#stake conference

[syls-chaos]

A PSA

It has come to my attention that some people consider their interactions with people who experience mental health issues as appropriate examples to illustrate points when they speak in church.

First of all, I encourage anyone considering sharing a story that fits into that category to consider your lowest moment, and think about how you would feel if a friend, family member, or acquaintance shared that with anywhere between fifty and several hundred strangers. What would you feel like if someone took things you shared in a vulnerable moment and shared them with others? That can be trust-shattering. If you truly think that a story can be helpful to a lesson or a talk, make sure that you are getting informed consent from the person whose story you would be sharing. Make sure that you are omitting any personal or private details that are not necessary.

Second, think about the message that you are sending with the way you talk about this issue. Pretend that you are speaking directly to someone who is in a similar situation or feeling similar pain. Are you sending them the message that the reason they are suffering is that they do not have enough faith? Are you prescribing Jesus, faith, or miraculous healing to something that can and should be treated with professional help? Mental illness is illness. There are researchers and medical practitioners, as well as other professionals, who have centered their career around helping those who struggle with mental illness in one way or another. While religion, faith, and miracles can be helpful to some, a focus on purely religious healing methods can hinder people from seeking actual help. If you would not suggest a religious solution for physical diseases, do not do so for mental illness.

Third, think about what else you could include in your talk. There are many, many ways to illustrate points, and a number of stories that highlight miracles. You do not have to use someone's mental illness and vulnerability to testify of God. Be thoughtful about what you choose to speak about. There are ways to make those with mental illness and similar struggles feel seen, heard, and welcome, without sharing very personal and private stories in a public forum. There are ways to encourage those who struggle to seek help, get help, and cling to hope for the future without stories like these.

In my personal experience, as someone who struggles with my mental health and has for years, I have seldom come across a story being shared like this that has made me feel seen, heard, welcome, or encouraged. In fact, it makes me wonder if and when my own story will be shared from a pulpit, preaching Jesus as the cure to something that I still struggle with. When stories like this are shared, I lose the ability to connect with the speaker's point and feel the spirit. My experience is not the only one that exists, and I am not trying to say that everyone is negatively impacted by these stories. I am simply sharing my personal experience to illustrate that some stories are not appropriate to share.

And some stories, whether or not they are appropriate for an environment, are not your story to tell.

[bluevaractyl]

Got Temeraire on the brain

[dwelt-in-a-tent]

Queerstake is genuinely the only reason I’m able to watch general conference every year. The genconf group notes doc helps me feel so much less alone. Thank you all for this lovely little community. I love you all.

[arlothia]

IT'S THAT TIME OF YEAR AGAIN!!!!!

Happy General Conference everyone!

The Saturday Morning Session starts at 9AM PST!

Hope to see you there!

[unopenablebox]

did NO work today of ANY kind, only cuddling and eating and lying around rereading a very stupid fantasy novel and more eating and now i am about to have bubble tea which is also a kind of eating

maybe i'll do laundry that seems bearable

[atheist-mumblings]

Any exmos have fun conference plans for this coming weekend?

I'm a little worried my super religious aunt has invited my other super religious aunt & uncle over to watch with her. I'll need to gtfo of the house if so... Wonder if the lesbian club/cafe I've been wanting to check out will be open by noon eastern, hm...

Alternatively, anyone interested in an ex-mo discord? Maybe hate-watching conference? Idk if I could even handle that much tho tbh...

feel free to send in asks/submissions if you need snarky commentary during conference, at least

[opisasodomite]

I don’t know what it is, but being in a hotel is such a pleasant experience for me, almost regardless of the hotel’s quality (as long as it isn’t terrible) it’s like, woohoo I’m in a Weird Place now.

[notahorseindisguise]

live blogging the stake conference. the mormon girlies will love this.

