#African LGBTQ

[kinglucasmasalla]

[yourdailyqueer]

Frances Thompson (deceased)

Gender: Transgender woman

Sexuality: N/A

DOB: Born 1840 

RIP: Died 1876

Ethnicity: African American

Occupation: Activist, laundry woman, former slave

Note 1: One of the five black women to testify before a congressional committee that investigated the Memphis Riots of 1866. She is believed to be the first transgender woman to testify before the United States Congress.

Note 2: Some reports state she could have been intersex.

[hisblackai]

Trick Or Treat?

[pokimoko]

A non-partnering aromantic asexual crocodile for the request?

This little guy sure knows how to rock.

[sir-ballister-boldheart]

You get Goldenheart off that fucking list right now

[queerasfact]

Black History Month: Simon Nkoli

“I am black, and I am gay. I cannot separate the two parts of me into secondary and primary struggle. They will all be one struggle.”

Simon Nkoli was born in the late 1950s in the Black township of Soweto in South Africa. He grew up under apartheid, and first became involved with anti-apartheid activism as a student, despite negative reactions within the movement to his homosexuality.

In 1984, Simon was arrested along with 21 other men while protesting rent increases in the township of Delmas, a group which became known as the Delmas 22. While in prison awaiting trial, Simon was outed, and faced backlash from the rest of the group, many who feared that pulic knowledge of his sexuality would negatively impact the outcome of the trial. To the surprise of his co-accused, Simon received an outpouring of support from the international queer community, which in turn led to greater international support for the Delmas 22 and anti-apartheid work.

Simon was ultimately acquitted, and began work as a founding member of a new group, GLOW - the Gay and Lesbian Organisation of Witwatersrand - fighting for the rights of queer people in Johannesburg’s Black townships. Simon was diagnosed with HIV while in prison, and focussed especially on HIV/AIDS activism in Black communities. With GLOW, Simon went on to organise Johannesburg’s first Pride march in 1990.

In 1994, Nelson Mandela became South Africa’s president, marking the end of apartheid. Simon met and negotiated with government officials to ensure the rights of gay and lesbian people would be enshrined in the country’s new constitution - the first country in the world to do so.

Learn more

Image: Simon wearing a shirt with a pink triangle which reads “No liberation without gay-lesbian liberation”, and a pin reading “Silence=Death”

[queerism1969]

[sbrown82]

This performance lives rent free in my head! 🤌🏿🔥

[commiepinkofag]

Take Action Against KOSA

EFF Comparison of House & Senate KOSA bills:

The House version of KOSA could still: 

Suppress search results for young people seeking sexual health and reproductive rights information; 

Block content relevant to the history of oppressed groups, such as the history of slavery in the U.S; 

Stifle youth activists across the political spectrum by preventing them from connecting and advocating on their platforms; and 

Block young people seeking help for mental health or addiction problems from accessing resources and support. 

Lawmakers know this bill is controversial. Some of its proponents have recently taken steps to attach KOSA as an amendment to the five-year reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration, the last "must-pass" legislation until the fall. This would effectively bypass public discussion of the House version. Just last month Congress attached another contentious, potentially unconstitutional bill to unrelated legislation, by including a bill banning TikTok inside of a foreign aid package. Legislation of this magnitude deserves to pass—or fail—on its own merits. 

[gayanimaloftheday]

today's gay animal of the day is...

african lions!

did you know that one of the lions in that photo is female? some african lionesses have been observed displaying typically male lion behaviors and appearances, such as growing manes, regularly scent-marking, roaring, aggressively protecting their prides (heh), and mounting other females

[kinglucasmasalla]

[yourdailyqueer]

Chanelle Pickett (deceased)

Gender: Transgender woman

Sexuality: Queer

DOB: 6 August 1972 

RIP: 20 November 1995

Ethnicity: African American

Occupation: Entrepreneur, activist

Note: Death helped inspire the creation of the Transgender Day of Remembrance

[hisblackai]

Somewhere Over The Rainbow

[kaapstadgirly]

Yesterday, here on tumblr, someone reached out to me, seeking help. And now I am here seeking yours. I don't care about your opinions and views. The matter of the fact is that everyone deserves to be treated as human beings, and they deserve the rights of human beings as we all do.

Right now, we have a violation of the LGBTQ+ community in Uganda after its government passed one of the harshest anti-gay laws, which includes punishment by death.

Here are two Al Jazeera articles on this:

1. Displaced twice: Gay Ugandans on the run face upheaval in Kenya

2. Ugandas anti lgbtq law causing wave of rights abuses activists say

Yesterday, @annoyingpaintertragedy (please take a look at their blog) reached out to me regarding this. They mentioned that many of Ugandas lgbtq civilians were forced to flee Uganda to neighboring Kenya. But situations are just as bad in Kenya. They spoke of the Kakuma refugee camps where they now live along with many other refugees.

I myself am just now learning of this. But if you have any information or links of organizations that may help regarding this situation, please send them to me or add them to the reblogs.

[365daysoflesbians]

Zanele Muholi is one of the most acclaimed photographers working today, and their work has been exhibited all over the world. With over 260 photographs, this exhibition presents the full breadth of their career to date.

Muholi describes themself as a visual activist. From the early 2000s, they have documented and celebrated the lives of South Africa’s Black lesbian, gay, trans, queer and intersex communities.

In the early series Only Half the Picture, Muholi captures moments of love and intimacy as well as intense images alluding to traumatic events – despite the equality promised by South Africa’s 1996 constitution, its LGBTQIA+ community remains a target for violence and prejudice.

[queerasfact]

In 1617, Ethiopian noblewoman Walatta Petros left her husband to take up life as a nun. She maintained her Orthodox faith in the face of Portuguese attempts to convert Ethiopia to Catholicism, and went on to found seven religious communities, working alongside her life partner, fellow nun Eheta Kristos.

These images are from a 19th-century edition of her biography, the Gadla Walatta Petros, which was first written around 1672. The image on the left shows Walatta Petros being blessed by a monk, and having her head shaved - the traditional first step in entering into monastic life. On the right, Walatta Petros can be seen arguing with the Ethiopian emperor, Susenyos, who had converted to Catholicism, and placed Walatta Petros on trial for failing to follow suit.

Check out our podcast on Walatta Petros to learn more!

[Image source: The Life and Struggles of Our Mother Walatta Petros : A Seventeenth-Century African Biography of an Ethiopian Woman, translated by Wendy Belcher and Michael Kleiner, 2015]