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tommy2020 · 4 months

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I’m a boy and I kiss other boys.

I’m a boy and I was not born a boy.

I’m a boy and I use unconventional pronouns.

I’m a boy and I want to live as a boy.

I’m a boy and I want to be free to say that out loud.

I’m a boy and I want to live without fear of being hurt.

Just like the other boys.

My friend is a girl and she likes boys.

My friend is a girl and she was not born a girl.

My friend is a girl and uses she/her.

My friend is a girl and she wants to be called a girl, not a slur.

My friend is a girl and she should be allowed to live as a girl.

My friend is a girl and she shouldn’t be assaulted because she is a girl.

Just like the other girls.

My sibling is nonbinary and they like every gender.

My sibling is nonbinary and they were not born that way.

My sibling is nonbinary and uses whatever pronouns they feel like.

My sibling is nonbinary and wants to be perceived as a person too.

My sibling is nonbinary and should be allowed to choose what they call themselves.

My sibling is nonbinary and shouldn’t be shoved under the rug because their gender identity “doesn’t make sense”.

Just like other people.

WE ARE PEOPLE.

TRANS RIGHTS ARE HUMAN RIGHTS.

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origami-butterfly · 2 months

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I know people are angry about predstrogen's ban right now- as they should be. But I really wish more people were talking about Nex Benedict's murder.

They were my age. Not even out of school. And they were murdered. Not "passed away" or "left us" murdered.

And I am so, so angry that this still happens. People will say our world is more accepting and that we don't need to fight anymore, when clearly we do! And I don't want to stop fighting until the world is a safe place for trans kids and trans elders.

So don't forget them. Their name was Nex Benedict.

Edit- important things from the notes:

Nex was indigenous. This is an intersectional hate crime.

Nex used he/him with friends and they/them with family, so I think he used he/they with a preference for he/him.

His murder has been called a suicide. It is very clearly not a suicide.

His name was Nex Benedict

#trans #non binary #nex benedict #tw hate crime #lgbtq+#queer community #queer issues #🚗🔨⚒️💥#<- tagged for solidarity #intersectionality #racism

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bli-o · 9 months

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ok but the “lgbtq groomers are indoctrinating children” narrative is so strange to me cuz like. i had it hammered into my head so hard that i was a girl that i thought i was, as a uterus haver, obligated to have my ear impaled at eight years old. I was so conditioned into heteronormativity that i thought my only choice in life was to grow up, marry a cisgender christian man, and have his babies. Like the adults in my life practically shipped me with this guy friend i had when i was like 6 to the point where i thought we had to date when we got older. you know who’s never made me feel anything like that? queer people. when conservatives say “indoctrinating” they mean “inspiring dissent that could disrupt the status quo we’ve forced upon everyone”

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renthony · 9 days

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In Defense of Shitty Queer Art

Queer art has a long history of being censored and sidelined. In 1895, Oscar Wilde’s novel The Picture of Dorian Gray was used as evidence in the author’s sodomy trials. From the 1930s to the 1960s, the American Hays Code prohibited depictions of queerness in film, defining it as “sex perversion.” In 2020, the book Steven Universe: End of an Era by Chris McDonnell confirmed that Rebecca Sugar’s insistence on including a sapphic wedding in the show is what triggered its cancellation by Cartoon Network. According to the American Library Association, of the top ten most challenged books in 2023, seven were targeted for their queer content. Across time, place, and medium, queer art has been ruthlessly targeted by censors and protesters, and at times it seems there might be no end in sight.

So why, then, are queer spaces so viciously critical of queer art?

Name any piece of moderately-well-known queer media, and you can find immense, vitriolic discourse surrounding it. Audiences debate whether queer media is good representation, bad representation, or whether it’s otherwise too problematic to engage with. Artists are picked apart under a microscope to make sure their morals are pure enough and their identities queer enough. Every minor fault—real or perceived—is compiled in discourse dossiers and spread around online. Lines are drawn, and callout posts are made against those who get too close to “problematic art.”

