#just use the rainbow flag if identity specific ones aren’t needed.

[anxiouslyfred]

Green

For @aro-sides-week day coming out / pride

Summary: Remus comes down ready to head to Pride but first he needs to come out to Roman and his friends.

Authors note: Sorry, brain tired so while I wanted this fic to be longer and actually include pride the words aren’t wording right.

/\/\

“Why can't I just wear all green? It's bright!” Remus moaned, as if he'd just been told to wear more colour the instant he'd come out, ready for the pride parade they'd be meeting their friends at.

Roman rolled his eyes, rifling through a box of pride pins. “I didn't say you couldn't. I asked if all the green is to match a specific identity or just because you like the colour?” He repeated, picking a couple out. Over the years they'd collected a lot of pins between them and the twins always used pride month to mix them up and swap any they'd like between them.

Remus leant over to nab a couple of the badges about Pride being a protest and a TERF repellent logo. “Would you actually know what labels would bring the green out if I said it is?”

“Can't say unless you tell me, but I also can't field questions for you without knowing.” Roman countered, smirking over his shoulder, “Are you waiting for me to guess?”

“Or make some Disney reference. It isn't like green is a good guy colour to that mega-corp you love so much.” Remus suggested, “Do you even know which flags have green as a main colour?”

Roman thought for a moment, “Agender or genderqueer are the ones that jump to mind first, sooo given your purple eyeshadow is this genderqueer colours for you, today?”

“Aromantic. Knew you wouldn't know it.” Roman cheered, throwing himself onto the sofa to cause the make Roman was now bringing out to scatter.

“REMUS! You're doing my eyeshadow for that! I want rainbows!” Roman scowled, scrambling to get them and shove Remus to sit properly. “So other than green, what does aromantic mean?”

“Ugh, fine.” Remus easily accepted the make up, tilting Roman's face to his to start after checking the colours around him. “I don't want romance, would rather just fuck or more often keep it as friendship. No attraction of the romantic sort.”

It's quiet for a moment as Roman takes in the information and keeps his eyes shut for the rainbow to be added. “That sounds good. Do the rest of our friends know or is this the first time you're telling any of us?”

“It's my coming out story! Hopefully I'll get to fight an a-phobe at pride and knock some sense into them!” Remus agreed.

“Let's try not to make the parade a riot today. Do you want the aro flag painted on your cheek?” Roman took the break with one of his eyes finished to look at Remus.

Remus wiggled in his seat, nodding, before bring the eyeshadow brush back to Roman's eyes. “Sure, Bright green, light green, white, grey, black. I'm hoping to get an aro flag while we're there, not sure if anywhere will have it though.”

“We'll go through every stall until we find one after the parade.” Roman promised.

/\/\

“Of course Remus found an identity that lets him be obnoxiously green.” Virgil groused, joining the twins at the meeting point they were going to join the parade at. “Are you picking one to match your favourite colour or is this a label you actually identify as?”

“I'm aro! The green is just a bonus.” Remus helpfully agreed, leaning over to swipe the rainbow facepaint marker over Virgil's cheek.

Virgil tried to dodge then grinned, “Do you mean aro like the romantic equivalent to ace?”

“Yep, and here come the last terrible trio.” He nodded, turning to wave at Logan, Patton and Janus who were all coming over.

None of them comments on Remus's outfit or the flag on his cheek, although Logan did raise an eyebrow after recognising it. They were all more excited for the parade than on commenting about Remus's identity given it would be starting soon.

#arosidesweek2022 #aro remus #remus sanders #roman sanders #creativitwins #virgil sanders #coming out #pride

[bubbelpop2]

If i hear one more person call the mlm flag the “toothpaste flag” I’m gonna fucking go nuts fr. literally shut up.

Symbols of history are important. It’s important to know the meaning behind the modern gay flag and the pink stripe original flag. It’s important to know what they stood for and why they exist.

the gay flag is the rainbow flag. anyone of any gender is allowed to use it, so long as you aren’t straight. men, women, and non binary people have been using it since it was created. it’s for everyone.

The pink stripe on the old flag stood for sex. Because the first thing homophobic people think of when they think of gay people is how much they want to shame gay sex and make it taboo.

the pink stripe was only removed to make printing the flag less expensive.

You need to learn about stonewall. You need to learn about the black drag queens and trans women that gave us the foundation for our freedom by throwing molotov cocktails at cops.

you need to learn that there are hundreds of identities and orientations you’ve never heard about. you need to learn that, to queer elders, terms and flags might mean different things.

you need to learn that anyone can label themselves how they want

you need to know that cops are not your friend. they have oppressed you and your kind since their creation. and they will CONTINUE to do so.

the absolute MOST important thing to learn, is that queer is a sexual identity, a gender identity, and a political alignment. If you are not allocishet, then you are queer. The only thing that matters is that you are queer. That makes you belong, no matter how you identify. You belong, period.

But knowing that doesn’t give you an excuse to bitch at people who use new flags or who use their own flags :/ zero excuse. None. At all. With that being said, let me ad:

Lesbians have their own personal flag. They can use the rainbow gay flag, and they can use the lesbian flag.

Gay men have the rainbow flag. And now they ALSO have the MLM flag.

Anyone of any gender can call themselves gay. But gay men don’t have a word that is explicitly for them, in the way that lesbians do.

“gay” is an umbrella term. the rainbow flag is an umbrella flag. These are important aspects of the flag that need to be respected and preserved. These are not bad things.

The point is, people like using the mlm flag. they like using the mlm label. They like it. It makes them feel specifically and comfortably identified. the mlm flag is also inclusive to non binary people, just like the lesbian flag is.

So why on earth would you ridicule something that’s important to people? I’m a gay man. I like using the mlm flag. It’s important to me. It’s mine. It will continue to be mine. Stop disrespecting a symbol of my identity, you’re literally just being a fucking dick.

#shut up bubbz #mlm #gay

[umbreeonic]

i literally don’t care about fucking pride flag discourse of all things but the phrase “gay men don’t need their own flag” is. incredibly wild no matter what context

#imagine saying that about any other subset of the community. the hell #if that’s ur argument then don’t use any identity specific flags cause of gay men don’t need their own flag no one else does either. #just use the rainbow flag if identity specific ones aren’t needed. #are u gonna say the same thing about the nonbinary flag? we have the trans flag we don’t need it? what abt flags for specific genders? #is the agender flag unnecessary? genderfluid flag? demigender flags? #or does your argument apply to gay men Only. #cause if you are making an argument that could apply to every single lgbt identity but you only mean it for gay men #then ur just homophobic really #i lied maybe i do care abt this discourse a little. in the sense that when u argue over colorful stripes you shouldn’t be homophobic #also the ‘it’s blue for boys that’s so problematic we can’t use it’ argument is so fucking dumb as long as we are here #name five pride flags that don’t use pink; blue; the combination of the two; or the exclusion of them entirely to mean something

[redgoldblue]

thinking... thinking...... post loading in brain......

none of the thiefsome are cishet. obviously. they all like women and men and also whatever shade of not-that their partners are. and they’re all shades of not-that they all looked at the gender options that were cleanly presented to them on a nice silver platter and went ‘hm. no. let’s go steal a gender.’

BUT

I don’t think any of them have actual... identity labels. not rigid or stable ones. Parker collects labels like she’s a magpie and they’re shiny things, keeps them in her nest and occasionally brings them out and puts them in front of her - (on the more literal front, when Hardison realised that’s what she was doing he found a little queer-owned etsy shop and bought her tiny flag pins for all the identities she uses. she doesn’t always wear them even on the days she does have clear labels, because sometimes she doesn’t care if other people know and sometimes the pins feel bad on her skin, and on the days where it’s the latter but not the former she can just come down and tell the crew, who are the only people she ever cares about whether they know anyway, but it’s not unusual to see her with tiny flags on her collar or shoulder or pinned on one of hardison’s scarves when it’s cold and she’s stolen them, and it never changes anything for any of the others but it is nice to know) - so most days, if you ask her, she’ll have an answer for you, but it probably won’t be the same as the next day or the one after, and if you prod she’ll explain to you that the labels aren’t her, they’re accessories just like the pins are, they’re things she pulls out because she feels like it but in the end, deep down, she’s just Parker. When it really comes down to it, Parker is always just Parker.

Hardison, I super agree with @faorism‘s post that he has thought about his gender and also his sexuality, really thought about it and analysed it and twisted and turned it to see how all the angles glint in the light; once when he was a teenager, and then again post-parker and eliot, when he can specifically see how it shines under the lights of his partners. unlike Parker with her core Parkerness but then all her shiny shifting changing labels, Hardison actually does have a firm locus of his identity, gender-and-sexuality wise. problem is, it doesn’t exactly fit any label. He won’t protest or really mind if you call him bisexual or demigender, because those things are... technically correct, they fit the 1s and 0s of his code, but people aren’t just code. He has rainbow flags somewhere on most of his profiles, and if you really press him on it, he’ll just call himself queer. If you try to go any further on it, or keep pressing, all you’re gonna get is a very fact-driven two hour lecture on shifting cultural and historical ideas of sexuality and gender.

Eliot was young when he realised he wasn’t... right, but the fact is it’s just not something that has ever come up for him since. no chance of exploring attraction to men in his small town or the military, and there ain’t a huge amount to explore there anyway - he likes men the same way he likes women, except where it’s slightly different, and that is what it is. and frankly, he’s had bigger problems his entire life than the fact that he never quite felt like he engaged with his body or the world or the idea of being a ‘man’ in exactly the way all his buddies did. not a lotta chance to go finding Judith Butler texts when you’re in the middle of Afghanistan getting tortured by an agent from you’re-not-even-sure-what government. But eventually, a few years into being part of the crew, Parker or Hardison (or Sophie, who knows she’s a Woman but is only so willing to say that because she’s done the same searing self-analysis Hardison has) says something and Eliot hums and agrees. And then Parker asks him what he likes to be called, and he says he doesn’t know. and then, because she looks disappointed and it’s Parker, he says he’ll think about it. (the next day Hardison sends him a list of labels and one-sentence definitions with no other commentary.) and Parker, because she’s Parker, asks him again and again, at regularly scheduled times every day, for the next two weeks, until one day she appears behind him and before she can ask he says, “I don’t know. but that’s alright, yeah? It is what it is, and I don’t need to know.” And Parker knows a whole lot about not knowing, so she accepts that. 

