#activisim

[kropotkindersurprise]

September 20, 2023 - Housing activists and anti-capitalists in Barcelona disrupted "The District", a convention / party for international real estate speculators and other vulture capitalists. The protesters covered many of the attending millionaire scumbag landlords in colourful powder, forcing them to seek safety behind the lines of riot police. [video]/[video]/[video]

[jordzyellis]

Invasion Day on Kaurna Land 2025 🖤💛❤️

[clau1r9i]

Hey, everyone. Just a little check-in. 💜

I know these past few days have felt heavy for so many of you, especially women and LGBTQ+ folks. If the election results have left you feeling worried, unseen, or even angry, please know that you’re not alone in this. This is a space where you are supported, valued, and loved exactly as you are.

Take time to feel what you need to feel. It’s okay to be hurt or anxious, but remember: there’s a whole community out here that’s got your back. Let’s keep lifting each other up, sharing resources, and finding ways to stay connected and resilient. Sometimes small acts of kindness and support can mean so much, so don’t hesitate to reach out—here or anywhere.

If you know someone who’s had an abortion, it’s best to keep that private. If you know someone is trans, keep that information to yourself as well. And if you know people involved in providing safe abortions, keep their identity confidential too—don’t share it unless you’re completely certain it’s safe. If you’re queer or have had an abortion yourself, only talk about it with people you fully trust.

Remember, being part of a minority doesn’t mean you have to be an activist. If being open about your identity feels risky, it’s okay to keep it private; that doesn’t make you any less valid or authentic.

For potentially sensitive conversations (like discussing queerness, abortion, organizing actions, or protests), use secure, encrypted messaging services like Signal. Stay anonymous online, especially for research or reporting. Avoid using regular internet services for this—consider a VPN (like Mullvad, which is affordable and reliable), use the Tor browser for both onion and regular links, and if you need to whistleblow, look into using a Riseup email account or Notion

Also, consider looking into genetic testing to explore possible eligibility for other nationalities. Adding an additional passport could offer another layer of security, especially in uncertain times.

If you’re thinking about moving to another country, go for it. It’s tough to leave behind everything you know, the people you love, and to adapt to a different culture, but your safety and well-being come first. Patriotism isn’t worth much if you don’t feel secure where you are. Sometimes, starting fresh somewhere else can give you the peace and freedom you deserve. It’s a hard journey, yes, but your life and mental well-being are worth any changes you need to make.

This is not the end. You’ve got so much strength together. Let’s keep moving forward and making your voices heard. You are seen. You are powerful. You are loved. 💪🏳️‍🌈💖

Stay safe, and remember that self-care isn’t selfish—it’s essential. Reach out if you need to talk; I’m here for you. 🌸

Kisses from a girl from Spain, Europe 💜 💜 💜

[the-catboy-minyan]

Random western leftists with no connection to the Middle East really do believe that they are single-handedly ‘freeing Palestine’ by completely refusing to work with Israeli leftists, even non Jewish ones, their most valuable asset because Israelis actually can make much more of an impact than they can (you know, from actually living in the area). They truly think that not eating from McDonald’s and harassing Muslim Starbucks employees by screaming that they’re traitors (a real thing that’s happened, ugh) is… helping? If they really wanted to boycott anyway, they would stop using and buying any technology, seeing as Israel is fucking huge in that area and that laptop they’re using to call for the slaughter of half of the Jewish population has a lot of parts made there. But no, that disrupts their day to day comfort, and obviously activism is supposed to be a side thing that never effects your real life. Meanwhile, harassing random leftist Israelis who are very vocal about wanting a Palestinian state but also don’t want their country to be completely destroyed is easy work, no bother!

↑

[trooper1023]

Open Letter to the Record Labels Suing the Internet Archive

We, the undersigned, call on the record labels and members of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)—including UMG, Capitol Records, Concord Bicycle Assets, CMGI Recorded Music Assets, Sony Music Entertainment, and Arista Music—to drop your lawsuit against the Internet Archive.

[enbymeaning]

Stonewall Was a Riot: Honouring Its Radical, Gender-Diverse Legacy

This weekend marks the anniversary of the Stonewall uprising, a pivotal moment in LGBTQ+ history that ignited a global movement for queer liberation. In the early hours of June 28, 1969, a police raid on the Stonewall Inn in New York City was met with fierce resistance from queer patrons, many of them trans women, drag queens, street kids, and gender-nonconforming people who had long been harassed, beaten, and silenced.

