#masc northern ireland

[juni-ravenhall]

long post about ydris & circus worker / traveller / romani stereotypes (+ unrelated but related heterochromia)

(.... and sse's behaviour around one traveller-coded character and then of a masc-ish woman of colour while they dont do this with their plain white toast characters)

yasmin told me to write a post about this after i was telling her about it, so here it is.

first for canon: ydris is obvs pandorian, non-human, and his human form does not necessarily read as a specific ethnicity or cultural belonging (but i will get back to his looks later in the post!). he throws in french words but he is pandorian. why he speaks french (or uses it for flair?) is not clear from the lore afaik.

anyway. there are stereotypes about people who work in the travelling circus (or in any circus at all, depending). these stereotypes often go hand in hand with stereotypes about romani people and other travelling people. (im talking both about circus people of the past and present.)

here are some examples of harmful stereotypes about travelling people, circus people, and romani people (often these are founded in being an "outsider", people dont like to trust outsiders and consider them strange for not being exactly the same as themselves, aka xenophobia):

thief, criminal, dangerous

trickery, lying, cheating

seduction, enchanting (can come back to ^ trickery etc)

unreliable, untrustworthy

immoral, and/or follows other morals/laws than "the norm" in the places they travelled to [and this is seen in a negative way]

promiscuous, unfaithful

mysterious, intriguing

using magic / reading fortunes (these can be connected back to trickery, mystery, seduction...)

wild, untamed

"are they good or bad?"

speaks a foreign language or a secret language (and may use this to talk behind the backs of locals / to trick locals)

sexualised on behalf of above points (immoral, mysterious, seductive, enchanting, wild, untamed...)

objectified and/or dehumanised on behalf of above points (i think you get it by now.)

these stereotypes can affect people who are, for example, european or american white people who work in a travelling circus. however, romani people, on behalf of their ethnicity, can be affected by these stereotypes about nomadic people even if that romani person doesn't live a nomadic lifestyle, because these stereotypes about romani people persist as racist and cultural stereotypes even when you take the travelling out of the equation. (i think irish travellers also face the stereotypes regardless of if they live as settled or as nomads?)

now, i want to say some things about ydris looks before i move on with the topic of these stereotypes, but first its important to note that sso is a swedish game made by swedish people, and whats considered "white" or "white passing" in the US is not the same as what it is in scandinavia or northern europe (i cant speak for other parts of europe well enough so i wont). its also more like "what part of europe"-passing rather than just "white" passing.

in sweden, you're not going to meet hispanic americans or african americans, for example, but you will see romani people and kurdish people, for example, and ofc, polish people, estonian people, people from around the area.... the minority groups are different in europe vs the US (vs anywhere else ofc. i hope USamericans learn that nowhere else is the US and you need to stop projecting shit on other places). the idea of whats "swedish ethnicity" or "scandinavian ethnicity" or "european ethnicity" and so on are not equal to "white american ethnicity". remember that many white ppl here can trace back their history like a thousand years in the same country, while white ppl in america are generally like, "my great grandpa came from germany, my great grandma from poland, and my girlfriend's family came from ireland" and so on. theres a mash of different cultures and ethnicities, which isnt the average case for white people in europe. (please: obviously im not saying "everyone is this" just on average. plenty of ppl are mixed here, or have grandparents who moved here, etc.)

i am a swede with dark brown hair and dark brown eyes and i have experienced white ppl colorism (im still not sure if colorism is the right word, but i think so. however its mostly harmless idiocy, but frustrating to hear over and over). i dont mind it anymore, i just think its stupid, now, as an adult. and colorism(?) within white people is not at all as bad as racism that poc experience in the same country - just to be clear. the reason i bring it up isnt to say "boohoo me", but to try to explain what "white passing" or "swedish passing" is in sweden, from a person who literally is white but is not considered swedish enough due to having darker eyes and darker hair.

anyway! ydris has black hair. from a swedish developer and swedish audience perspective, black hair is enough to make a character read as "foreign". (thats why we had this whole tangent ^ above.) but, we also dont need to rely on a vague hint of foreignness, because he throws in french words, and he's from pandoria. and a lot of people will associate the travelling circus and ydris' wagon with romani culture to some degree, whether or not that's accurate (again, circus culture and romani culture and other nomadic cultures can become mixed up). the black hair ties well into the image of a travelling circus person.

ydris is a sort of "chaotic neutral" in the story so far. he has different intentions than the "heroes" and "villains" both, and he is largely self-centered (focusing on his own desires - tho he seems to care about pandoria as well - and he likely experiences different feelings than the average jorvegian does, and his sense of morals and social rules are different). now, im sure you can see how that ties back into some of the stereotypes ive listed: he's a foreign outsider who cant be trusted, he is mysterious, is he good or bad?, he tricks people, he behaves chaotically (wild)...... etc

he also comes across as flirty towards the player, which im sure you can see, ties back in to things from the stereotype list like seduction, enchantment, and being promiscuous. if it helps, consider Esmeralda from Hunchback of Notre Dame, as an example of the harmful stereotype of seductive romani. (i loved disney hunchback when i was a kid, and i also want to point out that that movie handles the topic of how esmeralda has to do things just to scrape by, and she is demonised in the eyes of a rich white religious man in power, who is evil, while she herself is a good person and being oppressed and dehumanised. just leaving that here as food for thought, not to really defend or cancel anything, but to encourage ppl to view things in a nuanced way. the stereotypes are harmful and disney is an evil company, but there are also parts in that story that are criticising the right things. then theres other parts that are just ??? )

also, there is a significant population of romani in france, but ofc there are romani across many countries. yasmin pointed out when we talked that french is also seen as a "sexy language" - so it kind of both ties into the "foreign traveller from further down in europe" and "seductive romani" by having him use a language considered "sexy".