Modern examples abound, such as the TV show Steven Universe, the video game Dream Daddy, or the webcomic Boyfriends, but it’s far from a new phenomenon. In his book Hi Honey, I’m Homo!, queer pop culture analyst Matt Baume writes about an example from the 1970s, where the ABC sitcom titled Soap was protested by homophobes and queer audiences alike—before a single episode of the show ever aired. Audiences didn’t wait to actually watch the show before passing judgment and writing protest letters.

After so many years starved for positive representation, it’s understandable for queer audiences to crave depictions where we’re treated well. It’s exhausting to only ever see the same tired gay tropes and subtext, and queer audiences deserve more. Yet the way to more, better, varied representation is not to insist on perfection. The pursuit of perfection is poison in art, and it’s no different when that art happens to be queer.

When the pool of queer art is so limited, it feels horrible when a piece of queer art doesn’t live up to expectations. Even if the representation is technically good, it’s disappointing to get excited for a queer story only for that story to underwhelm and frustrate you.

But the world needs that disappointing art. It needs mediocre art. It even needs the bad art. The world needs to reach a point where queer artists can fearlessly make a mess, because if queer artists can only strive for perfection, the less art they can make. They may eventually produce a masterpiece, but a single masterpiece is still a drop in the bucket compared to the oceans of censorship. The only way to drown out bigotry and offensive stereotypes created by bigots is to allow queer artists the ability to experiment, learn through making mistakes, and represent their queer truth even if it clashes with someone else’s.

If queer artists aren’t allowed to make garbage, we can never make those masterpieces everyone craves. If queer artists are terrified at all times that their art will be targeted both by bigots and their own queer communities, queer art cannot thrive.

Let queer artists make shitty art. Let allies to queer people try their hand at representation, even if they miss the mark. Let queer art be messy, and let the artists screw up without fear of overblown retribution.

It’s the only way we’ll ever get more queer art.

_

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#original essays #original post #media studies #queer history #queer media #queer issues #fandom issues

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reasonsforhope · 20 days

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"Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D) has vetoed a Republican-led ban on transgender high school athletes, saying that such legislation would needlessly harm the mental well-being of trans youth and make the state less safe for LGBTQ+ people. State Republicans reportedly lack the votes to override his veto.

“This type of legislation, and the harmful rhetoric we get by pursuing it, harms LGBTQ Wisconsinites’ and kids’ mental health, emboldens anti-LGBTQ harassment, bullying, and violence, and threatens the safety and dignity of LGBTQ Wisconsinites, especially our LGBTQ kids,” Evers wrote in his veto message.

“I am vetoing this bill in its entirety because I object to codifying discrimination into state statute and the Wisconsin state legislature’s ongoing efforts to perpetuate hateful and discriminatory rhetoric and policies targeting LGBTQ Wisconsinites including our transgender and gender nonconforming kids…. I will veto any bill that makes Wisconsin a less safe, less inclusive, and less welcoming place for LGBTQ people and kids,” Evers added.

He vetoed the bill in a public ceremony while surrounded by trans advocates, Democratic lawmakers, the mayor of Madison and others, NBC News reported.

The bill would have required public, private, and independent charter schools to designate each team by the gender of its participants, and then require participants to play on teams matching the gender listed on their birth certificates.

The bill would have overruled current policies, established in 2015 by the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association, that allowed trans students to play on sports teams matching their gender identity as long as they provided a personal letter; supporting documentation from parents, teachers, and medical professionals; and proof of any gender-affirming care...

Last September [in 2023], Evers vetoed a Republican-led bill that would’ve banned gender-affirming medical care for minors."