Stonewall wasn't the beginning of queer resistance, and it wasn’t the first riot led by transgender or gender-diverse people. But it was a turning point: a spark that united fragmented communities, radicalised a generation, and demanded visibility in ways that could no longer be ignored.

For non-binary, gender-diverse, and trans folks, especially those living at the intersection of racial and economic injustice, Stonewall was our riot. It wasn’t clean or corporatised. It was led by those who had nothing left to lose but everything to fight for.

At Enby Meaning™, we honour Stonewall not as a historic artefact, but as a living call to action. Today, as queer and trans people continue to face erasure, violence, and systemic neglect, it’s more important than ever to remember that Pride began as a protest. Our rights were not granted; they were demanded by those who refused to be invisible.

This post is a reflection, a reckoning, and a celebration. It’s about reclaiming Stonewall’s radical roots through a non-binary and gender-diverse lens, and reminding ourselves that we’re part of a legacy of resistance, resilience, and joy.

What Were the Stonewall Riots?

In the early hours of June 28, 1969, police raided the Stonewall Inn, a mafia-run gay bar in New York City’s Greenwich Village. But unlike countless other raids, this time the patrons fought back.

As officers attempted to arrest drag queens, trans women, butch lesbians, and queer youth—violently—people refused to be silent. Crowds gathered, coins and bricks were thrown, and for six nights, the streets around Christopher Street pulsed with protest, rage, and defiance.

The Stonewall riots didn’t come out of nowhere. They followed years of state-sanctioned violence: being queer could get you fired, institutionalised, or jailed. In many U.S. states, wearing "the wrong" clothes was a criminal offence. People were surveilled, outed in newspapers, and denied the right to gather in public.

What made Stonewall different wasn’t just the intensity of the resistance, but also the timing and momentum. The world was already changing: Black civil rights, feminist uprisings, anti-war protests, and liberation movements had lit a fire across the globe. The queer community was ready. Stonewall became a flashpoint for organising, and in the months that followed, new groups emerged to fight for the liberation of gay, lesbian, trans, and gender-diverse individuals.

Contrary to many mainstream retellings, Stonewall wasn’t a “gay men’s rebellion.” It was led by some of the most marginalised: street queens, homeless youth, and gender non-conforming people who refused to comply with respectability politics.

Their courage didn’t just open the closet door; it shattered it.

The Intersectional Roots of Stonewall: Race, Gender, Class, and Resistance

To understand the true legacy of Stonewall, we have to move beyond the whitewashed versions taught in (some) textbooks and parades sponsored by banks. Stonewall wasn’t a polished movement led by cis gay elites in suits; it was a messy, radical uprising led by those on the margins.

Among the first to resist were Black and Brown trans women, street queens, butch lesbians, sex workers, and homeless queer youth. Marsha P. Johnson, a Black drag queen and trans rights activist, and Sylvia Rivera, a Latina street queen, are two of the most recognised figures, but they were not alone. The riots were powered by the fury and resilience of those pushed to the edge by systemic racism, police brutality, class oppression, and gender violence.

Many Stonewall participants weren’t welcomed in white gay spaces. They were excluded, policed, and silenced by the very organisations that claimed to represent “homophile respectability.” At Stonewall, they took up space anyway and fought like hell to keep it.

That intersectional legacy is crucial. Stonewall wasn’t just about the right to love; it was about survival. It was about poor trans girls getting kicked out of shelters. It was about Black and Brown queers brutalised by police. It was about immigrants, sex workers, and those criminalised for living authentically. If we forget that, we forget what Pride means.

Liberation is only truly realised when it encompasses all of us, especially those most marginalised from mainstream narratives.

Why Stonewall Matters for Non-Binary Folks

Stonewall’s legacy isn’t just about same-sex marriage or rainbow crosswalks; it’s about liberation for non-binary, gender-diverse, and trans people, especially those living at the intersections of race, class, and disability, that struggle continues.