ydris also has heterochromia (one light blue eye and one dark blue) which isnt related to the idea of the traveller, but it *is* considered "mysterious", "strange", and potentially "untrustworthy". this is ofc really weird - heterochromia is a real life condition that completely normal people have. having heterochromia shouldnt be portrayed as anything weird or special - there is nothing mysterious or strange about it, or something "untrustworthy" (playing into things like being two-faced).

if you go back up to the list of harmful stereotypes, keeping the things ive said in mind, and how ydris behaves in the game..... im sure you can understand what im saying about the bigger picture. the combination of living in a circus wagon, being mysterious and flirtatious and living by his own rules, being untrustworthy, having black hair, throwing in french words, theres a lot of things that maybe seem okay out of context, but when you put them together, to me, it makes it clear that ydris is like.... romani coded, or something close to romani coded, despite, yes, technically being pandorian, i get it, thank you, its not relevant, he is not real, the staff at sse are real and their biases are real.

theres nothing wrong in itself with being flirty or promiscuous or seductive and whatnot - or with fictional villains, or chaotic, untrustworthy characters - the problem is the stereotype of a group of real people. especially when you're passing these stereotypes on to an audience of impressionable children. why is ydris the character being handled this way? why is sabine the character to be handled this way? why dont they handle plain white toast characters this way?

an important point is that i dont think neither ydris or sabine are really sexualised within the game itself - the more blatant stuff happens on sse's official social media. ydris is sexualised to some degree in the way that he flirts: again, it alludes to the seductive romani person, even if its very mild flirting (the stereotype is still perpetuated). sabine is mostly not sexualised in the game, just hyped up in general, but the social media team keeps milking the fact that ppl are thirsty for sabine. the post is not really about sexualisation as the focus. its about general questionable or outright harmful design choices, that sometimes also has to do with sexualisation and objectification.

this, as usual, isnt about cancelling sso or sse. its about being analytical and critical about the media you consume, and about biases both from creators and from audiences. its about learning how to be more understanding and respectful towards other people. and about raising your voice and holding ppl accountable when they perpetuate harmful things (esp if its people in power, like companies, celebrities, and politicians).

personally, i dont think you arent allowed to think ydris or sabine are hot. its okay if they are your type or if you relate to them or whatever, because like, ultimately we're surrounded by all these characters and real people everywhere in media that are affected by biases. but i DO think you need to actually think about this shit if you are thirsting for sabine or thirsting for ydris. i dont think its great to just be like, omg, typical ydris, he tricked me again and then he seduced me, typical circus people. or to be like, wow, sabine is so hot and should step on me, beefy women of colour are scarier than beefy white women, thats so hot. do you get it? you can be attracted to these charas without being racist or xenophobic or misogynist or whatever, they just happen to be your type, and thats nice, but you do need to think about how you view them and why, and how you talk about them and why, bc a lot of people have biases they arent even aware to, and might not understand what kind of biases you perpetuate. example: how apparently most ppl didnt think about the romani / traveller stereotype implications of ydris so i had to write this post. stay woke and pay attention to potential harmful stereotypes in media, so i dont have to write this shit anymore

#also disclaimer this post could be less of a mess. its sleep time and this wasnt the easiest topic to explain

[lupuslikethewolf]

One thing i have noticed in regards to J*R's bigotry and how it is presented in popular media (i.e. news stations, articles and by celebrites) is that the main focus seems to be on the transphobia, and - as a british trans person - i think it is safe to say that a major reason for that is the rampant transphobia already present in this country, but the blatant anti-semitism, racism, misogyny, and right-wing politics tend to just get swept under the rug.

I am brown (desi), trans-masc and gay, but i'm not jewish, so if i am incorrect about anything i say regarding anti-semitism, then please correct me! this is based of research and what i have heard from jewish people, not personal experience.

In order: Misogyny and TERFism, Transphobia and UK Politics, Racism and Xenophobia in Writing, and Anti-Semetism and Caricatures.

Misogyny and TERF-ism

I think the first thing to say is that J*R glamorises the term TERF, or 'Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminist' and considers herself the height of Women's Rights Activism.

