#there are a lot of articles by trans and gay people that advocate staying in the closet

[propelbottle]

Advice for closeted genderqueer?

hi there! hope you're doing well rn.. I am an awful person to go to for advice- my parents are very conservative, and I personally don't plan to ever come out to them.. some shaky advice from my experience under the cut but idk exactly what you're going through- feel free to send asks to literally anyone else as well! I'm sure you are, so kudos, get more opinions so when you decide for yourself in any possible scenario, you know you're making the right choice and doing the best you can

Since you're currently closeted, my advice would be to only tell your closest friends / family if you're really sure they'll support you no matter what. For each person, you can look at how they react to gay or trans people in media, fictional or otherwise (but maybe don't actively push for them to watch pro-lgbt things if they're not currently interested) or other signs- if you're not sure, err on the side of keeping quiet.. it sucks, but in my experience, I didn't end up coming out to my friend group until LAST MONTH, and I graduated college with a boyfriend this year.. it sucks, but you'll live, which is really more important

Make sure to find small ways to express yourself for the sake of your own sanity, whatever that might look like, like buying a cute scarf or a sleek belt or other articles of clothing that lean towards one style or another, in a way that makes you feel like you're putting yourself forward while still keeping things in the realm of plausible deniability

If someone suspects anything, have a picture handy of an ostensibly cis person (model, actor, singer, etc.) wearing their hair the same way as you or dressing the same way and say you saw them on tiktok/instagram/scrolling through spotify/magazines, and you thought that was just the current trend- that's actually gotten me out of a lot of binds

On the one hand, keep yourself safe, but on the other, it might be good for your confidence/self-esteem/outlook on life for your close friends to use the right pronouns for you. Know that there will always be kind people who will be there for you no matter what.. But, also - maybe controversial - no one deserves or needs to know certain things about you, especially to do with your real name or pronouns. Just like you don't deserve the mental and physical strain being closeted can cause.

I mean idk know that it's not your fault if someone assumes something about you, whether or not it's true. Try to be yourself because you deserve to be you, but please try to keep yourself safe, whatever that means for you. Sorry about the situation.. and definitely ask someone else for advice, but take care of yourself and you'll be alright

#idk thanks for the ask 😓 i'm currently half closeted #it all depends on what you want also #there are a lot of articles by trans and gay people that advocate staying in the closet #at the same time as everyone seems to be saying we NEED to come out #so it's up to you :) stay cautious stay confident and stay safe #ask

[trans-advice]

WINDY CITY MEDIA GROUP

NATIONAL Biden tracker, Task Force, trans journalist, Cuomo, West Virginia

by Windy City Times staff

2021-03-14

GLAAD announced the launch of its Biden Equality Accountability Tracker—a real-time record of the Biden administration's executive orders, announcements, legislative support and speeches that impact LGBTQ people and rights, a press release noted. GLAAD has tracked at least 24 pro-equality moves in the first 50 days, as well as noted LGBTQ Cabinet and staff appointments in the first days of the administration. GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis introduced the tracker in her op-ed in Reuters, and in the statement. See https:// Article Link Here .

The National LGBTQ Task Force announced the addition of two new staff members and the consolidation of two departments as part of the organization's growth and restructure under the leadership of recently named Executive Director Kierra Johnson, a press release noted. Former Creating Change Conference Director Andy Garcia will now head a combined department of conference, policy and advocacy staff as director of the Advocacy and Action Department. Also, Ashawnda Fleming joins the Task Force Development Department and Leadership Team as the new chief development officer and Desiree Luckey has been appointed senior policy counsel, focusing on the organization's democracy work.

Trans sports journalist Christina Kahrl—a longtime ESPN senior editor and co-founder of both the Baseball Prospectus think tank and the Baseball Writers' Association of America—announced on Twitter that she will be the next sports editor of the legendary San Francisco Chronicle newspaper, Outsports noted. She will become the first out transgender editor of a major, metropolitan mainstream media outlet in the country when she takes the reins of sports coverage of the largest newspaper in Northern California. The Chronicle is the state's second major newspaper after the Los Angeles Times. In a message to Outsports, Kahrl said she recognizes the importance of her platform.

Many of New York's LGBTQ lawmakers are echoing growing calls for Gov. Andrew Cuomo to resign in response to numerous disturbing allegations of inappropriate behavior and sexual harassment, Gay City News reported. U.S. Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, became the highest-ranking LGBTQ elected official in the state to call on Cuomo to step down when he issued a statement on March 12—the same day that new allegations surfaced. Congressmen Mondaire Jones and Ritchie Torres have also asked for the governor to step down.

Researchers at UCLA partnered with a researcher at West Virginia University (WVU) to publish a report addressing discrimination against the LGBT community in West Virginia, WDTV.com reported. Some of the key findings were that LGBT people in West Virginia experience discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations. For example, data show 39% of LGBT adults in West Virginia reported having a household income below $24,000, compared to 26% of non-LGBT adults.

A Houston bakery is facing two separate lawsuits from former employees alleging they were fired due to anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination, out.com noted. Gilbert Johnson and Katherine Phillips told OutSmart the Dessert Gallery Bakery & Cafe fired them because Johnson is gay and Phillips is a lesbian. Johnson further alleged he was fired in part for hiring a transgender employee. "We take seriously any allegations like those outlined in these complaints but stand firm that these allegations are simply not true," Dessert Gallery said in a statement. "We believe the proper place to disclose the facts of this case is in the courtroom and look forward to that opportunity."

A bill to strengthen the sexually transmitted disease public-health infrastructure of California is better than a similar effort that had initially been introduced last year, a principal co-author of the legislation told the Bay Area Reporter. Gay state Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) co-authored Senate Bill 306 with Sen. Dr. Richard Pan (D-Sacramento), who introduced it Feb. 4. According to a news release from Wiener's office, the legislation will "permit the Family [Planning Access Care Treatment] program to offer covered benefits to income-eligible patients, even if contraception is not discussed during the patient encounter; update California's [Expedited Partner Therapy] statute to include provider liability protections used in other states; permit HIV counselors to administer rapid STD tests; update state law to require congenital syphilis testing during the third trimester of pregnancy; [and] require coverage of home STD tests by public and private insurers."

Former First Lady Michelle Obama spoke candidly in a People Magazine interview about her struggles with low-grade depression during the COVID-19 pandemic and the challenges of 2020, encouraging people to speak more openly about their mental health, CNN.com noted. Obama told People magazine that she "needed to acknowledge what I was going through, because a lot of times we feel like we have to cover that part of ourselves up, that we always have to rise above and look as if we're not paddling hard underneath the water." She added, "We had the continued killing of Black men at the hands of police. Just seeing the video of George Floyd, experiencing that eight minutes. That's a lot to take on, not to mention being in the middle of a quarantine."

Thousands of Texans are slated to lose their healthcare provider after Travis County Civil District Court Judge Lora Livingston allowed the state to remove Planned Parenthood from its Medicaid program, CNN.com reported. Texas has long sought to ban Planned Parenthood, which provides abortions in Texas, from Medicaid. Medicaid funding does not cover abortions except in cases of rape or incest or when the woman's life is at risk, due to the Hyde Amendment, dating back to 1976. In 2019, Planned Parenthood provided health care to more than 8,000 Medicaid recipients in Texas.

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem signed Senate Bill 124, a religious refusal bill that could grant a license to discriminate against LGBTQ people across a wide range of goods and services in the state, a Human Rights Campaign (HRC) statement noted. HRC President Alphonso David said, "While she may see discrimination as a path to the national far right spotlight, she should understand the damage she is doing to the state of South Dakota and LGBTQ people who are simply looking to live their lives free of fear and exclusion." Noem also signed legislation that would bar transgender girls and women from participating in female sports leagues.

Over objections from Democrats, Georgia House Republicans passed a sweeping elections bill that would enact more restrictions on absentee voting and cut back on weekend early voting hours favored by larger counties, among other changes, NPR reported. The bill's sponsor—GOP Rep. Barry Fleming, who chairs the House Special Committee on Election Integrity—said the 66-page measure "is designed to begin to bring back the confidence of our voters back into our election system" after Republicans lost confidence in the GOP-backed voting system following Democrats' victories in the November presidential contest and both of Georgia's U.S. Senate races.

The National AIDS Memorial announced Isabel Fatima (Ima) Diawara, of Los Angeles, as the first recipient of the Mary Bowman Arts in Activism Award, a press release noted. The newly created and inspiring program, funded through a multi-year grant from ViiV Healthcare, offers support to artist-activists who are working and committed to making a difference in the fight against HIV/AIDS. The Mary Bowman Arts in Activism Award honors the life of Mary Bowman—a poet, advocate, author, singer and young person living with AIDS who passed away in early 2019 at age 30.

A statue of late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was erected in her hometown of Brooklyn on March 12—three days before her 88th birthday, USA Today noted. The unveiling also comes in the middle of Women's History Month as another way to honor Ginsburg's legacy and her fight for women's rights. The statue is part of a larger series called Statues for Equality, which has worked to increase the representation of women in public sculptures around New York City and beyond.

LGBTQ-rights advocates are uniting to support Noel Koenke, a former employee at St. Joseph's University who's appealing the dismissal of her LGBT-related anti-bias case against the university before it could reach a jury, Philadelphia Gay News reported. Koenke worked as an assistant director of music and worship at the university; however, pressure to stay in the closet eventually caused her to attempt suicide and resulted in the dissolution of her marriage�and she resigned in November 2017. Koenke filed suit in October 2019, claiming the university violated Title IX, which prohibits sex discrimination in educational programs receiving federal funds.

New York-based fashion designer Alexander Wang responded, again, to a growing number of sexual assault and harassment allegations, out.com reported. Wang had previously called the initial allegations "baseless," and said they were "fabricated"—but now, his tenor has changed starkly. On Instagram, he posted, "It was not easy for [the alleged victims] to share their stories, and I regret acting in a way that caused them pain. While we disagree with some of the details of these personal interactions, I will set a better example and use my visibility and influence to encourage others to recognize harmful behaviors. Life is about learning and growth, and now that I know better, I will do better." Attorney Lisa Bloom—who reportedly is representing 11 of those who have allegations against Wang—responded on Twitter, "We have met with Alexander Wang and his team. My clients had the opportunity to speak their truth to him and expressed their pain and hurt. We acknowledge Mr. Wang's apology and we are moving forward. We have no further comment on this matter."

Fox personality Geraldo Rivera posted a tweet announcing that he was pondering running for the seat that will be left vacant by retiring Republican Senator Rob Portman of Ohio, who will not be seeking re-election in 2022, Yahoo! noted. Rivera—who regularly butts heads with Sean Hannity and Fox News contributor Dan Bongino for his moderate stances on things like immigration—said he would have run as a moderate Republican. But his political ambitions didn't last long as he posted another tweet less than 24 hours after the first one, saying that the run is not going to happen.