(When people get nosy with Hardison about it when Parker’s around, she always just sits back and smiles bc she likes hearing the lecture. After that conversation with Eliot, when people occasionally start trying to ask him about it, either because they’ve seen him with Hardison or - because after that, he realises that he actually doesn’t need to stick so hard to ‘man’ anymore - because he’s having a gendär day where he has his hair in lots of braids and is loaded down with rings and cuffs, when Parker is around to see the questions, she always steps in front of him, points to something off-screen half-shouting ‘would you look at that!’ or saying something completely off-the-cuff and mildly insulting about the person’s appearance. no-one ever accused Parker’s distraction techniques of being subtle, but they are effective. and Eliot always kisses her when the people go away, in that fleeting top-of-the-head way that means it’s a thank you, so she keeps doing it.)

#one day at nana's breanna comes up to them and says 'hey. i'm a lesbian.' and they're all like 'that was so... confident. what.' #'i mean thank god you're not straight i guess but we don't know how to deal with this' #Leverage #Parker #Alec Hardison #Eliot Spencer #Leverage meta #thiefsome #queer #meta #hitter hacker thief #mine #20 pounds of crazy in a 5 pound bag #age of the geek baby!

[tiredgenderhoard]

WTFgenic/Congregenic

(Warning: This post uses typically medically accepted terminology for plurality. We apologize ahead of time for any discomfort for the use of these terms.)

Congregenic = A system of alters that simply exists. How they came to be, where any of them came from, the specifics, the reasons, and maybe even their identities, aren’t known. Trying to figure it out yields no answers, or any clues don’t make sense logically. They might have past life memories but most of the time, they don’t.

Literally, “we don’t know how we got here, but we’re here now, so.”

Name based on the verb/noun “congregate,” which means ‘a gathering of people/to gather.’

Also called WTFgenic, literally What The Fuck-genic, for some extra vulgarity.

Inspired by the movie trope where a bunch of misfit characters somehow get stuck in a run-down town together and how they got there really isn’t relevant, because they have to work together to survive...something. It changes a lot. But we all know what I mean, right.

Flag Colors Meaning:

White for ‘blank spaces’ like there’s no open-ended answer to provide to the question “where are you from?”

Green for being a color representing success. Success as in “somehow we manage to get through life in one piece and it’s kind of amazing.” Or it can be “we work together well, and we don’t need to know where we come from to do so.” And anywhere in between of those two scenarios.

Teal for the mental illness awareness ribbon. Cause some of us are mentally ill. Even if we’re functioning well, we’re neurodivergent. People aren’t supposed to have other people in their head, at least.

Gray for the “fog” we get lost in, referencing our absolute lack of clarity that we have.

Black because if you mix every color of ink together you supposedly get black. Representative of how no matter our differences, all of us alters are in this chaotic collective together. Whether we like it or not.

Indigo for being in between blue and purple, and constantly excluded from rainbows, despite the acronym ROY G. BIV literally mentioning it. It represents the identities that don’t quite fit into the expectations of what an ‘alter’ is. The anomalies. The renegades. The nonconforming. The definition-defiant.

And Gold because gold is shiny and valuable. Just like us. We’re pretty awesome. Even in the mystery of our sources, and how chaotic we can be -- actually, ESPECIALLY because we don’t know where we’re from, we’re pretty cool. We’re valuable. We’re valid.

I don’t care who uses this term. Unless you’re anti-endo (or whatever awful term is used in this hell year 2020 Round 2). Get yoted.

This is made by a traumagenic system. Dunno if that bothers anyone but saying it anyway.

#endogenic #wtfgenic #quoigenic #actuallyplural #i don't even know what terms people use #im not active in the system community or syscourse #i literally cannot be bothered to be #i got better shit to focus on than how valid someone else is #if people come into my inbox with some syscourse shit i'm just gonna send them nick cage gifs #tw cursing #some people dont like those #that's valid

[jikooklesbian]

Hello! All of the GCFs are so beautiful. Do you have a particular favorite? What about it do like?

Expressions of sexual and gender identity emerge (or are constrained) differently depending on national, political, social, religious and/or historical context. Having said that, do you regard any of the GCFs as having intrinsically LGBTQ qualities?

Hope you have a lovely night! Borahae 💜

G.C.F in Tokyo is my personal favorite, for multiple reasons. It has a special place in my heart since it was the very first one, and the editing, song choice, setting, and general aesthetic are all so fascinating to me. But above all else, the message of G.C.F in Tokyo is my favorite. I will explain what I mean by that, but first, context is important.

In the "[FESTA 2017] BTS (방탄소년단) 꿀 FM 06.13 Happy BTS birthday!" broadcast, BTS talked a bit about giving birthday presents to one another. Apparently, gift-giving was not a regular thing they did for each other's birthdays, but several of the members were curious about why Jungkook chose to give a birthday present only to Jimin the prior year, in 2016. Supposedly, this was the first time he had given a birthday present to one of the members, and it was not done privately, but in front of some of the others. After Jimin's birthday in October 2016, Jin, Taehyung, Hobi, and Yoongi all had birthdays prior to the broadcast in June 2017, but they did not receive a birthday present from Jungkook. Jin said that he even requested something specifically but only got a "happy birthday" from Jungkook in 2016.

Now, they were all quick to reassure Jungkook that gifts aren't required or expected, gifts out of obligation are meaningless, and they only brought it up because they couldn't think of any other complaints. They went on to emphasize that Jungkook had become a very generous person as he had matured and didn't even press him to explain himself. In fact, there was no explanation given. They simply moved on. With this in mind, I also want to mention how Jimin had wanted to go on a trip with Jungkook since 2014, if not even earlier. He said so on the Idols' True Color Radio broadcast on June 14.

This brings us to the Tokyo trip itself. I do not know the exact dates, as it was a private trip, but it was sometime around Jimin's birthday, before G.C.F in Tokyo was posted on November 8. From what Jimin and Jungkook have shared in various interviews, fan meetings, and other anecdotes, what I understand is that Jungkook planned and paid for the majority of the trip, including his recording and editing equipment. This heavily implies that this trip was a gift for Jimin, in and of itself. And just by watching the video, it is clear that they had a great time traveling together, staying at the REMM Roppongi hotel, shopping, eating out, and going to Tokyo Disneyland.

Of course, they didn't just go on this trip and make good memories; it was also being recorded by Jungkook himself. So, what we see when we watch G.C.F in Tokyo is how Jungkook experienced this trip. More specifically, we see Jimin through Jungkook's point of view, with Tokyo as the setting. I am very curious about how Jungkook might have brought up wanting to record Jimin during their time there because it seems that Jimin was not fully aware that Jungkook would be editing and posting an official video, based on the tweet where he said he would have worn something nicer if he would have known.

At any rate, Jimin did not seem bothered by the camera's presence. He smiled and danced and made silly faces and turned around to check if he successfully made Jungkook laugh, all in a very natural way. In other words, the camera did not stop Jimin from enjoying the moment, like it might for some people, and this demonstrates a level of trust and comfortability between them.

As for the G.C.F in Tokyo video itself, I am not going to pretend that I'm a film critic. I cannot say much regarding the editing other than that I enjoyed the variety of transitions, the changes in speed, the coloring, and the timing with the music. However, there are some elements that I would like to discuss in more detail.

The song: "There For You." Jungkook is a big fan of Troye Sivan, who is an openly gay artist from Australia. Choosing a song by a gay artist, especially one that has explicit use of the word "boy" by a male singer, inherently gives G.C.F in Tokyo gay undertones, even if Jungkook did not mean to imply that he or Jimin is LGBT. (More crudely put, if you use a gay song, you have a gay video lol.) Also, Jungkook has said himself that he always checks the lyrics of the songs he covers or uses in his videos, so he knew the meaning of the lyrics when he edited the video.

And the lyrics are very telling.

So when your tears roll down your pillow like a river / I'll be there for you / I'll be there for you / When you're screaming, but they only hear you whisper / I'll be loud for you / But you gotta be there for me too

The chorus by itself is not necessarily referring to a romantic relationship but focuses more on the reciprocal nature of love and support in any close relationship, be it romantic, platonic, or familial. The chorus highlights both the strength needed to be someone's support and the vulnerability in asking someone to return the favor. Obviously, Jimin and Jungkook have been through a lot together as part of BTS, and all of the interpersonal relationships in BTS rely on that mutual respect and understanding. So, as the lyrics pertain to G.C.F in Tokyo specifically, Jungkook appears to be verbalizing his commitment to supporting Jimin in their shared dream of being part of BTS, while simultaneously asking to be supported by him, too.

I got you, I promise / But let me be honest / Love is a road that goes both ways

The same theme continues here, but what I find interesting at this point is what Jungkook showed during the part "love is a road that goes both ways." They are on the road, and there is a rainbow ferris wheel in the background. Hopefully, I don't need to explain why this raised a flag for me, a flag that looks a lot like this one: 🏳️‍🌈.

Boy, I'm holding on to something / Won't let go of you for nothing / I'm running, running just to keep my hands on you

This part is where the song takes a romantic turn, which I would say retroactively makes the entire song romantic in nature. From this point in the song on, we mostly see Jimin from behind, as if Jungkook is metaphorically running to keep his hands on Jimin. And in the brief scenes where Jimin is facing the camera after this point, it appears that he is turning around either to check Jungkook's reaction or to wait for him to catch up. I think the way Jungkook films Jimin from behind throughout the video shows his admiration and willingness to follow Jimin's lead.

Overall, I would call G.C.F in Tokyo a love letter, the message of which is: I'll be there for you, but you gotta be there for me too. How else can I interpret it? Jungkook, who was not in the habit of giving the other members birthday presents, knowing that Jimin has wanted to travel with him for years, planned and paid for an international trip for Jimin's birthday, documented their memories via film, spent painstaking amounts of time editing a video of their trip, included rainbow imagery, and chose a song by an openly gay artist that repeats over and over, "I'll be there for you, but you gotta be there for me too."

#jikook #kookmin #jungkook #jimin #gcf #gcf in tokyo #gcft #bts #troye sivan #jklpost

[sweetescapeartist]

MY VIEWS OF BLACK & LGBTQ STUFF

If you don't care about this stuff, skip over it. I don't like talking about this often but at times I speak about it. I'd rather talk about anime & DBZ, but this is one of those times I don't.

I at times speak on stuff that ppl may consider political. I see it as logical or historical. First is...

LGBTQ

I honestly think its too confusing and I don't have time to try to keep up with all the terms and definitions because I don't care that much. It was supposed to be about unity but all it has done is caused more division because there are too many labels. How many sexual preferences and identities are there? Idk but there's more than the amount of fingers I have.