I think this is truly evident in the fact that she seems unable to include a female protagonist in HP that isn't motherly or a love interest. Hermione Granger, while the most well-rounded and complex of the female characters, is the caretaker of Ron and Harry during their time at Hogwarts as students, and is treated as the 'back-up' girlfriend by Ron and Harry during the Fourth Year Yule Ball. Lavender Brown exists to create a 'Not Like Other Girls' trait in Hermione by distancing her from all the boy obsessed, hyper-feminine 'bad' girly-girls of Gryffindor. She is also, again, nothing more than a love interest. Molly Weasley is a mother figure for Harry, and everything about her eventually links back to that fact. She cooks, cleans, looks after people, knits and sews, etc etc. Nymphadora Tonks was actually an interesting and badass character, but then J*R got mad at her fandom for doing fandom things and turned her into a one-dimensional tragic love interest for her queer-coded character who she has admitted to writing as a fucking AIDs allegory.

I believe this view is rooted in her transphobia, TERF-ism and internalised misogyny, as J*R cannot create a 'good' woman who isn't motherly and feminine, but only in the acceptable way. This is seen in Rita Skeeter, who is also hyper-feminine and yet described in a very masculine way, with 'thick fingers' and a 'heavy-jawed face'.

Transphobia and UK Politics

The transphobia tends to rear its head most often because it is incredibly common and in the public eye, especially with the UK government repeatedly shooting down efforts to make progress, like how they blocked Scotland's law to make self-recognition easier for trans people. It is also evident in her TERF-ism and the fact that she no longer hides her support for anti-trans movements, and instead uses her platform and wealth to fund and promote them.

There is also the fact that she has also been using that same platform and wealth to publicly campaign against Scottish Independence for far longer.

The UK Tory (aka Conservative) Party has routinely held up J*R as a bastion of good-will, 'progress', and the ultimate citizen, even quoting her directly when sprouting anti-trans bullshit. While J*R will claim to be a Feminist and support Labour (the only real left-leaning opposition to the Tories), her views often align more with those she claims not to support.

Politics also show themselves in characters such as Seamus Finnegan, the only Irish character, with the most stereotypically Irish name there is, who is always blowing things up when trying to cast spells, and loves to drink. In the 90s, when HP was set, Northern Ireland was suffering from something known as 'The Troubles', wherein two sides known as 'Protestants' and 'Catholics', whether there was a religious affiliation or not, were bombing, street fighting, sniper attacks and committing other acts of civil warfare all throughout the country. And J*R put those actions onto a child.

That's some Tory shit right there.

Racism and Xenophobia in Writing

If you have seen any criticisms of J*R's writing of diverse characters, you will know that she has a massive, massive problem with using stereotypes, especially in names, to portray her Characters of Colour.

I think the most obvious tends to be Kingsley Shacklebolt, the only major black protagonist in the series. She named her only black character Shacklebolt.

SHACKLE bolt.

Just let that sink in for a minute.

Then there is Cho Chang, who's only personality traits include being sad about her boyfriend, kissing Harry Potter, and being smart. She is also the only main asian protagonist, and her name is just two east asian-sounding surnames put together.

'Cho' is Korean or Burmese, and 'Chang' is a romanised Chinese surname.

Padma and Parvati Patil rely on the same stereotypes. Their culture - especially the clothing - is completely butchered and used as nothing more than fan-service to prove how not-racist she is (yeah right) and are only around to be love interests who get tossed aside and treated horribly by Ron and Harry.

'Padma' is a Persian name while 'Parvati' is a Hindu/Sanskrit name.

If a writer needs to rely on stereotypes and racist views to write her characters of colour, than she is not a good writer and either needs to be held accountable and made to unlearn her biases, or simply not allowed to write anymore.

Anti-Semitism and Caricatures

Reminder to listen to Jewish People and the Jewish Community when it comes to Anti-Semitism in HP, not just some non-jewish 16-year-old with too much time on their hands and unlimited internet access trying to procrastinate revising for their exams!!

(Tumblr crashed when i was writing this part of the post,,,, feels targeted /lh) Also, this is not a definitive list of anti-semetic items in HP, go look at a Jewish person's perspective to fully understand! This is a good post from @/whilommm regarding the new HP game and this post by @/genderkoolaid which talks about a youtuber posting videos on antisemitism and other issues head-on.

Goblins are the most prolific anti-semetic stereotype seen throughout HP, and most other mythology.

The first and most obvious thing, in my opinion, is the description of their noses. Hooked noses are a very distinct trait found most often in Jewish people, and are described very often in the Goblins, and not only that, but Snape and other villains in HP have 'bad' or 'ugly' noses.

Goblins are also greedy money-hoarders who run the banks, which feeds into anti-semetic conspiracy theories about Jewish people running the world's economy, and the N@zi propaganda of Jewish people hoarding wealth and collapsing the German economy.

There are little-to-no female goblins. Which, while also feeding into the misogynistic side of J*R's writing, also presents jewish-coded characters as being inherently misogynistic when that is not the case of any ethnic and/or religious group.

The goblins are rude to wizards and any other outsider, which is a belief that likely stems from the fact that it is an incredibly hard and long process to convert fully to Judaism, as the beginning involves being turned away from converting three times by the same Rabbi. This does not make Judaism or Jewish People xenophobic or even otherwise cautious of outsiders, it is simply part of their religious conversion process made to deter people who do not genuinely want to be apart of the religion and to make sure those converting are doing so with good and honest intentions.