Lawyers for former U.S. Rep. Katie Hill and her ex-husband, Kenneth Heslep, told a Los Angeles judge that they remain hopeful of settling her allegations of harassment and years of abuse—but they still asked that the groundwork be laid for a possible trial of whether Hill's stay-away order should be extended, the Los Angeles Daily News reported. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Lawrence Riff ordered both sides to prepare lists of witnesses and exhibits they would use during the trial and submit them a week in advance of April 8, when a trial-setting hearing is scheduled. The judge said he was extending the temporary restraining order Judge Anne Richardson granted Hill on Dec. 8 until April 30. Heslep has denied allegations of abusing Hill, who resigned her seat in 2019 after nude photos of her were published and news emerged that she had a three-way relationship with her husband and a female campaign staffer.

On March 8, the Cambridge (Massachusetts) City Council passed a historic domestic partnership ordinance aimed at recognizing and protecting polyamorous and other multi-partner families and relationships, according to an item from the Polyamory Legal Advocacy Coalition (PLAC). The ordinance was developed with detailed input from the PLAC, and is the first of what advocates hope will be a wave of legal recognition for polyamorous families and relationships in 2021. Last year, Somerville (also in Massachusetts) became the first U.S. city to allow domestic partnerships of three or more partners.

In California, the second annual "Pride Ride" returns to Homewood Mountain Resort March 25-28, The Bay Area Reporter noted. Along with skiing and riding, there will be a variety of mini-events on and off the mountain, including a dual slalom drag race, ski parade down Rainbow Ridge, virtual scavenger hunt and more. See https:// Article Link Here .

#usa centric #not trans specific

[queertheology]

8 Queer Tips to Get Through the Holidays

The Holidays can be a really tough time for queer and trans people, especially for those of us who come from religious families. Whether this season means being alone or whether it means going back to be with your family of origin, putting plans in place to help you cope and get through the holidays is essential. Here are some things that have helped us! Feel free to add your ideas in the comments.

Brian says…

Figure out friends you can call & text

When you’re stressed or scared or your family says or does something messed up and you need advice or just to vent, have a friend or two on standby that you can reach out to

Set boundaries

You are allowed to take care of yourself. You are allowed to take care of yourself. You are allowed to take care of yourself. Too often we get the message that as LGBT it’s our responsibility to always be “on” — to always advocate for the cause, or to behave “properly,” or to keep the peace. We’re told that it’s our job to endure demonizing sermons and degrading misgenderings in the name of “dialogue” or whatever. But we don’t have to. We can set and maintain boundaries that keep us safe, happy, and healthy. You don’t have to go to the Christmas service at your awful childhood anti-gay church. You don’t have to explain how you know you’re a woman on the drive to your aunt’s house. Communicating your boundaries to your family ahead of time might work well for you or you can decide on them yourself and enforce them if folks bump up against them.

Make time to be alone

These days, my family is wonderfully supportive and still, I need some time to sneak away and just be myself. Spending time with lots of people can be exhausting and families that are not supportive can be extra exhausting. Make time to sit in bed and read a book; to get outside and go for a walk, run, or bike ride; or even to take a nap.

Celebrate the holidays with your chosen family too

We’re told that spending time with our families of origin is the only “proper” way to spend the holiday. In some cities, like New York City, where I live, “Orphan Christmas” is a thing… friends who aren’t going home to their families gather together to celebrate. But getting together with close friends to celebrate a holiday shouldn’t need a qualifier… it can just be Christmas, or Thanksgiving, or Chanukah, or Kwanza. I consider many of my close friends to be part of my chosen family. We’re there for each other unconditionally. We’ve gone through periods of living together, sharing our food and belongings, and even sharing our money. We take each other to doctors visits and we help pay for each other’s surgeries. Remember to celebrate holidays with the people in your life who are supportive (even if that means hopping on a Google Hangout because they don’t live nearby).

Fr. Shay says…

Sign up for a Twitter account

It’s been hugely helpful for me to be able to log into twitter and have a whole bunch of people I can reach out to. I use Twitter as a place to vent, to be around likeminded people, to ask for prayer, or to find stuff to make me laugh.

Journal

I love being able to pull out my journal and just write. It’s a place where I don’t have to make sense. I don’t have to worry about being petty or angry or lashing out. I can write whatever I’m feeling and I always feel better afterwards.

Have music and movies that make you feel good

Make a playlist of music you love and that makes you feel awesome. If you need to, step away for a bit and listen to your favorite song. Bring some DVDs to the Christmas party and put them on for distraction. Give yourself some breathing space.

Create an exit strategy if you can

Have a friend call with an emergency. Say that you have to leave at a certain time. Give yourself permission to leave if things get too intense. You don’t have to stay super late. You can stay in a hotel instead of sleeping on your parents’ couch. Do what you need to do to give yourself the out you need.

What about you?

What do YOU say? Leave some of your tips in the comments below!

How can you take care of yourself—even if friends, family, and churches aren’t accepting of you?

We put together a 3 part video series that will support you in self-care around unaffirming family and friends. Click here to signup for free.

This article was published by Brian Murphy

#queer theology #faithfully LGBT #FaithfullyLGBT #gay christian #transgender christian #Christian #transgender #Christianity

[red-talisman]

Prompts for US Election Season Safety-Planning & Engagement

I’ve got some folks in my DMs getting salty after my earlier response to a US election-based post, so here we are, tired and angry.

What is a safety-plan?

A personalized, practical plan to improve your safety. I list some basics here, but everyone has different needs as an individual - it’s okay if this isn’t as useful to you as it might be for someone else. Cherry-pick what’s useful and discard the rest.

Emotional Safety

Consider the safe coping skills you already use when you’re feeling activated, triggered, or panicking. If those techniques use external tools, like a weighted blanket, get those tools out and have them on hand.

Reach out to people you trust with specific actions they can do to support you, as appropriate.

Consider limiting your social media engagement for a day, a few days, a week - however long you need.

If you still want to know about important updates, ask someone you trust to provide those upon your request.

Reach out to people you trust who share your specific worries, especially around a shared identity. This can help us feel less isolated. For example, my girlfriend and I will be texting each other cute animals because we are very gay and very tired.

Draw firm boundaries with people (especially conservative relatives) as needed who may want more of your time or labor than you have capacity for. If you’re not sure how to do that safely, you can call a domestic violence hotline and ask the advocate to help you find/practice language to use; this is something we regularly do with callers.

Physical Safety

We’re already seeing violence against individuals and groups of people who visibly belong (or appear to visibly belong) to politically vulnerable communities at polls or street shutdowns initiated by Trump trains.

Stock up on food, medications, and other supplies as much as you can to limit the number of times you’ll need to leave the house.

Try to avoid going out alone. Can an adult in your household/quarantine pod go with you?

Consider checking out phone apps that will automatically text/call someone you trust if you miss a check-in window (often used by femmes going out on a new date or to a club).

Be prepared for road closures by hostile Trump supporters. Unless you have the skills/resources for it, don’t initiate engagement! Find another route, if possible.

Know your legal rights in case law enforcement starts shit. Check out some street protester tips on how to navigate getting arrested, such as having important phone numbers written in permanent marker on your body somewhere. As most politically vulnerable folks know, you don’t have to be breaking any kind of law to get stopped; you can, quite literally, be peacefully in line at the polls and get pepper-sprayed by cops anyway.

Dealing with Feeling Helpless

Start by taking honest stock of yourself about your needs in the current moment. You put the oxygen mask on your face first, after all.

Second? Don’t judge yourself for having those needs. It’s hard, but I promise you that almost everyone is feeling “weak,” depressed, angry, anxious, and sometimes all of that at once. Stay present-focused: “This is a need I’m having. What is available to me to get that need met as safely as possible?”

Look for other people doing the same kind of you’re doing - or the kind of work you want to do. Collective effort shares the burden.

Remember that your people have survived generations of violence. We will continue to do so.

Understand that election-related stress will last for at least a few months.

There’s likely to be an escalation in violence no matter which way the presidential election goes, and either way, the next inauguration isn’t until January 2021. You need to be prepared for the long haul.

When you feel ready to reengage:

Recognize that voting is the least thing that a person can do. With work aimed at systemic, intergenerational violence, we need all hands engaged in a variety of ways for the long-term.

Stop going after activists of color who choose not to vote. If you don’t have personal lived experience relevant to their reasoning, leave them alone.

Be creative in adapting skills, interests, and networks you already have. Everyone has something to offer! Although aimed in part at pagans, this article gives some ideas and points to consider for everyone.

If anyone tells you that you don’t have anything to offer in social justice efforts, they’re an asshole. (And probably a bigot, and it’s probably ableist. Fuck those people.) When we say all hands on deck, we mean all, regardless of the lived experiences attached to those hands.

Do you have emotional or physical safety concerns that aren’t mentioned here?

Ask someone you trust to help you brainstorm. What are the concrete worries you have, emotionally or physically? How can you address, eliminate, mitigate, or cope with those worries in whatever creative, safe ways you can? Make an actual list if that helps.

Consider contacting a domestic violence hotline. We’re trained to safety-plan with people who are in the kind of danger that doesn’t usually go away quickly and who have limited access to resources (although if an unhealthy partner or relative isn’t part of your concern, it’s possible the advocate may try referring you elsewhere).

Warm lines are a cool alternative to hotlines. Lots of local and national ones exist for different purposes.

Check out some leftist blogs: they tend to regularly post content about safety related to different scenarios, much of which is also tailored to the needs of specific demographics (being trans, Black, Jewish, disabled, etc). One solid resource on tumblr is @antifainternational​.

Check out blogs written by and for a particular demographic, even if you’re not part of that demographic. Writers, bloggers, and activists in these communities tend to have common lived experience of systemic violence and there is a lot of amazing, pragmatic content out there for coping under oppression.

Got questions? I’m happy to answer whatever I can via ask or DM, even if it’s to direct you to a resource more helpful than I.

#election 2020 #american politics #politics #voting #voter safety #there's a lot more i want to say but this is already a #long post #and i want to get this out since it's literally the night before official election day

[innuendostudios]

The newest installment of The Alt-Right Playbook: Mainstreaming. If you like this series, or my other work, and want to see more of the same, consider backing me on Patreon.

Transcript below the cut.

Say, for the sake of argument, there’s this acclaimed science fiction writer and essayist who’s writing his memoir in the late 80’s. I’m gonna drop the pretense right now and say his name is Samuel R. Delany, he’s been namedropped on this channel before and he probably will be again because he’s my favorite writer. Delany’s writing about his experience as a young gay man in the late 50’s/early 60’s - that is, nearly a decade before Stonewall - and he opts to share a couple of anecdotes, which I will relate to you now.

