#lgbtqi muslims
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lgbtqiamuslimpedia · 1 year ago
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Muhsin Hendricks
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Birth : Unknown
Ethnicity : South Asian, African
Alumni : University of Islamic Studies, Karachi (1990-1994)
Gender : Cisgender man
Sexuality : Gay
Occupation : Imam, scholar, activist
Muhsin Hendricks is an Islamic scholar, researcher & human rights activist.He is allegedly the world's first openly gay Imam. He has done independent research on Islam and sexual diversity, an area that does not often get explored in the Muslim/Islamic world. He has also delivered many papers and facilitated workshops on Islam and Sexual Diversity to many organizations in South Africa, USA and Europe. Muhsin is founder of The Inner Circle/Al-fitrah Foundation, the largest organization for LGBTQI+ Muslims in Africa & CCI Network, a network of inclusive muslims, faith leaders & activist. He founded the first gender-affirming, queer-friendly mosque in South Africa (the mosque is affiliated with organization Al-fitrah Foundation).
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nakibistan · 1 year ago
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Allah Loves Equality - A Voice for LGBTQIA+ Muslims & Minorities
🌈☪️Allah Loves Equality is a revolutionary campaign that was started by a Pakistani Gay Muslim Activist Wajahat Abbas Kazmi The campaign amplified the voices of marginalised womxn including Queer womxn,Pakistani LGBTQ community as well as LGBTQIA+ muslims.Hashtag #AllahLovesEquality has been trending since 2016.The campaign gain both supports & criticisms. Through his campaign,wajahat wanted to spread the message of TRUE Islam,wanted to end hate & bigotry within muslim societies.The message of ''Allah Loves Equality'' was spred across the continents.A documentary film by the same name was directed by Wajahat Abbas Kazmi to documents the lives of queer muslims in Islamic State of Pakistan🇵🇰 It was a very courageous thing that he has done.Like A jihad for Love,Poshida:Pakistan's Hidden LGBT, Allah Loves Equality film abled to show Pakistan's underground queer & sexual minority.
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Wajahat Abbas Kazmi campaigning in Pride March of Italy 🇮🇹🇵🇰🏳️‍🌈
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Turkish Gay muslim model is holding #AllahLovesEquality
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#AllahLoveEquality in Europe's first Muslim LGBTQ+ Pride 🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈☪️
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A Queer Palestianian holding #AllahLovesEquality in Jerusalem Pride.
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Filipino Muslim Filmmaker Rhadem Musawah marching with #AllahLovesEquality 🇵🇭🏳️‍🌈
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benandstevesposts · 1 year ago
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The country singer Ty Herndon tied the knot with Alex Schwartz on Saturday in an outdoor ceremony in Chapmansboro, Tennessee.
Star-Studded Lineup For The Grooms.
The wedding was directed by Herndon’s longtime friend Bonnie Hadden, who runs his fan club, and officiated by Melissa Greene, a former member of the contemporary Christian band Avalon. Groomsmen included former Avalon member Michael Passons, Herndon’s manager and former GLAAD VP Zeke Stokes, and Herndon’s longtime producer and guitarist Erik Halbig. 
Special Guest and Performers Present. Plus the food!
There were musical performances by Anita Cochran, Matt Bloyd, Jamie Floyd + Jimmy Thow, and Shelly Fairchild throughout the event.
When it came to food, Herndon says they wanted a "southern feast" for guests. Al’s Diner and Deli in Nashville catered the plated dinner, which included chicken, pork, macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes, green beans, and salad with iced tea.
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The couple’s cake was a three-tier with almond butter creme and blueberry lemon tiers, created by Ivey Cake in Nashville. Plus, an ice cream bar and a chocolate station. 
Ahead of the couple's nuptials, Herndon said he couldn't wait to celebrate with their closest friends and family and feel the "love that folks are bringing from all across the country and around the world to be a part of our special day.”
Herndon and Schwartz also honored family special family members during the day.
Herndon says ––– “My father has been deceased for a long time, so we had a beautiful photo of him on a table alongside Alex’s baby brother, who passed away.”
Click here to get the complete scoop on the couple's wedding.
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yelenasdiary · 20 days ago
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If you stand with Trump, you’re not welcome here. I don’t care for your reasons and I do not want to hear them.
I support Black Lives Matter!
I support LGBTQI+ communities!
I support Transgender rights!
I support Muslim Lives!
I support Latino Lives!
I support Women Lives & their rights!
If that bothers you, fucking leave. This isn’t a space for you!
I’m sending so much love, hugs & support to all of you! I’m so, so sorry this is happening 💜
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papirouge · 4 months ago
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the same idiots who a few months ago didn't shut up about how poorly treated LGBTQI+ people were in Muslim countries to own pro Palestians Liberals (gay marriage banned/gender conversion therapy forbidden etc.) and said they'd literally be killed if they stepped one foot out there, now want to make us believe that one of them sent a trans athlete to participate in the most coveited sport championship in the world
Yup, checks out
The TRA were right about the lots of you : the anti trans brain damage is in full effect
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bangladeshiqueermuslims · 1 year ago
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Muslim world's only mosque with Rainbow
I never imagine that there could be a mosque or masjid with a rainbow, especially in a conservative muslim-majority country. It can be a momentum for LGBTQIA+ muslims of Bangladeshi backgrounds to embrace the diversity of Allah. When I came know about this mosque, I was pretty shocked. It could be the only mosque in entire muslim world that has a vibrant rainbow minaret.
This mosque's name is Chawkbazar Shahi Jame Masjid, located in Chawkbazar, Puran-Dhaka. It was built by Emperor Shaista Khan. It is one of the oldest & largest mosques in Bangladesh. Guys, let me remind you of one thing: it is not a “LGBTQ+ friendly mosque." The mosque's rainbow minaret has also become a tourist attraction. It's ironic that the Bengali people living in this suburb have never had objections regarding the mosque's rainbow minaret. I think they are/were unaware of the symbolism of the rainbow, which stands for solidarity among queer and trans folks. BTW, there are some LGBTQI+ and hijra groups in the Puran-Dhaka suburb.
Homosexuality is a punishable offense in Bangladesh, under the British-inherited Penal Code Section 377. Hijras & kothis are visible queer individuals in South Asia. The South Asian term "hijra" refers to multiple genders, such as AMAB transgender individuals, transvestites, masculine women (intersex type), AMAB non-binary individuals, & intersex folks. The term doesn't include trans male. The term "kothi" specifically refers to transvestites, bottom gays, and effeminate males. Hijra community has existed since the early 10th century. In 2013, Bangladesh officially recognized hijras as a third gender. However, this subcultural gender minority still faces social stigma and discrimination.