If the Death Eaters are meant to be Fascist N@zi Allegories, why not make the only jewish-coded characters you have actually well-fucking-written and main fucking characters. Or, better yet, Don't Call It A Fucking A Nazi Allagory!!! Oppression doesn't have to involve Fasicsm/Nazis!!

The New Harry Potter Game Not To Be Named And Only Ever Pirated If Even That is a whole other can of worms of blood libel, romanticising oppression and even more anti-semetic caricatures that deserves its own post.

Final Notes

This is not a definitive list, but simply what I personally am most angry about and can remember the clearest from my last re-read of Harry Potter. Other things to be considered: bad world building that makes no sense, werewolves as an AIDS allegory that then proceed to prey on kids, homophobia regarding dumbledore and wolfstar, and her use of slavery and 'slaves who enjoy being enslaved' because what the fuck was that thought process.

Here is a post @/chaos-in-one with some other links and more brilliant points about why people should hate J*R

#feel free to add comments and other thoughts/links to the post #Fuck J*R #Fuck the UK Government #and Fuck Your Bigoted Uncle John Specifically. #antisemetism tw #antisemetism in harry potter #mysogyny #terfism in harrypotter #racism #harry potter meta post #anti harry potter #anti j k r #i am well aware that i am not the only person to bring up these points i just feel like there are alot of people who need them reiterated

[inionnarequiem]

Vick’s Return: Major Changes

Indeed my friends, I’ll be doing a proper promo sometime in the future but I wanted to highlight some key changes I’m making going forward with Vicky

1. Victora is an Unaffliated OC; I’ve completely retconned Vick’s lore to be independant of any fandoms or other source material, again this detailed post will be coming in later. I will still write Vick as Northern Ireland but only with a select few old friends and in a seperate verse.

2. Vick is Agender/Genderqueer: They will use any pronouns and will present themselves as either masculine or feminine or neither on any given occasion. Honestly, Vick dgaf but doesn’t feel any gender roles suit him so they present themself as however they feel. They’re pretty lax on whatever sort of nicknames a person uses for them; Mave, Vicky, Vick, Victoria etc. But on days where they present masc they typically prefer/tend to use ‘Brendon’

3. Previous relationships may be altered or changed: Depending on which verse you wrote with for Vick, that relationship may be changing going forward as now Vick is not burdened with some of the issues she faced previously, but instead faces new challenges entirely that will alter how she percieves the world and other people. If you’re unsure, feel free to DM me!

Other changes may pop up as I refind my voice for Vick but these are the most important ones starting out! 

#Out of Whisky (ooc) #listen up (psa)

[agnessieart]

C3 with Emil, Leon, and Connor

But Co is being an annoying little bastard and interupting the other two.

I'm loving @mcnuggyy 's trio meme thingy, the poses and interactions are just so cute!! And idk, I do like drawing trios but usually they end up in the A3 pose so this is great for reference

#aph iceland #aph hong kong #aph northern ireland #hetalia #illustration #art #artists on tumblr #art on tumblr #digital art #digital #hws iceland #hws northern ireland #hws hong kong #hongice #trio #masc hong kong #masc northern ireland #masc iceland

[inkcyclopedia]

Chris Hill (Belfast, Northern Ireland)

#chris hill #northern ireland #the x-files #masc #ufo #landscape #tree #text #quote #silhouette #tattoo

[entity9silvergen]

I recently asked reddit for some LGBT history from countries other than the US. Here’s what I got:

Germany

The Weimar Republic was surprisingly accepting of "alternative lifestyles."

During the Weimar Republic, Germany had a pretty active LGBTQ scene, with some major films and songs being produced, despite it still being illegal at the time. However, there was also a push to decriminalize homosexual behavior which sadly wasn't passed as the Nazis came to power.

This was based of two factors: after WW1 the authoritarian culture of Prussia sorta received a long overdue pushback. People were kinda sick of it, especially since these losers led them into a seemingly pointless war to begin with. Second: A LOT of men died in WW1 - and the army did not exactly prefer LGBT people. So with a lot of regular folks dead, the percentages of the total populace was sorta shifted. This also pushed the women's rights movements at the time for a similar reason.

Magnus Hirschfeld was helping trans people transition, crossdressers get crossdressing 'licenses', and generally advocating for and helping the LGBT community in the early 1900s in Germany. Nazis ended up raiding and burning down his research institute.

Hirschfeld was a gay polyamorous man. He was one of the first advocates for trans and gay rights but his work was destroyed by the Nazis.

The institute he headed even did the first modern gender affirming surgeries. The institute was destroyed and many people who were there (including the first known person to undergo complete MtF surgery) were killed by the nazis and the place was little more than bombed out ruins at the end of the war.

More information on the institute

Pre Nazi interwar Germany (Weimar Republic)  was pretty open when it came to not only sexuality, but also gender identity. The Nazis put a stop to that & tried to destroy any & all research into either, but, for a brief moment, it was there.

Russia

Pretty sure all Russian LGBT history was erased before we even had a written language, but Russia almost got gay marriage legalized in the first soviet constitution (didn’t happen bc Stalin)

The early soviet period (pre-Stalin) is sometimes called “the first sexual revolution” as opposed to America’s “sexual Revolution” of the 60’s. Broad women’s suffrage, female employment and education, parental leave, advancement of GSM rights & decriminalization of abortion. This unfortunately did not stand the test of time & reactionary sentiment.