I don't hate ppl who are part of it because only an idiot hates ppl. Besides, I have relatives that are gay or lesbian. I simply disagree with the act for my own personal reasons. Some of it has to do with being a black man. That leads into racial relationships.

BLACK (& other "races")

Most ppl say racist things out of ignorance or because they like to purposefully be ignorant. I'm multi-racial, so I respect all "races" especially since race is truly just a construct that doesn't actually exist because we are of the human race/species. Do animals divide by race or is it only ppl who do that to take advantage of another person?

And I may be "multi-racial" but I have the appearance of a black man, thus I am black to society. Despite that I have European and Native American ancestry. Think about Latinos. Aren't they just ppl with South American Indian ancestry? The Americas were the land of the natives, so all of the descendants currently are of Native American ancestry. Why is race there to divide?

I choose to learn and not be ignorant and let society tell me what to think about race or sexuality. Their standards change all the time and society will give ppl the illusion of change to shut them up.

Now my thoughts about LGBT in the black community... I don't like the action because I'm straight, BUT I ain't gonna treat others with hate. Naturally, humans have a need to reproduce. There's nothing wrong with being straight because if straight ppl did not exist, there would be no lesbian or gay ppl. We would all die out. Now back to the black community...

Do your reseach of the effect homosexuality has had on black ppl throughout history. Slaves in the Americas specifically (& other places too) were "buckbroken." Don't know what that is?

BUCKBREAKING

Imagine your child is being beaten up by adults or being sold off and you are restrained and forced to watch. Imagine your wife or mother or sister or daughter or son or brother or father or even you yourself are raped in front of everyone by a man or group of men & they humiliate you (or your loved ones) over and over.

Buck - blacks weren't viewed as human & dehumanized.

Breaking - break the will & spirit of the strong with inhumane tactics.

All of this is to break your will power so you don't fight back for your freedom. If you fight back, you will be publicly raped, beaten, sold away from your family, limbs amputated, murdered, eaten by slave owners, and other kinds of torture.

There were many gays involved in slavery & even a trans-woman slave owner increased slavery in the U.S. All of this plus more is ignored. Why don't the LGBTQ community address and try to solve these traumatic issues that still affect the black community today? Because they don't care to fix it OR they are not told about it. (Not every individuals, but the group as a whole. I ain't a fan of groups.)

Even the rainbow flag was used by black ppl first. The Rainbow Coalition. Uniting ppl of all colors to stop oppression. Then the leaders were assassinated by the government, the Rainbow Coalition was sued, then the rainbow flag was adopted as the gay pride flag (a.k.a. the LGBTQ pride flag in current day).

CONCLUSION

I can't side with any group of ppl that disrespects the group I am a part of. I respect individuals who show they are deserving of respect & I don't promote hate. Why treat ppl the same or worse than I & my people have been treated? That's stupid to do so & shows that a person has fears of the other person being better than them, so they attack them. I fear no man. Each individual is better than each other in some sort of way. That's what makes ppl unique. Fearing & hating a group of ppl is just silly to me. Ppl change so I won't hate a person.

I like to know things so history doesn't repeat itself with me. Being informed is very important. Otherwise, you're following someone blindly & you don't even know who you're following. THAT sounds foolish to me.

#just me explaining my thoughts and views #y'all can ignore this if you wanna

[twiceblackvelvet]

Pride

A/N; hello! this here stems from two different things. the first being that i did promise to make up for my decision to make haseul straight in my recent yves scenario. so, this is me re-aligning my spirit. but also, i know a lot of people here are members of the lgbt+ community, and whether you’ve attended pride or not, i figured this could be something comforting just to help you escape for a little bit which we all need to do sometimes. i hope you all enjoy. 

Pride month, or more specifically, the yearly pride parade throughout the city has always been something that you’ve desperately wanted to attend. However, going alone has always felt rather uncomfortable and prevented you from going and celebrating with those similar to you either in sexuality or identity. But, this year, you have one human-sized reason to attend finally. 

For weeks now, you’ve planned out the perfect outfit for the occasion. Well, several outfits were considered because where would any of us be without a little bit of procrastination and self-doubt? But eventually, you settled on something still on the casual side but enough to make it so you don’t look like someone just trying to find a store among the many people also going. Part of you wants to believe that you only spent so long deciding because you want to look good for yourself, but the truth is that you’ve seen some of the clothing choices people have made attending pride that it almost feels like a fashion event. 

The weather reports have all stated that the sun should be shining which you’re grateful for because you don’t want anything to get in the way of finally being able to see your girlfriend for the first time in three months. But also, wandering around the city in the rain doesn’t sound fun even if it does include rainbow flags everywhere and endless cliche kisses in the downpour. Without jinxing it, everything is seemingly working out perfectly which puts to rest some of your hesitations about attending. After all, not every single pride story has been one that is positive and prejudice still exists in some people’s minds. 

When the day finally arrives, there’s a mixture of feelings swirling around inside your head. Excited, nervous, ready to sing, and dance around like an idiot but mostly longing to just get there and see Haseul once again. All of it just rolled into one makes your stomach feel uneasy. Either way, you’re ready to get going and see all of the brightly colored decorations, clothing, and of course, her.

Stepping into the large bundle of people, all with joy written across their faces feels liberating. It’s like, you’re finally being seen for the first time in your life and you never wish to ever return to a place of being hidden ever again. Everyone around you moving along to the music playing over the speakers aboard one of the many floats and expressing themselves in their own ways. Everything about this just moment feels right. It feels important.

Whilst Haseul had previously attended pride before and told many stories about it, she too believes this one could end up being the best one yet since you’ll be there to experience it together. 

There are several bars that people along the way dive in and out of seeking relief from the beaming sun threatening to burn everyone to a crisp. A few people passing engage in conversations with you about where they’re from, how many events they’ve been to so far, and offering little anecdotes about their life. You do the same in return. As it turns out, making friends is a lot easier than you expected because everyone is on a high from the atmosphere. Some from other substances but you’d rather not dwell on that. Free-spirits may move however they wish, after all. 

As the crowd of people starts to shift closer to the end of the parade where a staging area had been set up for performers, your excitement continued to grow. The energy surrounding you indescribable could only get better from watching the entertainment provided. Your strides toward it become hurried but an arm around your waist stops you dead in your tracks.

“Well, look what I’ve found here.” 

Had it not been for your brain immediately kicking into gear and recognizing the voice, it’s very likely you could have turned around and punched your girlfriend in the face for this stunt. However, the months apart hasn’t made you forget what she sounds like just yet. You relax into her hold and decide to play along. 

“Mm, I don’t know secret admirer, what is it you’ve found?” 

It’s barely audible but you can hear her sigh against you at your unwillingness to greet her properly. 

“This has backfired on me, majorly. Come on, turn around.” 

“Say please.” 

She tugs at your arm instead and twists your body toward her. A wide smile covers her lips, eyes sparkling into your own. She’s somehow more beautiful than you remembered from the last time the two of you were able to see each other face to face. She leans in quickly to press her lips to your own and sighs once more, this time out of contentment from finally having you back with her. 

“I’ve missed you so much.” She offers you another quick peck before continuing. “I was just about to call you but I saw you walking up. You look incredible by the way.” Her eyes scan over your body quickly but then her eyes meet your own once more. If you could spend the rest of your life under Haseul’s gaze only, you definitely would. 

“I missed you too.” 

Music from the stage suddenly interrupts your reunion and Haseul takes that as an opportunity to drag you closer to the front of the crowd, though it’s almost impossible to weave through the number of people, she somehow manages to get you closer by a few meters before having to give up. 

The atmosphere surrounding you both is intoxicating. There’s not a single person around without a smile on their face and that level of happiness is contagious enough without having your own personal reason to grin currently clinging onto you for dear life as she dances away to herself wildly. Truth be told, seeing Haseul this free and in her element may just be the best version of her that you’ve ever seen thus far in your relationship. 

Whether it’s the spur of the moment, the overwhelmingly positive mood you’re in, or just a combination of the two, you can’t help but blurt out your thoughts all at once and likely way too fast for Haseul to even understand.

“I don’t want us to ever be apart again, you should move in with me.” 

However, your girlfriend seemingly has the world’s most impeccable hearing because you can tell by the stunned expression she managed to decipher what you said. She looks away from you for a second before grabbing one of your hands tightly and pulling you in closer.

“You know, during my first pride, I met this girl.” Haseul instantly notices the shift in your expression and laughs at your instinctive jealousy. “We didn’t know each other then, you have nothing to worry about. But, I was so happy that I made a friend that day, I thought we were going to end up dating, living together, and adopting seven cats together by the end of the day.” 

“I don’t understand.” You interject. 

“I want you to be sure about this. I don’t want to agree to move in with you if you’re simply on an adrenaline high” 

You want to tell her that you’ve never been more sure of anything in your life. You want to leave right now, pack up all of her items and move them into your apartment, and never look back. But, you can see how this could be seen as a choice made on a whim since even you aren’t sure why you decided now was the right time to ask her. 

“You’re right. But, I mean it. I want us to still be here together in fifty years’ time, hip replacements, and all if necessary.” 

She lightly jabs your arm at your joke mid-laughter.

“How about this? If by the end of today, when everyone has gone their own ways and we aren’t surrounded by,” She pauses to point out a couple eagerly making out together. “Well, that. If you still feel the same way, I’ll move in.” 

“Sure.” 

The two of you manage to find seats toward the side of the crowd that are free where you can watch the various singers, dancers, hosts perform and hype the already excited crowd up even more. It’s not very often that she’s comfortable enough to sing in front of you, but Haseul starts to lightly sing along to a few of the songs. You listen to her rather than joining in yourself. Her voice is quiet but you can make out her sweet tone among the noise surrounding you both. 

“You’re so perfect.” Once more, words just spill out of your mouth as you admire Haseul and the glow spreading across her face.

“If I knew you were going to be this cheesy, I wouldn’t have convinced you to come.” You scrunch up a napkin from the table beside you and aim it directly for her head, however, she swats it out of the way easily. “You’ve got to do better than that, babe.” She grins. 

“I’ll get you, just wait.” 

“You already have me, loser.” 

“Now who is being cheesy?” 

Haseul leans toward you and brushes the hair past your ear before whispering into it. 

“Me, but you love it.” She kisses you intensely, one of her hands snaking up to cup your cheek before returning to her seat. 