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beguines · 3 months ago
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Following the events of August 5, BJP politicians bragged of being able to not only buy land in Kashmir, but also "marry fair-skinned Kashmiri women." In the U.S., the Hindu American Foundation (HAF) published a "Reporter's Guide" on the situation in Kashmir. Central to this document were the false claims that ending Kashmir's semi-autonomy would result in equal property rights for women, more protections for the LGBTQI+ community and better opportunities for Dalits in Kashmir. Again, none of these claims were even loosely based on facts. Writing in the Indian digital publication, The Wire, Anish Gawande, co-founder and curator of Pink List India, compared the Indian government's attempt to use the LGBTQI+ community to "pinkwashing," adding that claims of "gay liberation" in Kashmir since India annexed it was nothing but "a product of digital propaganda." On "pinkwashing," an author who identifies as a queer Kashmiri Pandit wrote the following on the condition of anonymity:
"Using pinkwashing tactics, India ensures that any violent action they take against Kashmiris can be excused because they have deemed themselves the 'progressive liberators' of Kashmir. Even while propagating the myth of their LGBTQ saviorism abroad and to international audiences at U.S. Congressional hearings, they continue to fan the flames of queerphobia and transphobia to court the favor of the right wing."
Pinkwashing itself is a tactic almost certainly borrowed from the Israeli playbook in which a civilizing quest is used to conceal a project of ethnic cleansing. Israel denies Palestinian presence, history, and even claim to the land by taking over homes, renaming villages and towns, appropriating cuisine in the pursuit of removing the Palestinian footprint. Likewise, India, through a policy of "domestication"—or to use BJP leader Ram Madhav's words: "instilling India" into Kashmiri Muslims—seeks to make Kashmiri Muslims relinquish their cultural and political identity and submit to the larger Indian Hindu project. Crucially, most Indian liberals and Hindu supremacists are in agreement that Kashmir is fundamental to India—be it secular or Hindu Rashtra.
Kashmiri scholars Samreen Mushtaq and Mudasir Amin warn against characterizing the events of August 5, 2019 as the beginning of the settler-colonial project in Kashmir, but rather as an extension of the vast matrix of control that included "spatial, demographic, and ecological manifestations" that "is both a historical practice and a present day engagement rather than a singular event of invasion." While the framework of settler-colonialism may be a useful way to make the situation on ground in Kashmir comprehensible for international audiences, the authors argue that: "the reliance on a future Indian-citizen-settler runs the risk of invisibilizing the Indian armed forces already permanently stationed in Kashmir and occupying vast tracts of land. The settler colonial framework can be a useful concept for Kashmir when its shrewd combination of assimilationist and eliminationist tactics is placed within the framework of military occupation, rather than as a distinct alternative."
Collectively, this framework is set on ultimately destroying "the very idea of what it means to be a native—the elimination of history and culture such that there is a total de-familiarization with the idea of Kashmir as the homeland for the natives, going beyond disappearing, and killing the Kashmiri body."
Azad Essa, Hostile Homelands: The New Alliance Between India and Israel
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amphiptere · 3 months ago
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So there are a lot of ASMR videos of people reading the first chapter of a book but there are far fewer where people then proceed to read the entire book and as someone fond of finishing books, these appeal to me a lot more. I've made a list of Youtube playlists which read books in full, here they are below the cut. Most are public domain (as they should be) but some unfortunately are not. Titles are listed alphabetically. Please let me know if I'm missing any books here, I'd love to grow the list!
A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkkOTK0NV68&list=PLpNULLlab16ThYI89eP2pF6IWb1lht0de https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sO8w5Kxnp_c&list=PLixhERGNwuH0j2BjkmEOErsV46mKx_wBv (alternative) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-0KW2M4AVs (alternative) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3JG2UGOSFI&list=PLoMHYOaXcv7iRop5Z9eF_I2BG-I5NqgYD&pp=iAQB (alternative) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBPMN6gaBnM (alternative) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnagKqzwbhk (alternative)
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=co_tEU11TiI&list=PLpNULLlab16Q8uK1Gzacs46NatSm3JvgA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLbRPBgH6tA&list=PLCdPdPaGwxIuVDhkWgt1CSanEjT0DGR0j&index=1 (alternative) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCwW04boMtw&list=PLixhERGNwuH09vquZl6TwY8qAvLtCqa2s&index=1 (alternative)
A Little Princess, Frances Hodge Burnett https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxmjwYEQrEQ&list=PLCdPdPaGwxIulbWjZ5LbfJaTNbJWxztX7
Coraline, Neil Gaiman https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3aw6Sb3Djk&list=PLcnoOW1ZgX4fj1oyKC3XOXhIDg7euqOjj
Emma, Jane Austen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z__sdrNrdPA&list=PL3lPIOSZjFjgZn1Yo3YpXtT_wWuHaKW2q (incomplete, but still being uploaded to)
Frankenstein, Mary Shelley https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnUTfpYFgsc&list=PLCdPdPaGwxIs8lC7WRqc2tTE8Cp6r5FiZ&index=1
The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeTQBX_n_uM&list=PLpNULLlab16QAJPGfzAaJcPTATTh4zhks
Heartstopper volumes 1-5, Alice Oseman https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ASfBMKvjUQ&list=PLxs4Ya8eGrnUGDBeH2UPrqtu4Ai9kctzj [Heartstopper is available to read for free, legally online on the webcomic site Tapas (https://tapas.io/episode/428109), where author Alice Oseman links her patreon www.patreon.com/aliceoseman and promotes charities. If you read along on the website while playing this video, ad revenue from having the page open will be donated to her current selected charity, or you can make a donation of your choosing. She features the Albert Kennedy Trust, The Okra Project (www.theokraproject.com/), Black Lives Matter (blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/), African Rainbow Family (africanrainbowfamily.org/), UK Black Pride (www.ukblackpride.org.uk/), Trans Women of Color Collective, Imaan LGBTQI Muslim Support (www.justgiving.com/imaan-lgbtqi), Gendered Intelligence (genderedintelligence.co.uk/), Rainbow Noir (rainbownoirmcr.com/), Black Trans Alliance (www.blacktransalliance.org/), fiveforfive (www.fiveforfive.co.uk/give), Small Trans Library Glasgow (www.paypal.com/pools/c/8nwkSOqDCS), Trans Mutual Aid Manchester (PayPal.me/TMAMCR), Lambdaistanbul (www.lambdaistanbul.org/s/), Social Policy Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation Studies Association (https://spod.org.tr/destekcimiz-olun/), Ukraine Crisis Fundraiser (donate.chooselove.org/campaigns/ukraine-appeal/), Not a Phase (https://notaphase.org/), The Outside Project (https://lgbtiqoutside.org/), London Trans+ Pride 2023 (https://gofundme.com/f/london-trans-pride-2023), Trans Pride Brighton (transpridebrighton.org/donate/), Gender GP (www.gendergp.com/the-gendergp-fund/), Rainbow Migration (www.rainbowmigration.org.uk/), Háttér Society (https://en.hatter.hu/), Loving Me (linktr.ee/lovingmerefuge), TransgenderNI (https://transgenderni.org.uk/), Scottish Trans (https://www.scottishtrans.org/support-us/), Transanta (https://www.transanta.com/),