[pl-ceh-lder]

i got so unbelievably fucking lucky with my roommate i can’t believe it like i cant even put into words how much i love them and how grateful i am for their patience and consideration and consistency

as much i love them all, i really think if i lived with anyone else in our program the sheer stress of the work would bleed into the home and they wouldnt be as tolerant or cognizant of my peculiarities, so i think i truly am very blessed to have all that i do and i’m glad my roommate and i can grow and learn and accommodate one another together instead of letting stubbornness and different needs pull us apart

[coochiequeens]

I’m not a lawyer but it sounds like the courts threw out a controversial case on the ground that high school students graduated and moved on leaving this for the next group of high schools who call out the bs of competing against bio-males. And their case will be stalled or slow moving until they too graduate.

CNN — 

A federal appeals court on Friday threw out a case brought by four cisgender high school girls in Connecticut who claimed the state’s trans-inclusive sports policy violated their civil rights and deprived them of a “chance to be champions.” 

The lawsuit, filed in 2020, had been seized on in recent years by state lawmakers and governors pushing anti-trans sports bans, with Republicans citing the claims made by the plaintiffs as they sought to prohibit trans girls and women from competing on teams that match their gender identity. 

A federal district court judge dismissed the case in April 2021, saying the girls’ request to block the policy was moot because the two transgender athletes mentioned in the suit graduated in 2020 and there was “no indication” that the plaintiffs would again compete against trans athletes in the state. The district court also said the plaintiffs lacked the procedural threshold – known as standing – needed to bring the suit. 

It its Friday ruling, a three-judge panel of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the lower court’s decision, writing in a scathing 29-page ruling that the plaintiffs’ claim that the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference’s policy put them at a competitive disadvantage was unfounded. 

“All four plaintiffs regularly competed at state track championships as high school athletes, where plaintiffs had the opportunity to compete for state titles in different events. And, on numerous occasions, plaintiffs were indeed ‘champions,’ finishing first in various events, even sometimes when competing against (Andraya) Yearwood and (Terry) Miller,” the ruling reads, referring to the two trans athletes, who later joined the suit to defend the CIAC policy.

“Plaintiffs simply have not been deprived of a ‘chance to be champions,’” the panel wrote.

The Alliance Defending Freedom, the conservative nonprofit that is representing the plaintiffs, said in a statement following the ruling that they’re “evaluating all legal options, including appeal.” 

“Our clients – like all female athletes – deserve access to fair competition,” Christiana Kiefer, the group’s senior counsel, said in the statement. “Every woman deserves the respect and dignity that comes with having an equal opportunity to excel and win in athletics, and ADF remains committed to protecting the future of women’s sports.”

The plaintiffs had argued that the CIAC policy is a violation of Title IX, which bars discrimination on the basis of sex. The policy, they said in the suit, results in “boys displacing girls in competitive track events in Connecticut.”

But the court disagreed with the plaintiffs’ Title IX claim, citing, among other things, a 2020 Supreme Court ruling that said federal civil rights law protects LGBTQ workers. 

“Title IX includes language identical to that in Title VII, broadly prohibiting discrimination ‘on the basis of sex,’” they wrote. “Thus, it cannot be said that the policy – which prohibits discrimination based on a student’s transgender status by allowing all students to participate on gender specific teams consistent with their gender identity – ‘falls within the scope of Title IX’s proscriptions.’” 

Though conservatives pushing anti-trans sports bans have argued that transgender women and girls have physical advantages ​over cisgender women and girls in sports, a 2017 report found “no direct or consistent research” on any such advantage.

The Connecticut lawsuit was unique in that it represented a rare instance in which a trans-inclusive sports policy was challenged by cisgender athletes. The legal battles around the issue have largely been brought by LGBTQ advocates, who have in recent years had some limited success in fighting the bans, including last year when a federal judge temporarily blocked West Virginia’s enforcement of its anti-trans sports ban. 

“Today’s ruling is a critical victory for fairness, equality, and inclusion,” said Joshua Block, an American Civil Liberties Union attorney who defended the Connecticut policy in court. “The court rejected the baseless zero-sum arguments presented by the opposition to this policy and ultimately found transgender girls have as much a right to play as cisgender girls under Title IX.” 

