queerbookdragon

[queerbookdragon]

Do not really know what to say. A year ago we were making posts about how Gaza was being bombed through Christmas- how the oldest Christian community was being bombed- how the birth place of Jesus was being destroyed and his people murdered. A year later, it is going to be Christmas again soon, and the bombings have not stopped. But the news, and the attention seems to have died down considerably. It feels terrible and scary.

[queerbookdragon]

[queerbookdragon]

I’m sorry but if there is one thing the Tumblr left needs crucially, it’s the ability to celebrate.

I remember when marriage equality was called and there were waves of rainbows and love wins posts. When we successfully defeated Donald Trump, there was lukewarm relief, a reminder that you were only allowed one or maybe two days to celebrate and then it was back to work. That is if you were even a good person for voting Biden. We never did settle if he was better than Trump. (We did.). We didn’t celebrate student loan debt relief or any of the accomplishments of the Biden administration, or any of the times Trump was blocked, or other countries succeeding in keeping fascists out of office. Who cares if we had successes? It’s not good enough. Back to work!

And this anti-celebratory attitude stretches back to the past. On the 100th anniversary of female suffrage in America, we were reminded that not all women had the vote and so we weren’t allowed to celebrate. The only post I saw about Juneteenth was reminding us that there were enslaved people who were killed instead of freed and therefore celebrating the end of chattel slavery was wrong, and besides, we have prison labor so nothing really changed or got better and there’s nothing to celebrate anyway. Trans Day of Visibility comes with Trans Day of Remembrance so that people don’t fill the tags with hate crimes and death. So on and so forth. Nothing gets better. Nothing changes. Back to work!

So of course when we have a major setback, we fall apart and have to start frantic damage control. Frantic discourse ensues over how much people are allowed to unplug before it becomes bad and selfish. Yes, maybe you can have this one day off Mr. Cratchit but you better be here and miserable early the next morning. Like abusive bosses always insisting you squeeze out more, more, more, and any achievement is just proof you were lazy the other times and impetus for more work.

If we are never allowed to acknowledge any of our victories, how are we supposed to survive our defeats?

[queerbookdragon]

It’s a good day to pay reparations. Natives may reblog with your own payment links.

https://www.herringpondtribe.org/

https://www.wampanoagnationsingersanddancers.com/

[queerbookdragon]

[queerbookdragon]

src

[queerbookdragon]

fashion is cyclical

[queerbookdragon]

NOT EVERYONE WILL SURVIVE "WEATHERING" this presidency. Help REhouse a Black, queer & disabled person before January!!

Four years I've spent rewording things in a million different ways to convince allies to donate even $1 to Black trans aid requests.

& it's only getting harder to do. Mem has also spent four years doing the same, fighting to keep housing (a ""human right"").

IN FACT. For ALL OF SUMMER 2023, Mem's A/C & fridge malfunctioned (and so much food was lost!!). The lack of support even in just sharing caused their rent to be 2-months late. Resulted in lease terminated...... I, already redistributing most of my min. wage paycheck, TOOK OUT A LOAN to help when they were still unsupported when asking to be rehoused. Proof below.

It was small, yes. The people I live with refused twice to assist with a bigger loan, threatened me by telling me they wouldn't help me pay this back. It didn't unhouse me so idgaf. It was a risk I should've and did take. Even a mutual fully bedbound by ME/CFS & Long Covid, also living with retaliatory people, still made sacrifices! To rehouse Mem who didn't have heat at the time, either.

November 2023:: Mem was rehoused into a broken fridge & stove. They were replaced months later, in APRIL. The repair-people harassed Mem about religion & masking the same week sewage water flooded their basement. & THAT WASTEWATER stayed there til MAY, permanently ruined winter clothes, their washer. Their furnace was out for 2 cold weeks......... Time, money, energy, FOOD all gone, again. & again their lease was denied renewal. Unfortunately, again: they're not finding support to be rehoused!