One is about a time when he decided to come out to his therapy group. While being gay in mid-century New York brought Delany a lot of joy, he found himself describing his life to the group as though being gay were something he was trying to fix. By reflex, he presented himself as lonely and ashamed, though, in reality, he was neither. And, while he did eventually describe himself more accurately, he can’t help but muse, in the book, on the limits of language at the time.

Back then, the word “gay” was explicitly associated with high camp and effeminacy, where Delany is more of a bear, a term that was not yet in common usage. The default term was “homosexual,” which was then a medical classification for what was deemed a mental disorder. “Queer” and the f-word were still slurs that had yet to be reappropriated. So, while all the words to describe himself were, technically, available, they all carried the connotations of the most popular narrative about gay men: that they were isolated, aberrant, and pitiable.

Another story is about Delany being present for a police raid at a truck stop where queer men would meet for casual hookups. By the nature of being hidden in the bushes or secreted between parked semi trailers, any man in attendance could see the men nearest to him, but none could get a view of the whole. But, during the raid, from his vantage point, Delany saw, for the first time, the size of the entire crowd, and was shocked to see nearly a hundred men empty out of the parking lot to evade the cops. In the morning, the police blotter mentioned only the handful of men who’d been arrested, and not the 80 or 90 who got away.

Both of these stories are about how the dominant narrative of the isolated gay man becomes self-reinforcing: A constant threat of police violence meant gay men stayed hidden from the cops and, consequently, from each other. And the terminology of the era being mostly dictated by straight people made it very hard to talk about queerness without reinforcing their narrative.

Delany argues that, among the most revolutionary things the 60’s did to culture, was the radicalization of language - redefining old terms and popularizing new ones - and giving marginalized groups a budding sense of their numbers. In short, two of the most powerful tools for making any marginalized group less marginalized are Language and Visibility.

Folks, we’re talking today about Mainstreaming, the process by which a group or idea from the fringes of society moves towards the center. How strangers become neighbors and how thoughts become common sense. There is a concept known as the Overton Window, which I am not going to describe because plenty of people have done so already - link in the down there part - but, in short: as a fringe group becomes more visible, and their language becomes commonplace, their presence in society starts to seem normal. They become demystified. Some people who thought they were strange and threatening will start to warm up to them, though this does not happen across the board. Many who hated them when they were fringe will see their becoming mainstream as a kind of existential occupation of territory, as in “If this is normal now, what does that make me?”

But much of what is considered standard in society today has gone through this process.

Now, straight folks like myself often think that greater queer visibility and the proliferation of queer language is for our benefit; if our queer friends feel safe coming out to us and we know which words we should and shouldn’t use, it makes it easier for straights and queer folks to be pals! And it is true that no one gets mainstreamed without advocates in the existing mainstream, but let’s not beat around the bush: Language and Visibility are tools of consolidating power. Visibility means having a sense of your numbers. Common language means forming alliances. You get a bunch of formerly isolated gay men connecting with each other and accurately describing their experiences, you’ve got yourself a movement, with or without straight friends.

This is why it’s to the benefit of straight society to tell queer men they are isolated, because isolated queer men are in no position to make demands.

(Just so it doesn’t get left out of yet another conversation, Delany is writing about gay men because the book is a memoir and that’s his experience, but neither he nor I are ignoring that the Gay Rights movement was kicked off by trans women.)

Okay!

While the example I’m using is a positive one that any progressive worth their salt should be in favor of, mainstreaming is a morally neutral phenomenon. Culture is plastic. Any fringe group or idea can become normalized, regardless of its inherent worth. And, for a certain subset of extremely online people with fringe beliefs, who understand the ways mainstreaming has evolved in the attention economy, it can be a weapon.

We need to ask how a group of predominantly disgruntled twenty- and thirtysomething white men congregating on anonymous imageboards becomes a political movement, whose members get profiled in the New York Times, whose writing patterns are recognized by most of the internet, and whose figureheads get staffed in the White House. Where did the Alt-Right come from?

Mainstreaming is not a wholly organic process, because usually the people who get mainstreamed are actively working to become so. But people usually have only so much control over how and how fast this happens: A group expands its language and visibility; if this leads to larger numbers and greater mainstream acceptance, the process repeats, this time with a bigger group and a bigger audience; so long as there is growth, each cycle is more impactful, as the bigger a group is the faster it gets even bigger and the more common language becomes the faster it proliferates.

By all rights, if your beliefs are wildly unpopular, this process shouldn’t work. Your language and visibility don’t expand because too many people don’t want to talk like you or about you. So what do you do then? Well, normally, you either give up or bide your time, but, if you have a lot of media literacy and no real moral compass, you get it done dirty.

If the media doesn’t want to cover you, make yourself newsworthy. Threaten to publicly out immigrants in front of a crowd. Start a hoax about white student unions. Lead a white power rally and leave the hoods at home. Do the kinds of things that journalists cannot, in good conscience, ignore. Once you’ve made yourself news, they’ll feel they can’t publish a condemnation without getting your side of the story, so, bam, you’ve got an interview. The more erratic and dangerous you seem, the more they’ll want to write a profile so people can figure you out; the article about how surprisingly normal you seem in person basically writes itself. If you want to spread a conspiracy theory, send it to a small, local news site that doesn’t have the resources to fact check you; once they publish something salacious, all the bigger news channels will have to talk about it, if only to debunk it. Put provocative stuff in front of politicians; anything they retweet has to be news. In a pinch, you can always piggyback off a famous activist by making takedown videos, or, if you’re really ambitious, harass someone at a conference.

Everyone’s desperate for clicks. If you can generate them, you’ll get your message out.

If nobody’s adopting your language, adopt it for them. Make sure you and all your friends each have half a dozen fake Twitter accounts spamming the same terminology at everyone who discusses race, gender, orientation, or ability. Put every Jewish name in parentheses until everyone on the internet knows what that means whether they want to or not. Hell, don’t even do it yourself: Russia’s not the only one who can make bots. Make thousands of bots. And make sure your real account, your fake accounts, and your bots all talk the same so no one can tell the difference anymore. Make hashtags and get them trending all by yourself, and, while you’re at it, spam all the hashtags for movements you hate with porn and gore so they can’t be used. And if your words and memes still aren’t popular? Just steal words and memes that are already popular. Just decide “this? this means white power now,” “this is antifeminist now.” Saturate the web with your new usage, always insisting that you’re doing it “ironically,” while eroding confidence in anyone who uses these words in the original sense. And never stop insisting that most everyone would talk the same as you if there weren’t so much damn censorship.

Delany’s experience was having few words to describe himself that could conjure images of a gay man in a loving community. What the Alt-Right does is shout “you just call everyone you don’t like Nazis” while their people are giving interviews wearing Nazi paraphernalia; they even imply that calling dudes marching to the tune of “Jews will not replace us” Nazis is somehow antisemitic. Meanwhile they ask to be called identitarians and race realists. They want to stigmatize words that conjure images of white fascism - which, again, they very explicitly support - and replace them with words that conjure images of clean-cut philosophy majors.

And where Delany saw a group of 80 or 90 gay men reported in the papers as a group of 4 or 5, the Alt-Right wants to get reported as being much larger than it actually is. They want to draw attention to themselves by any means necessary, up to and including violence, but to ensure that, any time the cameras train on a violent act, there is a man in a suit ready to distance himself from it; to paint the picture that, but for a few bad actors, this is a peaceful movement of young, presentable intellectuals.

This isn’t simply a battle between different ideologies, this is a battle over the definition of normal. The Alt-Right knows how plastic culture can be. Their anger comes from the normalization of things they hate, and their movement exists because they believe anything that becomes mainstream can be made fringe again. Which is why, if you wanna cater to them, you promise to reassert old norms.

Much as we’d like to believe people are driven by morality, most people are driven by the desire to be normal. And when the news is filled with images of swastikas, iron crosses, and tiki torches, the guy in the suit with the fashy haircut looks pretty normal by comparison. And that’s why he wears the suit.

Thankfully, the plasticity of culture cuts both ways. Just as surely as we can lose all the ground we’ve gained over the last half-century, everything the Alt-Right does to make itself palatable can be undone. (In fact, it’s maybe beginning to happen.) It’s going to be a long road that will probably require changes to how media platforms generate traffic and a lot of new politicians. But I want you to keep a phrase close to your heart: this is not normal.

That phrase has become something of a mantra since the election in 2016. It can be misused: white supremacy, sexism, and every other kind of bigotry are part of the fabric of American life and always have been, so, even if this is more extreme than the ushe, it’s not by nearly as much as most privileged people like to think. So I want you to treat it less like an observation and more as a statement of intent. Whatever shit the Alt-Right pulls, I want you to say: this is not normal; this is not normal; this is not normal.

We will not let this be normal.

#video essay #the alt-right playbook #alt-right

[you-best-beliamh-it]

Research

When creating the performance Think, the central ideas and themes vastly changed with the progression and development of extensive research. The only theme that remained prominent was gender which, as a feminist, meant the opportunity to exploit inequalities was powerful especially through this medium. 

In the initial phases, inspiration was drawn from the work of Cassie Jaye (2017) and her documentary The Red Pill. Jaye’s work draws on the gender imbalances that are prevalent as a result of being male. The main inspiration of the performance came from here, Jaye, a now ex-feminist, jumped down the rabbit hole to the ‘enemy’. In reality, she was fulfilling the now misguided definition of feminism. Feminism is commonly defined as ‘the doctrine advocating social, political, and all other rights of women equal to those of men’, (www.dictionary.com., 2021). In recent years, this definition has been misconstrued to sometimes mean women want all power over men. So, with enlightenment from Jaye and the opportunity to use an all-female cast, Think is staying true to the ‘old’ feminism. This performance explains that in order to display advocacy to equal gender, it is important to offer the other side of the story.

 Once the initial idea for the theme was established, 6 areas of importance were discovered:

 Mental health: 

Though mental health has improved in recent years, there is still a huge stigma that men have to be strong, and do not cry.

 Assault and Abuse: 

When researching abuse, there was a distinct lack of marketing that reached out to men. 

 Custody Battles:

A lot of men lose Custody of their children, when there are possibly more equipped to care for them.

 The effect of false rape accusations: 

Once a man is accused of rape, even if he is, without a doubt, innocent he will still face abuse and accusation from others.

 LGBTQ+ (More specifically, Trans issues):

This is an important topic, it felt important to create a storyline around a trans man as to not include them, would be to disregard them as men. Also, the stigma surrounding gay men, how they are expected to act to a certain archetype.  

 Paternity Fraud:

Woman have been known to trap men into caring for the child, even it is not his. There are also stories of women signing the child away for adoption without consulting the father.

 With all the research accumulated for each theme, there was a consecutive decision to remove some of these themes, as giving each storyline less than a 5-minute slot was unfair.  So, we narrowed our focus to: Assault and Abuse, Transition Men, Mental Health and Masculinity.