-via LGBTQ Nation, April 2, 2024

#voting matters #tony evers #democrats #united states #us politics #transgender #trans issues #trans sports #trans kids #lgbtq #lgbtq issues #queer issues #trans positivity #lgbtq positivity #wisconsin #republicans #public schools #good news #hope

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canis-rex-lupus · 2 months

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KOSA AFFECTS US ALL

there will be no room to call for a free palestine, congo, sudan, or yemen when imperialists control what stays on the internet.

there will be no room for sharing queer joy, safe binding and tucking guides, or tutorials on how to safely navigate kink when queerphobes and puritans decide what kinda of relationships and identities are "acceptable".

there will be no room for anticapitalism, protest organizing, pirating, or sharing anti-establishment resources when the establishment can erase whatever ideas are too threatening to them to stay.

there will be no room to be someone who doesn't conform.

DOWNLOAD ALL THAT IS IMPORTANT TO YOU. CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVES. PROTEST AS LOUDLY AS POSSIBLE. SIGN PETITIONS. BUILD ALTERNATIVE COMMUNICATIONS FOR YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS. AND DO IT NOW BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE.

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liberaljane · 1 year

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Drag is art, stop the bans.

Illustration of a drag king cat, and a drag queen cat. Text reads, ‘stop drag bans’

#art #feminism #feminist #illustration #lgbt #drag queen #drag #drag king #rpdr #drag bans #queer #queer issues #lgbt memes #lgbt art #trans rights

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collaredkittyboy · 3 months

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Well it's come up multiple times today so I'll make a post about it.

I think the popularization of the word "twink" has ultimately been really bad for people in general.

I know it's hard to track the positive and negative effects of language but I don't think it's hard to see how creating a word for a group of people wherein the most consistent qualifying trait is "being skinny" is healthy for people's self image. Obviously people have lots of ideas about what it means to be a twink- gay, lacking body hair, feminine, beautiful, young, white- but the most consistent descriptor I've seen is "skinny." Hell, it's even a body type on Grindr; the size below "average."

So it kind of functions as a code word in the gay community: anyone can say that they're only interested in twinks and they don't have to look shallow by saying they only like skinny guys. It's such an accepted attitude that no one really bats an eye when they hear it.

I'm not even going to get into how it's become part of the larger issue of people turning "top" and "bottom" into gender roles 2.0, but that is closely related, because people with any internalized homophobia can look at a skinny, feminine man and turn off their fag alarms by viewing him as a woman or not a "real" man, and it makes twinks more acceptable to society at large.

No, ignoring all of that, one of the biggest issues is that gay men are taught by society that they are only attractive while they are skinny. Just having the label "twink" reminds a boy that people are looking at his body and judging it. There were countless times when I was growing up that people would tell me, "You're such a twink," or argue about whether or not I qualified as a twink because I had body hair. People around you, unpromted, judge your body and give you a label based on it, and that label has a large influence on whether or not you're seen as objectively attractive. I know many other gay people who say they wish they were a twink so they could be more attractive to guys.

So think, you have all these kids growing up being told whether or not they qualify as a twink, and then we have the gay community as a whole where it's completely acceptable to say you're only attracted to twinks. I think its because of all of this pressure to be a twink (in other words, to have a below average weight) that many of the gay people that I interact with struggle with a negative body image or eating disorders.

I mean, people talk about "twink death" like it's an actual event that makes a gay man much less attractive, and no one thinks that, maybe, it's harmful to tell a guy that the very day he stops being young and thin and pretty, he will stop being attractive and celebrated?

I'm not qualified to speak on fatphobia in physical queer spaces because I don't have the ability to frequent them where I live, but I can't imagine that these aren't issues at social gatherings as well. I also can't speak on my own experiences with weight discrimination because so far in my life I have had a naturally thin body, but I have experienced a lot of outside pressure to be thin that have caused me to pick up unhealthy eating habits to reduce my weight in fear that I could become fat later on. Thankfully that is something that I've mostly been able to work past. I'm not an expert, but idk, I just wanted to rant on my silly tumblr blog.

Obviously it's impossible for a word to be inherently bad. I'm not trying to imply that saying "twink" is a magic word with evil powers. Obviously the real issues at play here are fatphobia and harmful beauty standards and body shaming. But in my opinion, the popular use of the word twink has made it much easier and acceptable to express fatphobia, etc, in the gay community by turning "skinny person" into a "type of guy that you should try to be so you can be attractive."