I'm paying back this loan unemployed with chore money, raising someone else's child, STILL HERE...

PLEADING for Black people to be prioritized like they were in May 2020 because NOTHING HAS CHANGED. Merikkka is still VICIOUSLY anti Black. They need $4800 raised in the next NINE DAYS

... to fund Dec rent, utilities, movers, deposits...! Their heat is shut off again, too. no basic clothes (a lot was lost in the sewage floods) & it's below 50 degrees.

And I'll draw a fuckload of commissions (please check them) of your blorbos if it means it will help clear this.

[queerbookdragon]

imagine if your boyfriend was like I can smell an ant. and started tracking

[queerbookdragon]

[Image description: The Destiel confession meme edited so Cas says I love you' and Dean answers 'There is an EU Citizens' Initiative in favor of safe and accessible abortion.' End ID.]

There is an European Citizens' Initiative which asks the European Commission to submit a proposal for financial support to Member States that provide safe and accessible abortions to those who cannot access them in their countries.

If you are a citizen of the European Union, you can sign a statement of support here. The deadline is 24th April 2025.

11 countries have already reached the 'threshold', I believe this satisfies the requirement that at least 25% of countries reach the minimum amount of votes. (Special congrats for Slovenia, which is currently at 1035.52% the amount of needed votes.)

Hoewever, we still need about 170,000 votes to get to 1 million!

[queerbookdragon]

fucking australia’s trying to get everyone to link their government id to their social media accounts else you cant use them anymore, the actual fuck is wrong with this country

[queerbookdragon]

There’s not too much point in talking about the election anymore, but I think some people are misconstruing the results. 21% of the American population voted for trump. He won the popular vote with polls only recording a 43.7% approval rating, and he has never held an approval rating over 50%, something that Biden and (arguably) Harris have. He lost millions of votes from 2020 to 2024, it’s just that Harris lost millions more.

All this is to say that there is not some ‘silent majority’ of trump supporters in America. While some people will definitely be emboldened in their rhetoric and action by the results of the election, Trump was a deeply unpopular president, and is shaping up to be one again. He will enact unpopular policies that are against the will of the average American, but that doesn’t mean every American is out to get you. Engage with your local community, check in on loved ones, and maybe even take a look at local political offices in the coming few years. If you dislike the two party system, volunteer or donate to a third party. It’s altogether likely we see another 2022 situation, resentment grows further against the Republican Party, and the midterms offer a lot of opportunity to alternatives, at every level of government.

It may all feel like the end, but it’s not. We’ve been through it before, and no matter what we do, hate and ignorance will bleed through the cracks in society again in the future. It’s going to get better, but that’s easier to say if we make it better.

[queerbookdragon]

thankfully i have not heard the phrase "big/small dick energy" in like a year but wow was it. bad. completely uncritically using the language of like Modern Conservative Masculism. beyond the fact that micropenises are an intersex condition, beyond the fact that transfems on estrogen and transmascs with bottom growth often have small penises, even beyond the fact that it's straight up just body shaming. "big penis=brave, powerful, valorous; small penis=weak, immoral, cowardly" is straight up just a thing misogynistic conservatives believe?

[queerbookdragon]

Activism is not cold-calling.

Activism is not cold-calling, and this is critically important to understand.

I'm seeing a lot of posts on here about 'building bridges' and 'finding community,' and then (extremely valid) response posts saying "BUT HOW??" And I'm going to explain something that can be very counter-intuitive: there is strategy involved in community.

As a longtime volunteer labour organizer, I’ve taken and taught many trainings on the strategy of talking. Something that surprises a lot of people is the very first thing you do in a union campaign. You sit down with your organizing committee, take out pen and paper, and literally map it out. You draw a physical map of the workplace: where are the entrances, exits, break rooms, supervisor offices. Essentially, ‘where is it safe to have a union conversation.’ Then you draw another physical chart of your coworkers. You sort out who is union-friendly, openly hostile to unions, or somewhere in the middle, and then you plan out very deliberately and carefully who talks to whom and in what order.