Upon reflection of the themes, we decided to draw on articles and documentaries for material. Quickly realising it wouldn’t be true to theatre of testimony, we began interviewing people instead. We felt the beginning of the performance would work well with a meta-theatrical approach, the use of addressing the audience would make them feel more vigilant. The final speech is inspired by epic theatre, to support making the audience feel guilty, we also brought back the meta-theatrics from the start to emphasis the audiences’ feelings.

 In the early stages of creating this piece, we quickly realised that out piece was solely becoming a statement of masculinity. As one final addition to this blog post I feel it necessary to note how difficult it was to find a lot of the research we required. Highlighting that the issues today are still prevalent. 

 Please find attached a link below displaying our full research. The Bibliography has already been uploaded in reference to all the research material.

 https://docs.google.com/document/d/18kNh88yYXpuBVxmRFcOTy5g9dO0xfjZVT2wDv-Pv4_I/edit?usp=sharing

[aplusblogging]

SOC 120 Blog 5: We Are Not a Wave, We Are the Ocean

What the heck is a "wave" of feminism? The "first wave" secured women's right to vote. The second gave us access to abortion. Now we're in the third wave and we're doing trans rights. Right? It's more complicated than that. As Constance Grady wrote for Vox in 2018:

The wave metaphor can be reductive. It can suggest that each wave of feminism is a monolith with a single unified agenda, when in fact the history of feminism is a history of different ideas in wild conflict.

It can reduce each wave to a stereotype and suggest that there’s a sharp division between generations of feminism, when in fact there’s a fairly strong continuity between each wave — and since no wave is a monolith, the theories that are fashionable in one wave are often grounded in the work that someone was doing on the sidelines of a previous wave. And the wave metaphor can suggest that mainstream feminism is the only kind of feminism there is, when feminism is full of splinter movements.

And as waves pile upon waves in feminist discourse, it’s become unclear that the wave metaphor is useful for understanding where we are right now. “I don’t think we are in a wave right now,” gender studies scholar April Sizemore-Barber told Vox in January. “I think that now feminism is inherently intersectional feminism — we are in a place of multiple feminisms” (Grady, 2018).

So with the understanding that this framework is kind of reductive, let's surf these supposed "waves" a little.

The first wave (1848 to 1920) did indeed centre around women's suffrage for the right to vote. Suffragettes were originally abolitionists, but then got mad when Black men—former slaves—got the vote before them, and Black women were often barred from or forced to walk behind white women during suffrage marches. Margaret Sanger opened the birth control clinic that would become Planned Parenthood during this wave. Women also worked to secure equality in education and employment, though there was a double standard when it came to women in the workplace; Black and brown women were considered less ladylike and more capable of labour, while white women were protected by the white men who held power, considered delicate and expected to stay in the home and raise children. There's some of those differing agendas within the movement.

The second wave (1963 to the 1980s) was called such because it had seemed that feminist activity had died down until Betty Friedan published The Feminine Mystique in '63, sparking a new "wave" of feminist activity. She talked about "the problem that has no name," which was that white middle-class women's "place" was in the home and they were being pathologised if they didn't like being stuck doing housework and childcare.

The Feminine Mystique was not revolutionary in its thinking, as many of Friedan’s ideas were already being discussed by academics and feminist intellectuals. Instead, it was revolutionary in its reach. It made its way into the hands of housewives, who gave it to their friends, who passed it along through a whole chain of well-educated middle-class white women with beautiful homes and families. And it gave them permission to be angry (Grady, 2018).

The phrase "the personal is political" comes from this time; the idea that small things that can seem like individual problems are actually a result of systemic oppression. Systemic sexism is defined as "the belief that women’s highest purposes were domestic and decorative, and the social standards that reinforced that belief" (Grady, 2018). Other things that were fought for during this time include equal pay; access to birth control (and an end to forced sterilisation of Black and disabled women); educational equality; Roe v. Wade and the right to have consensual abortions; political independence rather than being legally subordinate to husbands; working outside the home (for white middle-class women); awareness of and an end to domestic violence and sexual harassment. Some of the same things that women of the first wave were fighting for. Black feminists, however, were starting to get tired of white people obliviously hogging all the limelight; bell hooks "argued that feminism cannot just be a fight to make women equal with men because not all men are equal in a capitalist, racist, homophobic society" (University of Massachusetts, 2017). This started the tradition of Black feminist thought and womanism.

The third wave, starting in the 1990s and inspired by work in the 80s, embraced a lot of stuff that the second wave rejected.

In part, the third-wave embrace of girliness was a response to the anti-feminist backlash of the 1980s, the one that said the second-wavers were shrill, hairy, and unfeminine and that no man would ever want them. And in part, it was born out of a belief that the rejection of girliness was in itself misogynistic: girliness, third-wavers argued, was not inherently less valuable than masculinity or androgyny (Grady, 2018).

In this time we had the riot grrrl phenomenon on the music scene; the continuation of the fight that started in the 80s for access to medical treatment for HIV/AIDS and the humanisation of queer people; queer politics which emphasise that there are more types of queers than just middle-class white gay men and lesbians; sex-positive feminism advocating for sexual liberation and consent; and transnational feminism, which "highlights the connections between sexism, racism, classism, and imperialism" (University of Massachusetts, 2017). Kimberlé Crenshaw's coining of the term "intersectionality" in the 80s to refer to the intersections between different kinds of oppression (woman AND Black, woman AND disabled, woman AND immigrant, etc.), became the name of the game.

Arguably, we are now in a fourth wave of feminism, an online wave, which "is queer, sex-positive, trans-inclusive, body-positive, and digitally driven" (Grady, 2018). We use hashtags like #MeToo on Twitter and we organise SlutWalks online and we circulate our revolution magazines with hyperlinks rather than paper. We don't have to attend a rally in order to make our presence known, and we don't have to leave the house and gather together in person in order to hear each other's stories and energise each other to act. We're enabled to be lazier, but we're also enabled to do something with minimal energy when we don't have very much due to a medical condition or other disability. We don't have to exhaust ourselves after work by driving or walking to another meeting place, we only have to log on. We face less physical danger online than we do on the streets. We're empowered in different ways than our predecessors were, and we have access to information and audiences in a way they could never have dreamed of.

I won't go into too much detail about the conflicts between generations or "waves" of feminism like Grady does in her Vox article. There will always be squabbling amongst group members. There will always be splinter movements off of the "mainstream" effort. The focus should be on the goal that we all share, that of ending some kind (or all kinds) of oppression. We should be helping each other to achieve that goal and promote real equality, not letting ourselves be divided along temporal, generational, racial, gender, or any other kind of lines. Coalitional feminism is essential—"politics that organizes with other groups based on their shared (but differing) experiences of oppression, rather than their specific identity"—the opposite of identity politics, which revolve around one identity at a time (University of Massachusetts, 2017).

Unity can be difficult when some groups consider their aims fundamentally at odds, but tearing each other down rather than working to tear down the walls that separate the marginalised from the mainstream is just wasted energy. So while the wave structure can be useful when talking about different "main" events in the historical record of feminist activism, ultimately it just attempts to neatly compartmentalise something that has always been vast and complex and noisy. Feminism's nuances are part of its legacy. If there is anything that all feminisms have in common, it is that we have always been a thorn in the side of the establishment.

Vox as a media corporation is a bit left-leaning, but feminism also tends to be left-leaning. Their niche is in explaining political and social goings-on to a lay-public who may not be keeping up with all the news regarding any given topic. Their sources are credible and their reliability is rated highly by Ad Fontes Media and Media Bias/Fact Check.

[1,432 words]

Grady, C. (2018, July 20). The waves of feminism, and why people keep fighting over them, explained. Vox. https://www.vox.com/2018/3/20/16955588/feminism-waves-explained-first-second-third-fourth

“Introduction to Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies” by University of Massachusetts, 2017. CC BY Creative Commons Attribution 4.0.

(http://openbooks.library.umass.edu/introwgss/)

[jjarcc]

Brokeback Mountain and Brandon Teena

i think for me, growing up where i grew up was both good and bad. i spent a large portion of my childhood lonely, i felt isolated from other people no matter if they where adults or children. where i live its what i’ll call “the most souther” part of the midwest, we have the poverty and ideology of small-town southern america even deep into the city, and so i often find myself relating more to LGBT characters from movies set in the south rather than the cities in the north/east.

for me, Brokeback mouton really spoke to my heart. the large about of terror both men had for loving each other, the way the wives reacted when they realized their husbands where in love with one another, the movie in its whole.

the movie goes deeper than two repressed gay men having a beer and fuck once a year, the movies dives deeper into showing us the fear these men had. jacks pain and longing to be with ennis, while ennis was so scared of the idea of loving him openly that his emotions where completely shut off and absent throughout their relationship.

when ennis was young, his father had showed him some horrible shit- a gay man from their town bloody, mutilated and dead. jack never knew of this, but i believe that was the root of Dennis’s fear. he didn’t want that to be jack; or himself.

he had probably known, and likely his father too, and thats why they decided to add that into the movie. that particular scene was one of the most striking and powerful for me.

jacks family, however emotionless they where, where not like ennis’s. however, he had a lot of internalized turmoil. the turmoil turning to great frustration as time went on.

over the 20 years in their relationship, there was a lot of lying, tension, and even agony. all because of what? their fear of judgement? or, their fear of the worst; death.

when jack was found dead and ennis found out, i felt my heart stop. i felt that pain in that moment, that crushing pain that ennis felt. all his fears had come true. in a frantic frenzy to find out what happened, he called his lovers widow, and she then (as i assume) knew why her husband was always so joyful to go on those fishing trips.

the whole movie is powerful- and painful. it shows our terror to be ourselves, and shows how we often are treated.

another movie that i find myself relating to the most would be Boys Don’t cry, which is a film about Brandon Teena, a trans man who was murdered based on his identity.

(TW for some of what i talk about coming after this, there will be specific TW for when violence is mentioned)

brandon teena was born in lincoln Nebraska, which i don’t live 3 hours away from, so this one scared my pants off.

he had had quite a troubled childhood; his father died 8 months before he was born, and he spent the first few years of his childhood living with his grandmother, then eventually his mother. (TW) when he was young, he was sexually abused by his uncle, and eventually sought counseling for this.

in 1993, after some legal trouble, he moved to falls city nebraska where he first started identifying as a man openly, and then met Lana Tisdel, and some convicts by the names of John Lotter and Marvin Nissen.

in late december 1993 brandon was arrested for forging checks, and Lana ended up paying his bail. he was thrown into a woman jail, and his girlfriend of course questioned him on it, to which he said he was a Hermaphrodite working towards a sex change, and they continued dating.

