#stop using losses to attack trans folks | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

radiomayak · 3 years ago

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Why do you think it’s okay to write a representation of a country as a trans and homophobic person when they’re supposed to represent ALL of their population? LGBT+ people suffer in Russia, and making the rep of their country hate them is offensive. Also, your transphobic threads need to stop. It’s just painful to watch.

Thank you for your honest feedback! It’s really useful for me to hear how it’s being received (impact over intent.)

If you care to read more, I’ll be putting some of my intent under a readmore, but since it is bothering the community, I will cease creating content about those issues.

If you’ve found my content triggering or would like to receive support related to LGBTQ+ discrimination online, there’s a bunch of resources here: https://www.glaad.org/resourcelist As well as the TREVOR project hotline, which isn’t only a suicide hotline- you can call them for urgent support needs as well. They also have online chatrooms, text lines, and forum spaces to give and receive support. Read more at https://www.thetrevorproject.org/

Ivan is a bisexual man, so anything he expresses against the LGBTQ community is also something he’s holding against his personal self. The subjugation queer people face in some parts of Russia isn’t something I thought someone like canon Russia would choose to stand against via being socially active and out-and-proud, especially in the way he handles conflict through intimidation and threats before all else. So, while making this muse, I decided that he would be effectively stuck in the middle of those two worlds.

What leads me to have him express a level of homophobia is him having a big collection of interpersonal anxiety (read: coercive ways of communicating, abandonment fears, deep feelings of inadequacy) that he uses to squash or invalidate or attempt to suppress what he feels towards men. When he deals with women, he continually appraises the situation and himself through a lens of aggressive and polarizing sense of what is “masculine.”

As the muse developed, I became able to name patterns in how I was writing him that suggest mental illness— yes, that’s related to why he’s homophobia/transphobic. This muse is a person who has remained somewhat steadily resilient, but whose resources have dried up recently: effectively, he’s facing a lifetime of absent or otherwise poor interpersonal relationships all at once as well as projecting stigma about what it means to struggle this way onto himself. The stigma around mental health in Russia can’t be ignored either, and is constantly battling with what little self-esteem he has left. If he weren’t a nation, the level of neglect he experienced could have stunted his neurological growth, and it’s only the ability to absorb knowledge through a large number of people through mystical means that led him to be able to operate in a semblance of normalcy.

I work hard that any inclusion of transphobia isn’t a denial of identity, because Ivan does understand that level of the trans experience of being ____. Most of his comments are lack of education-type deals (and it’s no one’s job to educate him, but he is not educating himself or engaging in a lot of queer spaces for fear of retribution and simultaneously as a form of self punishment) like thinking of gender in a binary, referring to personal traits as gendered, deadnaming when referring to someone’s past… things that you learn quickly on queer platforms like here and TikTok and maybe even YouTube. Ivan is not engaging with those online communities, either. Even with interacting with nonbinary people, like he’s done in a few threads, he doesn’t question identity but he never seeks to expand his knowledge... he’s too busy shitting bricks about minor social conduct norms. His mental energy is going towards a state of psychological survival, not learning or connecting properly with other people.

Some people don’t think of things this way, but I like to think that nations’ metacognitive appraisal of why they’re holding an opinion cannot discern what is personal (like a specific memory of something that happened to them) or universal to their representative area (like certain folk songs Ivan can recall even without hearing them before, other pop culture, and publicly significant events like bread lines.) Ivan feels both the support within and around the LGBTQ+ community in Russia as well as the homophobia and queer erasure. Within his own experience set, he has to settle what it means to be a survivor of sexual assault and be attracted to people of that same gender and physique, and what it means to love another person when his idea of family is fundamentally coercive and rigid. People are complex, and we as humans lean onto attacking the other for a variety of reasons... I intended Ivan’s homophobia to clearly be about more than just the community it attacks, but I recognize using something like that, that causes real suffering and loss of life, as a theme that isn’t directly related to the betterment of human life within fiction can be exploitative and I apologize. Now for the stupid sappy bit I didn’t want to write because it’s so backhanded to claim to like something that hurts other people: As a queer person myself, I’ve also found it personally useful to admit to Ivan’s homophobia and involve it in his thinking, since I can fight back at cisheteronormative assumptions I make in my own mind and become a freer person, but I understand now that my actions are harmful and I will reflect on them.

