As a reminder that good exists out there, a coworker recently confessed to me that he found out his child is questioning their identity (kid's gender redacted for this post). The kid is keeping it from him, so he can't say anything to them or show that he knows, but he's doing his best to get mentally prepared and educated so that he'll be ready whenever his kid does feel comfortable enough come to him.
For context, this guy is a big, bulky middle aged dude who loves sports and typical outdoor "manly" activities. As his coworker and friend, I know he's a kind and sweet teddy bear of a person, but his kid probably views him as a stern, authoritarian figure, the way most teenagers view their parents. His family lives in a conservative area, so I'm sure between that, their dad's looks and interests, and the fact that their dad is a Figure of Authority, the kid is worried that they won't be accepted.
But you know what? When he found out about his kid, the first thing he did was reach out to his closest queer friend and ask for resources for parents of questioning children. His biggest fears are that his kid will be bullied or discriminated against and won't feel comfortable enough to be themself. His second action was to find himself a mentor in another parent who went the same situation (kid coming out in a conservative town). The other person is preparing him for some of the struggles his kid may face and the fights he may need to take on as a parent to make sure his kid is safe and treated well.
Something I want to emphasize for people focused on language as the primary method of allyship is that when we spoke, he used some outdated terms and thoughts about gender and sexuality. That does not make him bad. These were the terms and thinking used about questioning teenagers when he was growing up and he never needed to learn more current ones. But now that he does have that need, he's throwing himself in head first because that's his kid and he's darn well going to make sure that his kid feels welcomed and has a safe place to be themselves even if they never come out to him.
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"Oh the media being biased/silent on Gaza is a conspiracy theory"
I am a literal journalist and this is what happened when I pitched an article to a magazine I write for:
We covered conflict before. We denounced PMs' positions as wrong before. But this is where the editor balks - anything that makes it look even vaguely like we might, possibly, support Gaza. Even if the article itself would not have been an opinion piece, but a news feature about events on the ground.
We have free press, baby! But avoid the matter entirely if you can. It's delicate and depressing, why would you talk about it? Don't rock the boat. Be quiet. You don't need to go there.
Self-censorship is alive and well.
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the problem is im so used to urasawa/satoshi kon/katsuhiro otomo men that whenever someone asks to show me "an old anime man" with no wrinkles no gray hair no big nose no different face shape at all i feel like ive been cheated
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sick and tired of seeing these ace trainers brag about their super smart badass level 100 shiny mons.
This is Sol. She is a fucking idiot. She regularly forgets that she is a flying type and sits at the bottom of cabinets n such crying cause she doesn't know how to get up. I would die for her.
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