#‘gay’ being an umbrella term here

[weirdgirlvampire]

I feel like the whole bi/gay thing is like the square/rhombus thing. Like being bisexual is gay but not every gay person is bisexual

[brainrotcharacters]

i multitask (i enjoy romantic and/or platonic poolverine)

[slothxio]

my favorite genre of men is gay, depraved, and covered in blood

[joycrispy]

Gideon and Crowley could not be more different as characters but I do think it's funny that we currently have TWO golden-eyed redheaded goths with iconic dark sunglasses, who pretend to be sardonic and impervious but are actually the saddest beings in their respective worlds, who were both fucked over by Actual God and estranged from their (enemies-to) lovers (who are themselves something Holy and who have vanished into Hell/Heaven).

Also they are both gay.

[jellybeanium124]

it's because you're thinking about that old gay autistic man

[nuvomica]

sometimes i look at the whole Thing that western gay culture got goin on and just. man. none of that's for me bro idk

[wadesprincessboy]

Yall remember that one person on tiktok who presented very "traditionally masculine" (my apologies, i dont know how better to describe them) and identified as a genderfluid lesbian, and assholes bullied her off the internet? I think about them a lot. I hope shes doing ok.

[piplupod]

that question is sparked by me seeing a very obnoxious (i.e. eyestrain to the point of inducing a headache) dni banner that lists "bi lesbians" on it and I look at the person's carrd and they have "anti-neopronoun/xenogender/mogai" listed right underneath "bi lesbians/lesboys/etc and supporters"

and i am just. feeling a little crazy. because i genuinely do not understand this fsdjkl i feel like... if you are supportive of xenogenders then you should understand gender is complex and doesn't line up nicely with sexuality labels sometimes so you have to twist things to make them fit right for you and your internal experience... this is why we have cool labels like cloudgender and stargender and all that fun stuff!! these labels are cool! they are good! so why suddenly are we saying that lesbians and gays who do not fit the traditional "i am solely a woman attracted solely to other only-ever-women" box are wrong and bad ?

i dont want to be saying horrible things bc im misunderstanding or straight up not seeing the issue though, so genuinely if anyone has insight please tell me because im so beyond confused at this point

[femmefitz]

Tim/Cassie was an invention of tt03 so it sucks but I must say the allure of two gay besties dating each other in a misguided attempt at coping with the death of their friends does get to me... I could have done it better is all 💅🏻

[thatkidwholikesthunderbirds]

So I saw these shirts on Pinterest and;

Queer siblings. ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜

[sisterjaniswilde]

I don't mean to offend any cishet people when I say this, because I have cishet friends myself who are very dear to me, but for the love of god if you are gay, you need gay friends. you need friends who understand that the trajectory of your life is just going to look different than theirs. you need people who get this and can genuinely gas you up and encourage you to keep going, to tell you that it's okay, because some days you're going to want to not keep going. some days you're going to want to give up and go back into the closet because life would be easier if you could just blend in. even if you think you never faced adversity because of your queerness, being any part of the lgbt+ community can be incredibly isolating when you don't actually feel that sense of community. when you're queer and your entire support system is cishet people, even allies with the best of intentions, you are alone. they will never understand you, not fully. if you don't have to take off the lenses of what society expects of you, why would you? it is nearly impossible for cishet people to see the lives of their gay friends any way other than the same image they were raised on: birth, childhood, teenage rebellion, experimentation, young adulthood, job, marriage, children, house, taxes, weddings and funerals, death. gay people often have wildly different timelines. deviation from the expected timeline is not bad, just different, but most straight people I know don't realize that even "I just want you to be happy" has an undertone of "I want you to be happy in the way people like me are happy, by doing what was expected of me." it's horseshit and it's a trap. do what feels right. be kind. love deeply (even your cishet friends). enjoy the grass. forgive. live.

[ruinpowder]

gay people are always being asked to tolerate the most heinous shit from people just because they don’t personally want to kill us like christians will be like “i think your lifestyle is disgusting and youre a deplorable pervert but god says to love everyone so i will tolerate your existence :)” and we’re supposed to think that’s a good thing because at least they don’t want us dead

[gothhabiba]

please predict the various stages of the “are parades gentrification?” discourse

[based on this post]

Around Thanksgiving someone points out that the Macy's Day parade (in the 1920s and 30s usa) can be analysed as part of a push against ragamuffin parades, in which children dressed as houseless beggars would go around begging for candy. The anti-begging pro-commercial sentiment that regarded department-store-sponsored parades as good, clean fun, while regarding an earlier 'folk' tradition as an annoyance and a chaotic misuse of public space (especially since it evoked begging), is part of a pattern of corporatising and 'purifying' public space in NYC.