#ooc #response #tw homophobia #tw transphobia

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rapeculturerealities · 6 years ago

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I detransitioned recently( was out for 8 years); and you can tell everyone that you’re being helpful or “on the right side of history” but that’s not the reality of it. Please please please actually listen to detransitioned and desisted people.

Yes!

Thank you for bringing this up because it’s important. A large number of people who detransition cite transphobia as a major reason why they choose to do so:

Detransitioners have commonly cited trauma, isolation, dissociation, inadequate mental healthcare, and social pressure as motivations for pursuing transition.[22] Informed consent and affirmation of self-diagnosis (both newer but increasingly employed models for transgender healthcare) have been criticized for failing to meet the needs of those who eventually detransition.[23] Among eventual detransitioners, the progression of transition has been found to magnify, rather than remedy, gender dysphoria. Sufferers may fixate on passing(being perceived as their preferred gender), leading them to pursue ever further steps in medical transition.[24]

Motives for detransitioning commonly include financial barriers to transition, social rejection in transition, depression or suicidality due to transition, and discomfort with sexual characteristics developed during transition. Additional motives include concern for lack of data on long-term effects of hormone replacement therapy, concern for loss of fertility, complications from surgery, and changes in gender identity.[25] Some people detransition on a temporary basis, in order to accomplish a particular aim, such as having biologically related children, or until barriers to transition have been resolved or removed.[26] Transgender elders may also detransition out of concern for whether they can receive adequate or respectful care in later life.[27]

When we exclude trans folk and perpetuate transphobia, we contribute to a world that is unsafe for them. Rampant trans exclusion in every aspect of their lives can cause them to stop pursuing transition because it puts their jobs, health and life at stake.

Even trans rights activists can complicate this by viewing detransition as antithetical to trans rights, though in truth it’s often rooted in the same opression that trans folk face. Body policing , for instance:

A concern for many trans people is "passing"—being perceived by others as the right gender. Being able to "pass" ensures a lot less public scrutiny; it ensures you don't stand out. But passing isn't always easy, as trans woman and activist Charlie Craggs points out. "Hormones are amazing but they're not going to turn you from Jay Z into Beyonce," she told me. "You're just going to look like Jay Z in a wig."

Dr. Reed agrees. "You can have someone who said they want to be a woman and have his genitalia removed but that doesn't make them a woman in society's eyes." There have been so many examples of trans women walking in to all-girls bathrooms and being told they aren't in the right room "because they don't pass well.treat

Another cited reason is lack of romantic options. People who are transphobic (transmisia , really. They're not afraid- just hateful) treat trans folk as subhuman. So another reason that societal hatred for the trans community causes them anguish even after they transition. Rigid gender roles and those who enforce them, even in the name of “feminism” harm cis and trans folk alike. Sometimes in one fell swoop, as in the case of cis women being chased out of or attacked in the restroom for appearing “too masculine”.

Trans individuals find themselves facing vast amounts of hate and bigotry. And then more when they detransition from people with an agenda who want to use this as a wedge in the trans rights movement.

Helping trans folk and fighting against bigoted transphobic rhetoric, would not only help ensure the safety of vulnerable trans individuals. It would also protect those who choose to detransition and those who are cis but fail to fit into their assigned gender roles in a way that satisfies those who police and violently enforce gender.

It would seem like we all share a lot of the same problems, but some of us would much rather deepen the rift than work together to make life better for everyone. And historically, those who work to deepen the rift (gender, race, religion etc) aren’t the kind of people with whom I’d like to be counted.