In 1969, there wasn’t a language like “non-binary” in mainstream discourse, but people existed beyond the binary then, just as we do now. The queens, femmes, butches, and street kids who led the riots were resisting not only homophobia but the violent policing of gender itself. They danced, fought, and lived outside cisnormativity, refusing to fit into a world that demanded conformity.

That’s the legacy we inherit.

For non-binary people today, Stonewall is a reminder that we have always been part of this fight, even when history books erase us. It’s a reminder that our visibility, our joy, our defiance, and our right to exist are acts of resistance. Whether we’re using they/them pronouns, creating queer art, or building mutual aid networks this is our continuation of the riot.

And in a world where gender nonconformity is still criminalised, pathologised, or mocked, Stonewall reminds us we’re not new, and we’re certainly not alone.

We must carry this legacy forward to continue empowering non-binary people not to assimilate, but to thrive. We must honour those who paved the way by creating spaces that reflect the full, messy, beautiful spectrum of who we are.

Who’s Been Erased from Stonewall, and Why That Matters

As Stonewall became mythologised, much of its radical, gender-diverse spirit was scrubbed clean. Media coverage, official monuments, and corporate pride campaigns often centre white cisgender gay men, leaving out the very people who threw the first bricks.

Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera were once booed off the Pride stage for speaking about trans rights. Trans femmes of colour, sex workers, and non-binary people have long been pushed aside in favour of more “respectable” narratives. Even in 2025, references to trans and queer people were quietly removed from the U.S. National Park Service’s official Stonewall monument webpage sparking outrage and protests from across the LGBTQ+ community.

Erasure isn’t passive. It’s political.

When we flatten the story of Stonewall, we reinforce the very systems it resisted. We erase the contributions of people who didn’t fit into cisnormative, capitalist, or white-dominated frameworks. We betray the legacy of an uprising that was never meant to be palatable but intended to be revolutionary.

To honour Stonewall is to name those who were there. It’s to remember that the riot began because people were tired of being harassed for how they dressed, loved, or survived. It’s to recognise that non-binary and trans people were not just present; they were central.

How We Can Honour Stonewall

Commemorating Stonewall isn’t about rainbow capitalism or cute slogans; it’s about action, reflection, and remembering that Pride began as a form of resistance. Here's how you can honour the uprising in ways that centre the people it was really for:

1. Support Non-Binary and Trans-Led Initiatives by Donating to Organisations:

The Okra Project

For the Gworls

Tīwhanawhana (Aotearoa-based)

Gender Minorities Aotearoa

House of Tulip

or, us, here at Enby Meaning™

Even a small donation helps support those continuing the legacy of queer survival.

2. Read, Watch, and Learn: Educate yourself and others. Share stories that include the voices of Black, Brown, Indigenous, disabled, and gender-diverse people. Suggested content:

Happy Birthday, Marsha! (film)

Transgender History by Susan Stryker

Podcasts like Gender Reveal or Marsha’s Plate

3. Show Up—But Be Intentional: Attend Pride events that are trans-inclusive, decolonial, and anti-corporate, where possible. Or support grassroots gatherings in your community that honour Pride’s activist roots.

4. Challenge Norms in Your Own Life

Normalise sharing and respecting pronouns.

Uplift non-binary voices at work, at home, and in your networks.

Push back on binary thinking in everyday conversations.

5. Celebrate Queer Joy: Host your queer gathering, wear that outfit you've been scared to wear, or write a love letter to your younger self. Joy is resistance. So is rest.

Enby Meaning™ Spotlight: Carrying the Torch Forward

At Enby Meaning™, we’re choosing to mark Stonewall not just with words, but with intention. By building inclusive content, amplifying diverse voices, and holding space for the messy, complicated beauty of our community, we keep the riot alive.

Everything we create is rooted in the legacy of Stonewall—not as a branding moment, but as a responsibility. We’re not here to sell you an aesthetic. We’re here to build a home for the gender-diverse, non-binary, and queer community that honours where we’ve been and where we’re going.

Our platform exists because so many of us grew up never seeing ourselves reflected in media, in systems, in stories. Stonewall reminds us that change comes when we stop waiting for permission to exist.

Whether we’re sharing non-binary travel safety guides, celebrating queer joy through fashion, unpacking gender identity in our blogs, or creating space for intersectional lifestyle content—you’ll find Stonewall’s spirit in everything we do: radical, unapologetic, collective.