Additional Source

UK/ Britain/ England 

The lead singer of Judas Priest is gay. The commenter’s father thought it was kinda funny because it didn’t match with his biker aesthetic, but the commenter doesn’t think he considered how much leather he wears on a daily basis

Hell bent for Leather was a track off Killing Machine. It was written by lead guitarist Glenn Tipton (who is straight), but it's fun to find alternative meanings in Priest songs. A second commenter likes to pretend a lot of the lyrics Halford sings are gayer than they actually are.

A couple people mentioned how uncomfortable it was seeing Ru Paul interact with British drag queens because he barely knows anything about British culture.

Ru Paul got angry that a British drag queen hasn’t seen the Golden Girls because “it’s gay culture” and then not five minutes later someone had to explain to him who Alan Turing was.

Alan Turing, who was an incredibly noteworthy figure (He made the Enigma codebreaker machine, which broke the code that was used by Nazis during the war and basically sped up the war by a significant margin. He also set the foundations for artificial intelligence, one achievement he was named for: the Turing Test), was homosexual and prosecuted multiple times because of it

Shakespeare was probably bisexual (some of his sonnets had homoerotic subtext/were sent to a younger man). Plus, Hamlet is gay as fuck. 

Sonnet 46 was very gay. Here’s a link!

King James 1st was corrupt and used his position to promote his gay lover to higher positions than he should've gotten. 

The 13 year old king James 6th of Scotland and 1st of England fell in love with a 37 year old catholic Franco Scottish man. The king gave the older man so much free shit that other lords started getting salty and his lover ended up converting to Presbyterianism out of loyalty to his young lover. He also fell in love with a man who ''was noted for his handsome appearance as well as his limited intelligence.'' 

Clearly James was into himbos, and women too.

He had a secret tunnel connecting his bedroom to George Villiers’s bedroom.

His relationship with Villiers was basically common knowledge and a source of much amusement and mockery. He also once said that his relationship with Villiers was equivalent to the relationship that Christ had with John the Baptist

Much more recently, there's obviously JKR and the banning of puberty blockers and Margaret Thatcher opposing LGBTQ+ rights by passing a law meaning you couldn't 'promote homosexuality'. 

Prince Philip was a racist twat (and probably a huge homophobe knowing him).

Gay marriage only became legal in 2014.

The Wolfenden Report was published in 1957, and it recommended the decriminalization of homosexual acts between consenting adults. It was a huge topic of public debate, and ultimately led to the Sexual Offences act of 1967, which legalized sexual acts between consenting men aged 21 or over in England and Wales (sexual acts between women were never explicitly criminalized). Scotland decriminalized sex between men in 1980, and Northern Ireland in 1982. 

For a totally batshit real-life bit of gay history, check out the show A Very English Scandal. It's about a politician, Jeremy Thorpe, who put a hit out on his former lover who was threatening to go public with the fact they had had a relationship. 

Austria

Gay marriage was legalized in Austria about 3 years ago. The worst thing is that it'd have staid illegal if the Supreme Court wouldn't have jumped in and declare it to be unconstitutional.

Austria did have something called "partnership" which was where gay couples could officially register with the state as couples but not receive any of the benefits of married het people

They still have super backwards Transphobic laws requiring for example "real life experience" to get even diagnosed. Basically you're forced to be and live as feminine/masc as possible and a doctor them judges if you're femme or masc enough. It's torture

Australia had widespread, over 60% approval of gay marriage for well over a decade before the government legalized it. The governments were actually going against the people for a very long time by denying it.

Taiwan/ Hong Kong/ Mainland China

When Taiwan recently legalized gay marriage, their official statement was something along the lines that they were casting off Western-imposed values and returning to their own traditional values and the entire western lgbt community ridiculed them in a "if that's what you need to tell yourself" sort of way but it's actually the truth. 

Prior to western colonization, the Imperial Chinese attitude toward sexuality was not dissimilar to Greco-Roman attitudes in that a man must marry a woman to beget legitimate heirs but whatever else he does on the side is his own business. It wasn't until Victorian colonizers came along and imposed homophobic attitudes on China that China started treating gays like abominations. In Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Mainland China, as indeed most of the world, homophobia is a western value imposed by colonizers.

Bonus history: there is an actual saying in Arabic that was in widespread use across the Middle East and North Africa for thousands of years from classical antiquity until European colonization. The saying goes "Women are for babies, [young men] are for fun."

The commenter specifies that this means “college-aged twinks,” not children

Another commenter speculates about when homophobia arose in China and how. They also add that in Rome, bottoms were stigmatized. 

There’s a story of Emperor Ai of the Han dynasty & him cutting off his sleeve for his boyfriend

There is also a god worshipped in Taiwan, the Rabbit God Tu'er Shen, whose domain is managing love and sex between same-sex attracted people. He is meant to be the incarnation of a soldier from the 17th century, who fell in love with an imperial inspector and spied on him bathing, and was tortured and killed by that official because he was offended by the spying. A villager from the soldier's hometown dreamed that Tu'er Shen appeared to him and said that because his crime had been love, he had been appointed to manage the affairs of gay people. The villagers erected a secret temple to the soldier, and people have been praying to him ever since.