-Spider

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houseofgnosis · 7 years ago

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It’s a shame I’m living in a timeline where I have to write this

So, probably one of the real best humans in the Magic community has finally had enough with the community's bullshit and taking a step back. Selling their collection, the memorabilia, and their cosplays. The harassment should never have gotten to this level and it's basically crystallizes many of the thoughts I've had about the broader Magic community for the longest time.

In gaming communities, we try to make the hateful ones out to be the vocal minorities. That sentiment gives us solace. It allows us to believe that any given day, the shit lords of our community don't outnumber the good folks. But there is one little problem; it's a factual untruth. We call groups a "vocal minority" because that's what they are. A group that, while smaller than the collective conscious of the community, is more outspoken than any other part of the community.

I used to get asked why I stopped making Magic content or stopped playing until people forgot who I was or stopped caring. My answer was somewhat of a half truth. I told people that I was making more money writing about esports. And, this wasn't entirely false. But, I'm going to be honest. Money had nothing to do with it. Fuck, I produce podcasts for free. If I love something, I'll do it for free.

No, the reason I quit Magic is simple. I hated the community. It probably started with the first inclusivity article I wrote for Red Site Wins where someone tore into me about being Trans. Or maybe it started with all the podcast comments about my not sounding like an Amanda. Or maybe it was the time a friend shared an article I wrote that detailed my experiences as a Trans woman in Magic on Reddit and I cried for the rest of the day over the comments. Maybe it was that time someone shared my photo and a comment I made in a private MtG diversity group on 4chan.

There were so many little moments that piled on top of each other. They wore me down. People always tell you to have a thick skin when you're a content creator. But let's be real. That should only be true if you're receiving critiques. It's never a bit of banter when you're sense of self and safety are called into question. Being a part of community shouldn't involve a process of survival of the fittest.

When I really evaluated what I wanted to be doing as a content creator; I just couldn't be bothered to be involved in a community that was so quick to personally attack me over my womanhood or Trans-ness. This isn't to say that esports is better. Nope, esports has it's own diversity issues it has to work out. But ya know what? When esports doesn't like an interview I've done, I just get called a moron. When Magic the Gathering wasn't happy that I called out someone for sexual harassment not only was I told to take a joke, but I have told to kill myself and other terrible things for the past year. Which community do you think I want to be a part of?

I've seen the Magic community be such a shit stain it drove out some of my closest friends. Lowry comes to mind. When I first started being a grinder, I felt lonely in a sea of white faces and I gravitated to him at my first PTQ. Instead of being weirded out by this stranger trying to hang with him, Lowry befriended me. That's the guy he was, just the nicest dude with the biggest smile on his face. By the end of the Magic career, I don't think I saw a smile on his face once at an event. It chews up the good people and it spits them out for being different.

I'm so angry. I'm so angry that I'm seeing tweets and stories of people saying they wished they didn't tune out the hatred. That they didn't just push "block" or "mute." That they let the hatred and harassment go unchecked until it was too late. Until it wasn't someone like me who left, it was Sprankle.

We can't let vocal minorities have a stronger voice than us anymore. We can't continue to just say "we need to be better" anymore. We actually need to BE better now. We need to actually use the weight of our size and put or collective majority's money where our mouth is. Because if we don't, Spranks won't be the last person to leave the community. The loss of Spranks is a message that may be the tipping point for a lot of women to say "if the community is bad enough for Spranks to say 'fuck it,' why the hell am *I* staying around." And this is true of any nerd community. Stop erasing harassment with the sentiment that it's just a vocal minority. You're doing those that need you a disservice.

Love. Sweat. & Tears,

Amanda "SageGnosis" Stevens

#personal #Magic the Gathering #MtG

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thedivinefish · 5 years ago

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divinefishingtips · 5 years ago

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365dailyaffirmations · 5 years ago

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advancedthetapractitioner · 5 years ago

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TGIWednesday and a download for greater peace

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suchagiantnerd · 6 years ago

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54 Books, 1 Year

2018 was my first full year back at work after my mat leave, and thanks to all the time I spend on the subway, my yearly reading total is back up to over 50 books!