Block added in a statement to CNN that the ACLU hopes the decision “finally puts this case to rest and allows everyone involved to move on with their lives.”

[second-breakfast]

Got put on a PIP today for shit no one ever mentioned to me before that isn't new plus some some stuff that it is only halfway accurate

[xxxcertifiednerdxxx]

If you see this and are a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, make an appointment to go to the temple.

(and reblog so more people can!)

[you-are-my-neverland]

novelember was not even on my mind until i saw a post yesterday, and the week was so bad all things considered that i was just like 🫠 welp guess that’s not happening BUT had a really good day, including writing, today so are we back on or what??

[arlothia]

Saturday Morning Session of General Conference is here!!!!!

[redgoldsparks]

My very last comic for The Nib! End of an era! Transcription below the cut. instagram / patreon / portfolio / etsy / my book / redbubble

The first event I went to with GENDER QUEER was in NYC in 2019 at the Javits Center.

So many of the people who came to my signing were librarians, and so many of them said the same thing: "I know exactly who I want to give this to!" Maia: "Thank you for helping readers find my book!" While working on the book, I was genuinely unsure if anyone outside of my family and close friends would read it. But the early support of librarians and two American Library Association awards helped sell two print runs in first year.

Since then, GENDER QUEER been published in 8 languages, with more on the way: Spanish, Czech, Polish, French, Italian, Norwegian, Portugese and Dutch.

It has also been the most banned book in the United States for the past two years. The American Library Association has tracked an astronomical increase in book challenges over the past few years. Most of these challenges are to books with diverse characters and LGBTQ themes. These challenges are coming unevenly across the US, in a pattern that mirrors the legislative attacks on LGBTQ people. The Brooklyn Public Library offered free eCards to anyone in the US aged 13-21, in an effort to make banned books more available to young readers. A teacher in Norman, Oklahoma gave her students the QR code for the free eCard and lost her job. Summer Boismeir is now working for the Brooklyn Public Library. Hoopla and Libby/Overdrive, apps used to access digital library books, are now banned in Mississippi to anyone under 18. Some libraries won’t allow anyone under 18 to get any kind of library card without parental permission. When librarians in Jamestown, Michigan refused to remove GENDER QUEER and several other books, the citizens of the town voted down the library’s funding in the fall 2022 election. Without funding, the library is due to close in mid-2024. My first event since covid hit was the American Library Association conference in June 2022 in Washington, DC. Once again, the librarians in my signing line all had similar stories for me: “Your book was challenged in our district" "It was returned to the shelf!" "It was removed from the shelf..." "It was moved to the adult section."

Over and over I said: "Thank you. Thank you for working so hard to keep my book in your library. I’m sorry you had to defend it, but thank you for trying, even if it didn't work." We are at a crossroads of freedom of speech and censorship. The future of libraries, both publicly funded and in schools, are at stake. This is massively impacting the daily lives of librarians, teachers, students, booksellers, and authors around the country. In May 2023, I read an article from the Washington Post analyzing nearly 1000 of the book challenges from the 2021-2022 school year. I was literally on route to a festival to talk about book bans when I read a startling statistic. 60% of the 1000 book challenges were submitted by just 11 people. One man alone was responsible for 92 challenges. These 11 people seem to have made submitting copy-cat book challenges their full-time hobby and their opinions are having an outsized ripple effect across the nation. WE NEED TO MAKE THE VOICES SUPPORTING DIVERSE BOOKS AND OPPOSING BOOK BANS EVEN LOUDER. If you are able too, show up for your library and school board meetings when book challenges are debated. Send supportive comments and emails about the Pride book display and Drag Queen story hours. If you see a display you like– for Banned Book Week, AAPI Month, Black History Month, Disability Awareness Month, Jewish holidays, Trans Day of Remembrance– compliment a librarian! Make sure they feel the love stronger than the hate <3

Maia Kobabe, 2023

The Nib