappas, or sacred femalemen, do not undergo castration nor any other physical sex-change, butlive, work, and dress full-time as women. For a boy to refuse Yellama’s call isbelieved to be harmful.

African Diaspora - Deities andspirits of Diaspora religions such as Santería and Voodoo accept and protecttransgender and LGB practitioners. ManyAfrican Diaspora Deities themselves exhibit gender non-conformity and same-sexintimacy.

- Gender-crossing Deities in Voudou:

Mawu-Lisa- bigender or transgender creator Deity or Iwa,

AyidaWédo - a bigender deity, Bringer ofProsperity and symbolized by a rainbow serpent.

Danbala- the androgynous spouse of Ayida Wédo, also appearing as a rainbow serpent. During channeling rituals, Danbala prefersto possess gay men.

EziliFreda - the Iwa of love, sensuality, and art. Matron of femme gay males. Sometimes appears in aform similar to Our Lady of the Sorrows.

EziliLayrénn or La Sírene - the Iwa of maternal love andbisexuality. Takes the formof a mermaid and has as consort a masculine female Iwa, Labalén.

Labelén- Iwa of the deep sea and consort of Li Sírene. Labalén tends to posses lesbianpractitioners during channeling rituals.

EziliDantó - A “Black Madonna”, defender of the poor, and matron of lesbian practitioners.

BaronSanmdi - Leader of realms of the dead. Wears a top hat and sunglasses with one lensremoved. Presents as bisexual and genderfluid.

GedeNibo - son of Baron Sanmdi and Maman Brijit. Nibo is usually depicted wearingall black trousers, coat, and hat, but he also presents in drag.

- Gender-crossing practitioners inHaitian Voudou:

Masisi- gay men or transwomen Voudou practitioners

Madivin- lesbian Voudou practitioners

Mambo- Voudou priestess

Oungan- Voudou priest

Kosio- transgender priestesses of Danbala in West African Voudou

- Gender-nonconforming Deities ofCuban Santería and Brazillian Candomblé

Ochossior Oxóssi - Lord of the hunt and lover of Osanyin, whom he initially mistakesfor a woman.

Osanyinor Osain - Patron of medicinal plants and variously portrayed as a femmegay male or a pre-operative transsexual with large breasts.

Obataláor Oxalá - the lawgiver and peacemaker among the orishás. Portrayed as an androgynous beingwith long white hair and dressed in white.

Yemayáor Yemoja - ruler of the sea, maternal compassion, andshape-shifting. Matronof lesbian and transmale practioners.

Olokun- androgynous or gender-fluid ruler of the sea depths. Portrayed with blueskin, indigo hair, a man’s head, a female torso, and the tail of a fish.

Oshúnor Ochún - The orishá of rivers, lakes, sensuality and art. Matron of gay menand transwomen.

Oshumaréor Oxumaré - The androgynous,gender-fluid Rainbow Serpent, related to the VoudouDanbala. Oshumaré presides over movementof the stars the oceans, and communication between the realms of theliving and the dead. Oshumaréis variously portrayed as a femme male or transwoman. Can be considered patron of all LGBTpractitioners.

- Gender-crossing practitioners inYoruban faiths, Santeríaand Candomblé:

Adéare gay males who incorporate their sexuality into Candomblé ritual, serving eitheras “wife” of a deity or sexual partner of a fellow practitioner. Some Adé present as female,androgynous, or may cross dress during ritual to channel a femaleOrisha.

Monokó- lesbian female practitioners of Candomblé

Notethat traditionalist Yoruban priests of Ile-Ife in Nigeria do not share the same acceptanceof gay and gender-fluid practitioners. Most Yoruban traditions tolerate cross-dressingand gender-fluidity, but do not accept permanent modificationof the body for gender change.

#gender #transgender #lgbt #lgbtqia #witch #witchcraft #wicca #wiccan #pagan #paganism #gods #god #goddess #goddesses

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