2018 was a dark year, and I made a conscious effort to read more books from authors on the margins of society. The more those of us with privilege take the time to listen to and learn from these voices, the better we’ll be as friends, colleagues and citizens.

You’ll also notice a lot of books about witchcraft and witches in this year’s list. What can I say? Dark times call for resorting to ANYTHING that can help dig us out of our current reality, including putting a hex on Donald Trump.

Trigger Warning: Some of the books reviewed below are about mental illness, suicide, domestic violence, sexual assault, and violence against people of colour, Indigenous people and people in the LGBTQ community.

Here are this year’s mini reviews:

1. The Lottery and Other Stories / Shirley Jackson

Jackson’s short stories were published in the late forties and fifties, but their slow-burning creep factor holds up today. The stories involve normal people doing normal things until something small gives, and we realize something is really wrong here. As you read through the collection, take note of the mysterious man in blue. He appears in about half of the stories, always in the margins of the action. Who is he? I read him as a bit of a trickster figure, bringing chaos and mayhem with him wherever he goes. Other people have read him as the devil himself. Let me know what you think!

2. The Ship / Antonia Honeywell

I was excited to read this YA novel about a giant cruise ship-turned-ark, designed and captained by the protagonist Lalla’s father in a dystopic near future. The premise of the book is great and brings up lots of juicy questions – where is the ship going? How long can the passengers survive together in a confined space? How did Lalla’s father choose who got to board the ship? But the author’s execution was a disappointment and focused far too much on Lalla’s inner turmoil and immaturity.

3. The Hot One: A Memoir of Friendship, Sex and Murder / Carolyn Murnick

My book club read this true crime memoir detailing the intense, adolescent friendship between Carolyn, the author, and Ashley, who was murdered in her home in her early 20s a few years after the girls’ friendship fizzled. Murnick is understandably destroyed by the murder and obsessed with the killer’s trial. The narrative loops back and forth between the trial and the girls’ paths, which diverged sharply after Ashley moved away in high school. Murnick (the self-proclaimed nerdy one) muses on the intricacies of female friendship, growing up under the microscope of the male gaze, and the last weekend she ever spent with Ashley (the hot one). This is an emotional, detailed account of a woman trying her best to bear witness to her friend’s horrific death and to honour who she was in life.

4. The Break / Katherena Vermette

Somebody is brutally attacked on a cold winter night in Winnipeg, and Stella, a young Métis woman and tired new mother is the only witness – and even she isn’t sure what she saw. The police investigation into the attack puts a series of events in motion that make long-buried emotions bubble to the surface and ripple outwards to touch a number of people in the community, including an Indigenous teenager recently released from a youth detention center, one of the investigating officers (a Métis man walking a fine line between two worlds), and an artist. This is a tough read, especially in the era of #MMIW and #MeToo, but all the more important because of it.

5. So You Want to Talk About Race / Ijeoma Oluo

Probably the most important book I read this year, I will never stop recommending this read to anyone and everyone. This is your Allyship 101 syllabus right here, folks. Do you really want to do better and be better as an ally? Then you need to read every chapter closely and start implementing the lessons learned right away. This book will teach you about tone policing, microaggressions and privilege, and how all of those things are harmful to people of colour and other marginalized communities.

6. The Accusation / Bandi

This is a collection of short stories by a North Korean man (written under a pseudonym for his protection as he still lives there). The stories were actually smuggled out of the country for publication by a family friend. The characters in these stories are regular people living regular lives (as much as that is possible in North Korea). What really comes across is the fine line between laughter and tears while living under the scrutiny of a dangerous regime. There are several scenes where people laugh uncontrollably because they can’t cry, and where people start to cry because they can’t laugh. This book offers a rare perspective into a hidden world.

7. Being Jazz: My Life as a (Transgender) Teen / Jazz Jennings

Some of you will be familiar with Jazz via the TLC show about her and her family, “I Am Jazz”. I’d never seen it but was inspired to read the book to gain a better understanding about what coming out as trans as a child is like. Jazz came out to her family at 5 years old (!) and her parents and siblings have had her back from the beginning. If you are still having a tough time understanding that trans women are women, full stop, this book will help get you there.