You breathlessly manage to let out a reply of “I do” as Haseul turns her attention back toward the closing segment of the performances. All of the artists gather together to wish everyone a happy pride. Loud squeals and whistles are the only response everyone around you offers, so you decide to do the same. You can see Haseul watching and laughing at you from the corner of your eye but she looks like the embodiment of the occasion, full of pride for you. 

It doesn’t take long for people to shuffle off to various locations together in groups. A few of them even ask you both if you’d like to join them in an after-party of sorts, however, you both politely decline. Someone should have warned you that once things begin to quieten down that high energy you felt previously also leaves just as fast as it started. 

Linking arms with Haseul, you walk around for a little while longer together merely enjoying being together. You think about the conversation earlier as well as everything you’ve been a witness to today. Beautiful displays of pure love around you both from people from all walks of life. There may never be a day in your life that gets better than this one, and yet, you still decide to put a ribbon around it forever in the shape of once again requesting she never stray far away from you ever again. 

“I still want it.” Your voice startles her and it’s clear she’s confused as her eyes squint slightly as she watches you, until finally, the penny drops. 

“I wasn’t sure you’d ask again.” She entwines your fingers together and grasps hold of you tightly. “I’d love nothing more.” 

You both decide to end the night watching the sun go down from a rooftop bar not far from your apartment. The cold breeze not enough to cool the warmth within your heart that Haseul not only provides but continues to grow with you every second of every day. All of the reservations you previously had managed to vanish and whilst it is because of more than just her, the trust you placed in her to go in the first place is what has made any of this possible. 

No matter what the future may hold for you both, you’ll never forget spending your very first pride event with the girl of your dreams. 

#loona #kpop #girl group scenarios #kpop scenarios #cho haseul #loona scenarios #haseul #loona haseul #haseul x reader #loona imagines #loona reactions #kpop imagines #kpop reactions #girl group imagines #girl group reactions #fluff

[lovelybrittxo]

where do I even start?

I’m literally only writing this for myself since typing a whole novel out on the computer is way easier than writing this in a physical journal which is what I normally do. I come to Tumblr though when I have way too much to say and don't know how to say it. I just need to get it off my chest before I blow up. so here it goes...

shall we start at the beginning? I grew up in a decently religious household. my mom, sister and I went to church almost every Sunday with all our aunts and uncles. don't get me wrong, I still believe in God and whatnot and I wouldn't change my upbringing in the church for anything. but it may have suppressed my views on the world. something my aunt said to me a few years ago has stuck to brain ever since and I can't seem to shake it. she told me that she actually believes that being gay is a sin and that you can love the sinner but not the sin. so like, she believes if you're gay, you can be gay but don't act upon it/the sin. she believes, for example, that being trans is a mental illness. like, I just can't wrap my head around that. and honestly, she spoke with so much conviction and “sense” that she actually had me fooled to think the same way for a hot second. and then to learn that my other “cool” aunt also believes this... kinda sad. both of those aunts have literally talked down upon family (and our family is very tight knit) and people they love... what would they do if they ever found out about me?

ive felt a lot of feelings ever since I was young. mostly towards males... but also towards females. I just thought the female part was me wanting to be like them or be their friend and just have them like me and accept me as a chill person to be around. but fast forward to a couple years ago. I was bombarded (in a good way) by social media flaunting (in a good way lol) different sexualities and things. its hard to describe but that “world” was just becoming more prominent to me I guess.

I started to try and put my religious upbringing in the background so I could focus on trying to figure out who I really was. ive been doing this for at least a couple years now. and although im still trying to really figure it out, right now half way through 2020, I think im getting closer to an answer. and guess what has helped me the most? tiktok lmao! no but for real, the internet is an amazing place for discovery in any form. after I started to get into real communities online (like kpop and penpaling) i’ve never felt more connected to the internet and it allowed me to try and find real personal help... if that makes any sense. i’ve just tried to put myself out there and not just google my feelings but piece together a map from asking real people over the Internet here and there to try and figure out who I am.

sometime last year (or maybe earlier) I found a YouTube video of a popular creator retelling her coming out story. I just randomly commented on the video about how I had been feeling, not to get a reply but just to comment. but then I actually got a real reply (not from the creator but still a nice person). they said something along the lines of me basically being bicurious. I had never in my life heard of such a word and I had thought that this person was just making it up. one google search later I found out it was a real thing. although at the time of first looking it up I was still very confused about the word... still kinda am? lol. however, just a couple weeks ago I had seen a post somewhere (an ad I think selling pride flags) saying there was an official bicurious flag. I was in shock. I thought it was a scam, but its not, it’s real (I just don't think it’s talked about very often cause it doesn't seem like a solid sexuality that you can claim your entire life). but anyway.

now what i’m gonna say next I don't want to come off in the wrong way (you nonexistent person reading this lol), but I feel like dating a trans person brought me into that “world” a bit more. like, i had literally never met anyone who was trans before him or anyone who was gay or used a they/them pronoun... never. but in his world, all of that was common and normal. and this is where I don't want to come off wrongly... I don't wanna make it seem like because I dated a trans person i’m qualified to be included in the LGBT community now or to talk about LGBT stuff or whatever. I just think because I dated him, it opened up my shallow world a bit. especially because he’s open about it (on a side note I always loved looking at his huge trans flag above his bed. that was the first flag I had really ever memorized because of him. besides the rainbow one obviously lol). like, his best friend uses they/them pronouns, and although i’ve always been aware of that, i’ve only ever seen things about it through YouTube videos and whatnot. I had never had to actually use those pronouns for anyone I knew in real life until I met his best friend. like, everything I knew about that “world” had only been through online researching/consuming. i’d never experienced it in real life before.

I remember one night we talked about it a little. I knew he was bisexual and so I asked him if he’d ever dated a guy. he asked me if I would ever date a girl and i just said that I had always thought about it and that my tinder profile was set to find both genders. then we talked about pride since it was at the beginning of quarantine and we didn't know if parades were still gonna happen or not yet. he said I could always go as an ally because I told him I felt ashamed and like I shouldn't be allowed to attend a pride parade. (of course he reassured me I can go and he wasn't shocked about me liking both genders at all...he just said ‘nice’ lol)

I still have a little inkling in the back of my mind that I still shouldn't be able to attend though. honestly because I don't know what I would be attending as. I feel like an imposter. I don't want people thinking that im doing all this for attention or just because I dated one person in the LGBT community. i’ve been struggling with this for so long... but it just so happens that now at 27 years old im coming to terms with who I am. I just feel like because I didn't figure it out earlier that I’m not “worthy” of being included. I feel like such an outsider because no one’s “invited” me in yet lol because im still trying to figure it out.

and on the same note, I don't feel like i’m worthy because I still really don't have a solid answer. at the moment I just use bicurious because ive never dated a girl before. the trans guy ive been talking about has been the only person i’ve ever been romantically involved with. im serious. I made it 26 years without being with anyone in any type of way. I feel like I don't have the right to call myself bisexual. however, I feel a tiny bit more confident in using that label maybe after I do end up dating a girl in the future and not feel guilty about using it because that same guy calls himself bisexual but told me right out one day that he’s way more attracted to girls than guys and im in the same situation but opposite. the only difference at this point in time is that he’s dated both and I haven't. but thennnn on the other hand, do I even need to label myself at all right now??

even if I did wanna come out, I don't wanna do it until I really have a solid answer about my identity. i just feel like such a fraud or something because im trying to figure it out so late. and like, im going so over the top with my support this year because I feel like I should fit in and maybe im trying too hard? again, I just don't want people thinking its because I dated one trans guy and all of a sudden im huge into the LGBT community. it’s not like that. all of this is just helping me bring out my true self. ugh this is the part where it gets confusing to put into words. i’m aware and I have pure intentions. im just trying to figure out myself after a long time of trying to figure out myself lol

some days the research is overwhelming. there's so many facts and opinions and different people’s stories and labels. as crazy as it sounds I just want someone who’s been gay their whole life to come up and tell me “yup, your bisexual no doubt” lol or something like that. I guess I just want to be validated in my exploration. and i’ve seen random tiktok comments saying stuff like that, that validates me, but the difference is that their comments aren’t directed specifically to me. they don't know me personally. it’s hard to have a random social media comment resonate with me. honestly, and this may sound selfish and not right, but when I was talking to the guy I was seeing, I almost wish he just told me straight out what I was that day. but instead he said I could go to Pride as an ally. and that was probably just him being respectful and not forcing me to be anything, but it almost had the opposite effect on me. by saying I was an ally it felt like he was giving me that permanent label even after telling him I like guys and girls.... ya know?

something recently happened to me that really stuck with me and I was so happy. I have a penpal who is very southern Texas raised religious. she knows the Bible better than I do. I had posted a Pride doodle I did on my Instagram at the beginning of this month and she was the only one who personally responded with an encouraging and supportive dm. if she can support whole heartedly the LGBT community and still love God, then why can't I?? and that's when I trulyyyy knew that I was right and my aunt’s were wrong and I wasn't going insane lol

I wanted to buy a bicurious or pride flag recently. but then was torn when I saw the ally flag (which I also didn't know existed until recently) and the bisexual flag. I know they're just flags but it feels so solid?? like you buy one when you know what you are.... and I don't yet. so I ended up not buying one at all :/

again, there was no purpose to this post because I know no one is going to read it but I just had to type it out into the world so I didn't have to bottle it up anymore.

#lgbt #pride #pride 2020 #lgbt community #bisexual #bi curious #trans #transgender #questioning #sexuality #coming out #me #personal

[lgbtqueeries]

A School Project as an Ode to Larry Kramer --32 Million and Counting

TLDR; This speech was a project for a Queer Studies class that I participated in. It is a speech in the form of Larry Kramer’s speech about AIDS activism in 1983 called “1,112 and Counting”  I also wanted to bring into awareness what has changed in the 37 years since his original speech. The audience is meant to be the queer community, just like his was, but also to be open to those that would listen. Due to its nature, it encompasses public health, politics, humanity, and activism. I didn’t intend for this to be the case but as the project progressed we were diagnosed to be going through a pandemic much like that of what those in the 80s experienced. To this degree, I didn’t mean to scare but frustrate the reader, much like Larry Kramer. I wanted my speech to be uniquely mine, but be reminiscent of the effect that he garnered. I plan to post this to my Tumblrs LGBTQueeries and the-unending-kerfuffle as well as my Instagram @one_steph_from_death. I want to place this speech out into the world. Please feel free to reblog and share and comment and chat with me in the comments!