The Hobbit, J R R Tolkien https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMowhwgk-us&list=PLG_Q2teizkJWGhKu87JAyCU0MdjyloiQp https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xk8kVZkPD8&list=PL0AdMHk9MvMmWtaNOfnATwZaGwta8He8x (alternative)
It Ends With Us, Colleen Hoover https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ewt1imiy7ag&list=PL8pqh8auXpxxk3tkwA26dbov5j-CpNxO3
Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtXIOlrtpK8&list=PLCdPdPaGwxIt4ZE9hXrZOvA29YfwwTwMa https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vA7lcdFBcls&list=PLzk4WchLL98RlQeLT47l9sjVRt1A4IHRq (alternative, though this person didn’t finish the book)
Little Women, Louisa May Alcott https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JI4lzPOV0l4&list=PLCdPdPaGwxIvMEcN68nahcNUQgsI5P7Ui&index=1
The Locked Door, Freida McFadden https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uikICxpgJdA&list=PLcnoOW1ZgX4fpY9mnR6Xwak-MVx40KLF3&index=1
The Portrait of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nXRz0fcXrQ&t=1564s (full) https://www.youtube.com/@VoxAkuma/search?query=dorian%20gray (chapters 1-10)
Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNBeqZMyBr0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dUpv2-oYC4&list=PLHnQyWRZbpKp4DYYpgnjH1G5TALyUSb0V (alternative)
The Railway Children, E Nesbit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J68qeGYUE4o&list=PLHfInBjPv6hJMDFTt47pFgNUCEdQz1UwV
Sherlock Holmes short stories, Arthur Conan Doyle (the full novels in this playlist are incomplete) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqXTBz5DzMk&list=PLixhERGNwuH17xkVj-Il7kkh6ZXyJuQYF
The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UKjli-Ei-8&list=PLixhERGNwuH2vSfgNkZsNDXsIb7BvTejV
The Time Machine, H G Wells https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NGUUM4d7kc&list=PLpNULLlab16R8wtJ2wwN5IdU3xqQxYgJd&index=2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKOnV8kzYwE&list=PLyuRs8VU5XMN6C4RCPoj7lj_tY3mIvxxX (alternative)
Twilight, Stephanie Meyer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ztqh1IgLrZE&list=PLzBuApkiDv3OpM3YfJRhW-7o_lSKlMI38
The Woman In Me, Britney Spears https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7vhEWHX03g&list=PLcnoOW1ZgX4fyUp0oLA25ZMq0fxSDcGhp
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ausetkmt · 1 year ago
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Donald Trump is a very violent man. He is the leader of an increasingly violent political movement.
Last week, Trump threatened Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley with death. Trump's death threat is part of a much larger pattern where he has made similar threats, directly or implied, against President Biden, Hillary Clinton, Attorney General Merrick Garland, Special Counsel Jack Smith, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, and his other "enemies."
Trump's MAGA cultists have been radicalized by him. Several MAGA people have gone so far as to have attempted or publicly threatened to assassinate President Obama and President Biden, respectively. And of course, Trump's followers launched a lethal attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6 as part of the ex-president and dictator in waiting's coup attempt.
Trump and his allies and other spokespeople and influentials in the Republican fascist party and larger neofascist movement and white right are at the epicenter of a social environment in America were hate crimes and other political violence against Black and brown people, the LGBTQI community, Muslims, Jews, and other targeted groups is at historic levels.
New research by Rachel Kleinfeld, who is Senior Fellow, Democracy, Conflict and Governance Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, provides much-needed insight(s) into the growing danger(s) that political violence and polarization poses to American democracy and the future of the country. In this conversation, Kleinfeld provides context for the relationship between extremism, polarization and violence in America. She also explains why right-wing political violence is a much greater threat to the country than political violence by "the left". Kleinfeld highlights the news media's continued failure(s) to understand the realities of the country's democracy crisis in the Age of Trump.
At the end of this conversation, Kleinfeld warns that whatever the outcome of the 2024 Election, that America's democracy crisis is likely to get worse not better.
This interview has been lightly edited for clarity and length.
How are you feeling given the state of American politics and society and the country's democracy crisis and other great troubles?
I'm feeling sad. I want to give my daughters – and other kids – a better country than the one I grew up in. I don't feel like we are doing that, and I want all of us adults to start acting like adults and to do better.
What are you "seeing" as you survey American politics and society right now? What gives you the most concern?
Americans remain rhetorically attached to democracy, but when you ask them what they mean, large majorities are quick to give up basic rights, oversight, and even non-violence when their side holds power. And the idea of a loyal opposition is disintegrating. I'm deeply concerned by that impulse towards unchecked majoritarianism, and also worried about hypocritical alterations of those feelings when the other side is in power.
What are some of the blind spots, misconceptions, and outright ignorance that the mainstream media, the political class, and everyday Americans have about the realities of political violence in this country?  
People seem to underestimate how much political violence has risen, and how lopsided it is. There are vastly more incidents on the right, and they are targeting people. That is the major political violence problem faced by the country. That said, on the left, too many partisans are loathe to acknowledge that their side's violence, though largely against property, has also doubled since 2016. It has just grown from a much lower point.
I get constant calls from reporters asking if Donald Trump is going to start another January 6 style riot – and when I speak about political violence, my mail fills with people asking why I don't speak more about the overwhelmingly (but not entirely) peaceful Black Lives Matter protests.