8. A Field Guide to Getting Lost / Rebecca Solnit

When it comes to the books that gave me “all the feels”, this one tops the 2018 list. Solnit is everything - historian, writer, philosopher, culture lover, explorer. Her mind is always making connections and as you follow her through her labyrinthine thoughts you start to feel connected too. Her words on loss, nostalgia and missing a person/place/time actually made me cry, they were so true. For me, an agnostic leaning towards atheism, she illuminated the magic in the everyday that made me feel more spiritually rooted to life than I have in a long time.

9. I Found You / Lisa Jewell

Lots of weird and bad things seem to happen in British seaside towns, don’t they? This is another psychological thriller, à la “The Girl on the Train” and “Gone Girl”. One woman finds a man sitting on the beach one morning. He has no idea who he is or how he got there. Miles away, another woman wakes up one morning to find her husband has vanished. Is the mystery man on the beach the missing husband? Dive into this page-turner and find out!

10. The Midnight Sun / Cecilia Ekbäck

This novel is the sequel to a historical Swedish noir book I read a few years ago. Though it’s not so much a sequel, as it is a novel taking place in the same setting – Blackasen Mountain in Lapland. This story actually takes place about a hundred years after the first novel does, so it can be read on its own. Ekbäck’s stories dive into the effect of place on people – whether it’s the isolation of a harsh and long winter or the mental havoc caused by the midnight sun on sleep patterns, the people on Blackasen Mountain are always strained and ready to explode. (Oh, and there’s also a bit of the supernatural happening on this mountain too – but just a bit!)

11. After the Bloom / Leslie Shimotakahara

Strained mother-daughter relationships. The PTSD caused by immigration and then being detained in camps in your new home. Fraught romances. Shimotakahara’s novel tackles all of this and more. Taking place in two times – 1980s Toronto and a WWII Japanese internment camp in the California desert – this story of loss, hardship, betrayal and family is both tragic and hopeful.

12. Company Town / Madeline Ashby

In this Canadian dystopian tale, thousands of people live in little cities built on the oil rigs off the coast of Newfoundland. Hwa works as a bodyguard for the family that owns the rigs and is simultaneously trying to protect the family’s youngest child from threats, find out who is killing her sex-worker friends, mourn her brother (who died in a rig explosion), and work through her own self-esteem issues. Phew! If it sounds like too much, it is. I really did like this book, but I think it needed tighter editing and focus.

13. The Power / Naomi Alderman

In the near-future, women and girls all over the world develop the ability to send electrical shocks out of their hands. With this newfound power, society’s gender power imbalance starts to flip. The U.S. military scrambles to try and work this to their advantage. A new religious movement starts to grow. And Tunde, a Nigerian photographer (and a dude!) travels the world, trying to document it all. This is an exciting novel that seriously asks, “what if?” in which many of the key characters cross paths.

14. Milk and Honey / Rupi Kaur

Everyone’s reading it, so I had to too! Kaur’s poems are refreshing and healing, and definitely accessible. This is poetry for the people, for women, for daughters, mothers and sisters. These are poems about how women make themselves small and quiet, about our inner anger, about sacrifice, longing and love.

15. Tell It to the Trees / Anita Rau Badami

In the dead of winter in small-town B.C., the body of big-city writer Anu is found outside of the Dharmas’ house, frozen to death. Anu had been renting their renovated shed, working on a novel in seclusion. As we get to know the Dharmas – angry and controlling Vikram, his quiet and frightened wife Suman, the two children, and the ghost of Vikram’s first wife, Helen, we feel more and more uneasy. Was Anu’s death just a tragic accident, or something else entirely? There is a touch of “The Good Son” in this novel…

16. You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life / Jen Sincero

This book was huge last year and my curiosity got the better of me. But I can’t, I just can’t subscribe to this advice! All of this stuff about manifesting whatever you want reeks of privilege and is just “The Secret” repackaged for millennials and Gen-Z. Thank u, next!