Someone vagueblogs about how obviously completely laughable it is to claim that "parades are gentrification" (even though the original post never used this term or framing). "The Village Holiday Parade is extremely queer, guys. And it's obvious that OP is a white person who has never heard of Carnival." From here a couple side-eddies of discourse break out about the usage of the term "queer" as an "umbrella term" and whether white people can go to Carnival.

People start sending the OP of the inciting post mawkish asks about how much they love their local nowhere town's special Thanksgiving parade and is it really, really wrong to go :(

Someone makes a post like "it is so clear that none of you have ever read anything on what the term 'gentrification' means and are just going by vibes."

People agreeing with the OP point out the corporatisation of Pride. This of course leads to discourse about kink at Pride, corporation floats at Pride, PDA and "straight-passing" couples at Pride, &c. The terms "homonationalism" and "pinkwashing" get thrown around. Someone claims that the very concept of such a thing as "pinkwashing" is homophobic since it ignores the fact that gay people are oppressed or something.

Someone is like um why are we arguing about whether Thanksgiving parades are good or bad while paying no attention to colonialism. Who cares if your parade on stolen land is queer or not. This gets completely ignored.

Some people argue that different parades in different locations take place for different reasons and promote different ideologies. This breaks off into another discourse tributary about various countries' Independence Day parades and whether nationalism on the part of an oppressed group or colonised nation is good or bad.

Most people however insist upon arguing about whether all parades are good or bad and take turns listing half-remembered examples of a parade being good or bad as though they are meaningfully arguing with each other.

At some point the discourse turns to whether Carnival is an example of "cultural Christianity."

The entire time no one will define what they include in their usage of the term "parade."

[anxious-witch]

I would like to talk about Edwin, Charles and asexuality for a moment and why I personally like hcing Charles under the ace umbrella rather than Edwin.

To preface, this is obviously just my opinion, and if you like ace Edwin, relate to him or hc him as such, totally valid! I am just basing this off some of the narrative purpose that Edwin's sexuality plays in, and how in parallel, Charles' seems to fit into the flavor of ace-spec I am more familiar with.

Splitting this into two part bc again, I cannot seem to stop talking. This part talks about why I don't see Edwin as ace, part two will talk about why I can see Charles being ace/on the ace spectrum.

Edit: here's part two

Anyway! To the actual reasoning.

Let's start with Edwin. First thing we need to remember about Edwin is that he was born and raised in 1900s, and so that some of his behavior, habits and the way he talks about sexuality can't be judged by modern standards. Plus ofc, added layer of trauma of decades of hell.

So his dislike for being touched, his inital reaction to being flirted with etc, can all be contributed to that, imo.

But let's look at why I think it's important for his character specifically to experience sexual attraction.

Given his upbringing, and growing up with what was likely lots and lots of shame and repression around being a gay man, Edwin seems to completely block out any sort of feelings or wants he might have around other men. (Which is why he didn't realize he was in Charles until he was forced into situations) With his added trauma from hell, in which we know he, at least for a time, believe he deserved it because of being gay, I think it makes perfect sense he didn't wanna acknowledge any of it.

The first hurdle in his path was, of course, the Cat King. Now, you can love him, you can hate him, but I hope we can all agree that what Edwin experiences around him is sexual attraction. I touched upon that in my analysis of their interactions and how symbolic it is for Edwin's sexuality so I will try to keep this short. The way Edwin gasps and looks at the Cat King up and down when he transforms into just a coat and underwear, the way he recalls their meeting with the focus on the wink, on the CT's abs, the way he stares at his lips at their second meeting in ep 4. I don't think Edwin has feelings for the CT, except for maybe last ep where we can see a crush forming, but before that? That looks to me like pure sexual attraction.

It doesn't translate just to the Cat King either! We see it when CT transforms into Charles. Edwin is stunned, yes, but I think him pulling away and saying "Stop it!" Very sharply when he realizes it's a game is very telling. Sure, having romantic feelings for your best friend isn't easy to accept, but to realize you want him, in a sexual way, for even a few seconds? That must have been devastating for Edwin, due to him thinking of such desires as shameful.

Which I think is supported again when Edwin is caught by Lust in Hell, falling back into his shame, and Charles pulls him out. Because experiencing lust towards another man isn't a sin, but Edwin thinking it is is what briefly gets him stuck.

I am also not very keen on making Edwin ace due to the implication of "oh, Charles could pull him out of Lust because Edwin's love for him is pure and not lustful" because well. Being gay is no more pure or no more sinful than being straight. Gay people can have sex and it's not more morally wrong than a gay-ace couple that does not. With the rise of purity culture I feel a bit...uncomfortable with the implication of Edwin only coming to terms with his sexualityis due to the fact he only likes men romantically and there is no "sinful' sexual part. I think it kind of...defeats the purpose of his arc, especially the part where he meets the Cat King in the alley and the Cat King holds no power over him due to the fact Edwin is finally at peace with wanting him. Because that's okay. He can be attracted to him, be fine with it and not let it go any further(for now at least, hence idk what they are gonna do with s2).

