Tag: lgbtqia

asynca:

Ugh. Reading a whole lot of ‘queer history’ posts on Tumblr that are exclusively North American. Elsewhere in the world, we have a different history, a different lexicon and different experiences. I have a different experience of coming out 21 years ago than someone in the USA would. Our politics were slightly different here, and still are.

For example ‘queer’ is just a mainstream word here in Australia. Perhaps some very old people (I’m thinking my late grandma) may have used it to mean ‘strange’, but I only ever heard the word referring to people who weren’t of mainstream sexes, sexualities or genders. The first time I heard that it was a slur was when a teenager demanded that I stop using ‘a slur’ to identify myself on my own Tumblr.  

I know Tumblr has a lot of US folks on it, but I think it’s important to remember that the USA is just one country, there are nearly 200 others. Your history is not everyone’s history. Your experience is not everyone’s experience. I will be respectful of your experiences where appropriate, but you also need to be respectful of mine. And that includes not trying to make me ashamed of the word that I use as my identity for any reason. 

Also Australian, also identify as queer. Worked for the AIDS council of NSW as a volunteer in the mid noughties, and queer was the generally accepted and used blanket term for the non-cis-het community and things associated with it. Queer spaces, queer music, queer club, queer lit, queer films, etc. Our branch office was small, hundreds of kilometres from a capital city. We had one bar. One. And everyone would meet there – gay, lesbian, bi, trans, WHATEVER, because our community wasn’t big enough to segregate much, and queer was the term that united us under one beautiful rainbow banner.

You don’t like a term, or don’t identify with it? Fine, don’t use it. But you don’t get to tell anyone else that their identity is wrong.

“Straight couples shouldn’t be at pride”

itarille0797:

thebaconsandwichofregret:

ugly-bread:

dragon-from-the-burning-mountain:

anidragon:

moshingtothesherlocktheme:

Well uh…

1.) one or both of people you see as a “straight couple” could be pan/bi/poly/ace

2.) one or both of them could be trans or non binary

3.) you could be misgendering someone

4.) They could be there to give moral support to a queer friend or family member who didn’t want to go alone.

Number four is important

5. They could be there because they support the cause stop fucking gatekeeping

6. They could be there in memory of a loved one, don’t forget Pride used to be a memorial as well as a celebration. I know a good number of straight people who go to Pride to celebrate the lives of friends and family who have died because they want to remember them as they lived, happy and joyful and surrounded by a community that loved them.

ALL OF THE FUCKING ABOVE.

7. They could be questioning or closeted about their gender and/or sexuality, or not ready to question their gender and/or sexuality, but still want to attend pride, either to experience being around people like themselves or to ‘test the waters’ in an open event that doesn’t have the loaded weight of walking into an explicitly queer space like a club, social group or community centre. These people might be closeted or questioning forever, or attending pride as a ‘passing straight’ person might be their first step into a deeper community engagement.

8. Open events are so important for this segment of our community for reasons of safety, too. People who CANNOT be open in their personal life can watch a parade or go to a park event without it being as implicitly indicative of their identity. Very important for vulnerable people (teens, disabled people, etc.) who are dependent on carers who might be unaccepting of their gender or sexuality.

intelegencesector:

itsstuckyinmyhead:

itsstuckyinmyhead:

I was doing some digging in lgbt history i have discovered the lesbian avengers and oh my god 

they ate fire in front of the white house 

just in case you were wondering trans women were included!!

(x)

(x)

You have to read about these amazing, badass ladies. Fire eating became their symbol, here’s a blurb on its origin.

[It] grew out of tragedy. Last year, a lesbian and a gay man, Hattie Mae Cohens and Brian Mock, burned to death in Salem, Ore., after a Molotov cocktail was tossed into the apartment they shared. A month later, on Halloween, at a memorial to the victims in New York City, the Avengers (then newly organized) gave their response to the deaths. They ate fire, chanting, as they still do: “The fire will not consume us. We take it and make it our own.”

letters-to-lgbt-kids:

My dear lgbt+ kids, 

This letter is for all of you who stim. 

You’re not “crazy” or “weird”. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with you. 

Stimming is completely natural and normal – not only the kinds of stimming other people may consider aesthetic, such as glitter slime or paint mixing, but also hand-flapping, pacing, rocking, chewing etc. 

You’re lgbt+, on the autism spectrum and stim? You’re lovely. 

You’re lgbt+, have sensory processing disorder and stim? You’re lovely. 

You’re lgbt+, have anxiety and stim? You’re lovely. 

You’re lgbt+ and stim? You’re lovely! 

With all my love, 

Your Tumblr Mom 

PS: “Wait, what is stimming?” Stimming is self-stimulatory behavior – 

repetitive behaviors with which people stimulate and calm themselves. By repeating one stimuli, they block out other stimuli and avoid over-stimulation. It’s most prevalent in people with the above mentioned conditions.