17. All the Things We Never Knew: Chasing the Chaos of Mental Illness / Sheila Hamilton

Shortly after a diagnosis of bipolar disorder, Hamilton’s husband, David, took his own life after years of little signs and indicators that something wasn’t right. Her memoir, in the aftermath of his death, is a reckoning, a tribute, and a warning to others. In it, she details the fairy tale beginning of their relationship (but even then, there were signs), the birth of their only child, and the rocky path that led to his final choice. Hamilton’s story doesn’t feel exploitative to me. It’s an important piece in the global conversation about mental health and includes lots of facts and statistics too.

18. This Is How It Always Is / Laurie Frankel

This is a beautiful novel about loving your family members for who they are and about the tough choices parents have to make when it comes to protecting their children. Rosie and Penn have five boys (that this modern couple has five children is the most unbelievable part of the plot, frankly), but at five years old, their youngest, Claude, tells the family that he is a girl. Claude changes her name to Poppy, and Rosie and Penn decide to move the whole family to more inclusive Seattle to give Poppy a fresh start in life. Of course, the move has consequences on the other four children as well, and we follow everybody’s ups and downs over the years as they adjust and adapt to their new reality.

19. Dumplin’ / Julie Murphy

While I didn’t love the writing or any of the characters, I do need to acknowledge the importance of this YA novel in showing a fat teenager as happy and confident in who she is. Willowdean Dickson has a job, a best friend and a passion for Dolly Parton. She also catches the attention of cute new kid, Bo, and a sweet summer romance develops between the two (with all of the miscommunications and misunderstandings you’d expect in a YA plot). This is an important book in the #RepresentationMatters movement, and is now a Netflix film if you want to skip the read!

20. Kintu / Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi

This was touted as “the great Ugandan novel” and it did not disappoint! The first part of the novel takes place in 1754, as Kintu Kidda, leader of a clan, travels to the capital of Buganda (modern day Kampala) with his entourage to pledge allegiance to the new Kabaka. During the journey, tragedy strikes, unleashing a curse on Kintu’s descendants. The rest of the novel follows five modern-day Ugandans who are descended from Kintu’s bloodline and find themselves invited to a massive family reunion. As their paths cross and family histories unfold, will the curse be broken?

21. The Child Finder / Rene Denfeld

I bought this at the airport as a quick and thrilling travel read, and that’s exactly what it was. Naomi is a private investigator with a knack for finding missing and kidnapped children. This is because she was once a kidnapped child herself. The plot moves back and forth in time between Naomi’s current case and her own escape and recovery. There was nothing exceptional about this book, but it’s definitely a page-turner.

22. Difficult Women / Roxane Gay

Are the women in Gay’s short stories actually difficult? Or has a sexist, racist world made things difficult for them? I think you know what my answer is. The stories are at times beautiful - like the fairy tale about a woman made of glass, and at times violent and visceral – like a number of stories about hunting and butchering. Women are everything and more.

23. My Education / Susan Choi

I suggested this novel to my book club and I will always regret it. This was my least favourite read of the year. I thought it was going to be about a sexy and inappropriate threesome or love triangle between a student, her professor, and his wife. Instead it had a few very unsexy sex scenes and hundreds and hundreds of pages about the minutiae of academic life. I can’t see anyone enjoying this book except English professors and grad students.

24. Hope in the Dark: Untold Histories, Wild Possibilities / Rebecca Solnit

This series of essays was a balm to my soul after Ford won the provincial election. It reminded me that history is full of steps forward and steps back, and though things look bleak right now, there are millions of us around the world trying to make positive changes in big and little ways as we speak.

25. The Woman in Cabin 10 / Ruth Ware

Another novel in the vein of “The Woman on the Train”, that is, a book featuring a young, female, unreliable narrator. Lo knows what she saw – or does she? There was a woman in the now empty Cabin 10 – or was there? And also, Lo hasn’t been eating or sleeping. But she’s been drinking a lot and not taking her medication. I’m kind of done with this genre – anyone else?