Brandon’s arrest was put in the papers, and so he was outted. now, heres the fucked up part; his murder.

now, i couldn’t make myself watch this far into the actual movie, so I’m going off of a wikipedia article now, but i know it was bad. so TW for this part.

this is copied from wikipedia but ill edit it some:

During a Christmas Eve party, Nissen and Lotter grabbed Teena and forced him to remove his pants, proving to Tisdel that Teena was anatomically female. Tisdel said nothing and looked only when they forced her. Lotter and Nissen later assaulted Teena, and forced him into a car. They drove to an area by a meat-packing plant in Richardson County, where they assaulted and gang raped him. They then returned to Nissen's home where Teena was ordered to take a shower. Teena escaped from Nissen's bathroom by climbing out the window, and went to Tisdel's house. He was convinced by Tisdel to file a police report, though Nissen and Lotter had warned Teena not to tell the police about the gang rape or they would "silence him permanently". Teena also went to the emergency room where a standard rape kit was assembled, but later lost. Sheriff Charles B. Laux questioned Teena about the rape; reportedly, he seemed especially interested in Teena's transsexuality, to the point that Teena found his questions rude and unnecessary, and refused to answer. Nissen and Lotter learned of the report, and they began to search for Teena. They did not find him, and three days later, the police questioned them. The sheriff declined to have them arrested due to lack of evidence.

Around 1:00 a.m. on December 31, 1993, Nissen and Lotter drove to Lambert's house and broke in. They found Lambert in bed and demanded to know where Teena was. Lambert refused to tell them. Nissen searched and found Teena under the bed. The men asked Lambert if there was anyone else in the house, and she replied that Phillip DeVine, who at the time was dating Tisdel's sister, was staying with her. They then shot and killed DeVine, Lambert and Teena in front of Lambert's toddler. Nissen later testified in court that he noticed that Teena was twitching, and asked Lotter for a knife, with which Nissen stabbed Teena in the chest, to ensure that he was dead. Nissen and Lotter then left, later being arrested and charged with murder.

one of the real kickers for me, is that brandon’s grave is written as “Daughter, Sister, And friend”.

Because Teena had neither commenced hormone replacement therapy nor had sex reassignment surgery, he has sometimes been identified as a lesbian by media reporters. However, some reported that Teena had stated that he planned to have sex reassignment surgery.

JoAnn Brandon sued Richardson County and Sheriff Laux for failing to prevent Brandon's death, as well as being an indirect cause. She won the case, which was heard in September 1999 in Falls City, and was awarded $80,000. District court judge Orville Coady reduced the amount by 85 percent based on the responsibility of Nissen and Lotter, and by one percent for Brandon's alleged contributory negligence. This led to a remaining judgment of responsibility against Richardson County and Laux of $17,360.97. In 2001, the Nebraska Supreme Court reversed the reductions of the earlier award reinstating the full $80,000 award for "mental suffering", plus $6,223.20 for funeral costs. In October 2001, the same judge awarded the plaintiff an additional $12,000: $5,000 for wrongful death, and $7,000 for the intentional infliction of emotional distress. Laux was also criticized after the murder for his attitude toward Teena – at one point, Laux referred to Brandon as "it". After the case was over, Laux served as commissioner of Richardson County and later as part of his community's council before retiring as a school bus driver. He has refused to this day to speak about his actions in the case and swore at one reporter who contacted him for a story on the murder's twentieth anniversary.

In 1999, Brandon became the subject of a biographical film entitled Boys Don't Cry, directed by Kimberly Peirce and starring Hilary Swank as Teena and Chloë Sevigny as Tisdel. For their performances, Swank won and Sevigny was nominated for an Academy Award. Tisdel sued the producers of the film for unauthorized use of her name and likeness before the film's release. She claimed the film depicted her as "lazy, white trash, and a skanky snake". Tisdel also claimed that the film falsely portrayed that she continued the relationship with Teena after she discovered that Teena was transgender. She eventually settled her lawsuit against the movie's distributor for an undisclosed sum.[14][15]

JoAnn Brandon publicly objected to the media referring to her child as "he" and "Brandon". Following Hilary Swank's Oscar acceptance speech, JoAnn Brandon took offence at Swank for thanking "Brandon Teena" and for referring to him as a man. "That set me off", said JoAnn Brandon. "She should not stand up there and thank my child. I get tired of people taking credit for what they don't know. However, in 2013, JoAnn told a reporter that she accepted Teena being referred to as transgender in the media. Although she was unhappy with the way Boys Don't Cry portrayed the situation, she said about the film, "It gave them [gay and transgender advocates] a platform to voice their opinions, and I'm glad of that. There were a lot of people who didn't understand what it was she (Teena) was going through. We've come a long way". When asked to how the murder affects her life today, JoAnn replied, "I wonder about how my life would be different if she was still here with me. She would be such a joy to have around. She was always such a happy kid. I imagine her being a happy adult. And if being happy meant Teena living as a man, I would be fine with that."

Brandon, an interactive web artwork created in 1998 by Shu Lea Cheang, was named for Brandon Teena. The artwork was commissioned by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. Much of the site's content relates to Brandon's story.[36]

The British duo Pet Shop Boys released a song called "Girls Don't Cry" (a bonus track on U.K. issue of I'm with Stupid) about Teena in 2006. Vancouver-based pop-punk band JPNSGRLS released the song "Brandon", off their debut 2014 album Circulation, in memory of Brandon Teena.

boys dont cry was very hard for me to watch because i felt a sense of attachment to brandon, both in personality and feeling. i felt like i really understood, and it scared me.

both brockback mountain and Boys Dont Cry are amazing movies, if you can, check them out. they deserve all the appreciation they can get. 

#Brandon teena #brokeback mountain #LGBT #Transgender #boys don't cry #midwest

[lauraramargosian]

Ruby Rose: ‘Dreamt Big’ when she felt ‘so small.’

Ruby Rose: ‘Dreamt Big’ when she felt ‘so small.’

“I dreamt of being a famous singer or an actor who, through my work, could inspire others to be themselves or hang in there. I had no idea how I dreamt so big when I felt so small, but I know it got me through each day. I wanted to be the person I couldn’t find in my life.”

THE TONIGHT SHOW STARRING JIMMY FALLON — Episode 0910 — Pictured: (l-r) Actress Ruby Rose during an interview with host Jimmy Fallon on August 8, 2018 — (Photo by: Andrew Lipovsky/NBC)

Learning about Ruby Rose is quite inspiring, the way she rose to fame to inspiring millions of people through her actions is nothing less than inspiration.

Ruby Rose Langenheim is her full name and Rose was born in Melbourne to Katia Langenheim.

Katia Langenheim was a single mother at the time and Ruby truly describes her mother as a huge inspiration and role model.

She truly is one inspiring mama!

Further, Ruby was able to attend University High School and Footscray City College.

Isn’t it true that college students often change career paths?

It’s amazing how hard Ruby Rose worked her way to the top, from Orange Is the New Black, Pitch Perfect to Batwoman.

The lack of women starring in high-budget films has increased and that alone is inspiring to see, it’s history right in front of our eyes, I mean, she’s making history every single day.

Let’s take a deeper dive into her life, her story truly inspires those who are having a hard time with situations in life.

Facts about Ruby Rose and being gender-neutral.

rubyrose This was fun, beautiful, Inspiring and an honor. @entertainmentweekly 

Pride

Love

Hope

She was the goddaughter of indigenous Australian boxer Lionel Rose and the great-granddaughter of Alec Campbell [the last surviving soldier from the Australian Battle of Gallipoli].

Inspiringly, Ruby came out as a lesbian when she was 12-years-old. In fact, her sexuality was a cause of bullying, including verbal and physical abuse from schoolmates.

Sadly, this even led her to a suicide attempt.

The truth is hard to digest but the world would not be as great as it is without her presence. Many things attributed to Ruby suffering from depression [like many other people in the world].

Of equal importance, Rose opened up about her sexuality growing up, sharing how she was saving money to transition from female to male.

“It was in my mind as something I wanted to do and then I just… didn’t. I guess I grew out of it. I even used to sleep on my front because I didn’t want to get boobs ever, which I think worked actually.”

Ultimately leading her to discover androgyny, which allowed her to model with different gender expressions.

“I remember being at a yum cha restaurant with my dad and the owner coming up and saying, ‘Excuse me, we’re trying to work out if you’re a handsome boy or a beautiful girl.’ It was a compliment and I was shocked, and when I thought about it I actually wanted to be a handsome boy.”

Presently, Ruby Rose is genderfluid, sharing

LOVELOUD 2019: Positive Celebrity review! Oh, the emotions, performance, and survivors!

“I am very gender fluid and feel more like I wake up everyday sort of gender-neutral. I think at this stage I will stay a woman but … who knows. I’m so comfortable right now I feel wonderful about it, but I also fluctuate a lot.”

All that matters is that she is comfortable and inspiring others to feel the same, as well as to be proud of who they are inside and on the outside.

Isn’t it great that her short film “Break Free,” literally opened a whole new world not only for herself but for her viewers, those she truly wanted to inspire with her short?

Buzzfeed shared a great article about her short-film and how it was made to inspire others to “break free,” from gender identities.

“With over 100,000 shares and 80,000 likes on Facebook – the film, written and produced by Rose herself – has a lot of people talking. She posted the project along with this brief description.

“A short film about gender roles, Trans, and what it is like to have an identity that deviates from the status quo.”

Unfortunately, not one soul in the universe can please every person alive. In fact, after the project dropped, the gorgeous model spoke up bluntly on issues of bullying within the LGBTQ community, right on her Facebook page.

“You know what needs to stop just as much as homophobia, bullying within the LGBT Community…

A ‘bisexual’ isn’t just greedy.. ‘Pansexual’ exists and isn’t a cop-out.. ‘Straight’ people can be gay huge advocates and blessings to the community…

You can identify as trans without surgery, you can be gender fluid…

Pride 2019: Daya was not afraid to open up about her sexuality!

in fact, guess what… you can be whoever you are and like whoever you like and WE should spread the love and acceptance we constantly say we don’t receive. I will delete any inter fan/follower bullying.. because it’s so backward and does not belong on my page.”

Lastly, she shared how this is her story [even though there were those who still complained about how she chose to share her story].

“In this film, I am telling my story which involved bandaging my breasts in the ’90s. I had no education on the harm Ace bandages cause as I was just a kid. I do not recommend anyone trying to tape down their breasts to use them.”

6 celebrity LGBTQ trailblazers on growing up, coming out, and living proud in Hollywood

Honestly, to those who have a problem with how Ruby Rose decided to approach her life, her choices, her sexuality, her visions for film and modeling…

Well, they can just take a seat in the back because negativity will never have a positive outcome.

So, in turn, why not leave the world better than you found it?

For instance, why not take a stand and tell your story, it doesn’t have to be the same as Ruby Rose’s “Break Free.”

In fact, it shouldn’t be the same, we all have a different path.

Are you ready for an honest ending?

Ruby freakin’ Rose has likely become the female crush of those who are even straight, I mean, damn, she is hot.