But Trump is not currently able to draw out large crowds – his followers are afraid of the FBI and believe people who goad them to violence on list serves are false flag operations. Instead, we are seeing people kill neighbors over politics or murder business owners who display a pride flag. In other countries, when someone runs a car into a peaceful crowd, it's almost always a rare international terrorist event. In America, that has happened over 150 times since Heather Heyer was killed at the Unite the Right rally. Political violence and credible threats have become small scale, hyperlocal, across the nation, and extremely frequent
Premeditated political violence against people has skyrocketed on the right, and premeditated political violence on the left has also grown - though from a much lower point, and more often targeting property. Hate crimes are at their highest point in the 21st century, even higher than the spike after 9/11. Local officials who were barely targeted before are now receiving significant numbers of threats – in San Diego, 75% of county officials report threats or harassment, for instance. Threats against Members of Congress rose tenfold from 2016 to 2021, though they fell slightly last year.  In the 1960s and 1970s we faced high levels of political violence, but it was largely against property, or involved foreign terrorists. We haven't seen Americans targeting other Americans politically like this since Confederates reversed Reconstruction and used violence and threats to return to power after the Civil War.
The news media and the political class tend to have a crisis frame that is very immediate and focused on the now. What would the news media – and by extension the political class and public — better understand and see in terms of political polarization and violence if they had a longer view and more time to digest what is happening or not?
America has faced political violence at many points in its history. It is usually used as a method alongside elections to try to win power by intimidating people. That is how it was used by the Know Nothing Party in the early 1800s, by Confederates after Reconstruction, and by Southern Democrats under Jim Crow to maintain single party dominance in eleven Southern States.
Right now, the threat of violence is being used to destroy pro-democracy Republicans and allow a non-majority faction to take over the Republican Party. While there are more threats overall against Democratic constituencies, women, and minorities, those threats are a spill-over from attempts to build Republican base intensity through highlighting a white Christian male dominant identity. The targeted threats are occurring largely to win power and are often targeted very intentionally – against certain election officials who will matter in swing states, or against the judges and DAs involved in cases against former President Trump. 
The spike in violence is helping an anti-democratic faction of the Republican Party overcome a pro-democratic faction. The media framing violence as largely about Republicans versus Democrats misses that crucial part of the story.
What does the actual data tell us about political violence and extremism in the Age of Trump and where we are potentially going as a country?
Political violence and criminal violence are highly connected.
The best study of murder in America back to our Revolution found that the strongest variables predicting a rise in the murder rate was trust in fellow Americans and trust in government – especially among young men (the demographic that commits most violence everywhere). In the 1960s when political violence rose, America also saw a doubling of the murder rate, and homicide kept rising until the 1990s. When people normalize violence and lesser forms of anti-social behavior, such as Lauren Boebert's obnoxious vaping and groping at a theater, oafishness on airplanes, or "rolling coal" – blowing car exhaust in the faces of bicyclists – it reduces the sense of social propriety and impulse control. Society and civilization are actually very fragile things – as anti-social behavior gets normalized and people "let it all hang out", as it were, all forms of violence tend to rise. We are probably on the verge of that again, and this MAGA political faction and left-wing illiberalism pushing people towards it will be to blame for the deaths and dystopian cities we are going to have for the next few decades.
When I write articles or interview experts who are trying to sound the alarm about right-wing political violence by Trump followers and other such malign actors, one of the common responses in emails and comments is that this is all so much hysterics. The MAGA movement threat is exaggerated. These right-wing extremists and others who are violent are being put in jail. The danger is also so much talk as there won't be a second civil war, etc. How would you intervene and push back?
I just provide the numbers. It's not that these levels of political violence are unprecedented – America is an unusually violent democracy compared to countries with similar levels of wealth and democratic history. The United States has seen violence at these levels before. But New York in the 1970s, or the post-Reconstruction South which had a lynching every 36 hours at its height, would not be the periods of our past I most want our country to revisit.
Is the American public "polarized" or are they "sorted"? That distinction is very important.
American politicians are highly ideologically polarized – members of Congress now hold virtually no policy beliefs in common across the aisle. Regular Americans, on the other hand, are not very ideologically polarized – they hold a lot of policy beliefs in common, although Republicans and Democrats care more intensely about different issues. But regular Americans do really dislike partisans from the other party – which is known as affective, or emotional, polarization. That level of affective polarization is likely to be caused, at least partially, because we are highly sorted as a country. When multiple identity characteristics, such as religiosity, geography, gender, and race, are the same for members of the same party, it is easier to feel that any of one's many identities are threatened by members of the other party, and when people are geographically separated so that they don't socialize, those misunderstandings get even larger. However, sorting alone just sets the kindling - politicians are lighting the flames by using that latent affective polarization to further inflame sentiment, in order to use that voter intensity to win power. So, it is unlikely to be possible to reduce Americans' polarization until we change the incentives that are allowing politicians to win seats by furthering polarization.
Most journalists and reporters assume that the public follows politics closely, is ideological, and has a real understanding of the details and facts. Decades of political science research shows that mostly to not be true. Unfortunately, the mainstream media, for a variety of reasons including intellectual laziness and careerism, is clinging desperately onto those fictions of folk democracy even when the evidence is abundant and obvious to the contrary. This translates into a news media that still does not fully appreciate — and is in willful denial about — the realities and the depths of the country's democracy crisis in this moment of ascendant neofascism and illiberalism.
Americans share a large number of policy beliefs in common. But they also, by and large, really, really don't care about politics. They don't want to think about politics, they don't want to talk about politics, they want it all to go away. That means that Americans also hold a very tenuous understanding of the basics of what it takes to maintain a democracy – such as the importance of a free press, or the role of a civil service. In America, as in many countries where democracy has slipped away in recent years, we see significant pluralities willing to support anti-democratic behavior when their party is in power. Fear of the other side doing just that is one of the main forces that empowers a party to act first to undermine democracy in order to, in their minds, prevent the other side from doing it first.
Is "consensus" and "bipartisanship" across lines of political difference just a type of fetish for the political class and news media? The public generally does not care.
I have my own strong policy beliefs – but I understand that as a country, we have about half the voting population who are conservative, and about half who are more liberal. Both sides need politicians who can represent them in a pro-democratic way, where we disagree on policy, not on whether we will allow the system of peacefully settling our disputes to disintegrate. Liberals need to give some support to pro-democracy Republicans or both will be overrun by the anti-democracy faction that is gaining control over that party. Liberals should also pay more attention to how their own illiberal wing in cultural and academic institutions is driving more conservatives, independents, and minorities to support their own anti-democratic faction. The problem in the political realm is clearly a faction of the Republican Party – but it has not grown on its own, there is a call and response with cultural forces on the left.
What are some interventions that can be made to make the country's political institutions and culture more durable and healthier in the face of the type of extreme polarization – which is asymmetrical and more on the right— that we are now seeing in the Age of Trump and the decades that got us to this crisis?