26. My Brilliant Friend / Elena Ferrante

After hearing many intelligent women praise this novel (the first in a four-part series), my book club decided to give it a try. I didn’t fall in love with it, but I was sufficiently intrigued by the intense and passionate friendship between Lila and Lenu, two young girls growing up in post-war Naples, that I will likely read the whole series. Many claim that no writer has managed to capture the intricacy of female friendship the way that Ferrante has.

27. The Turquoise Table: Finding Community and Connection in Your Own Front Yard / Kristin Schell

This is Schell’s non-fiction account of how she started Austin’s turquoise table movement (which has now spread further into other communities). Schell was feeling disconnected from her immediate community, so she painted an old picnic table a bright turquoise, moved it into her front yard, and started sitting out there some mornings, evenings and weekends - sometimes alone, and sometimes with her family. Neighbours started to gather for chats, snacks, card games, and more. People got to know each other on a deeper level and friendships bloomed. This book is a nice reminder that small actions matter. A small warning though – Schell is an evangelical Christian, and I didn’t know this before diving in. There is a focus on Christianity in the book, and though it’s not quite preachy, it’s very in-your-face.

28. Sing, Unburied, Sing / Jesmyn Ward

This was hands-down my favourite novel of the year. It’s a lingering and haunting look at the generational trauma carried by the descendants of those who were enslaved and lived during the Jim Crow era. One part road trip novel, one part ghost story, the plot follows a fractured, multi-racial family as they head into the broken heart of Mississippi to pick up the protagonist’s father, who has just been released from prison.

29. Full Disclosure / Beverley McLachlin

This is the first novel by Canada’s former Chief Justice, Beverley McLachlin. As someone who works in the legal industry and has heard her speak, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on this. But, with all due respect to one of the queens, the book was very ‘meh’. The plot was a little over the top, the characters weren’t sufficiently fleshed out, and I felt that the backdrop of the Robert Pickton murders was somewhat exploitative and not done respectfully. Am I being more critical of this novel than I might otherwise be because the author is so intelligent? Likely yes, so you can take this review with a grain of salt.

30. The Long Way Home / Louise Penny

This is the 10th novel in Penny’s Inspector Gamache mystery series. As ever, I fell in love with her descriptions of Quebec’s beauty, the small town of Three Pines, and the delicious food the characters are always eating. Penny’s books are the definition of cozy.

31. In the Skin of a Lion / Michael Ondaatje

Ondaatje has the gift of writing novels that read like poetry, and this story is no exception. Taking place in Toronto during construction of the Don Valley bridge and the RC Harris water treatment plant, the plot follows a construction worker, a young nun, an explosives expert, a business magnate and an actress as they maneuver making a life for themselves in the big city and changing ideas about class and gender.

32. The Story of a New Name / Elena Ferrante

This is the second novel in Ferrante’s four-part series about the complicated life-long friendship between Lila and Lenu. In this installment, the women navigate first love, marriage, post-secondary education, first jobs and new motherhood.

33. The Happiness Project / Gretchen Rubin

In this memoir / self-help book, Rubin studies the concept of happiness and implements a new action or practice each month of the year that is designed to increase her happiness levels. Examples include practicing gratitude, going to bed earlier, making time for fun and learning something new. Her journey inspired me to make a few tweaks to my life during a difficult time, and I do think they’ve made me more appreciative of what I have (which I think is a form of happiness?)

34. The Virgin Suicides / Jeffrey Eugenides

I loved the film adaptation of this novel when I was a teenager, but I’d never actually read it until my book club selected it. Eugenides paints a glimmering, ethereal portrait of the five teenaged Lisbon sisters living a suffocating half-life at the hands of their overly protective and religious parents. The story is told through the eyes of the neighbourhood boys who longed for them from a distance and learned about who they were through snatched telephone calls, passed notes and one tragic suburban basement party.