South Africa

South Africa became the first nation in the world to explicitly prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation in its constitution. It was also first country in Africa to legalize same sex marriage in 2006. What really set them back for so long was apartheid.

There is some speculation that that Shaka Zulu was gay since he never took any wives

South Africa's post Apartheid constitution was the first in the world to outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation in 1996.

South Africa was also the 5th country in the world and only country in Africa to legalize same sex marriage in 2005.

Even before that the Constitutional Court ruled that sexual orientation was not relevant when deciding child custody in 2002.

Transgender folks have been allowed to change their sex in the population registry since 2003.

Conversion therapy is not illegal yet and public opinion still needs some work.

Spain

In Spain gay marriage was legalized in 2005, now they are considered one of de gay-friendliest countries in the world. The commenter is a lesbian and has never been closeted or directly experienced discrimination for being a lesbian.

In July 2005, Spain became the third country in the world to explicitly legalize gay marriage, after a thirty-year struggle following the fall of Franco's dictatorship, during which most activism was carried clandestinely (as it was illegal).

From 2007 onwards, Spanish [binary] trans people can legally correct the name and sex fields of their IDs and currently, there's a push for a law that would allow for legal recognition of non-binary Spaniards.

Despite the dictatorship in the 60s, there were cinemas that specialized in gay meet ups. Trans women also had ways to get passports so they could go to the US for surgery.

Ireland

In Northern Ireland, same sex marriage only became legal in 2020 and the leader of the most popular party is homophobic transphobic racist and sexist af. In fact, the majority of the party are but some of the quotes from the biggest party leader are depressing.

Same-sex marriage was only legalized in Ireland in 2015. Homosexuality was decriminalized in 1993. 

When Ireland legalized same sex marriage by popular vote in 2015, it was still something you got horribly bullied for in schools if you were out. Queer people got an apology from the Taoiseach in 2018, for the suffering and discrimination we faced from the State prior to the legalization of homosexuality.

In the case of trans rights, in 2015 the Gender Recognition Act was signed into law. It allows legal gender changes without the requirement of medical intervention or assessment by the state as long as you are over the age of 18. 

Ireland has fines and jail time for anyone found guilty of attempting conversation therapy. 

Ireland has seen a lot of progress in LGBT rights in the last 6 years but even up to the 2000s, citizens left their family members and friends to rot for being LGBT+. It still happens all over the country, especially in circles that are still fanatically Catholic. As the Catholic Church has lost the iron grip on the country, people have become more accepting of the LGBT+.

India

The Kamasutra(ancient text on sexuality etc.) has an entire chapter dedicated to homosexuality

The Arthashastra, a 2nd century BCE Indian treatise on statecraft, mentions a wide variety of sexual practices which, whether performed with a man or a woman, were sought to be punished with the lowest grade of fine. While homosexual intercourse was not sanctioned, it was treated as a very minor offence, and several kinds of heterosexual intercourse were punished more severely.

Sex between non-virgin women incurred a small fine, while homosexual intercourse between men could be made up for merely with a bath with one's clothes on, and a penance of "eating the five products of the cow and keeping a one-night fast"

Milk, curd (cheese), ghi (clarified butter), urine, and dung are the five products of a cow

The commenter adds that this is not a terrible punishment.

The Mughal Empire mandated a common set of punishments for homosexuality, which could include 50 lashes for a slave, 100 for a free infidel, or death by stoning for a Muslim

On 6 September 2018 the Supreme Court of India invalidated part of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code making homosexuality legal in India

Prior to the British colonization of India homosexuality was not all that looked down upon when compared to what happened when the British took over and instituted anti gay laws.

The Hijra (literally means third gender) were seen as normal and have been accepted since long before Christ, as evidenced by the Karma Sutra. The British took videos of them to take back to demonstrate how the Desi were “barbaric”.

Bonsia

In Bosnia, there was a one pride parade that ended with religious extremists ruining it and the police not doing anything. It was supposed to be 5 maybe 3 days long but ended in like 1 or 2.

The Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe mapped out the entire night sky with only his eyes. It laid the foundations of many later scientists, such as Isaac Newton. He was a very rich nobleman, so much so that he owned 1% of Denmark's money. He had a pet dwarf that apparently could see the future, which sounds pretty gay. He was also part of the Elefant Ordning, which consisted of rich and strong Danish men.

Philippines 

Despite many attempts to legalize same-sex marriage, the Philippines still didn't budge. Being gay in itself is legal, but same-sex marriage still isn't.

Philippines ,the most Catholic Country in Southeast Asia, has held the largest Pride Parade in Southeast Asia.

Serbia

Serbia didn't have history from about 16th century to 1800's when the 1st revolt happened and failed till 1813's... Then yet another in 1830's for semi independence from Turks, and full in 1836

During the last lingering Ottoman rule over autonomous Serbia, Serbia was one of the very first few countries to have legal mostly everything... it then got removed with like 3 constitution changes and then it didn't move forward for a looong time

Switzerland

Would you have thought that small, conservative Switzerland was a center of the international gay community during the mid-20th century? The magazine "Der Kreis"- the circle - was the only queer magazine in the world that kept publishing during WWII. It was edited in Zurich and distributed internationally, which often meant illegal smuggling, even into nazi Germany. The magazine's annual ball was attended by hundreds of gay men from all over Europe each year. The whole thing was kept strictly secret from the public, though it was known and tolerated by the police.