We’re not just here to look back. We’re building what comes next.

This Pride season—and every season—we invite you to be part of that vision. Share your stories. Speak your truth. Connect with others who are walking this path as well. Whether you're newly out or long out loud, there's space for you here.

Stonewall Was a Riot—And Still Is

The Stonewall uprising wasn’t the beginning, and it wasn’t the end. It was a spark—a moment of collective power when those most marginalised stood up and said no more. That legacy lives on every time a non-binary teen finds the language to name themselves, every time a trans woman fights for healthcare, every time we choose community over conformity.

Stonewall was not polite. It was not safe. It was not palatable. It was radical, defiant, intersectional—and deeply human. That’s what we choose to honour.

This weekend, as rainbow capitalism floods your feed, remember who lit the match. Remember Marsha. Remember Sylvia. Remember the butches, queens, hustlers, femmes, and street kids who built this movement with their bodies and their brilliance.

And remember this: Pride is protest. Pride is power. Pride is possibility.

📣 Join Us

If this post resonated with you:

💌 Subscribe to the Enby Meaning™ newsletter for more queer-centred reflections, tips, and stories.

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💬 Comment below: What does Stonewall mean to you in 2025?

Let’s keep telling the full story—loudly, proudly, and together.

Happy Pride. Happy Resistance. And never forget: we’ve always been here.

[outsidethebeautybox]

How It Started: Part 1: The Fan Art

A little less than a year ago I started working on a webcomic with an aspiring comic creator from the Philippines.

I’d already released several chapters of my serialized web novel “Damsel in the Red Dress” at that time, and as we worked together on our comic project, this artist was reading my novel. 

For those who don’t know (which is probably everyone) my novel is about a Mexican-Navajo painter from Baltimore, Maryland. 

She’s a short, brown-skinned, Hispanic queen just like me, and one of the things that I love so much about this novel is how it gives me an opportunity to represent a different kind of beauty. My female lead is a heroine who (beautifully) lives outside the “beauty box” of cultural norms and beauty standards.

But, unfortunately, some people don’t care about representation as much as I do.

I’d been working with this artist for a few weeks when she decided that she wanted to do a ‘fanart’ of my novel’s heroine. I was both flattered and elated, and readily approved the idea. 

The artist asked me for a description of the character (so she wouldn’t have to go back through the whole book and piece the description together herself.) 

The summary I sent her was brief, but crystal clear in terms of color: The character had black hair and cinnamon brown skin.

So imagine my bafflement when, a few days later, the artist posted her “fanart” on Instagram and claimed that it was a drawing of my character.

The drawing she posted had the complexion of a Disney princess. I don’t mean Moana, Tiana or the new version of “The Little Mermaid.” She was Cinderella, Aurora, Belle from “Beauty and the Beast” white, and that baffled me and made my heart sink.

To be fair, the artist made two versions of the fan art. One of the versions had the cinnamon brown complexion I had described, and the other was fair skinned. 

I don’t mind people “reimagining” characters. The problem is, the fair-skinned version is the one that was put on the first slide. The brown-skinned version, the accurate version, ‘won’ second place, and the light-skinned version hadn’t been labeled an ‘AU’ or ‘Reimagining'.’

When I asked the artist why she did this she just said that she liked the light-skinned version better.

Sadly, brown and black girls have been swallowing similar sentiments for time out of mind, and honestly, it makes me so mad I could spit.

Maybe, after all this time, I should be over being bothered by this. 

Maybe, but I’m not, so that brings us here.

First of all, there is absolutely nothing wrong with having fair skin or making fair skinned characters. Fair skin is every bit as beautiful as dark skin. But my character is not fair-skinned, and people of all complexions deserve to be represented in the media.

In my opinion, it is absolutely unacceptable to light-wash or bleach anyone’s skin, even if that “someone” is just a character.

In my opinion, media is one of the most influential things in the world. Even when we don’t care about politics or the news, we watch television, we read comics and we watch commercials (whether we like it or not.) Media, especially fiction, has the power to influence our thoughts and cultural ideals, and that’s why it’s so important that we use it to promote equity and love.

Hence, this blog “Outside the Beauty Box.”