America should give serious thought to voting reforms that would allow the anti-democratic faction to have representation without letting them take over one of our two major parties. Proportional representation is the best way to achieve that, though ranked choice voting and primary reform might be less radical and cause fewer governing headaches. Both would likely allow MAGA Republicans to have control in some states and localities (which, of course, they do now), while still allowing the majority of Republicans to support a pro-democracy party. Campaign finance reforms that empower small dollar donors also empower extremists, who are better at raising anger that gets those small dollar donations flowing. Big money in politics is also problematic, of course, but the problem of small dollar donors pushing our politics towards extremes has not been recognized or discussed. Finally, we need better anti-trust enforcement to break business monopolies. Part of the distrust in America since 2008 has as much to do with the way elites keep making money, and is economic as much as political in origin. There is a reason Aristotle and Jefferson both recognized the dangers to democracy of large concentrations of wealth.
As Trump's criminal trials and the 2024 Election approach, how do you think that will impact the dynamics of violence and polarization?
There is no good way out of the 2024 Election. No matter how the election turns out, it will harm faith in democracy – but the worst future damage is likely to be inflicted if Trump wins and takes power, given the signals he has already given about how he will misuse his department of justice against his enemies, attack the civil service, and otherwise damage the institutions that keep our democracy tethered to the rule of law.
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thisiskatsblog · 1 year ago
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www aljazeera com/opinions/2023/6/19/muslims-opposed-to-lgbtq-curricula-for-their-kids-arent-bigots Do you agree?
Probably not surprisingly: no.
Coming from a strongly religious background and being LGBTQI+ myself I find the reasoning to be quite faulty. It asserts the right of a community to impose its morals on its children, talking about religious freedom. But that is not how religious freedom works.
The right to religious freedom is an individual right - you have a right to practice your own religion, but that doesn't mean you can enforce all of the teachings you think it entails on others.
The right to integrity and non discrimination are rights that belong to all children, no matter their religion, and no matter their sexuality. And those rights are not "trumped" by some fictitious right of a community to impose its religion dubbed "religious freedom" (it's the opposite of that).
Religion is something you're often raised with, it's something you can choose to leave behind, or not - sexuality works completely differently.
The science is clear, you are born with it.
So no matter what you do, what you teach your children about "morals", what you "protect" them from or not, their sexuality is going to be what it is. No matter how strong your convictions are, it's not going to keep the gay away.
All you do by not informing them, keeping them in the dark, keeping them away from positive role models, knowledge, a community, is inflict harm. And children deserve not to be harmed. Not by people of ill will. And not by well meaning parents who think they are protecting the child's morals by keeping them in the dark.
Keeping children in the dark takes lives.
And your rights are there to keep you intact.
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cyarsk52-20 · 1 year ago
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Screaming in Clair huxtable
Yes 2016 was a disaster as white people were the only demographic that didn’t majority vote for Hillary Clinton. But the seeds of hatred, which they all bought into, had started decades before in Arkansas when she was attacked for being a lawyer, intellectual, and not southern.
She was educated. She was a feminist, and she wasn’t demure like southern First Ladies were supposed to be. The attacks on educated women continue today with latest Supreme Court ruling in affirmative action. Stop educating white women, they are saying. And their voters agree.
The same people who hated her then hate her now. The same “with a stroke of a pen” folk who couldn’t carry Hillary’s coffee played into the Hillary hatred. You can check their lack of support for her then & now.
The greatest harm republicans did to Hillary, starting in Arkansas, was raise two generations of white people to hate her. You can ask young folk -18-30 let’s say, about her and the white ones will hate her. It’s disgraceful. The most qualified turned into the most hated.
And we’re all paying the price. No affirmative action, businesses can discriminate against lgbtqi (and Jewish, Muslim, Black folk), and no debt relief. Interracial marriages are next. Public schools. Non discrimination rules businesses adhere to. So much most. And for what?
We talk about white people convincing their who’re parents but not enough about talking to your white kids. 17 & 18 year olds will vote in 2024 and do you know how they will vote? If they will vote? Assuming you do is certain failure. Like the gop the long game matters.
Right now they are being fed anti Biden, anti democrats. You’ve got to get to them now because the gop are already in their ears. To be clear I’m talking about white kids. The nation cannot afford another generation of white people who do not vote majority for democrats. Now you got fqucked over because rather than doing the right thing you wanted to have to paraphrase Claire Huxtable from the Cosby show BIG FUN with tfg, Bernie, Jill stein and your grandmother you wrote as a candidate
one question to all the people who didn’t choose Hillary:
was your BIG FUN all worth it in the end?
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lgbtqiamuslimpedia · 1 year ago
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Imaan (Organization)
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Type : Non-profit
Founder : Adnan Ali,Faizan Fiaz/ Farzana,Azeem Ahmad,etc.
Services : Provides counseling, peer-support, safe space for praying, build interfaith relations,etc.
Country : UK
Year of foundation : 1998
Website : www.imaan.org.uk/
Imaan is UK's leading LGBTQI+ Muslim organization.As the leading organisation working for the rights and support of LGBTQI+ Muslims & QTPOC, Imaan have worked alongside local LGBTQI+ and interfaith organisations.Imaan promotes Islamic values of peace,social justice and tolerance in its work to build a world that is free from prejudice and discrimination against Muslims and LGBTQI+ people.Imaan holds monthly meetings, conferences; provides a free, dedicated counseling service; represents members at asylum tribunal cases and speaks at external conferences. Imaan is one of the largest LGBTQI+ muslim network in Europe.
History
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The group was started as a branch of Al-Fatiha Foundation in London in 1998, after its American members visited London. Later the group evolved into Imaan in 1999. Farzana/Faizan Fiaz,Adnan Ali,Azeem Ahmad,Ubaid co-founded the organization. The word ''Imaan'' means faith in Arabic. Imaan served as a peer-support network, and was a meeting place for people to pray together,celebrate Islamic holidays. Imaan hosted several conferences that deal with such topics as culture,Islamaphobia, non-Muslim partners,HIV and Islam, relatives of gay Muslims, & transsexual Muslims.
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Imaan Fest
On 11th April 2020, Imaan's members decided to organize UK's first LGBTQI+ Muslim Pride festival.But it was postponed for Corona & took place in December.
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nakibistan · 1 year ago
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People often say that LGBTQIA+ people doesn't exists in Muslim/Islamic World. Nowdays many muslims argued that LGBTQI+ rights are contrary to their traditional beliefs, homosexuality shouldn't be decriminalized in their native countries,because it goes against their moral values,cultural norms & social mores,[...].