Larry Kramer started his count when the number was 1,112 and counting. In 1983. Think about that again. In 1983. Thirty-seven years ago. He screamed for help then, knowing full well we’d be obliterated as a group unless we stood up. He refused to be forced to die. 

To frame this, a former entertainment star had been elected to the most powerful political seat in government. His staunch political and religious opinions led to the death of innocent people. He could have saved them by using his voice and asserting a need for research, laws, and education, but instead, let them die impoverished and discriminated against. If the hate and violent crimes didn’t get them, the sickness creeping in would. 

Worst of all, as a community, we knew that he didn’t speak for us. We knew that this hate would kill us, yet we still remain silent. We remained silent as the hate trickled into the deepest pores of our community. We let the hate fester, building up and attaching to the difference among us until it finally separated us and dismantled us. We let the bigotry we so desperately try to run from infiltrate our ranks and break us apart into factions. 

They were treated like lepers and untouchables (Barker & Cran, 2006). Hospital workers were nearly absent, just present enough to not be liable for neglect. Visitors were few and gay lovers, if they stayed, were sent away. Imagine that, slipping away in pain as you lose your vision and ability to breathe, your body starts deteriorating as it is filled with cancer and opportunistic infections. Alone. All alone. 

And when you (inevitably) died your casket wasn’t lined in silk with cushions and roses. Yours was lined with plastic and biohazard material. Your brittle, thin body was crumpled up in the discarded sheets and hospital gowns and thrown into a garbage bag. No one was going to claim you, so no point in going to the morgue. Your toes, if you still had them, weren’t tagged, just set aside with all your other hospital belongings.

But the pain didn’t end there. Like the weekly garbage men, bags were taken to empty spaces and distributed into large, unmarked graves (Kilgannon. 2018). A secluded hole lost to history. A supposed bygone of the middle ages, but here to dispose of Jane and John Does. 

If I was to scream like Larry Kramer, to these separated groups, I’d go hoarse within hours. As of 2018, 35 years after his speech, we have lost 32 million people to HIV/AIDS (CDC, 2020).  That doesn’t include the people from the last 2 years. 

We lost 32 million innocent people. 

Yes, we lost gay men and IV drug users but they are still human. They still had the same dreams and aspirations as everyone else. They could have lived to be designers and playwrights just as well as becoming doctors and lawyers. We lost everyone one from, every walk of life. We lost painters, poets, magicians, musicians, surgeons, dentists, lawyers, physicians, firefighters, police officers, farmers, framers, parents, children. Their blood is on the hands of those that slowly took the life from them. The government is not free from their crimes. 

But honestly, that’s not where the frustration and anger ends. Our history is being erased. Purposefully and eagerly. This situation that I’ve laid before your eyes seems to be that of 1983 and the pain of Ronald Reagan. The horror sounds painfully identical to what we deal with today.

  Our current administration has continued some of these misinformed ideas and hateful actions. The Ryan White Fund, a fund specifically created to create a money source for HIV/AIDS research and treatment have received cutbacks and other plans set in motion like PEPFAR aren’t fairing well either. They are better in this term than in the past, but frankly, that’s not too comforting. This fund was the lifeblood for many organizations and they soon will be bled dry (Forsyth, n.d.). This does not take into account the other actions towards queer people in general. This takes into account only one facet of the government that is working against us. What about the judicial branch and the possibility to be tried for attempted murder for not disclosing your status to your partner (CDC, 2019)?  It’s not like you have to do the same for other STIs. “On the count of giving chlamydia to your partner without disclosing your last date of testing, how does the jury find the defendant?” This doesn’t take into account the possibility you didn’t know of your own status. 

And what if you wished to give blood? Say you’re gay and we’ll even go so far as saying you’re HIV-. They’d turn you away. They’d send you back for 12 months for not being able to prove you didn’t have sex with your male partner for 12+ months. May I remind you that lesbians and heterosexual men and women have gotten HIV and therefore can pass it along? This is possibly a law of Reagan’s 80s, but it’s still in effect TODAY (“LGBTQ Donors”, n.d.).

But I digress. The government is still not free from their crimes and institutionalized hate. I don’t wish to get too political but it is inevitable with the fact we’re all stuck in the past. Again, it’s not where my frustration lies. 

My frustration is formed in the same disappointment that Larry Kramer had. In 37 years not much has changed and that the voice that we have as a community. We gained it with protests through organizations like ACT UP but we’ve apparently been diagnosed with laryngitis because we’ve become oddly silent. HIV/AIDS is not a disease of history. We haven’t cured the earth of this disease. It’s here and stuck to us like your legs to a hot vinyl seat. It affects everyone and intersectionality can increase your risk (CDC, 2019). There’s a reason it’s no longer called “Gay Related Immune Disease”. Yet where the hell are we?

It affects the young and the old. Yet we remain silent, pretending it’s not occurring. 

We can blame it on the straight, cis majority but we are complicit in our own erasure, assimilation, and silencing. 

We let our history fall by the wayside and be covered up with rainbows and pride flags used by businesses in marketing. We let our history be encapsulated by a month handed to us by the majority. 

We let the atrocities that happened be forgotten along with many of the names. 

We isolate those now that are HIV+ from queer-friendly functions, both blatantly and subtlely.

But most importantly we lost our gusto to fight for a better future for the generations that come after us. That’s what stings the most. 

It’s important to remember that this disease is no longer a death sentence. You no longer have to feel the weight of shackles weighing you down towards the underworld. Provided, that is, you have insurance and can pay for your medications. But that is another government issue for another speech. With one pill a day, just like your Flintstones vitamins, you can live a normal life. You can date and with proper precautions, have sex and not pass it along to your partner. Undetectable = Untransmissable (UNAIDS, 2018). 

While this may be a reality for us in our modern-day. I refuse to let those that sacrificed themselves for this cause be forgotten. We lost 32 million people and while I can’t list them all here or scream them to the heavens, I’ll damn well try. Those that came before us, despite their flaws, paved the way for us and I refuse to let them slip away because our government doesn’t like it. Join me in sharing the stories. If you want to see face to face, the humans that we lost, follow accounts like @theaidsmemorial on Instagram. End our silence. If it’s painful for you, imagine how it must feel for the friends and families of those that lost someone of the 32 million. They need your help to speak up. 

We started this with 1,112 and counting. Now we’re at 32 million and counting. Let’s end the counting and start the protesting.

Works Cited

Barker, G., & Cran, W. (2006, May 30). Retrieved from https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/aids/ 

Centers for Disease Control. (2020, January 16). U.S. Statistics. Retrieved from https://www.hiv.gov/hiv-basics/overview/data-and-trends/statistics 

Forsyth, A. D. (n.d.). Powerpoint presentation.

HIV and STD Criminal Laws. (2019, July 1). Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/policies/law/states/exposure.html

HIV by Group. (2019, October 25). Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/group/index.html 

Kilgannon, C. (2018, July 3). Dead of AIDS and Forgotten in Potter's Field. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/03/nyregion/hart-island-aids-new-york.html 

LGBTQ Donors. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.redcrossblood.org/donate-blood/how-to-donate/eligibility-requirements/lgbtq-donors.html 

UNAIDS Explainer. (2018). UNAIDS Explainer. Retrieved from https://www.unaids.org/sites/default/files/media_asset/undetectable-untransmittable_en.pdf 

#lgbtq #lgbtq community #lgbtpride #lgbt history #AIDS crisis #hiv aids #Larry Kramer #ACTUP #activism #school #project #coronovirus #horror #EJAF #Mercury Phoenix Trust #red ribbon #discrimination #lgbt rights #call to action #queer #queer pride #hiv/aids #ERASED HISTORY #history #protest

[andersfels]

what i dont understand re the lesbian flag is--why is the rainbow one insufficient? bi people of all genders share a flag, same for trans folk and ace folk. im not saying that lesbians shouldn't have one, good for you, but it's so recent (and still unknown for the vast majority of lesbians worldwide), and yet when it's not automatically included people scream at OPs for not knowing about it or being confused that lesbians and gay men don't share a flag, like literally every other lgbtqia group.

actually, no. the rainbow isn't even the gay flag. it's the LGBT community flag - so unlike everybody else, we don't have a unifying symbol. or, well, we didn't before.

but the rainbow covers everybody. you can be bi or trans or etc. and wave the rainbow as your flag too. why aren't we asking everybody why they need a flag? why the rainbow isn't good enough for them?

I'll tell you one thing. the reason lesbians need one is part of why the L is seperate from the G: we don't have just one gay community. lesbians not only have different experiences and needs and activism than gay men, lesbians also require spaces away from men specifically. we are our own community.

people of all genders of any select orientation share a flag - but just because we share the label "gay" doesn't mean our orientations are actually the same. lesbians and gay men are literally attracted to exclusive genders. that's not the same thing as being a man or woman or nonbinary and sharing a flag with people who are attracted to the same exact genders as you - it's completely polarizing at times. other than a shared label and similar oppressions, we have almost nothing in common as communities! we don't like the same people!

and we (the LGBT) as a community have always relied on imagery and symbols, and rallied around them - lesbians are no different in our desire to do that, nor our we unique in our ability to code with our colors and have pride in them. but whatever your identity may be, I'm sure you are well aware of the benefits of having a community flag.

i guess my question for you is: why must lesbians be different from every other community? why are we the only ones questioned? why are we the only ones told to settle for the flag that everybody else can use?

frankly, I've stopped giving a damn about these kinds of inquiries because they come off condescending and rude. lesbians face quite a lot of fucking erasure, and it comes off like another attempt to bury us from view when we get this constant questioning over us having something as simple as an individual flag: the same thing other individual communities have.

when we can't even get people to say the fucking word "lesbian" i do not give a shit on anyone else's opinion or questioning over us having a flag. we WILL be seen, and everyone will have to deal with it. people aren't afraid of saying "gay" the same way, and you see the rainbow everywhere. there is a reason we feel the need to be specific, and part of it does have to do with feeling obscured by the broadness of the rainbow. our flag puts us directly in people's line of sight where they can't ignore us, or act like we're anything but what we are. isn't that the whole point of flags, of pride?

(on the non inclusion thing - yes, it did bother me before how mad people got, but that doesn't have much to do with the topic of us just having a flag. but frankly, our flag is better spread now than even the pink one was and not even near as controversial, so if people can't be assed to make a simple google to find our flag, then there is definitely a problem there, and it goes hand in hand with the erasure problem.)

TL;DR: we want a flag that shows specific pride in loving women and being gay, and the rainbow does not express specifically that. the rainbow covers the whole community, not just ours, and not just our pride. there should not be controversy or even confusion on us wanting to express that.