The Kreis club disbanded in 1967, as repressions grew heavier after a number of murders in the scene had caught the public's attention. By then, other European and American groups took its place, publishing their own magazines.

They made a movie about it.

More info about Der Kreis

As of today, Switzerland doesn't allow gay marriage. A country-wide referendum will be held this fall on gay marriage.

The commenter speculates that gay marriage will be legalized.

A few people expressed surprise that Switerland is socially conservative and several people explained that women’s right to vote was only place in the 70s.

There’s a movie about it

Turkey

A Muslim Persian (born in modern day Turkey) philosopher/mysticist named Mewlana who is known for his sayings on acceptance and love for one another was gay! He had exchanged letters with his instructor Shams and wrote homoerotic poems to him! In Turkey this is ignored by many due to the country's stance on homosexuality

More information

Norway

The commenter’s hometown and the neighboring town arranged their first pride parade/event in 2017, which is a big deal for a small place and one of the local priests went livid and went straight to the newspaper and social media to condemn it. A local rapper wrote a short and to the point article in the newspaper calling him out for all kinds of things which was a great read. Then to top it off, the priest arranged for a "Jesus Parade" in protest to be held the day before the pride parade. Only like five people walked in it, not including the priest of course because he happened to be on vacation in Spain that week. The pride parade itself was a success though! It's become an annual event. Covid has put some breaks on it though, but they're making a documentary this year about the pride celebrations.

Hungary

Hungary has no same sex marriage or transition rights

Police are unkind to protestors

During “commie times,” being queer was illegal so queer people went to the gulag

Belgium

Same sex marriage was legalized in Belgium in 2003 (right after the NL who were the first in the world). The commenter says that same-sex marriage has always felt possible and she is confused about other countries’ actions.

Poland

Polish president on public assembly: 'LGBT is not people, this is ideology'.

Denmark

WHO took their sweet time declassifying being transgender as a mental illness, so Denmark got sick of waiting and became the first country to stop classifying it as an illness.

Australia

In Australia same-sex marriage wasn't legal until 2017.

Portugal

Portugal is know for having one of the most (if not THE most) peaceful revolutions in history back in the 60's, with only 4 deaths total.

Canada

Operation Soap.

Mexico

To learn more, watch Dance of the 41 on Netflix.

Netherlands

NL was one of the first countries to legalize gay marriage in 2001

Sweden

In Sweden they used to classify Homosexuality as a disease during the 20th century so in protest people would call in too gay to work.

New Zealand

When same sex marriage was legalized, the parliament broke into song.

The song

Other

Homosexuality is illegal in 73 countries, some by death or life in prison.

Only one country in Asia has legalized same-sex marriage: Taiwan

FNAF is older than same-sex marriage in the US

Condor Operation

I think this is some important stuff so please reblog so more people can see! And, if you would like to add to or correct anything here, feel free to do so!

#history #lgbt #lgbt pride #pride #lgbt history #world history #queer #usa #germany #uk #world war 2 #austria #taiwan #south africa #spain #ireland #india #bonsia #philippines #serbia #switerland #turkey #norway #hungary #bengium #poland #denmark #australia #portugal #canada

[vvakarians]

Tagged by @impossible-rat-babies to do this meme!! If y’all wanna do this consider yourself tagged!

name/nickname: Mal? Most people are confused on how to say my name lmao so I go with that. It’s Malachi, Maah -la-kai! My boyfriend calls me Pancake and I love that very much <3. 

gender: masc leaning eldritch entity

star sign: leo? according to a quiz TM I am a Pisces Moon, Virgo Ascendant (is this rising?) 

height: 5′2″ also lmao

time: 7:25 pm

birthday: august 19th

favorite bands: son lux, echos, and mother mother

favorite solo artist: uhhh hozier, grandson (is this a band?? i have no idea), and Soap&Skin??

song stuck in my head: the fuckin super mario theme song

last movie: Uh Die Hard? I think? I watched it on Christmas Eve with my boyfriend! 

last show: Upload and American Gods! 

when did you create this blog: oh jesus uh, 2014? idk y’all 

what do I post:  who the fuck knows anymore lmao. Pretty much just cool stuff I really like and fandom things! Sometimes I’ll post about ocs and I’ll post art. 

last thing googled: a birth chart calculator for my zodiac sign lmao

do I get asks: from mutuals sometimes! I’m most active on discord and twitter but trying to make a comeback here/most of my followers aren’t active due to the Purge of 2018 you know lmao

why I chose my url:  it *was* catch-booker for a long time, which is a bioshock infinite reference! The current one is also a videogame reference..to Garrus Vakarian lmao but vakarian as a username was already taken. 

following: 491 most of which are probably inactive lol

followers: 516

average hours of sleep: 6-9 depending 

lucky number: 13!