But previous Islamic history & muslim traditions had wide range of acceptance of sexual & gender diversity.In those days Muslim communities weren't so bigotted, heterosexist,homophobic/transphobic, heteropatriarchal.Colonialism,communism,dictatorship,islamist regime justified the prejudices against queer folks in Muslim world, not Islam itself.
In 1854, Ottoman empire legalised consensual homosexuality in parts of Middle East,North Africa,Eastern Europe & West Asia.Notably Mughal,Mamluk,Khilji,Sayyid, Pathan,Lodi,Abbasid,Safavid,Qajar,Ottoman empire gave privileges to gender variants and eunuchs.Even it is also said that Aghawas (a designation for trans feminine, effeminate,agender/eunuch & intersex) were served as guardian of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)'s mosque & tomb.There had been numerous homoerotic paintings & same sex romantic poetries in medieval islamic era.In pre-modern muslim societies ghazals (sufi spiritual song) has direct references with queerness.In some sufi traditions cross-dressing, gender fluidity was considered as sacred.
Since 18th & 19th century almost all muslim countries were colonized or being influenced by European Orthodox Christians.Europeans pushed their moral codes,heteropatriarchal system & gender roles upon muslim communities.But western colonialism was unable to erase queerness & love from asia.In Pakistan,Bangladesh,India & some parts of Afghanistan, Hijras (designation term for trans feminine,trans woman,gender diverse,intersex) are still exists.Hijras has recognition of third gender in Pakistan,India & Bangladesh.They have some civil rights in those countries mentioned.But Transgender people's livelihood in Afghanistan is very worst.Some Afghan trans people's lifestyles are very similar to Hijra/Khawaja Sara subculture. In central-asian muslim cultures gender vice-versa or variance are not uncommon.Bacha bazi or Bacha-bozi is practice where adult men get sexual services from young crossdressers and effeminates.
Waria, another transgender muslim community can be found in Indonesia.Waria transgenders has very limited rights comparing to Hijras.In South Sulawesi, Indonesia Bugis (a muslim tribe) recognized 5 genders: Oroané(masculine men), makkunrai (feminine women), Calalai (trans-masculine or masculine women), Calabai (trans-feminine or feminine male), Bissu (androgynous or non-binary).The classification of the calabai,calalai, & bissu as third genders is disputed.These roles can also be seen as fundamental occupational and spiritual callings, which are not as directly involved in designations such as male and female.In pre-Islamic culture, Bissu were seen as intermediaries between the people and the gods.The Bissu are closely associated with the female yet androgynous moon goddess, as her spiritual offspring.Up until the 1940s, the Bissu were still central to keeping ancient palace rites alive, including coronations of kings & queens. Historically, Bissu have played an important role in other ceremonies as well,particularly in weddings and childbirth events.However today Bissu & Waria faces marginalization in their homeland due to rise of Political Islamism & Islamic Extremism .
Here is a list of Muslim/Islamic nations where homosexuality is not a criminal offense (technically):
Albania - Legal since Ottoman period.
Bosnia & Herzegovina - Legal since Ottoman period.
Kosovo - Legal since Ottoman period.
Azerbaijan - Legal since 1918 or 2000 (not sure).But state often arrests LGBTQ community members.
Northern Cyprus - Legal since Ottoman period,legal in modern northern cyprus since 2015.
Turkey - Legal since Ottoman period, legal in modern turkey since 1923.
Jordan - Legal since Ottoman period,legal in hashemite kingdom of jordan since 1951.
Bahrain - Legal since Ottoman period.
West Bank (Palestine) - Female homosexuality always been legal,male homosexuality is legal since 1951.
Gaza (Palestine) -Female homosexuality always been legal.
Lebanon - Legal since Ottoman period, legal in modern lebanon since 2018 (however the legal status of homosexuality is vogue)
Kazakhstan - Legal since 1997 (de facto),nationwide legal since 1998 (de jure).
Kyrgyzstan - Legal since 1998.
Egypt - Legal since Ottoman period.Although private consensual homosexuality is not criminalized by domestic laws.Commercial & adult consensual homosexuality is de-facto illegal since 1961.
Kuwait -Female homosexuality always been legal.
UAE - There's no explicit federal law against homosexuality.But commercial & non-commercial homosexuality is de-facto illegal.
Burkina Faso - always legal
Djibouti - always legal
Mali - legal since 1961
Mayotte - always legal
Niger - always legal
Guinea Bissau - legal since 1993.
Sierra Leone -Female homosexuality always been legal.
Uzbekistan - Female homosexuality always been legal in federal law.
Turkmenistan - Female homosexuality always been legal in federal law.
Tajikistan - legal since 1998.
Indonesia - Homosexuality never been a criminal offense until 2022.LGBTQI+ people often faced persecution by state & harassment.In 2022, Indonesian parliament passed a bill that outlaws all types of sexual relationships outside the traditional marriage.
Here is a list of Muslim/Islamic nations,where transgender & gender diverse people has rights:
Iran - Transgender individuals were officially recognized by the government, under condition of undergoing sex reassignment surgery, with some financial assistance being provided by the govt. for the costs of surgery, and with a change of sex marker on birth certificates available post-surgery since early 1980s. However, substantial legal and societal barriers still exist in Iran. Trans individuals who do not undergo surgery have no legal recognition and those that do are first submitted to a long and invasive process (including virginity tests, parental approval, psychological counseling that reinforces feelings of shame & inspection by the Family Court).
Bosnia and Herzegovina - Trans people may change their legal gender in Bosnia & Herzegovina after a sex reassignment surgery & other medical treatments.
Pakistan - Pakistan recognized Hijras as third gender in 2009. In 2018 Pakistan's parliament passed “The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act” which provides fundamental rights in health, education, government and security.
Lebanon - In late 1990s Lebanon allow sex reassignment surgery.In 2016 Lebanon court legally recognized a trans man as man.
Turkey - Transgender individuals were allowed to change their gender since 1988.However later Turkey adopted harsh policies for transgenders,required many pre–requisutes in order to be able to receive gender-affirming surgery. Transgender persons had to ask & be granted permission for the surgery,be at least 18 years of age,unmarried, & sterilized in order to receive gender-affirming surgery.
Jordan - Since 2014 jordan allow trans people to change their gender after a sex change operation.
Bahrain -Since 2008 Bahrain allow trans people to change their gender after a sex change operation.
Bangladesh - since 2013 Bangladesh recognized hijras & eunuchs as third gender.In 1975 Dr. Hosne Ara Begum became the first transsexual woman to be recognised as woman in Bangladesh.