Batwoman: First look at the trailer!

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Positive Celebrity Gossip - Laurara Monique

Laurara Monique is known by various celebrities as the youngest and kindest celebrity blogger. PCG has been described as a "celebrity safe zone."

Positive Celebrity Gossip - Laurara Monique shared a post.

If you're a 90s kid then you probably remember AshleyTisdale! She's such a positive influence and is always raising awareness and helping those who need it. *Raises hand* I can relate, what about you?

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Positive Celebrity Gossip - Laurara Monique

You learn something new every day. 29-years-old. Haha. #LifeHacks #DidYouKnow #Facts

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Positive Celebrity Gossip - Laurara Monique

"After hearing a quote from criminal minds about all the victims that get lost in the crazy press that surrounds serial killers, I knew that this was something that I really wanted to talk about. For example, even though Ted Bundy came to Utah and lived here, I myself could not name a single victim of his or say anything about them. I researched all 24 victims and found as much personal information about them as I could, and it was so difficult. Every single one of their Google searches brought up more information about their killer than them. I really had to dig, but I found enough to tell as much of their story as I could. The star of this video is their faces and stories, which don’t get shown nearly enough. Amidst all the hype about true crime and serial killers, let's remember them instead of their killer." Music is composed and performed by Sadie Anderson IG @sadieeesings Design by Stauney Segle IG @luckysegledesign https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Bc9Iw_C108

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Lost | Ted Bundy's forgotten Victims

After hearing a quote from criminal minds about all the victims that get lost in the crazy press that surrounds serial killers, I knew that this was somethin...

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#Positive celebrity gossip #celebrity gossip #news #love #positive vibes

[barbnamedben-blog]

Chris Crocker made a viral video called “Leave Britney Alone”. This video was made when Britney Spears was going through a lot in her personal, and her career life. This video was perceived with some homophobia and transphobia. Because of the internet and sites such as YouTube, MySpace, and Facebook, this video got a lot of attention from a lot of a lot of outlets. Chris Croker was a prominent vlogger on the internet. In my opinion, this helped set up things  for how the LGBTQ+ community is on the internet nowadays.

Nowadays, there is an abundance of content for LGBTQ+ members on YouTube. Throughout the years, there have been many different creators that can be looked at as leaders and advocates for the community. One of the first gay YouTubers I remember creating his platform and audience was Kingsley. Kingsley made videos revolving around pop culture and current events. He was not afraid to express himself, or his opinions. I personally saw him as bold, and extremely confident when he spoke, and it is something I admire. For example, in the video attached to this blog, Kingsley is talking about a woman calling police on family at a park grilling out. The majority opinion was that the woman who called the police was overeating. It was a public park, during the day, and most people do not have a problem with a family grilling. Kingsley addresses the situation, and provides alternant solutions other than calling the police. The moral of his video is that he feels as though people should get in trouble for wasting resources, and polices time. As a gay viewer of Kingsley for many years, he has kept a smile on my face and encouraged me to always speak my mind when things aren’t right, disregarding my sexuality.

There are YouTubers of all members of the LGBTQ+ community. Youtubers such as Kingsley, James Charles, Rickey Thompson, Tre Melvin, Courtney Revolution, Todrick Hall, and so many others provide a platform for the gay portion of the community. Gigi Gorgeous is a Trans Woman on a YouTube, known for her videos as vlogger. She has many Storytime style videos talking about different points of her surgeries transitioning. I believe this could create a community of it’s own. I think Gigi’s videos have helped a lot of people apart of the trans community. She gives advice biased off of her own experiences as a trans woman. This could help a viewer who was once in the position she was in. Because Gigi is also on Instagram, and Twitter, this impact could reach a lot more people. Viewers can share their stories among other views on YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram, providing support for each other. At the end of all of her videos, Gigi reminds her fans to “Stay Gorgeous” and ends the video. I certainty believe her fans do this for not only themselves, but among themselves. This provides inclusion on the internet for the LGBTQ+ community.

Of course there are many LGBTQ+ content creators on YouTube. Recently, 2 big names on YouTube teamed up, and made a collaboration series. Shane Dawson, a Bi-sexual vlogger, and Jeffree Star, an androgynous make-up guru, and business owner. This shed light on both Shane, and Jeffree’s personal life, although most of the series was focused on Jeffree. In reference to the article attached, Jeffree said he obtained his love for fashion from his mother. In the video series with Shane, Jeffree was asked what pronoun was preferred. The response was “whatever you wanna give me. I don’t care. No really I don’t. I wont be upset with whatever you call me”. He then elaborates, and explains to Shane that Jeffree is Nonbinary, meaning a gender is not claimed. Jeffree does have a boyfriend, and opens up to Shane reguarding details of that throughout the series.

https://www.cosmopolitan.com/uk/beauty-hair/celebrity-hair-makeup/a22621818/jeffree-star-shane-dawson-you-tube-documentary/

A sense of community between members of the LGBTQ+ community has certainty  grown online throughout the years. In bigger cities there are neighborhoods with predominately LGBTQ+ members called “Gayborhoods”. Here in the city of Louisville, there is a Drag Show Bar called “Play”. I have visited a few times, which hence the picture on this blog. Here, of course there are drag shows, and alcohol. As a member of the community, it is more than just this. It is a place we can go in a community, and not have to be a minority when it comes to sexuality. Personally, I feel on the same level as everyone else when I do go, from the Queen themselves, and the people I meet there that night. The picture attached to this blog is a picture of Drag Queen and I who I’ve sense made friends with. It is nice to go somewhere, where we can be ourselves without receiving homophobic judgements that we may face from outside of the community.

[heatherannehogan]

the lesbophobia thing

Lesbophobia is real. It's the prejudice, bigotry, and oppression that exists at the intersection of homophobia and misogyny. Let me say it again: Lesbophobia is real. Hate for lesbians is real.

However, it is essential to acknowledge and understand that the term lesbophobia has been co-opted by a loud and growing contingent of LGBTQ women in communities that share troubling ties and ideology with factions that exist inside the alt-right movement — worse, the dangerous dogma that's attaching itself to word the lesbophobia has found a new home at AfterEllen.

I first encountered the word lesbophobia in response to the post I wrote called Queer Women Take Over The 2016 Emmys. Her Story got a revolutionary nod for Outstanding Short Form. Kate McKinnon took home a trophy for Saturday Night Live. Sarah Paulson won for The People vs. O.J. Simpson. And Jill Soloway scored another victory for Transparent. On social media there was a small outcry that I hadn't chosen the headline "Lesbians Take Over the 2016 Emmys," despite the fact that Kate McKinnon was the only winner who explicitly identifies as a lesbian. (In fact, Sarah Paulson is on record saying, "I refuse to give any kind of label just to satisfy what people need.") The reasons the handful of dissenters gave for my decision to call the Emmys queer was that I am a lesbophobe, an espouser and executor of lesbophobia.

To be very honest with you, I shrugged it off. The most unwinnable battle we have at Autostraddle is labeling LGBTQ people in a way that satisfies everyone. It's such a constant struggle, we laid out an explanation about labels in our official comment policy. Recently on a Pop Culture Fix, I wrote about the new queer characters coming to The Good Wife spin-off. One of them will be a lesbian, according to the show's writers; the other's sexuality has not been labeled. So, I said, "The Good Wife spin-off will prominently feature two lesbian, bisexual, gay, homosexual, or otherwise queer-identified women." Just to cover all my bases because it was almost Christmas and I was tired and I didn't want to have to argue about labels. And yet, the cries of lesbophobia came in again. I got a couple of emails, a dozen or so tweets. Essentially: "Lesbian is not a dirty word! Saying queer is lesbophobic!"

So, on December 26, I tweeted something I think is a true, fair, and accurate analogy:

Yelling "lesbophobia!" when someone says "queer" is like yelling "war on Christmas!" when someone says "happy holidays." Come on, y'all.

A couple of days later, AfterEllen's official Twitter tweeted at me and said: "@theheatherhogan oh, agreed. It's like yelling "biphobia!" and "transphobia!" when someone says lesbian."

To which beloved Autostraddle cartoonist Dickens replied:

"AfterEllen is three weeks shy of transforming their website into an online support group for victims of wyt lesbian genocide. This is honestly the most ridiculously entitled white lesbian coated petrified bullshit I have seen in a long time. And if you don't think white supremacy has reached out its dirty little fingers and touched a few groups of marginalized white folks, well. Keep an eye on their feed here and there. Keep an eye on their former writers. They aren't just trying to Make Lesbianism Great Again… They are asserting their strength. They are erasing the visibility of the defectors. They are sliding their salty little asses into spaces and feeds where they must know they are clearly not wanted or cared for. I was never a fan of AE but this new image they're building for themselves is a little too Nazi-adjacent for my galaxy Blaaaack aaaass."

Dickens was, of course, correct. And her point was proven once again the very next day when an article blasted out to the 125,000 followers of AfterEllen's official, verified Twitter account cried: “Lesbian Spaces Are Still Needed, No Matter What the Queer Movement Says". It suggests that trans women and bisexual women's desire to be included in queer women's spaces is to blame for the decline of lesbian-specific spaces, which lesbians need to stay safe from trans and bisexual women.

That kind of rallying cry feels very much like the "Save Our White Neighborhoods" rallying cry of the alt-right, so I went on a deeper dive to try to find the origins of what I called "the lesbophobia movement" on Twitter. And what I found was more horrifying than I ever imagined.

A few weeks ago AfterEllen — which everyone presumed dead after the company that owns it effectively fired everyone, including longtime editor in chief Trish Bendix — announced it had acquired a new editor named Memoree Joelle. In October, Joelle, tweeted a Change.org petition that she'd signed called Take the L Out of LGBT. The petition is a direct response to a previously failed petition that called for GLAAD, the Human Rights Campaign, HuffPo Voices, The Advocate, etc. to Drop The T from LGBT. The most popular supporter of the petition is a guy you might know called Milo Yiannopoulos. He signed it, tweeted about it, and dedicated 3,000 words to it in a post on Breitbart. Thanks to Milo's urging, Matthew Hopkins, one of the main perpetrators of Gamergate, wrote a post called "Why #GamerGate Should Help the ‘Drop the T’ Campaign" on his personal blog. Hopkins called it "one of the most politically important campaigns of our generation."

In addition to signing and tweeting about the petition, Joelle commented her approval. When former AfterEllen writer Elaine Atwell brought Joelle's support of the petition to light, Joelle's comments disappeared from the petition, and so did Elaine's byline from the hundreds of articles she wrote over the last five years at AfterEllen.