This is a place where we can learn about and discuss the realities of colorism, light-washing, skinny-washing and all other toxic beauty standards promoted through the media. 

BUT, it’s also a place where we can encourage each other, promoting self love and diversity-positivity.

This is a place to learn about art, music, stories, (and more) that people are using to promote this message that I am so ravenously passionate about: 

“The bodies we were born with are BEAUTIFUL.”

There is no surgery, injection, device, accessory, or beauty product on planet earth that could make you more wonderful or loveable than you are right now.

So let’s get to sharing the love shall we?

Let’s start with an introduction! Leave a comment and tell me what country you’re from. What are beauty standards like on your part of the globe?

I’m also planning to do some interview type essays/articles on this blog, so if you have a story you would like to share about your beauty experience feel free to DM me and I’ll interview you. 

People from anywhere in the world are welcome (and encouraged) to share their stories. This is a home for everyone of every color (except green.)

Whether you’re detailing the reality of toxic beauty standards in your country or explaining how you came to love the skin you're in, both stories are equally needed outside the beauty box.

Come sit with us. We see the world through rainbow tinted glasses. 

For now, have a lovely day, beautiful people!

[gwen-tolios]

As a queer author, I've worked with queer publishers and currently have contracts with two of them.

They're small presses, and I recently learned the person who runs one of them has been a vocal enough activist that last Trump administration, they'd received pretty serious threats and gotten the FBI involved at least once. And so, worried that the second Trump administration would be worse with less support, they're leaving the States.

It's surreal.

I know that had been a common, slightly hysterical thought amongst friends last time - developing exit plans. No one I know had seriously created one but the community I live in was some people's escape plans. Now I'm seeing people taking more extreme action, and I keep worrying about it.

I - fortunately? - pass really well. But my writing, while not overtly political, is from an ace experience (a minority within the queer community itself). I am political, and while I'm not much of an activist I do like to share information and resources. Data collection and data archiving, which I sometimes view as a part of this blog, is important under an administration that loves to control the narrative and censor things.

Companies and organizations have already taken action in prediction of Trump - such as Clue standing ground or the National Archives catering - and now I'm seeing individuals do the same thing. I'm wondering if I need to too, even though I'm a small fry. I was just complaining to my ace group that I feel sad I'm not always clocked as queer and they gave me tips to stand out; now I'm wondering if I should table the wardrobe change.

Lots of thoughts this week as the family gossip is around who we think voted for Trump, the news is starting to turn darker, and I'm building out publishing plans while staring at my decreased income. Most of it is worry, I don't have an action plan at this point, but I'm glad I've built up a stronger queer support network these past few years. I feel like I'll need it.

[ladymultiverse]

i absolutely can no longer watch brittany broski videos and find her funny anymore after the whole Palestine drama which sucks bc i used to love her and but now it all just seems so fake to me

[jordzyellis]

Some of my favourite photos I took documenting protests taking place in Adelaide in 2024

[disabledeldritchbeing]

FUCKING FINALLY

plspls spread the word on this, we were so worried about not being able to get an SSI if we're stuck in the USA and thank fuck—

this is huge

IM GOING TO CRY THEY MIGHT INCREASE THE SSI ASSETS LIMIT TO $10,000.

it's a bipartisan bill too! and for anyone unaware, people on SSI (which is different from SSDI), can only have $2,000 in assets (unless they have an ABLE account, which comes with its own rules). this assets limit has been in place for FORTY YEARS and is a giant part of why being on SSI keeps people incredibly impoverished.

i've also heard they might remove the marriage penalty but i don't have the spoons to read or explain it so someone else please add on!

this is huge! please spread the word and do what you can to help ensure this happens!

[the-bitch-in-the-tower]

Doechii Speaks Out at BET Awards

[trooper1023]

Dysfunction governance effects on us.

[mhacontainmentzone]

Hello my dear friend

We know we've bothered you, but you're the only one donating, and we thank you so much, my friend, for everything you've done.❤️❤️❤️😭

Thank you ❤️❤️

Please help this family, the crisis is far from over.

[gay-classics-student]

He's some gentle motivation to just do one thing right today , I dint care if you do everything else wrong , just do one small thing right

Even if you can't do that, that's okay