Consider: If Vocally Leftist Jane walks up to Conservative David and says "hey what do you think about unions," David is going to shut down immediately. He's not inclined to listen to Jane. But if Jane talks to Moderate Jason and brings him into the fold, then Jason is a far more effective strategic choice to talk to David, and David may actually hear him out without an instant reaction.

IMPORTANT CAVEAT: If Conservative David turns out to be Alt-Right David, and could be dangerous to follow organizers, we write him off. We are not trying to reach Alt-Right David. We are trying to reach Conservative David, who may actually be persuaded to find solidarity with other employees as fellow workers. Jason is a safe scout to find out which one he is. It does no one any good if Leftist Jane (or even Moderate Jane who is a visible minority) talks to Alt-Right David and puts herself on his radar. Not only has she done nothing to convince Alt-Right David to join a union - she's probably actively turned him against the idea - but now she's also in danger and the entire campaign is at risk. NOBODY WANTS THIS. Jane was NOT a hero for doing this. The organizing committee was foolish and enacted a terrible strategy to everyone's detriment.

Where you can make a difference is with people who will listen to you. You having a conversation with your well-meaning but clueless Centrist Democrat Auntie, and maybe gently helping her understand some things the media has been glossing over, is way more strategically useful than you marching up to MAGA Neighbour You've Met Once and trying to "build community" or "understand" them. They don't care. They're impervious, dangerous, and cruel. But maybe your beloved auntie will think about what you said, and then talk to her friend Anna who IDs as "fiscally conservative" but didn't vote because she can't bring herself to get on board with Trump. Then perhaps Anna talks to her brother Nic who has MAGA leanings but isn't all the way there yet. Proto-MAGA Nic would not have listened to you, nor would he have listened to Centrist Democrat Auntie, but he might absorb some of what his sister is saying.

This is not a cop-out or an echo chamber. This is you spending your time and energy strategically and safely. You are not a useful activist to anyone if you’re dead. Anyone who is telling you to hurl yourself directly at MAGA assholes like cannon fodder has no understanding of the strategy behind community building, and you should feel comfortable writing them off.

Last point: If you are tired, emotionally devastated, and/or in danger: take a break. This post is for people who would feel better jumping into action, not for people who are too overwhelmed to even think about it right now. You are worth so much even if you’re not actively Doing Activism, and your rest is worth more than “a break period so you can recharge and Do More Activism.” We all deserve the individual dignity of being worthy of comfort, rest & safety just on the basis of being human, outside of whatever we're doing for others' benefit. To deny ourselves that dignity is to devalue ourselves, and that’s the absolute last thing any of us should be doing right now.

[queerbookdragon]

hello again (bill clinton limewire voice) my fellow americans

There are a few states that actually have Shield/Refuge laws designed to help trans people fleeing from trans-unsafe states, which also guarantee trans folks access to healthcare. These states are:

California

Colorado

Illinois

Oregon

Vermont

Washington

Minnesota

New Mexico

Maine

Massachusetts

Rhode Island

Connecticut

Washington D.C.

Additionally, some states have "trans sanctuary" executive orders signifying safety for trans folks seeking healthcare. These states are:

Maryland

New Jersey

New York

Living as a resident in these states means you are protected by state's rights and state government to continue or begin receiving trans healthcare. These laws have been codified in their states so everything has been a-ok'd by their state governments.

Stay alive. You got this. I love you.

[queerbookdragon]

The upside is that there was an absentee ballot recount in our most populated and very blue county and it pushed us over for a blue Senate win. So yay for that because I was fucking miserable seeing the Republican win there too.

[queerbookdragon]

My wife's Kia got broken into again tonight (4th time since this all started) so they're without a car for a few days while it's getting fixed.

If anyone has a few dollars to spare so they can bus to and from work, I'd truly appreciate you.

Cashapp: $Thebeans24