So yeah. Again, not faulting anyone for any hcs or fics, if you like Edwin as ace, totally do your thing, I just feel like Charles is right there, with much more interesting dynamic when we apply ace lenses to him. But more about that in part 2

[thyfleshc0nsumed]

definitely ignore this if it doesnt interest you as a question but i'm wondering, you call yourself a butch , does that mean that you feel attraction only towards hard-line women? i'm interested because i've long felt a kinship with the butch identity and the promise that it makes to the individual and the community, but i'm not sure if i'd be considered a lesbian, per se. i don't see gender as a factor to be considered in my sexuality at all. for context im 19 and questioning my gender and sexuality after coming out of a 6 year relationship (11 months ago now, haven't dated since.) and i've been trying to get different peoples perspectives.

-modestmasc

Hi, thanks for the question.

Others may disagree but to me, being butch is an adjective first and an identity second. Frankly, I didn't choose to be butch just like I didn't choose to be CAMAB. I get to choose to embrace it, I get to choose to find it a meaningful experience, I get to choose to call myself butch, and I get to choose to love my experience being butch, but I don't get to choose to be or to not be whatever it is that "butch" is.

So, are you butch?

There's a phrase ive heard a couple hundred times over the last two years: "you're a member when you say you are." I like this phrase a lot. If you say you are, I don't get to doubt you. If you don't say so, I don't get to doubt you on that either.

So, are you butch?

We have such a beautiful variety of experiences, and such a wide variety of ways we talk about them. Many butch people relate butchness to "lesbian masculinity." Doesn't land for me, mostly on account of the 'masculinity' bit. To me, being butch is its own thing. I don't consider myself masculine in almost any way, I'm just butch, whatever that is. It's not so much that I think those who describe it like that are "wrong," it's just not been my experience.

The word 'lesbian' in there doesn't function to say "women who are only attracted to women, instead, it just means "women who are attracted to women." Even so, I personally would disagree with the premise that butchness is exclusive to gay people (I say gay as an umbrella term here), I mean I've met some butch ass heterosexual women.

Certainly as gay people, our experience of butchness is going to be different than that of a heterosexual, but like that's true for every facet of identity that can be paired with butchness. My experience as a young fat white bisexual TS butch woman is gonna be different than a middle aged able bodied Black person who's butch, and their experience is gonna be different than an elderly Puerto Rican butch lesbian. But no matter what, we're still all butch.

So, are you butch?

I consider myself bisexual. No fucking doubt I love men. Doesnt stop me from being butch.

So, are you butch?

[reorientation]

I really want to be corrected as a t4t gay trans man. Maybe I have a trans boyfriend that I love more than anything, we're a very happy t4t gay couple. Until you come into our lives and change that 😵‍💫 slowly over time subtly conditioning us into being good dykes on our knees at your service. I want the only way I'm able to be queer is as a lesbian. You make us go from gay men to lesbians, but it doesn't stop there. You have to break us back into straight women, so there's nothing queer about us left and we're just straight like you🥺. Maybe we miss each other as the boyfriends/girlfriends we used to be, but we're just not attracted to each other anymore no matter how hard we try because we're just straight women now 😵‍💫 but maybe you'll still make us have lesbian sex for you to torture us for your pleasure. Being broken like this would be so healthy and good for me.

There's not really a difference between being a gay couple and being lesbians, is there? After all, sexuality is a spectrum and so is gender - there's a reason why people use "queer" as an umbrella term.

And I mean... come on. Were you really convinced that this was what gay men looked like together? Did you ever actually see yourselves?

If you want to see what a man looks like, come here and get on your knees.

---

You never really wanted to be dykes, did you? I bet that's why you were so hesitant before - you wanted to say that you were each other's boyfriends instead of girlfriends. Because you knew "lesbian" felt wrong, somehow.

But you really messed it up, didn't you? Instead of just getting your own boyfriends like regular girls, you decided that you would be boys for each other. What a silly idea.

It's okay, though. Now that I've got the both of you, you don't need to try to be lesbians or pretend to be gay men. You have a real boyfriend now.

---

You really don't want to fuck each other anymore, do you? God, I love seeing the looks on your faces when you rub your pussies together for me.

That's all right, though. Oh, no - you still don't get to stop until I tell you to. But it's perfectly fine that you don't want to do it anymore. After all this time, you know what you're really for.