Indonesia - Indonesia allows sex change operation for Warias & give limited rights for transgenders.
Kazakhstan - Since 2003, trans people allowed to change legal gender following sex change surgery,medical examinations, & sterilisation.
Kyrgyzstan -Transgender people allowed to change legal gender following sex reassigment surgery, medical treatments,sterilisation since 2014.
Tajikistan -Under Tajik law, trans people may change their legal gender on their passport if they provide a medical statement that they have undergone sex reassignment surgery. There has been 2 sex-change operations performed – the first one in 2001 and the second one in 2014.
UAE- allows intersex persons to undergoes a sex change surgery & change their gender.
Egypt - In 1988, a sunni Islamic Fatwa by Muhammad Sayyid Tantawy grants legal permission to perform gender affirming surgery.In Egypt, those who want to undergo the surgery must seek an approval from a gender reassignment review committee at the Medical Syndicate of Al-Azhar. But the committee has not convened since 2013, when Al-Azhar withdrew its member from the ccommission.
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beardedmrbean · 2 years ago
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Kenyan authorities were wrong to ban the gay community from registering a rights organisation, the country's Supreme Court has ruled.
Yet at the same time it stressed that gay sex remains illegal.
The judges ruled three-to-two that the country's NGO board was wrong to stop the National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (NGLHRC) from registering in 2013.
As Kenya's highest court, the Supreme Court's ruling cannot be overturned.
In their judgment, the judges ruled that "it would be unconstitutional to limit the right to associate, through denial of registration of an association, purely on the basis of the sexual orientation of the applicants".
Nevertheless, the ruling is bitter-sweet for Kenya's gay community. Laws which were introduced under British colonial rule mean that it is criminal to have sex that "is against the order of nature", which can result in up to 14 years in prison.
In May 2019, Kenya's high court rejected an attempt to overturn these laws.
Africa Live: Latest update from around the continent
'Why our fight for gay rights in Kenya isn't over'
Where it's illegal to be gay
Friday's judgement ends a 10-year legal battle which began in 2013 when Eric Gitari, the former executive director of the NGLHRC, challenged the head of Kenya NGO Coordination Board's refusal to permit him to apply to register an NGO under a name containing the words gay or lesbian.
The judges ruled in his favour at the High Court in 2015, again at the Court of Appeal in 2019 and finally in 2023.
Speaking after the ruling, Njeri Gateru, the current executive director of the NGLHRC, said: "The Supreme Court's decision to uphold the lower courts' rulings is a triumph for justice and human rights.
"At a time where the Kenyan LGBTIQ+ community is decrying the increased targeting and violence; this decision affirms the spirit and intention of the Constitution to protect all Kenyans and guarantee their rights."
The ruling comes at a time when homophobic rhetoric has been rising in Kenya.
Members of the LGBTQI+ community have been harassed by police, subjected to body examinations to "prove" gay sex, and openly insulted on social media and in public spaces. Some say they have even been denied healthcare and thrown out of rental houses for being gay.
On the day of the judgement, Member of Parliament George Peter Kaluma filed an official notice that he intended to introduce a bill which would jail for life people convicted of homosexuality or the promotion of it.
While Friday's Supreme Court ruling arguably torpedoes any attempts to legally harass openly gay people with new laws, Mr Kaluma can still rally MPs to increase jail terms for gay sex.
It is also illegal to have gay sex in neighbouring Uganda, where Muslim leaders used Friday prayers to preach against homosexuality.
The head of the country's Muslims, Mufti Sheikh Ramathan Mubajje, called on the authorities to enact even tougher laws against same-sex relations.
He was speaking at the Old Kampala mosque in the capital, Kampala, where hundreds had gathered for Friday prayers.
Earlier in the week, the Uganda Muslim Supreme Council circulated a letter to all clerics under its association gazetting Friday as the day to carry out peaceful protests against homosexuality in Uganda.
The clerics were asked to prepare sermons condemning same-sex relations and extend the same message to the media and schools.
In the event, the protests were only held in the eastern city of Jinja.
Gay rights activist Frank Mugisha described the protests as dangerous, saying they could increase cases of violence against those who identify as LGBT.
There has been a recent surge in homophobic sentiment in the country.
Last week, President Yoweri Museveni said Uganda would not embrace homosexuality and that the West should stop trying to impose its views and "normalise" what he called "deviations".
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man-squared · 6 months ago
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First, an image description and then, a little rant under the cut with links to information about the images. Feel free to reach out if I get any of the details of the images wrong, so I can fix it.
[ ID: There are seven images on this post.
The first image is a screenshot of a tumblr reply. Waves have been transposed on the image to make it seem like it is underwater. The reply is from catlovergirl676 that says, "Religion is not a part of the LGBTQA+ community."
The next images are from various queer-related events of religious people.
First, there are Indian people holding up a large rainbow pride flag (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple) above their heads in front of stone steps. In front of them, there are two men holding hands and dancing in a circle. One of the men wears a rainbow flag as clothing. This was a celebration of a legal case in Bangalore that can be read about here.
The next image is of British Muslims participating in Pride. There are multiple signs being held that say "Love is not haram," "Allah loves equality # Love is Love," "Imaan LGBTQI Muslim Support," "Trans Muslims are Everywhere," and many other sayings. In the front of the crowd there is someone wearing the rainbow flag over her face as a niqab / veil.
The fourth image is of a Sikh man staring at the camera and holding a sign that reads "Some Sikhs are gay. Get over it!" He wears a turban that is layered with rainbow pride colors but mainly red.
The fifth image is a person walking in the 2023 New York City Pride march. The person wears a "Jewish Queer Pride" shirt, wears a colorful, rainbow-like headscarf, and holds a sign that says, "Trans Jews Belong Here" over a blue and pink Star of David.
The sixth image comes from the Instagram rebootjewish. The photo is black-and-white of a Jewish boy walking in the New York City Gay Pride March of 1992. He holds a sign that says, "Homo Jew Boy." The caption reads "[red heart emoji, orange heart emoji, yellow heart emoji, green heart emoji, blue heart emoji, purple heart emoji] 1992 Gay Pride March # NYC @/lgbtcenternyc."