[thesydneyfeminists]

Five Things This Bisexual Feminist Wants You to Know About Pride

As I’m sure a lot of you are aware, June is celebrated as Pride Month in many parts of the world. These celebrations often include parades, rainbow colored EVERYTHING and heaps of social media posts reveling in everything LGBTQIA+. For a lot of people, Pride is a party – and rightly so. In a world that blatantly aims to keep us down, rejoicing in our lives and livelihoods is a form of resistance in and of itself. It’s important for us to let loose and have fun sometimes, to recharge and remind ourselves why we fight the good fight. However, during Pride Month (and really, all year round) it is equally critical to remember the painful parts of our history. Pride exists because people fought and died for a future we have yet to fully realize. As a part of this remembrance, it is imperative to highlight the ways in which various oppressed identities overlap and interact with LGBTQIA+ identities. By this statement, I simply mean we must remember and celebrate the black, trans, bisexual women who started Pride and continue fighting every day to ensure a safer future for all LGBTQIA+ people.

My last point is also significant to our understandings of feminism. Feminism must include a space for people from different oppressed minorities. My personal feminism is so tightly entwined with my identity as a bisexual person, it is nearly impossible to extract them. And those are only two of my many identities (which range from highly privileged to marginalized). So, while this piece isn’t directed specifically towards gender equality, I believe in my heart it is still “feminist”. Feminist movements must inextricably bind themselves to LGBTQIA+ rights movements. In the same vein, they must also join with anti-racist activism, disability activism, etc. As the famous slogan goes, our feminism must be intersectional, or it is bullshit. Whether you consider yourself a member of the LGBTQIA+ community or are just trying to better ally yourself with us, this article will hopefully resonate with you. It is only a short list and would benefit from additions from our lovely readers. So, feel free to comment things you want the world to about the LGBTQIA+ community. But, without further ado, here are my top five things I want everyone to know about Pride!

Image Description: The bisexual flag, which has a fat red stripe at the top, fat blue stripe on the bottom and a thinner purple stripe in the middle.

1.     All M-Spec identities are valid and deserve a place in Pride celebrations. For those of you who don’t know, M-Spec is a term used to describe the multi-gender spectrum of attraction. It’s another, more inclusive way of talking about identities which fall under the “bi umbrella.” It includes bisexual people, pansexual people, polysexual people and anyone else who is attracted to two or more genders and wants to be included! There’s a lot of discourse about this subject, even within the LGBTQIA+ community. But Pride was started by a bisexual woman and I firmly believe she would have been inclusive of her M-Spec family (https://www.advocate.com/bisexuality/2014/06/17/remembering-brenda-ode-%E2%80%98mother-pride%E2%80%99).

2.     No cops at pride. This point is another tenuous topic of discussion and has ended more than one friendship. But I think it’s important to state and even more important to analyze. The original pride was a riot, a protest specifically AGAINST the police state. It was meant to bring light to the very real, very visceral harm cops have done (and continue to do) to LGBTQIA+ people, especially BIPOC (black, indigenous people of color). I have heard all the counter-arguments and, for the most part, understand where people are coming from. But LGBTQIA+ people have the right to be fearful and distrustful of cops. Large masses of cops at pride don’t actually help keep any of us safe. There are better ways of creating and maintaining safe spaces for the LGBTQIA+ community (http://www.aaronxrose.com/blog/alternatives-to-police).

Image Description: Photo of a crowd of people holding up protest signs and the LGBTQIA+ flag. They are standing behind red police tape. Two police officers are standing in the road on the left side of the photo. 

3.     Our Pride celebrations absolutely MUST be accessible. This means, at the very least, wheelchair accessible venues and toilets, sign language translators, accessible parking spots, among many other examples. I would also personally love to see accommodations made for autistic people at Pride events. The crossover between autistic people and LGTQIA+ people is huge, and we deserve to feel comfortable and safe at big events like Pride.

4.     Please don’t assume “straight-looking” people are just allies and/or don’t belong at pride. I personally don’t mind cishetallo (cis, hetereosexual, allosexual, aka the opposite of asexual) people attending Pride events if they are aware of their place there. I enjoy bringing my straight boyfriend to Pride festivities and sharing that part of my life with him. However, just because you see a couple comprised of what you assume to be a “boy” and “girl”, it does not mean they aren’t part of the LGBTQIA+ community. Firstly, people you perceive to be one gender could be another/ non-gendered. I’m thinking especially of my nonbinary pals here. Second, one or both parts of a couple could fall under the M-Spec umbrella. Lastly, people could be questioning their sexual and gender identities. It’s not your (or our) place to judge people or interrogate their reasonings for being at Pride. As long as they are being respectful of the space, just live and let live!

Image Description: Photo of someone holding up a large, white sheet attached to two wooden poles. The middle of the sheet is painted messily in the colors of the rainbow. White, black letters are stenciled in the paint. They read “Love is love.” 

 5.     If you are a member of the LGBTQIA+ community, whatever that means to you, you deserve love, happiness and to feel safe. I wanted this last one to just be a shout out to my fellow LGBTQIA+ folks. I see you, I hear you, I want to validate the fuck out of you. Pride isn’t always a feel good, amazing time for all LGBTQIA+ people. If it’s not for you, please don’t feel bad. Whatever you need to do to protect yourself and your emotional state, do that. If celebrating who you are means watching your favorite show on Netflix all weekend in bed, that’s perfectly alright. No two of us are the same, and we are every single one of us amazing and wonderful. Yes, you too. Sending my love your way and hoping you find it in your heart to love yourself a bit more this month.

By: Brittany L. 

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this piece do not necessarily reflect the views of the Sydney Feminists. Our Blogger and Tumblr serve as platforms for a diverse array of women to put forth their ideas and explore topics. To learn more about the philosophy behind TSF’s Blogger/ Tumblr, please read our statement here: https://www.sydneyfeminists.org/a

#feminism #feminist #intersectional feminism #intersectional #intersectionality #pride #pride month #LGBTQIA+ #LGBTQ #LGBTQ pride #LGBTQ community #LGBTQIA+ community #bisexual #pansexual #polysexual #m-spec #m-spec identities #fuck the cops #transgender rights #trans rights #inclusivity #love is love #bisexuality #bi #pan #stonewall #stonewall was a riot #LGBTIQIA+ rights #activism #protest

[lesbianologist]

long rant ahead (length warning).

note: i’m not mentioning anyone specifically. this is a personal rant and also some experiences i’ve had in this “community”. also, t3rfs don’t touch this fucking post i swear to god.

okay so i am kind of really fucking sick of this performative allyship for lesbians from non-lesbians (anyone who isn’t a lesbian) and the lateral aggression towards lesbians when we speak out about how we’re treated by y’all. i’m really fucking tired of it!!!!!!!!!! i’m talking about how i’ll see a post with 21k notes talking about how Cool and Amazing ™ lesbians are and how y’all are supposedly all Protect Lesbians At All Costs but y’all will be the first to turn around on tumblr or on dating sites and say shit to us like:

“i’m not a lesbian but this doesn’t seem like lesbophobia to me”

“i’m not a lesbian but i don’t think you should be getting mad about this”

“can’t you all just fit under the rainbow flag? why do you need to be distinctly recognized?” (usually y’all will include pan, omni, poly, flux, etc flags!!! fyi!!!)

“yeah but you’re gay so why not just say you’re gay instead?”

“you date nb people... isn’t that just queer though?” (gross misundertanding of nb identities and alignments) / “why don’t you identify as (some other term) since it also covers nb ppl?”

“i don’t think they purposefully excluded only lesbian” (even though every other sexuality is included in a cutesy comic about sexualities)

“don’t you think the word lesbian is a bit aggressive?”

“isn’t the word lesbian a bit regressive?”

“are you sure you’re a lesbian?”

“but you’ve had sex with men before?”

“prove it lol”

“it’s not like lesbians are even oppressed anymore though”

“bisexual/pansexual lesbians exist”

“lesbians have monosexual privilege”

“LGBTELG lgbt except LG” (which was a reblog that was later deleted)

“the Evil LGs”

“LG elitists”

mommy/daddy issue stereotypes

false stereotypes about butch and femme lesbians (eg. “femme means feminine”)

“why do/n’t you conform to gender roles?”

“lesbian used to just mean wlw so lesbian should include wlw who have attraction to men too because lesbian meaning exclusivity to w/w attraction is lesbian separatism” (shitty phrasing but the argument y’all make is that lesbian used to include all wlw so it should just go back to that or whatever the fuck) (tbh this one also makes me the angriest lmao i am a lesbian, and bisexuals aren’t lesbians; we are both distinct beautiful different whole identities)

yes, those are all statements i’ve had said to me or read online (all on here). gOD i could fucking go on and on and on about the fucking lesbophobia i have experienced in this shitty “community” (or whatever it is now honestly) the funniest part is? Y’ALL SEE NO PROBLEM WITH IT. you’ll fully scrutinize a lesbian’s identity down to the core and turn around and joke about us as if you have the fucking right to. not to mention the fucking hypersexualized art of lesbians (eg. lesbians with little to no clothes on; way to go with hypersexualizing us!!) i see on here with like people represented as identities in posts. you give ZERO thought to how it harms us, at all. it’s all cute and dandy to make fun of us for being “clueless lesbians haha uwu” but you won’t recognize that the reason we’re “clueless” isn’t because we’re stupid, but because we’re fucking terrified of violent homophobia. we’re terrified of being beaten and raped and murdered. we’re terrified of the possibility that saying “i’m a lesbian” can entice some men freaks into trying to “correctively” rape us or, god forbid, bludgeon us to death for rejecting him. we’re terrified that the girl we call cute or ask out or whatever might just have her boyfriend waiting to beat the shit out of us (ESP when it’s gnc, trans, and/or butch lesbians) OR ask us to have a threesome with them since lesbian is literally its own “porn category”. idk i just really wish people would stop pretending like “the LGs” or more aptly described by some of you demons on here “the Evil LGs” (or even more aptly, lesbians in general) aren’t marginalized too. frankly i see a lot of lateral aggression lately from the rest of the community towards LG people, especially lesbians. you’ll claim to be our sisters, and then simultaneously do this shit to us. we’re supposedly sisters or family or whatever, but we’re always fucking painted to be the aggressors, and yet you all constantly do it to us and get away with it. if you read all of this and the only thing you gained is getting defensive then you missed the fucking point and you need to sort out your lesbophobia.

like, one of my mutuals (pussysoupforthesoul who deactivated after receiving a lot of lesbophobia, racism, misogyny, etc) wrote about this kind of toxic behaviour pretty frequently, and the amount of people in the “community” who would vehemently defend their lesbophobia was frankly repulsive. irdc anymore how WoKe you pretend to be. just stop talking about lesbians as if we have systematic privilege over y’all when we’re still being murdered in concentration camps in russia or being targeted in hate campaigns or being correctively raped or disowned by our families. stop talking about us like we’re some separate, evil entity that’s plotting against the rest of the community or some separate group of angry dykes just whining.

literally just.... please stop.

