#lgbt politics

[lgbtawarenessproject]

THE HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN HAS DECLARED A STATE OF EMERGENCY FOR LGBT PEOPLE IN THE USA

Please watch this video by Rudy Riggs explaining it!

Took uh, a lot longer to add this ID than I intended

Picture ID: A person with a black t-shirt, layered silver necklaces, several piercings, a hat, and red hair dye except for the middle section which is brown. Their hair is very short, and they are very expressive with their hands and head movement. Their visible hand has several rings, one of which is very large.

The background is of a beige room with a sign light on the left, a picture or painting on the right, and plant in the corner.

There are captions above their head and a title in front of their throat which only stays for a few seconds.

End Picture ID

Captions(slashes are used to signify the end of a caption):

okay so a national state of emergency has been declared in America/

for LGBTQ+ people by the Human Rights Commission/

but what does that even mean/

I hear you ask/

look it up for yourself/

but I'm going to tell you the top line facts/

firstly they have released a statement of emergency/

which basically just states what the emergency is about/

and why they have decided to declare one/

they've also released what they're calling a handbook/

which has a bunch of resources/

like different laws in different states of America/

as well as rights for LGBTQ+ people in different states of America/

as well how to determine access for healthcare/

how to finance yourself a move to a safer state or place and finding employment/

information for filing complaints against civil rights laws/

as well as a bunch of other stuff about how to identify rhetoric/

and how to oppose anti LGBTQ/

plus situations on school boards or in other areas of your life/

and then finally/

the Human Rights Commission have also released information for travelers/

coming to the United States of America/

which is pretty terrifying/

that is just the overview of a very in depth document/

so please go and look at it yourself/

this is supposed to be Pride Month/

and it's really hard to feel pride/

when human rights are being violated across the entire globe/

End Caption ID

Rudy makes a note in the video description that they misspoke in the video and that it was the Human Rights Campaign, not Commission.

Find the Human Rights Campaign Here

Please note that HRC is a recognized non-profit based in Washington DC. It is also one of the largest LGBT+ organizations in the United States.

[comet-soda-lite]

I have no idea how this upcoming American election will shake out. I have always been one to argue for strategic voting, lesser of two evils and all that. But Biden and his administration's active participation in the genocide of Palestinians is beyond "lesser of two evils." Like, it's just two insurmountable evils now. And I know Biden and the dems have always had blood on their hands, that they've been supporting these kinds of atrocities the whole time. This isn't anything new, really. But the absolute scale, the cruely of it all, it's just... I can't express in words.

Even if the democrats are the "better" option, even if logically I still believe a vote for Biden will be better than anything else you could do/not do with your vote (any right wing candidate would be doing the exact same shit to Palestine and probably worse), every part of me is sick with the idea of encouraging people to vote for him. I'm sure many others feel the same. And there are no alternative candidates, not even close, in a year where I feel like an alternative could've actually had a slight semblance of a hint of a chance.

I don't see an outcome for the 2024 election that isn't just mass voter apathy from anyone even slightly left of center while the right shows up like they usually do, and Trump is subsquently thrust back in power. And from there, I don't know? Either shit's just gonna get really really awful as the right executes a lot of the absolutely batshit regressive goals they've been unapologetically gunning for in recent times. Or the idle ideation of violent revolution I constantly hear being espoused from the left might actually amount to something and shit will get really really awful in a totally different civil war kinda way.

And in the end, none of this still feels nearly as important as the genocide in Gaza. Every domestic political issue I've ever cared about pales in comparison. And I know you can care about multiple things at once, that suffering isn't a competition, blah blah blah. But in the wake of Palestinian genocide, I have become so numb to everything else; it is a whole order of magnitude beyond.

Free Palestine. Free Gaza.

[blackqueernotables]

Tiara Mack: Rhode Island's first openly queer Black elected state legislator and the youngest State Senator.

[viktheviking1]

Not gonna lie, the trope of a cishet white man extremist republican trying to take over the world is so overplayed. I'm waiting to see the trope subverted.

Can't we have a non-binary, asexual, bi-romantic, socialist, indigenous person from the foster system and/or a poor family be the next egotistical politician who straight up says they will be a dictator?

[aclaywrites]

That people won’t vote and this nation will turn into a christo-fascist plutocracy and I will lose my job and my marriage rights and possibly my child. This is a concrete fear that’s not so unlikely. Please vote. Please vote blue no matter who. Please.

[fairfowl]

The person who posted this tiktok had this in their bio "safe space for all" bold claims for someone advocating for human experimentation

I hate it when people (especially young queer people) so boldly say stuff like this as if the US doesn't have a long history of doing unethical tests on non consenting (black and latino) prisoners

As always, if the state can violate one person's human rights, then they can violate yours too.