#i know i sound annoying and woke but this is my blog and i can post whatever i want :3 #theres so much more to say but this is long enough as it is #no ones gonna read this anyway #gay #queer issues #fatphobia #cw ed mention

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sweetpumpkinmouse · 2 months

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Do lawmakers even know how stupid KOSA truly is as a bill, if not dangerous. Think about it: having to give ID containing SENSITIVE INFORMATION (literally against Internet Safety 101) just to go on the internet. Being a minor having to do that is so dangerous and would put them in more danger at the hands of predators.

People who have to use the internet for educational uses will have to go through stupid, unneeded steps just to look up the purpose of the mitochondria!

Trans and Queer youth are in danger. Fandom spaces are in danger. Children, the very group of people that this bullshit bill is claiming to protect, are in DANGER!

The States having full monopoly over the internet is so, so ungodly stupid and dystopian. I can’t imagine being someone not from the States and having to witness all of this.

The bill doesn’t protect kids, it only puts them in more danger.

CALL YOUR REPS! SIGN PETITIONS! KEEP KOSA TRENDING! LET PEOPLE KNOW WHAT IS HAPPENING!

THIS IS AN ISSUE FOR ALL OF US! NOT JUST A SELECTIVE!

SIMILAR BILLS HAVE HAPPENED BEFORE AND BEEN STOPPED THANKS TO THE INTERNET! LET’S DO THAT AGAIN!

STOP KOSA!

#stop kosa #bad internet bills #queer issues #online safety #protect trans kids #make government officials cry again

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staring-at-a-blank-pagee · 1 month

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IMPORTANT: KOSA MASTERPOST

Please, don't just scroll past! Share, reblog, and check out the content on these links! I will be adding things as I find (so make sure you reblog the original post, you can do this by clicking on my name and going to the pinned post which is this!!) and/or as the situation changes, and if there are resources you want to see added, send them to me.

LATEST UPDATES: HERE (as of of 4/10/24)

INFORMATION

What happens if KOSA passes?

What's at stake?

KOSA isn't designed to help kids.

How will KOSA passing affect you?

KOSA is a privacy nightmare.

Banning kids from social media isn't the answer.

American Action Forum

90+ LGBTQ organizations oppose KOSA

Popular Apps affected by KOSA

Rally for the Internet Archive

KOSA changes don't make it less dangerous

Senate Schedule

Current KOSA status (sign up to get alerts from this if you're able!)

KOSA will actively target trans and LGBTQ+ content

The TikTok ban isn't about China, it's the fact that it's largely pro-palestine and has other content the government doesn't want us talking about.

KOSA applies to EVERYONE here.

Israel is revealed to be behind the infamous Tiktok ban

Read the bill itself

Call Script for KOSA

RESOURCES

Huge list of resources

Tell Congress

Tell Lizzo

Linktree

Bad Internet Bills

StopKOSA.com

Petition - we need 35k signatures and we're almost there!

Contact list

Fight for the future

Speak out against KOSA

Censorship won't make kids safe

Internet red alert

EFF Action Center

More Petitions List (check and sign as many as you can!)

Fight against the TikTok ban as well

Another petition - 123,000/130,000 signatures

Share your story of how social media has helped you

Help keep the ACP alive

Another masterpost

WHERE ELSE CAN YOU FIND MORE RESOURCES?

The Stop Internet Censorship discord server has a ton of useful resources that I pulled from some of to make this post, even. Following and looking at tags like #stop kosa will help make sure you stay informed and they stay trending, as well.

EVERYTHING HELPS!! Let's make sure this bill doesn't pass! Reblogs > likes!!

last updated: 10:52 pm EST, 4/12/24

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atlantis-just-drowned · 6 months

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Credits to mattxiv on instagram for the original post.

This kills me that they think queer Palestinians don't already exist. Just because you don't hear about them doesn't mean they aren't here. They just have to hide.