#personal #vent #tw lesbophobia #tw misogyny

[lindoig4]

Iceland - all in one long post

(It is now Saturday 24 August and we are in St Johns, Newfoundland, and before I wade into Iceland, I thought I would summarise the birds we have identified so far.  Some we have seen in more than one place, so the number of discrete species we have seen is still less than 100 – 99 in fact. But by country, my  count currently stands at 138, made up of 36 in the US; 4 when we were in Montreal and a further 11 here, making it 15 for Canada; 9 in Oslo and 21 more in Svalbard making 30 for Norway, 20 in Greenland and 10 in the Denmark Strait – so possibly 30 for Denmark, depending on how we define it and 27 for Iceland.  I don’t intend canvassing international relations or interpreting the Law of the Sea so it is up to you to define Greenland, the Denmark Strait and international waters however you choose – I decline to enter into any dispute on the issue.)

Now back to wonderful Iceland.

We arrived early in the morning after a pretty wild day and night at sea and we were probably happy enough to be on land again.  Not because of the rocking and rolling, but because we were a bit overloaded with all we had experienced on the expeditions and felt that anything else would likely be more of the same.  The only thing we hadn’t seen that would have been nice was more whales, specifically belugas and narwhals, but we can’t have everything – or at least, we have been told so.

On the other hand, our expectations of Iceland left us a little cold (so to speak) but we were wonderfully wrong!  We disembarked at 9am and were bussed to a stop just down the hill from our hotel. Not sure why they couldn’t drop us off as we went past, but it was only a couple of hundred metres back up the hill lugging our luggage.  (There is a reason it is called Luggage.)

We spent most of the day in our room but went out to the supermarket and had a drink on the way back. I spent some time dashing in and out of the hotel into the garden at the back chasing a bird that kept calling every now and then, but I never found it.  I eventually discovered that an identical sound came from a squeaky lift the was right next to where I thought the mythical bird was calling!

In the late afternoon, we went to the hotel bar for a 2 for 1 drink Happy Hour and fell into conversation with two local women almost our age and we had a really wonderful hour or so with them.  They were both lovely intelligent women and it was a complete pleasure to share our respective thoughts with a wonderful couple of locals.

We then went to a Vietnamese restaurant we had sussed out whilst shopping and it was a big disappointment.  Very ordinary food in pretty scungy surroundings for about $90 Oz with no drinks!

We went on two tours whilst in Reykjavik.  I clearly recall being taught in high school that there is no green in Greenland and no ice in Iceland.  But like many of the gems imparted to naive teenagers at school, both are entirely wrong.

We saw a lot of green in Greenland - no towering forests or endless savannahs but plenty of green ground-cover in lots of places.  Similarly, in Iceland, there is not a lot of summer snow, but they play few winter sports because everything is blanketed in snow, inhibiting outdoor sports, even if competitors and spectators were able to attend snowbound venues (which they aren’t!)

But Iceland is certainly spectacular in summer.  As I said, we went on two wonderful tours (thank you Nice Tours), but a few observations first.

Iceland has fewer than 350,000 residents (and 3,000,000 summer tourists each year), over two-thirds of them living in Reykjavik.  Most of the others are farmers and their small beautiful farms are a picture of neatness, looking like they sweep the hills and comb the grass before the tourists arrive each morning.  They desperately want more residents (their unemployment rate is effectively zero) and despite some resentment about the changes brought about to accommodate us, they are heavily dependent on tourism as their biggest contributor to GDP.

They have virtually unlimited geothermal energy and squander it outrageously.  Similarly, water is abundant and profligacy is considered absurd.  The geothermal water powers some of their electricity needs and is then returned to the earth or used to heat every building in the country.  The rest of their energy comes from hydro plants.  Even some small collectives of farmers agree to install a small power plant to provide for their own needs and feed the surplus into the already overloaded grid.  The only other fuel source appears to be imported petroleum at a little over $A2 a litre.

The hot water contains a bit of a cocktail of harmless minerals but smells a bit, so is used for showers and heating and the cold meltwater for most other things.

In the winter, some parts of the country are virtually inaccessible and the roads in those areas are atrocious but nearer Reykjavík, they are quite good - and the city itself is very modern-looking.  No high-rises because they have plenty of room, but there are a few 5 or 6 level buildings.

There are NO trees away from the city, although a few farmers have attempted to grow some without a lot of success.  But around Reykjavík, there are plenty of trees due to a concerted effort to provide some windbreaks for a few clicks around.  I went for a walk this morning and found it very hard going, but apparently, the wind has been known to blow many people over, even to blow cell phones out of their hands (Shock, horror!).  People stay indoors during the worst of the wind.

It is a very expensive place to live.  We paid over $A85 for a very crummy meal at a Greasy Joe Chinese restaurant a couple of nights ago (our second expensive meal out) and even the supermarket gives rise to a few nasty shocks.  One interesting point is that it costs more to build a house here than its sale price so a lot of people build their own rather than buy something that costs more than they could sell it for.

Having said all of that, Iceland is a wonderfully beautiful place with heaps of great things to see and do.  It is very progressive.  They had a National Pride Parade on the day we arrived and the whole city was decked out with rainbow flags and paraphernalia. The whole city seemed involved in celebrating the march and its participants.  They are a very inclusive society and I found some of their more progressive ideas a little surprising - in a very good way.

Our tours were brilliant. Although we didn’t have any great expectations of the country before we arrived, I now wish we could just squeeze another month or so into our visit.

Golden Circle Tour

This is one of the more popular one-day tours and the scenery is amazing.  (Most tours are multi-day and many are about 11 days and circumnavigate the island on their version of our Highway 1, although it is a little more rustic than ours in the north.).  Rugged mountains, massive volcanic lava-fields, giant glaciers, thousands of waterfalls, wonderful wildlife (mainly birds) and miniature flora – simply superb.  There are far more Icelandic horses than Icelanders - a unique breed that will remain pure because no other horses are allowed in, including any local horses that leave the country to compete in events - they are not allowed back in under any conditions!  The sheep run free and have right of way on the road and all look very healthy: fat and woolly.  There are cattle here, but they are mainly kept indoors - as are all the sheep in the colder months.

We visited the world’s second largest geyser (after Yellowstone) and watched it shoot almost 40 metres skywards every 5 to 8 minutes.  It is the Geysir Strokkur and is source of word ‘geyser’ worldwide.  We were careful to stay upwind, but some people got very wet trying to get the perfect selfie.  There are numerous hot springs around and we saw plenty of thermal activity as we ate our packed lunch and walked to and from our bus. (I am tired of typing ‘spectacular’ so please just insert it once or twice in each paragraph. If any needs me to, I will provide a few hundred copies of spectacular, beautiful, amazing, astounding, wonderful, awesome, mindboggling, fantastic, fabulous – even fantabulous if you must - and any other superlatives you wish and you can just copy and paste them into each sentence or clause as you prefer – because they are all highly appropriate!)

We went to an awesome volcanic crater, obviously inactive, but huge, very steep-sided with a beautiful lake inside.  We walked right around the ridge and photographed it from many angles.  It was very windy and getting close to the rim was quite scary at times.

And what a spectacular waterfall Gulifoss was!  It is fuelled by meltwater but totally awesome - mind-bogglingly so but still not Iceland’s biggest!  The volume of water cascading down was truly (insert several superlatives here) but this was after a veritable drought - the driest period they have had for years.  The water is funnelled into a huge canyon, way below anything we could see, but in a normal year, the volume is so huge, it fills the canyon!  When I finally get some pics posted, you might imagine why it defies description.

We called in at a working farm for an icecream.  Icelanders are the world’s most voracious consumers of icecream and we stopped at a couple of other places later in the day to avoid our guide suffering withdrawal symptoms.

Another stop was at the site of the world’s oldest parliament, dating to the 9th century.  The tribes in the area decided that they needed more order in their community so elected a leader each 3 years and presented him with all their disputes and issues requiring resolution.  He was given one day to think about them all and then stood on this particular rocky outcrop and addressed the assembled throng with his binding decisions the following day.  It is now a UN World Heritage site and our guide was able to fill out a bit of history about it.  Perhaps more significantly though is that the rock is on the very edge of the North American tectonic plate.  We walked through an amazingly impressive fissure to get to the rock and it was a sobering thought that we were on such prehistorically significant ground.  There is 6 kilometres between this and the nearby Eurasian plate at this point, with this distance growing by about 2.5 cm a year.  At some point in the future a cataclysmic rupture is bound to happen right where we stood.

Then it was on the Eurasian tectonic plate, but with no fanfare or obvious geological features to mark it - but then, after the grandeur of the other side, it would be hard to match anyway.  We spent much of the rest of the day in Eurasia - no passport required!

A truly fantastic tour and overloaded with historical, geological and simply grandeural(??) overload, we ate bread rolls and supped on Aquavit in our room at night.

Monday was a rest day, soaking in some of the previous day’s experience, washing, blogging, Happy Houring and finally eating at an extraordinarily sub-ordinary Chinese café at great expense at night.

 Snaefellsnes Peninsula Tour

But next day was the Snaefellsnes Peninsula Tour: perhaps even more spectacular than the Golden Circle Tour.  The giant glacier atop the mountain was distant, but omnipresent even at 200km distance.  We saw dozens/scores of waterfalls (fosses in Icelandic), cascading down the mountains from the interior snowmelt and creating hundreds of crystal-clear creeks and rivers.  At one time, some locals sent a sample of the river water to an international laboratory to see what minerals it contained.  Receiving no response, they contacted the lab to enquire as to progress with the testing - only to be ridiculed by the analysers for wasting their time sending obviously distilled water for testing!  Did I say crystal clear!?

We explored one wonderfully picturesque foss and associated lake close up - pics will eventually be posted.  Just across the road from this great waterfall is a mountain that was historically assumed to be rather nondescript until a photo of it was unexpectedly voted one of the world’s ten most iconic mountains and a tourism cavalcade ensued.  The mountain has featured in quite a lot of films, but alas, I don’t recall which.  Maybe my photos will prompt some memories.