The comments on the Change.org petition mention lesbophobia multiple times and equate it with trans activism, as do the subreddits that discussed Joelle's contribution to the petition. "Part of lesbophobia is hating us for our same-sex attraction, but another very big part of it is hating us for our rejection of men," one user wrote on /r/GenderCritical/. (Trans women are almost always referred to as men on this particular subreddit.) Another Redditor on /r/actuallesbians decried the "male entitlement and lesbophobia" of protesting the petition. "The moment we talk about your rape culture or your male violence we're 'transphobic' or 'biphobic.'" (The men in this comment are actually trans women and "rape culture" refers to the constantly espoused idea in TERF communities that trans women are male predators.) The lesbophobia tag on the blog GenderTrender is a deeply disturbing trip down an anti-trans rabbit hole. The lesbophobia tag on the website 4th Wave Now is horrifying; it equates allowing trans kids/teens to come out and live openly as their true gender with child abuse, ideas that are — again — shared with Breitbart and Milo Yiannopoulos. Reddit and Tumblr are absolutely flush with lesbians using the word "lesbophobia" to back up the ideas presented in these "Drop the T"/"The L Is Leaving" petitions.

These spaces that use the word "lesbophobia" to attack trans and bi women or people who use the word queer share more than than an ideology with Breitbart. You'll find them saying things like "trans women want to colonize the lesbian community." You'll find them using the phrase "SJW" (meaning Social Justice Warrior), a pejorative term coined by the Men's Rights Activist movement. And you'll find a lot of talk about how the correct "biology" is the thing that allows people access to the protections of the majority. And lots and lots and lots and lots of just truly sickening propaganda leveled at trans and bi women. It's very much about creating an in-group and scapegoating an out-group through tried and true tactics that have been — I'm sorry — utilized by Fox News and the alt-right for years.

I wrote about these things on Twitter, and you can read Dickens further unpacking them here and here. (You should read that last thread before you jump in here and call her "my black friend.")

Look, we didn't just wake up one day with an openly racist, openly sexist, openly xenophobic, openly ableist, openly anti-semitic president in the White House, appointing the leader of the most dangerous white supremacist website in history to his top advisor position. We watched blatant and unabashed white supremacist language and ideas slowly take over the movement from the inside. We watched the most powerful scapegoat the most vulnerable. We watched Fox News make heroes out of the white men who murdered unarmed black children and terrify people with their whole War on Christmas bullshit and equate all Muslims with terrorists. A Nazi didn't walk into the West Wing and have a seat; the slow creep of white supremacy laid the path for him.

Vox did a fascinating interview with former conservative talk show host Charlie Sykes earlier this year. He quit over Trump. But the whole interview is him agonizing about how, to him, the GOP had always been about fiscal conservatism and states rights and he believed in that ideological purity so deeply that he fooled himself into believing that's what the GOP was about to everybody, despite the fact that he saw the white supremacy and fascism slowly gaining power and momentum until it took over.

To realize, first of all, that you’re part of a movement that was not the movement you thought it was, that you’re aligned with people that you didn’t really understand you’re aligned with, and to realize that everything that you thought about the conservative intellectual infrastructure was really piecrust thin. You thought you had this big principled movement and then suddenly along comes Donald Trump and you realize that it was just was just the pastry on top. So I think disorienting is a great term. Disillusioning is not too strong either.

To me, what we're talking about with lesbophobia is a similar thing. Is lesbophobia a term some lesbians have rallied around to protest the prejudice and bigotry that exist at the intersection of homophobia and misogyny? Yes, of course. Absolutely. HOWEVER. I had to go searching for people using the word lesbophobia like that because my entire experience with the way the word kept popping up in my timeline and in my comments and in the comments sections of other websites was to decry the use of the word queer and to espouse anti-trans and anti-bi ideology. And that includes every single person who landed in my mentions on Twitter when I started talking about this. I did not click on a single profile without finding anti-trans, anti-bi language; or ask a single person if they believe trans women are women and have them say yes.

If you are a woman who is using the word lesbophobia to NOT do those things, and you're more angry at me for pointing out that it's happening than you are at anti-trans/anti-bi people who have hijacked its meaning, I ... I truly don't understand. What's happening at AfterEllen is terrifying me. Maybe the website is technically dead, but it still has clout and power and it's using it to push some really dangerous ideas about lesbian exclusivity, and those ideas are shared by a very loud group of people who use the word "lesbophobia" on their blogs, social media, Reddit, etc. to vilify the people (like me) who stand against them.

I don't want to cause anyone pain. I don't want to make anyone feel unsafe or unloved or unaccepted. I DO NOT BELIEVE LESBIANS ARE NAZIS. I AM A LESBIAN. If you truly think that's what I was saying when I unpacked these ideas on Twitter, I'm sorry. It was not my intention.

I do think, however, that it's imperative for you to open your eyes to how the word lesbophobia is being used to persecute and oppress trans and bi women in very vocal and influential spaces that have direct ties in ideology and language with the alt-right.

[engagingjustice-blog]

Can I Dismantle Oppressive Systems as a Privileged Person?

As I interacted with Mia McKenzie’s Black Girl Dangerous for the first time I found myself grappling with one main question above all else: How can I be an active participant in dismantling oppressive systems when I myself am not oppressed by the majority of these systems? I can only assume that many of you had similar feelings, as the majority of our class is white. I am outraged, hurt, and disgusted by the discrimination, oppression, and brutality that people of color, especially women of color and queer people of color, are subjected to every single day, and I want to help eradicate the systematic oppression that exists in our country, but as a white person, I acknowledge that I am incredibly privileged, and am often stopped from intervening by my own anxieties about overstepping my boundaries, about unintentionally being an oppressive force or overpowering voice despite efforts to be the exact opposite, or about taking up space that is not meant for me. While reading Black Girl Dangerous, I struggled to figure out what the best way for me to interact with, and consume, the information I was learning.  I struggled on whether or not I should even write out these thoughts; I’m not trying to make this about me, or about white women and their “struggles,” I’m honestly just trying to figure out how to engage with oppressive systems and inequality effectively and appropriately and how to embrace intersectionality.

            I am privileged. I come from an upper-middle class family, I am cisgender, most people assume I am straight (due to the heteronormative culture we live in and the clear stereotypes this culture perpetuates of what gay women look and act like and I don’t fit those stereotypes), I am able to pursue higher education, and I am white. I recognize how privileged I am, and I recognize that I need to keep that in mind at all time, but, like McKenzie says, “The truth is that acknowledging your privilege means a whole lot of nothing much if you don’t do anything to actively push back against it” (p. 112). To be honest, before reading this, I “acknowledged my privilege” in a really privileged way, similar to the way Fredrik deBoer talks about in his article ��Admitting that White Privilege Helps you is really just Congratulating Yourself,” in that the trend of acknowledging your privilege just leads to more problems because there is “endless discussion of acknowledging and feeling and admitting and occupying, [but] almost none of [this] amounts to what anyone might consider doing.” I “acknowledged my privilege” by using it as an excuse to not speak up about things. I would make excuses like, “I’m white, so I have no place speaking up against racial inequality,” or “I’m cisgender, so how can I adequately speak up for trans* rights.” I used it as an excuse for inaction. This is a toxic mindset that I am still working on dismantling.

I am still struggling to find the balance between using my privileged voice to reach a wider audience and speak out against oppression and using my privileged voice to overshadow or silence the voices of those who I am trying to advocate for. How can I “sit the hell down and shut the eff up” and not be passive in the face of oppression (p. 114)?  How can I use my “privilege to speak out against oppression” while ensuring that I’m not oppressing the voices of those who I am trying to speak out for (p. 115)? Where is the line? Can I show up to a Black Lives Matter rally to show my support of the movement, or, as a white person, is that taking up space in a place not meant for me? Can I speak to why it is important to be trans* inclusive at all events (especially those specifically for a certain gender), or will my voice overpower the voices of trans* individuals?

In “White Silence,” McKenzie talks about how her white friends don’t engage in her social media posts about race, and, in the follow up, says “Racism is your problem. Act like you know that” (p. 46). This, again, creates this conflict for me. I know that racism is not something that can be ignored, but I feel like calling it “my problem” as a white person is taking away from those who are directly oppressed by a racist society. I understand that I need to do my part to dismantle the oppressive system we live in, but I struggle to understand what “my part,” really is. If I focus all my energy on educating other white people on racial inequality and systematic oppression, is that enough?

I am privileged. I am part of the problem. I perpetuate oppressive systems. Knowing this is not enough. I have a bit of a savior complex; I want to fix everything for everyone, and that has caused me to be oppressive. In my quest to dismantle oppressive systems, I have become the oppressor. I acknowledge this because, as Sarah Milstein writes in her article “5 Ways White Feminists Can Address Our Own Racism,” “you can’t change behaviors you’re not aware of, and if you’re constantly trying to assure yourself you’re not racist, you’re going to miss the ways you are,” but simply acknowledging this isn’t enough. I need to sit back and listen when I am confused on where the line is drawn between support and suppression. I need to stay in my lane, learn, and educate other white people. I need to stop thinking I can save everyone, in fact, I need to stop thinking people need to be “saved,” because that in itself is racist and oppressive. I need to stop excusing and defending my inaction. I need to continue to learn, listen, and never place my voice above anyone else’s. I need to accept being uncomfortable, and I need to stop prioritizing my own comfort. I may not be able to dismantle an oppressive system, but I can start by dismantling myself. 

[trans-advice]

this article has been copied & pasted in its entirety in case there’s a paywall or future removal. however, please try to read the article from the link first so that the journalist & newspaper staff get their wages. thank you.

SaVanna Wanzer's We The People wants to bring the transgender community together to talk, learn, and celebrate

By John Riley on April 25, 2019

SaVanna Wanzer is setting a lofty but necessary goal: make May a month to focus on the needs and wants of D.C.’s transgender community.

A founder of D.C.’s annual Trans Pride celebration, Wanzer has created We The People, a committee of activists and advocates who will plan events that uplift the larger transgender community. Under Wanzer’s guidance, We the People has organized “May Is? All About Trans,” the third iteration of a series of events focusing on the transgender and gender-nonconforming community.

“As a founder of Trans Pride, I can tell you we’ve only had about 45 minutes on the day of the celebration to talk about issues in our community,” says Wanzer. “So by creating ‘May Is? All About Trans’ we now have up to three hours at each event to talk about an issue where we can get more accomplished.”

Deirdre Denise Gray, co-chair of the event alongside Wanzer, says that the goal of the month-long series of events is to highlight different aspects of the journey a transgender, nonbinary, or gender-nonconforming person goes through in their life and to provide advice and resources to those in the process of navigating their identity.

The month kicks off with a day-long summit on Wednesday, May 1, at Metropolitan Community Church of D.C., followed by a dinner at Busboys & Poets.

“At the summit, we’re looking to bring some great minds from the community,” says Gray. “We’re going to have legal presentations, medical presentations, spiritual presentations, covering a whole variety of topics for those who are going to be in that space. We’ll have different people from all different walks of life, who identify as trans, LGB, queer, allies, spiritual advisors, all exchanging ideas and information so that we can come out of it with what I call our ‘Points of Light.'”