Laws won't make us disappear. They will just force us to hide more. It's a dangerous way of thinking to believe that making our identities illegal will make us disappear. Because what stops them from making us illegal in the rest of the world then? They're already trying to erase us, if they now start to think they can make us cease to exist just with a bunch of laws, you can be sure that they will try as hard as they can.

Queers existed before straight bigots gave us the authorisation to exist. We didn't pop up when you made us legal. We fought for our rights. We rioted. We said "We're here, we're queer, get used to it" long before you graced us with the right to walk by your sides. We were here before. We'll be here forever. No matter what you do, no matter the laws. We've always existed and we'll always exist.

We're here. And we're queer.

#i should probably tag this but now that my serious talk is over i have no idea what to say #the eloquence lasted for 5 minutes lmao #queer community #queer pride #queer #queer issues #queer struggles #queer history #palestine #queers for palestine #palestine genocide #free gaza #israel palestine conflict #palestinians #palestine gaza #gaza

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dathen · 1 year

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This may be controversial, but I NEED allo folks to realize that “this act of kindness or caring PROVES they’re attracted to each other, it has NO other explanation” is a microaggression vs aromantic people

Yes, that even includes when you’re talking about ships

Yes, that includes when you’re making fun of “gals being pals” nonsense

People keep phrasing it like it’s an attack on heteronormativity, but each and every time it’s much more loudly saying, “Aromantic people are not capable of this kind of caring. And because no one would do this gesture for ‘just a friend,’ no one would do it for you.”

It doesn’t matter if that’s what you mean when you say it! When you mock the idea of platonic intimacy and frame it like something only an ignorant bigot would see, that’s the message we’re told day after day after day.

It’s so easy to just…say you enjoy a ship? Instead of going all “there is no other explanation” over every tidbit of human connection? Don’t put it on *us* to have to pipe up and point out that aromantic people could have connections like that too—your “uh well I GUESS it could be platonic (if you’re boring about it..)” isn’t as reassuring as you think it is.

(Also if you’re arospec and talk this way: Please be sympathetic to the fact that even if this doesn’t hit that nerve for you, it is for a LOT of other aro people.)

#aromantic #queer issues #arophobia #amatonormativity #do not clown on this post I am not afraid to block #anyway the m********t and h****s fandoms have been killing me w this lately and it’s really wearing me down

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castielsprostate · 6 months

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real people can't queerbait. taylor swift did not queerbait you because she can't queerbait. harry styles did not queerbait you because he can't queerbait. kit connor did not queerbait you because he can't queerbait. REAL PEOPLE CAN'T QUEERBAIT YOU

#sjonnie.text #REAL PEOPLE CAN'T QUEERBAIT #queer issues #lgbt #im so sick and tired of people saying real people are queerbaitjng #taylor swift did not queerbait you. she can't queerbait.

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willtheweirdrat · 6 months

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Maybe a bit of an unpopular take but I'm SO glad that companies have to put up the activism play. I'm glad they're terrified of backlash. I'm glad we've reached the point where they're scared of mocking queer people. I'm glad they're scared of losing their money because of us and our allies. I'm glad they have to put up with us and pretend they support us even if they hate us.

#queer #queer activism #lgbtq #lgbt #queer issues #lgbtq community #lgbtqia #queer pride

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sicut-anima · 7 months

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Wish people would stop using "fujoshis" as a dogwhistle for "trans mlm"

Fuck off proshippers, my posts ain't for you

#sicut screams #fujoshis #transandrophobia #queer issues #trans mlm

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moonpool-system · 6 months

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Reminder that there's a stark line between "someone with different opinions" and "a bigot". If someone treats and/or thinks of another person poorly based on an immutable characteristic of their existence, They are a bigot. Period. Nobody has to respect or humor bigots' opinions. It is not on the victim to humor their attacker's sentimentality.

#plural community #queer issues #neurodivergent #queer punk #neuropunk #pluralpunk #syscourse #anti exclusionist #prism #eclipse

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