We had a superb fish lunch at a restaurant where our guide knew the chef.  He seemed to know a lot of people, but had worked in a small local hotel with this chef - recently returned to Iceland as chef at a 3 Michelin hat restaurant in Europe.  The food was excellent and because at least 10 of us agreed to purchase the fish special, we got it at half price: much closer to what we would pay for a similar meal in Oz.

We walked along the cliff from a charming tiny enclosed fishing harbour, past some awe-inspiring sink-holes too scary to get close enough to see the bottom, past a delightful bird-encrusted lake, past more cliffs filled mainly with nesting gulls, lava caves and blowholes, a fantastic rocky arch to a lookout with more caves, more nesting kittiwakes and a mass of hexagonal basaltic columns formed by the lava cooling more slowly.  To add spectacle to amazing wonder, the columns were not straight, but twisted and bent in line with the strata being formed at the time.  A geology lesson in itself!

Then on the way back to our little bus, we passed a man-made stone structure representing a monument to a local troll.  Icelanders are very superstitious and many still believe in good and bad trolls and other forces that seem quite alien to us.  Most of the island’s roads were built about 100 years ago when superstition was even more rife and many roads take unexpected detours to avoid crossing evil troll-infested sites (or to proceed through beneficent troll areas), much like our sacred sites in Australia only more so.  And many people still ascribe or predict events to the beneficial or vengeful actions of trolls - and act accordingly, doing good things or avoiding bad omens just to be on the safe side.

We visited a beach made of black pebbles and vicious looking lava outcrops.  It was surrounded by a lava field, mostly covered with wonderful soft silvery-green moss and lichens.  After the lave cools, dust is blown in and microscopic lichen, fungus and algae start to grow, followed a few millennia later by the mosses that continue to break down the lava into what eventually becomes arable land - if it is not then covered by more lava or a glacier.

It was a long tour, almost 12 hours of utter wonder.  We had walked several delightful kilometres and climbed quite a few steps and were quite tired by the time we reached our hotel so just ate what was in the fridge and went to bed, weary but still buzzing with the excitement of all we had seen. For me, a little bonus was the improved variety and number of birds we saw along the way, many of which we had been able to view with surprising clarity.

Our last day in Iceland was almost an anticlimax.  I went for a long walk around Reykjavik in the morning.  Heather’s ankle that she broke a couple of years ago was too sore to accompany me and we just reviewed photos, wrote stuff, repacked and had a Happy Hour in preparation for the long trip to St Johns on the morrow.

But given the chance, we would be back in Iceland with a campervan for a month or more perhaps risking the shoulder period to see the best of the whole island in all sorts of weather.  It is definitely a place that should be on everyone’s Bucket List and even after being here, it is still on ours!

[switching-accounts]

The actual definition...

With the amount of misinformation spreading throughout the online otherkin/therian community, especially on here, literally everyone and their mother is claiming to be kin now and it’s quite frankly laughable. I am so ashamed of the Tumblr ‘kin community’s sheer ignorance and immaturity. The only time I have seen someone actually use the correct definition of the term is when they are 20+ years old and have such extensive knowledge they could hold their own seminar in a college class about the subject and not make a fool of themselves. 

So many people are describing otherkinity as a spiritual connection or past life and I’m honestly shocked by the fact that they think its correct. A definition does not just change to fit someones specific beliefs or ideas. You can have your own personal experiences and beliefs within otherkinity, if you believe you have a past life as a dragon or wolf, that’s great, if you believe you were misplaced into a human body but your soul is a cat, that’s cool too, but to be otherkin is to identify as a non human creature through spiritual and/or psychological means while acknowledging that you are still physically human. Having a past life does not automatically equate to being otherkin. Unless you currently identify as that thing in this life, it’s merely a past life, not a kintype. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. If you just feel really spiritually connected to, relate to something on multiple levels and feel like you are that thing but still do not identify as it, that’s called otherhearted. And there’s nothing wrong with that, either. Otherkinity is no more special or superior to past lives and otherheartedness. You don’t have to be spiritual to be otherkin either. Psychological ‘kin doesn’t just involve coping mechanisms, that’s something called copinglink and isn’t really considered otherkinity because copinglinkers choose their types while otherkin don’t. Psychological ‘kin still know they are physically human, just like spiritual ‘kin, they just believe their reason for identity is based within their mind, maybe through excessive exposure to a creature for years throughout their childhood, or maybe they just realize that the complexity of the human brain can do so many strange things that we can’t understand yet. It doesn’t matter what your personal beliefs or reasoning's are for your kintype(s), what matters is that you identify as the creature you call a kintype.

Now! Because we seem to have some people who aren’t quite comprehending certain things, let me address what identifying as something really means. An identity does not always have to be physical. I’ve seen multiple spiritual ‘kin try to defend their misinformation by saying that if we identify as non human, it means we are delusional and think we physically are non human. This is far from the truth. When you identify as an artist, you aren’t physically a paintbrush or piece of paper. When you identify as gay, you aren’t physically the rainbow flag. When you identify as a Christian, you aren’t physically God or Jesus. And when you identify as a bibliophile, you aren’t physically a book. So to identify as something does not always translate into physically being or thinking you are that thing. Certainly there are circumstances where identity is physical, however, again, it isn’t always. And that’s exactly the experience with otherkin. We identify as non human but we know that are bodies are human. 

I really think it’s time for me to start bringing my knowledge onto here as well, rather than just on Instagram, because it’s clear that Tumblr needs all the help it can get when it comes to being educated. And by all means, I’m not invalidating anyones experiences. I’m not saying any of you are wrong in how you feel or that your beliefs are wrong, either. I’m just trying to explain that maybe you don’t fit into the definition of a word you thought you did. And, again, that’s fine. Otherkinity isn’t more special of an identity than having past lives that aren’t kintypes or being otherhearted, or even neither of those things. If you do not identify as what you were in a past life or something you feel strongly connected to, then you just aren’t otherkin. I’m not policing you’re beliefs or experiences, I’m not bullying you or “oppressing” you. I’m not being rude or telling you that you can’t have your beliefs and experiences. It is true that the otherkin/therian identity is highly subjective and diverse in the sense that no two peoples beliefs and experiences are the same. That means that you are free to believe in whatever you wish to in this community - unless it’s physical shifting. However, the one requirement that otherkinity does have as an identity and label of beliefs is that there absolutely has to be some form of identification as non human. 

Peace and Happiness.

TL;DR: It is true that otherkinity is diverse in terms of beliefs and experiences. You can belief in whatever you want to whether that be past lives, soul misplacement, imprinting, brain complexity, etc. but the one thing that is absolutely required in order to be otherkin is the identification as non human. And identity isn’t always physical. All otherkin acknowledge that we are physically human. Identifying as something non human does not equate to us thinking we physically are non human.

#otherkin #otherkinity #otherhearted #therian #therianthrope #therianthropy #kith #polykin #animalhearted #alterhuman #dog therian #dogkin #vampirekin #fictionkin #mythkin

[probablynotthatedgy]

I'm going to say this once and never again.

This pride month I have seen SO much bullshit. All the "aces aren't lgbt", the "you're not trans enough", all of the biphobic, transphobic, aphobic, etc comments, the apparent erasure of lesbians?? And just all of these stupid little internet wars. In no way am I "defending" aces because I'm not trying to put in my own opinion. Some aces consider themselves LGBT+, while some say they shouldn't be. The word queer is an umbrella term for anyone who differs from cisgender/heterosexual normativity. Maybe aces fit that description, maybe you don't think so. But does that really fucking matter? I think it just shows a lot about someone's character when they go out of their way to invalidate and personally attack people of a certain group. You've got to be kidding me. Who fucking cares?! If a cishet ace says that they're lgbt, well what the fuck am I going to do. If I do get annoyed or bothered by that I'm not going to flip out and scream at aces for saying they're ace. For saying they're lgbt. This is supposed to be a community of acceptance. You don't have to accept aces, just don't fucking go out of your way to say that none of them are lgbt. What I find funny is that DRAG QUEENS are accepted in the lgbtq+ community, but THEY FOR SURE ARE NOT "inherently LGBT". Oh, sorry did you assume their sexuality because they're drag queens/kings when that is a performing art? Wow I mean that is quite uneducated. Just like those who claim there is no ersure of bisexuals. As if there's no biphobic people in the community. Stop kidding yourself. There's so many biphobic and transphobic people in the community, which I don't even need to go into because its obvious and easy to find, this isn't even just one specific thing, I've heard many comments both irl and online. I wanted to talk about the "lack of lesbian representation" ie when Oreo had that ad with pride coloured oreo insides. There were a few flags, but not the lesbian flag. They could have put that in, but they didn't. Some people made attacks online, taking about how it was such bullshit that there was the (oh my god) ACE flag, but not the lesbian flag. 1) okay so, some people have argued in the past that, the lesbian flag, which is also known as the Lipstick Lesbian flag shouldn't be used to represent lesbians. There are 19 flags, and this is a sort of touchy subject as some think that it IS the official lesbian flag or others think that the rainbow flag should be used as it should classify ALL homosexuals, which honestly, I think that a lesbian flag would be better than that bc it isn't fair to group all homosexuals together, as gays and lesbians have their differences. Anywho, attacking other groups because you aren't being represented is incredibly immature and awful. That is not helping ANYONE. PLEASE STOP BEING A CHILD AND STOP STARTING SHIT BETWEEN DIFFERENT LGBT+ PEOPLE. i dont want to hear anyone of the lgbt+ community invalidating non-binary people, genderqueer people, pansexuals, bisexuals, demisexuals, and aces. ACES DONT HAVE TO BE LGBT TO EARN YOUR RESPECT.

like oh I'm sorry I didn't realize that there were specific rules for this community and assholes on twitter ran the community and totally fucking were there for the gay rights movement.

Please do not reply to this with any bullshit attacking me or any group of people. The point of this is that it DOESNT matter if aces are lgbt, if non-binary is real, if pansexuality is a thing, if bisexuality makes sense, if you do or don't understand transgender people. The point IS : respect people regardless of your opinion. Remember that regardless of these labels (and even people who dont use labels), these are each human individuals. You are entitled to an opinion, but don't take away from those who are happy being themselves. You have no right to kill someone's spirit and you are no better than any other human, even if that human identifies with something that you don't.

Celebrate your identity and live alongside others.

❤

#mine #opinion #lgbtq #aphobia #biphobia #transphobia #pride month