The last image is of Harvey Milk. This image is in black-and-white. Milk sits on the top of the car out of a sunroof. He is raising one fist in the air and his other hand holds a sign that says, "I'm from Woodmere, N.Y." His mouth is open in a wide, full smile, possibly yelling something, and he wears flowers around his neck. End ID. ]
Disclaimer: I do not know the commenter’s stance on religion or their views about antitheism. This is mostly about the general conversation around people who lump all religions as one in the name of Christianity, which is a very (hateful) Christian-like thing to do anyway. I am an atheist/agnostic if that bears any weight in this in any way. This is under the cut because I think the image descriptions are much more important than what I have to say on the matter. I'm tired of people painting individuals and other religions and cultures as bad because they can only view the world from a lens of Christianity.
I'm going to be real honest, here in the south, regardless of sexuality or gender, there are a LOT of Christian queers, and there are a fee queer-inclusive Christains/churches. I don't think I have ever once seen anyone say that Christains or their churches don't belong at pride by anyone online or in my community . . . So the fact that "religion is not a part of the community" was commented on a post that explicitly mentions religious wear of non-Christian religions/cultures seems very telling.
Not even to fucking mention all the photos of Christains who march at pride with signs that say "Jesus loves you" and the like, who (from what I have seen a lot - I'm a queer from the South USA) do not get told that religion doesn't belong at pride, and the only ones telling them that Christianity does not include queers is (more often than not) other Christains. Often, they get celebrated for not being like the Christians that hurt us.
Let religious queers be queer and religious. They will always be at pride, and you can't shame them away. And stop telling people what to do and wear at pride. It's exhausting and pointless.
A lot of people take their hatred of Christianity out on other religions (or just the people of those religions). They say things like this or become antitheists usually solely because of their negative interactions with Christianity and the influence of Christianity/colonialism on other religions and cultures. I don't have to tell that to spacelazarwolf (he KNOWS). But if you do this, you are just furthering the reach and influence of the type of Christianity you hate (even if it is Christianity in general). You are passing hate in the name of religion, even though you aren't a part of that religion, which seems like the last thing you (specifically) would want to do, but here we are.
Links:
reminder that visibly religious people belong at pride. that person wearing a hijab is not a threat to you. that person wearing tzitzit and a kippah is not a threat to you. someone simply wearing an item that is culturally or religiously important to them is not a threat to you. however, your aggression upon seeing a religious person at pride is a threat to them.
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sublimeobservationarcade · 4 months ago
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Blame It On The Poor Immigrant
The conversation among my work crew is a fairly good reflection of the average discursive exchange happening around the nation at the moment, I reckon. Dressed as we are in high viz gear and steel capped boots ensconced in our work ute on the way to the site. Smoko ramps up with the news of the day and plenty of opinions. One of my erstwhile colleagues, a migrant from the old country, was voicing her support for those kicking up a stink in Britain. Blaming it on too many immigrants coming into the country and receiving special treatment to the detriment of those who really belong there. Blame it on the poor immigrant. Arnold Rasnick, Virginia-Pocahontas Coal Company by U.S. National Archives is licensed under CC-CC0 1.0
Revoking The Commonwealth
This is a popular theme here, there and everywhere, it seems. The cost of living and housing crises are biting a lot of working people on the bum at the moment. Blame it on the new arrivals is a perennial sentiment, especially when they have different coloured skin and look different. The thing about Britain is that for centuries the old empire was out and about taking stuff from lands abroad and enriching itself. Colonising places and imposing imperial rule upon their populations was their main game. Some of those coloured folk, their descendants anyway, have come to the United Kingdom to make it their home. Pakistani’s, West Indian’s,  African’s and plenty from other spots too have settled in England. It might be convenient to have a very short memory but there are consequences to historical actions. Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko on Pexels.com
Righteous Racists Blaming People Of Colour
The race riots have been fuelled by misinformation and lies put about on social media by far right groups and racist individuals with large followings. Andrew Tate, Laurence Fox, Elon Musk and the other fascists pulling the strings. The horrendous stabbing murders of 3 girls and 8 others with knife wounds in Southport were immediately and falsely attributed to a Muslim refugee. In fact, this mentally ill young guy was born in Britain but was of the wrong coloured skin for many of these patriotic Brits online. Hundreds of angry righteous blokes have gone on a rampage attacking refugee centres and mosques around the country. The police have copped it in their attempts to defend innocent people and maintain law and order. This is not really about the murders of innocent kids; it is about venting rage and frustration for its own sake. There is a surfeit of violent passion being whipped up by social media and the culture wars happening right now. We are all being screwed by our economies and big business these days. Most folk don’t know who to take it out on and are being manipulated into blaming the state. The state has been sucked dry by private corporate interests called private equity under the banner of neoliberalism. Their political allies hide behind bullshit smoke screens like immigration, LGBTQI gender issues, and the anti-woke puppet show. Cowards and bullies like to punch down upon weaker victims like refugees and trans people, they hardly ever take on the real people who are stealing their lunch. Downward envy is encouraged by the authoritarian right wing parties and the Murdoch press. Divide and conquer by getting people to fight amongst themselves whilst the wealthy dance on our heads is the order of the day. “Nursing leaders have expressed their horror at racist violence across the UK, as two Filipino nurses have been among the targets of far-right rioters. Riots first broke out in Southport, Merseyside last Tuesday (30 July) after far-right agitators began a misinformation campaign on social media falsely claiming the perpetrator of a mass knife attack on a group of children in the town the previous day was a Muslim.” - (https://www.nursingtimes.net/news/leadership-news/filipino-nurses-attacked-as-nhs-community-condemns-racist-riots-05-08-2024/) Jeff Bezos by U.S. Air Force is licensed under CC-CC0 1.0 Identity Politics Playing You For A Fool Identity politics is smoke and mirrors, it is a scam perpetuated upon those who don’t bother to look into things. Here is a tip, much of the stuff that enrages you online is BS. It is purposely designed to provoke you and get you losing your shit and not thinking straight. Demonising gay and trans people, demonising immigrants and refugees, these are not the people getting rich at your expense. Wake up sunshine! Dig a little deeper and don’t believe everything you read online. There are people like Rupert Murdoch making money out of your rage. There are people in Russia misinforming you for their own nefarious designs. There are populists wanting power who are promising you they will make it all better – they won’t. Maybe spend a little less time in the gym and try exercising your brain instead. Ask yourself the question – who benefits? This is the key to every investigation. You know if they kicked out every migrant and every gay person you would still have the same problems. It is a scam. These poor people are not taking your piece of the pie. It is the billionaires and their underlings gobbling up the pie at your expense. It is always the same old story, nothing ever changes. Robert Sudha Hamilton is the author of America Matters: Pre-apocalyptic Posts & Essays in the Shadow of Trump. ©MidasWord Photo by Kelly on Pexels.com Read the full article
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