The “Points of Light” are specific action items, proposed by members of the trans and gender-nonconforming community, that will serve as part of a policy agenda for the greater D.C. area. Gray hopes that by identifying priority items, the community can continue to highlight certain issues over the course of the next year, and speak in a more united voice about the goals of the community.

“We know some of the biggest things are housing, employment, and access to medical care,” says Gray. “But we need to think about what are the other things that we can look at as a community, and say that when one of us has a platform, to make sure we raise this point or bring this topic to the attention of those who we are in front of.”

As part of “May Is,” Wanzer has designated specific lieutenants in charge of outreach to specific communities. Alexa Rodriguez serves as a coordinator for Latinx and immigrant outreach, and aims to push for more inclusion of different voices and perspectives.

“It doesn’t matter what language we speak or where we’re coming from, we are part of the community,” Rodriguez says, adding that she hopes to inspire and create opportunities for leadership roles for people in the Latinx and immigrant communities.

“There’s a lot of barriers for undocumented immigrants coming from the Latinx community, the language barrier is really hard,” says Rodriguez. “D.C. is a sanctuary for all communities, including the LGBT community, and for the trans community there are a lot of resources, like Whitman-Walker or La Clinica del Pueblo. But sometimes, if we don’t have documentation that reflects our gender, it’s hard to seek out services because of the fear of being discriminated against or being misgendered. When we don’t have documentation, we cannot access health care.

“Housing is another issue we face as undocumented trans women, because if we are homeless we cannot go to the shelter for women because we don’t have documents that match our gender,” she adds. “And we cannot go to a shelter for men because we are not men, so it’s hard. There are a few programs like Casa Ruby and SMYAL or other organizations who provide shelter, but they’re restricted by age. We, as trans people, often transition as adults, in our 20s or 30s, so it can be hard to find resources for us because there are no programs for people our age.”

LGBTQ seniors are another underrepresented community that organizers hope to engage.

“Older adults and seniors in the trans community are a group that’s really been left out and forgotten,” says Gibby Thomas, senior advisor for “May Is?”

“A lot of the programs they have are geared toward younger transgender people, but they’ve forgotten about the older transgender women who paved the way,” says Thomas, who has been promoting the various events among her social circles. “I hope the older trans community can take away from these events that they’re not forgotten, that they’re still part of the community, even though we don’t go to the clubs anymore and do the things we used to do. We want them to know they’re still very much a part of the community, very much welcome, and very much needed, especially to mentor younger trans people.”

Among the events planned for the month of May are community discussions around issues such as addiction (Sunday, May 4), PrEP and forms of HIV prevention (Wednesday, May 15), and “Bridging the Gap,” a conversation on Wednesday, May 22 focusing on resolving the differences between the gay male cisgender community and the transgender community.

“I feel like there are some misunderstandings between the gay community and the trans community,” says David Moody, a straight man who serves as the awards coordinator for “May Is?” “There’s also misunderstandings between the two communities about what each other represent, and whether they can work together to build each other up as opposed to trying to tear each other apart.” Moody notes that some people may see the gay and trans community as competing for a limited pool of resources.

Amy Nelson, a legal advisor and queer lesbian representative, is hopeful that the variety of events held throughout the month — including an art showing and open mic night on Saturday, May 11, and a Happy Hour at Denizens Brewing Co. on Sunday, May 12 — will attract people to attend, while also highlighting the community’s major priorities.

“I love that we have a mix of events with different formats,” she says. “Some are strictly for entertainment purposes. Some are to socialize and have fun, and others are educational panels. Then there are events targeting particular demographics. It allows particular groups to have the unique opportunity to get together and interact in a designated space.”

Above all else, Wanzer says an important aspect of “May Is? All About Trans” is that the events are safe spaces where all people can feel welcome.

“It’s about self-pride, self-respect, self-loving, honoring yourself, loving yourself, being yourself, staying out and staying proud of who you the individual are,” she says. “But at certain locations you can’t do that. So at all of our events, we try to create an environment of love.”

“May Is? All About Trans” kicks off on Wednesday, May 1 with a Trans Summit from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Metropolitan Community Church, 474 Ridge St. NW, and a post-summit dinner from 6 to 9 p.m. at Busboys & Poets in Brookland, 625 Monroe St. NE. For more information, and full list of events, visit www.mayistransdc.com.

John Riley is the local news reporter for Metro Weekly. He can be reached at [email protected]

#we the people #news #resources #information campaign #washington d.c. #lgbtqia community #community activism #trans agenda #local events #this article has been copied & pasted in its entirety in case of a paywall or a future removal. please click the link so they get revenue

[aioinstagram]

Transgender Giuliana ist das erste Transgender-Cover-Model is Trending on Wednesday January 10 2018 http://www.aioinstagram.com/transgender-giuliana-ist-das-erste-transgender-cover-model-is-trending-on-wednesday-january-10-2018/

20 Minuten says: Giuliana ist das erste Transgender-Cover-Model BLICK.CH says: Beim ersten Date oute ich mich nie

Top 2 articles about Transgender:

Giuliana ist das erste Transgender-Cover-Model. Giuliana Farfalla war 2017 schon das erste Transgender-Model bei «Germanys Next Topmodel». Nun feiert sie als «Playboy»-Covergirl Premiere. Bildstrecke im Grossformat ». 1|10. Vielen dürfte Giuliana Erstes Transgender-Model begeistert auf dem deutschen «Playboy»-Cover Beim ersten Date oute ich mich nie. Ex-«Germanys Next Topmodel»-Teilnehmerin Giuliana Farfalla zieht in wenigen Tagen ins RTL-Dschungelcamp – vorher lässt sie für den «Playboy» noch

Trending Images of Transgender on Instagram:

This Transgender’s photo Trending 1 on Instagram, Photo credit to Instagram

Description: #لطفا_پیج_رو_به_دوستان_تون_معرفی_کنید #دوستانتون_رو_تگ_کنید_تا_لذت_ببرند #لایک_کامنت_یادت_نره #عکس_های_خودتون_را_با_ذکر_مشخصات_دایرکت_کنید #عکس_های_خودتون_را_با_ذکر_مشخصات_دایرکت_کنید #instatravel #instagram #transgender #shekar_va_tabiat2 #shekar_aks #travel #clup #clip #beautiful #hunting #hunter

This Transgender’s photo Trending 2 on Instagram, Photo credit to Instagram

Description: Starting T(testosterone) today has been the most amazing and optimistic experience I have ever had. These past few years of self discovery have been long hard and beautiful. I’m finally ready to become the person I’ve always been. If you know me, you probably always knew who I was. It just took me a while to really understand and love that part of me. Thanks to everyone who has ever spent time with me, made me laugh, told me you loved me or taught me a lesson. Not all of us make it to the finish line because of how harsh the world is but I can always say that I’ve been embraced and loved the entire way. I look forward to this journey to my true self and sharing it with everyone I know and love. If anyone has any questions or wants to just get educated on what I’m going through/ other trans individuals I am very open and eager to educate people around me who want to listen. Without sitting down and having conversations together we will never truly understand. Love y’all. Forever grateful. Follow my blog @thegenderlessvoid for updates Unapologetically yours, Cam ****. P.S. hey/they pronouns only please and cam or Mac are the names I will respond positively too. Thank you

This Transgender’s photo Trending 3 on Instagram, Photo credit to Instagram

Description: 2015 vs 2018. I’ve been on Testosterone for 1 year and 8 months as of January and I thought I’d share some of my progress for #transformationtuesday I spent 30 years on autopilot. Almost two years ago, I finally knew what true inner happiness felt like. As I transition further, that feeling only amplifies. I spent such a long time feeling like an accident in this world; a waste of space aimlessly wandering this world until I die. I finally feel like myself and like my life has value. I finally feel alive. Never give up on yourself. If you truly believe in yourself, you can achieve any goal your put your mind to. There is always a way if you want it bad enough. It jut takes a lot of patience, motivation, and determination to get there. And if you ever feel lost or scared along the way, send a message to my inbox. I may not respond right away, but I will respond. Stay Gold, friends. #artist #artistsoninstagram #bodytransformation #bodypositive #bodygoals #bodypositivity #bodyconfidence #ftm #ftmartist #ftmtransgender #ftmfitness #ftmofinstagram #fitness #fitnessjourney #goals #lgbt #lgbtcommunity #lgbtsupport #selfmade #selfmademan #selfmademen #trans #transman #transgender #transisbeautiful #transmale #transmen #transmenofinstagram #transmenofig

This Transgender’s photo Trending 4 on Instagram, Photo credit to Instagram

Description: Embrace the journey. Do not stuff your past into a box and tuck it under your bed. You are here because you brought yourself here. Because you chose to stay, because you chose to fight to stay alive, because you didn’t want to give up and die in a tomb of a body. This is worth celebrating. Never be ashamed. #trans #transgender #femaletomale #hrt #thisiswhattranslookslike #transisbeautiful

This Transgender’s photo Trending 5 on Instagram, Photo credit to Instagram

Description: Creep’n on bae.. yes, I’m a little obsessed xo.. #bae #creep #love #future #goals #makeup #lashes #sephora #brows #blueeyes #lips #selfie #transgender #trans #transgirl #transpride #tgirl #tgirls #transgenderwoman #transisbeautiful #mtf #hormones #hrt

This Transgender’s photo Trending 6 on Instagram, Photo credit to Instagram

Description: Haven’t posted since the first of the year! Figured I could show my face! #transgender #ftm #ftmtransgender #transpoc

This Transgender’s photo Trending 7 on Instagram, Photo credit to Instagram

Description: Was on Victoria Derbyshire at BBC2 this morning talking about no platforming – it went quite well despite the fact that one of the other interviewee has literally said she’d punch trans people and has advocated against the GRA reform. She was there because she was disinvited to speak at a university because of her abhorrent views. Seems quite basic to me that if you’re hateful, people ain’t going to invite you places. Watch the interview here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BhDrZykx1E #trans #transgender #nonbinary #nonbinarytrans #transrightsarehumanrights #activism #transactivism #victoriaderbyshire #bbc2 #thisiswhattranslookslike #thisiswhatnonbinarylookslike #nohatespeech #nohate #queer #lgbt #lgbtqia

This Transgender’s photo Trending 8 on Instagram, Photo credit to Instagram

Description: 2011 vs 2018 (20 months on T) a lifetime and several tattoos later I’m a much better man because of it. #transformationtuesday #trans #transgender #ftm #changes #growth #difference #positivevibes #testosterone #vitaminT

This Transgender’s photo Trending 9 on Instagram, Photo credit to Instagram

Description: What I want #lgbt #lesbian #gay #bisexual #transgender #girls #girlskissingirls

#Trendings #bachelor 2018 kandidatinnen #genuine and transgender #ginuwine and transgender #ginuwine