Incarcerated people are not always guilty, and in a world where state governments want to start prosecuting drag performers as sex offenders, I think we should be more leery of language and behavior that thoughtlessly dehumanizes people

And also

Someone can be a violent sex offenders who you hate, and they will still be a human being with inalienable rights. The two are not mutually exclusive.

[everl0v3r]

someone else has probably worded this better and this is inspired by various past posts i’ve seen but. in light of the palestine posts and the student protest posts i rb on my alt

being in the younger generation that i am, living in the hell that is the united states political system, i always think about how politics and oppression are intertwined and it’s so frustrating to me. i wish i didn’t have to engage in political discussion just to stand up for basic human rights, but the identities of minorities and oppressed peoples have been politicized so that my existence and our existence is always under review.

i am perisex and born female. i am trans on account of being agender and use any pronouns. i am aromantic and acespec, meaning i don’t fit into conventional romance molds. i am neurodivergent (diagnosed with ADHD). and because i am all of those things i can’t defend my own existence without involving politics. and me personally i won’t stop defending and uplifting because the system sucks, but i wish i didn’t have to do that. i wish there was no relation to my community’s peaceful existence and the world of politics. yk?

i hope i got that across clearly. lmk if i phrased shit poorly or anything

[emililyqueer]

TERFs try to divide and conquer women as a whole, whether they realise this or not.

I know my sexuality is weird and my identity is a little wonky, but i will fucking die before i see the rights of women smashed in this country like they have been in parts of the US.

Can you honestly say the same? Or is it just about hating trans people?

[a-continuous-cutting-motion]

Can we organize a march for trans lives on the DC mall? Please? We should be out in the streets over this shit but we’re not because we’re all so fucking busy trying to survive

[b1pirate]

So tired of us queer people just existing and the straights going feral, claiming we’re pushing our gay agenda on their kids.

[st4rving4rt1st]

Every day I wake up fat and queer

Every day I see a world trying to kill my community, my friends, my family.

I saw this coming. I yelled and screamed but no one listened to the 16 year old lesbian who was "paranoid" about fascism.

Now I'm scared to hold my partner's hand in public. I'm always hyper aware when we're on dates, ready to fight at any given moment. I'm knocking on senator's doors BEGGING them to not take away the rights of our community. Begging them to see us as PEOPLE. "Come with me to a drag story time, let me show you!" "Ask questions, don't assume. I want to help you understand!" But they don't want to understand. They want me dead. They want anyone not like them dead.

I cannot change the fact that I am queer.

I cannot change who I am. I love women presenting people. I am a lesbian.

The only thing I can control about me is my behavior and weight.

And people wonder why I have anorexia.

People wonder why I starve.

Look around. It's because I have nothing else I can possibly control.

Maybe if I'm small enough, fit enough, strong enough...I can hide. They'll look over me...and I'll survive.

[blackqueernotables]

Dallas Harris: Nevada State Senator

[puppybot-sister-robyn]

well the oklahoma house passed HB 2177, which bans gendercare for all minors and prevents insurance covering gender care for people of ALL AGES. This is unironically the beginning of a genocide

[aclaywrites]

Any politician who has worked against women’s or lgbt rights. Wake up gay/lesbian, madly in love with someone incredibly inconvenient, and then outed to the world to face the consequences of their actions. I want it to be awful. Horrified faces of friends and family, immediate loss of constituents, ugly graffiti on their homes and cars. Confessing their feelings of love and getting the words of a polite rejection from a person who is clearly disgusted and will never speak to them again. All of it.

Or Furiosa. Jazz up that forthcoming Mad Max movie with the hottest dyke romance ever on film. Yessss.

[lestcat-de-lioncourt]

It makes me fed up that certain people are still like Nope about intersex people and promote intersexphobia, and are that way, yet are fully onboard for identifying as they/them, non-binary, etc. I mean I get why, it’s simple genitalia hatred/judgment. Same with transition surgery of any kind, usually focusing on downstairs once again. What’s the deal? Likewise people behave like there’s no such thing as toys to the moon and back, which are getting more and more realistic which are absolutely amazing for trans people to use which may not be able to afford surgery yet that everyone expects trans people to drop £50,000 as soon as a person comes out whilst also saying don’t come out. Barely anyone but intersex people seem to talk about the topic of intersex, except the people who try and force intersex people into whatever they want intersex people at birth. A child. A baby. Yet people go on about their hatred of letting kids be trans or even take puberty blockers yet support fully altering a babies sex themselves at birth to “be more cis”. People like that are so disturbed yet they have the audacity to be anti LGBT+, what, being happy? Give me a break.

There’s actually a lot of the community that get swept under the carpet even by other LGBTQIA+ people.