instruments: piano, violin, and flute but I haven’t played any of them in years

what am I wearing: pajama bottoms with donuts, nasa hoodie, and a D&D shirt lmao

dream job: a professional artist/character designer! we’ll see if we get there. Trying every day not to give up.

dream trip: Japan? I just want to move to Northern Ireland right now at this point. 

last book I read: I think it was the Necronomicon? I don’t really read a whole lot anymore lmao the ADHD really smacked me hard. 

favorite food: pancakes, mashed potatoes, or alfredo! I’m actually kind of a picky eater so it’s more of a question of what will I eat

nationality: america, unfortunately

favorite song: Currently Achilles Come Down by Gang of Youths, Hayloft by Mother Mother, or Dangerous by Son Lux. Can you tell I’m a TikTok cosplayer LOL

top three fictional universes: Dragon Age, Bloodborne/Dark Souls, and Critical Role/D&D?? The fandoms are the pits sometimes lmao but I do love them

#personal #thank you owen!!

[chikoritastudies]

Western Europe

France - France (fem.)

Monaco - Monaco (doesn’t take an article!)

Germany - Allemagne (fem.)

The Netherlands - Les Pays-Bas (masc. pl.)

Belgium - Belgique (fem.)

Luxembourg - Luxembourg (masc.)

Switzerland - Suisse (fem.)

Liechtenstein - Liechtenstein (masc.)

Austria - Autriche (fem.)

The British Isles

England - Angleterre (fem.)

Scotland -  Écosse (fem.)

Wales - Le pays de Galles (masc.)

Ireland - Irlande (fem.)

Northern Ireland - Irlande du Nord (fem.)

The United Kingdom - Le Royaume-Uni (masc.)

Great Britain - Grande-Bretagne (fem.)

Northern Europe

Norway - Norvège (fem.)

Sweden - Suède (fem.)

Denmark - Danemark (masc.)

Scandinavia - Scandinavie (fem.)

Iceland - Islande (fem.)

Finland - Finlande (fem.)

Estonia - Estonie (fem.)

Latvia - Lettonie (fem.)

Lithuania - Lituanie (fem.)

Eastern Europe

Russia - Russie (fem.)

Belarus - Belarus (masc.),  Biélorussie (fem.)

Ukraine - Ukraine (fem.) 

Poland - Pologne (fem.)

Czechia / Czech Republic - La République Tchèque (fem.)

Slovakia - Slovaquie (fem.)

Hungary - Hongrie (fem.)

Moldova - Moldavie (fem.)

Romania - Roumanie (fem.)

Bulgaria - Bulgarie (fem.)

South-Eastern Europe

Slovenia - Slovénie (fem.)

Croatia - Croatie (fem.)

Bosnia and Herzegovina - Bosnie-Herzégovine (fem.)

Montenegro - Monténégro (masc.)

Serbia - Serbie (fem.)

Kosovo - Kosovo (masc.)

Macedonia - Macédoine (fem.)

Albania - Albanie (fem.)

Greece -  Grèce (fem.)

Cyprus - Chypre (fem.)

Turkey - Turquie (fem.)

Southern Europe

Spain - Espagne (fem.)

Andorra - Andorre (fem.)

Portugal - Portugal (masc.)

Italy - Italie (fem.)

The Vatican - Le Vatican (masc.)

San Marino - Saint-Marin (masc.)

Malta - Malte (fem.)

So here you have it! All 50 countries of Europe, along with three extras. However, French isn’t my native language, so if you see a mistake, feel free to tell me and I’ll happily change it! (also someone help me with Belarus)

#french #langblr #languages #studyblr #original content! #@ belarus: why #europe #countries #french vocab

[agnessieart]

The Gremlin bros for dtiys I did for @/maddehberri on Insta. @willeke-burggraaf and I have lovingly dubbed them Kirkland asses even though Arthur is the only Kirkland here, but it still somewhat fits as they are annoying asses.

And though usually my Wales is a girl, it was about time I drew Owain anyway. I love that idiot bastard... He cannot for the life of him do good first impressions. So ya, here's my version of the UK bros, with Alasdair being a tall lad and Arthur being a grump.

#aph england #aph scotland #aph wales #aph northern ireland #hetalia #hws england #artists on tumblr #art on tumblr #illustration #digital art #digital #art #digital drawing #aph oc #hetalia oc #uk brothers #uk bros #aph uk bros #masc wales #masc northern ireland #masc scotland #masc england

[agnessieart]

(Click for less blurriness)

Here's the Connor to match cute Lovna. With his pizza umbrella. And eating a chocolate biscuit. He was trying to copy her with her cute parasol, at least, somewhat trying. Don't judge the lad.

And now I wanna make an Emil to match too ... three aces with their parasols

#hetalia #aph northern ireland #illustration #art #artists on tumblr #digital art #digital #art on tumblr #hws northern ireland #aph norn #aph norn iron #umbrella #pizza #pizza umbrella #character #hetalia oc #aph oc #masc northern ireland

[inkcyclopedia]

Chris Hill (Belfast, Northern Ireland)

#chris hill #northern ireland #diablo #video games #masc #crown #skull #black and grey #cover up #forearm #neotrad #tattoo