[ravenousnightwind]

When I first came into the picture around 13 years ago with my partner, his brother had already had two young kids. Then comes me this weird guy in black with their uncle. They didn't know who I was, but they asked a lot of questions. They'd come to spend the night, and they realized right away we didn't sleep in separate beds like they've seen other people do.

We're talking like 4 and six year Olds okay? They start asking all kinds of questions. Like how come you guys sleep in the same bed? We're like cuz we're together. Oh but you're both boys? Yes we are. Oh..cool! And ever since it was just normal. The oldest even considered us married even though we're not because I'm disabled. Which we also had to explain. They even had opinions on that too. "You guys should be able to get married. It shouldn't matter.

When we went on a boat trip once, their friend had never really been around any lgbt people before and was like omgosh you guys are gonna be gay together!? Started to kinda get behind the oldest nephew. He got real snarky and was like what're you doing get off me! His friend then says that we're (me and my partner) gonna be gay together and then nephew goes SO!?

Sometimes, the oldest, who was six or seven at this point, maybe a bit older. Would be saying how he didn't think it was such a big deal for two guys to like each other. Didn't understand why it was such a big deal. Kids in school would say stuff I guess, make it a big deal at times. Told me once how it's not weird at all. It's normal.

Their mom actually thought it was kinda funny when I told her about the we're gonna be gay thing from the boat too. Which is how I found out the oldest considered us married. She said when kids grow up with people in their lives who are lgbtq, it's just a normal thing, but when they're not and everyone acts weird about it, they'll react that way too. Thinking it's unusual.

So we actually had a pretty interesting experience overall. The oldest is now 13, and he doesn't see us as any different. He hugs us. Tells us he loves us, still wants to be around us and stay the night. There's no judgment from either of the two. We only ever talked about it when they brought up questions. We'd answer and they'd just accept that answer as being we're just people who love each other. It was as simple as that. Nothing more or less. No inappropriate conversations or anything like that. Even from the rest of the family. We're just accepted as two uncles now.

Kids will just accept things, even if they ask questions it is fine. You don't have to explain sex. You just have to say they like each other. That's what we did and everything turned out. Nobody even bats an eye when we walk in the door. We just normal people part of the family. Nobody says shit about it, it's just normal. If people outside the family say anything we've never heard about it. We've even watched their neighbors kids before and nobody said shit about it.

Even my partners brothers wife's mom, who is very Christian, doesn't even care. We went to their communion at the church and we're fucking pagan!!!! Here we are, two pagans, in a catholic church, seeing nephew in first communion. Nobody said anything at all. Nobody fuckin cared!

All the hateful nonsense is just propaganda trying to demonize and ostricise us. Normalizing lgbtq people into society isn't that hard if people just let kids be kids and answer any questions they have in an age appropriate way. All it takes is exposure, and just saying, "Yeah, we're just like your mom and dad."

Yall wanna hear a kinda funny, kinda sad story about my grandmother and hetero-normativity?

Ok, so... when my grandmother was in her 50s (I was an infant), she met a woman at the Unitarian Church. And, as can happen when you meet your soul mate, this event made it impossible for her to deny parts of herself that she had fiercely hidden her whole life.

All the drama- their affair being found out, the divorce with my grandfather, the court battle over who got the house, happened while I was a baby. Even in my earliest memories, it's just Mama Jo and Oma, and my grandfather lived elsewhere (first his own apartment, then a nursing home, then with us.)

But here's the thing- no one ever explained any of this to me. No one ever sat down and was like "hey, Rosie, so do you know what a lesbian is?" It was the 90s. It was Texas. I think my mom was still kinda processing all this, and just assumed that like... I was gonna figure it out. Don't mention it, let it just be normal. Like I think my mom thought that if she explained the situation, she would be making it weird? I dunno.

But like. In the 90s, in all the movies I had seen and books I had read, do you know how many same sex couples I had seen? Like. 0. Do you know how many "platonic best friend/roommates" I had seen? A lot. I had no context, is what I'm saying.

I literally thought this was a Golden Girls, roommates, besties situation until I was like...I dunno, 11? 12?

It was actually their parrot, an African Grey named Spike, imitating my grandmothers voice saying "Johanna, honey, it's getting late", that triggered the MIND BLOWN moment as I realized that *there's only one master bedroom and it only has 1 waterbed* when all the pieces finally clicked.

Anyway. I think it's a real important thing for kids to know queer people exist, for a lot of reasons, but also because kids can be clueless and it's embarrassing to have your grandmother be outted by a parrot because everyone just thought you'd figure it out on your own.

Anyway, here is my grandma and her wife, my Oma, after they moved to Albuquerque to be artsy gay cowboys and live their best life. They helped run a "Lesbian Dude Ranch" out there (basically just with funding and financial support. As Oma has explained "traditionally, most lesbians don't have a lot of money" so they wrote the checks and let the younger ladies actually run the ranch.)