35. Time’s Convert / Deborah Harkness

This is a supernatural fantasy novel that takes place in the same universe of witches, vampires and daemons as Harkness’ All Souls trilogy. The plot follows the romance between centuries-old vampire Marcus, who came of age during the American Civil War, and human Phoebe, who begins her own transformation into a vampire so that she and Marcus can be together forever.

36. The Saturday Night Ghost Club / Craig Davidson

Were you a fan of the TV show “Are You Afraid of the Dark?” If yes, this novel is for you. Davidson explores the blurred line between real-life tragedy and ghost story over the course of one summer in 1980s Niagara Falls. A coming-of-age novel that’s somehow sweet, funny and sad all at once, this story delves into the aftershocks of trauma and the way we heal the cracks in families.

37. Oh Crap! Potty Training: Everything Modern Parents Need to Know to Do It Once and Do It Right / Jamie Glowacki

I hoped this was the book for us, but I don’t think it was. Some of the tips were great, but others really didn’t work for us. The other issue is that the technique in this book is much better suited to kids staying at home with a caregiver, not kids in daycare.

38. The Witch Doesn’t Burn in This One / Amanda Lovelace

This is a collection of poetry about women’s anger, women’s long memories and strength in sisterhood. It’s accessible, emotional and a bit of a feminist rallying cry. As someone who is obsessed with the Salem witch trials, I also loved the historical backdrop to the poems.

39. The Rules of Magic / Alice Hoffman

I love to read seasonally, and this prequel to “Practical Magic” was a perfect October book. Remember Jet and Franny, the old, quirky aunts from the movie? This novel describes their upbringing, along with that of their brother Vincent, as the three siblings discover their powers and try to out-maneuver the Owens family curse.

40. Witch: Unleased. Untamed. Unapologetic. / Lisa Lister

This book has a very sleek, appealing cover. Holding it made me feel magical. Reading it really disappointed me. From Lister’s almost outright transphobia to her unedited, repetitive style, this was a huge disappointment and I don’t recommend it.

41. The Death of Mrs. Westaway / Ruth Ware

I liked this novel a lot more than Ware’s other novel, “The Woman in Cabin 10”. Crumbling English manor homes, long-buried family evils and people trapped together by snowstorms are my jam.

42. Weirdo / Cathi Unsworth

Another British seaside town, another grisly murder. Jumping back and forth between a modern-day private investigation and the parental panic around cults and Satanism in the 1980s, Unsworth unpacks the darkness lurking within a small community and the way society’s outcasts are often used as scapegoats. The creep factor grows as the story unfolds.

43. Mabon: Rituals, Recipes and Lore for the Autumn Equinox / Diana Rajchel

And so begins my witchy education. I have to admit, I really liked learning about the historical pagan celebrations and superstitions surrounding harvest time. I also liked reading about spells and incantations… ooooOOOOoooo!

44. From Here to Eternity: Travelling the World to Find the Good Death / Caitlin Doughty

In North America, we are so removed from death that we are unequipped to process it when someone close to us dies. But this doesn’t have to be the case. In this non-fiction account, Doughty, a mortician based in L.A., travels the world learning about the business of death, the cultural customs around mortality, and the rituals of care and compassion for the deceased in ten different places. It seems that the closer we are to death, the less we’ll fear it, and the better-equipped we’ll be to process loss and grief in healthy ways.

45. Samhain: Rituals, Recipes and Lore for Halloween / Diana Rajchel

Did you know that Samhain is actually pronounced “Sow-en”? I didn’t until I read this book, and felt very intelligent indeed, when later, while watching “The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina” on Netflix, the head witch pronounced the word as “Sam-hain”, destroying the writers’ credibility in one instant. I am a witch now.

46. See What I Have Done / Sarah Schmidt

This novel is a retelling of the Lizzie Borden murders, illuminated through four characters – Lizzie herself, the Borden’s maid Bridget, Lizzie’s sister, and a mysterious man hired the day before the murders by Lizzie’s uncle to intimidate Mr. Borden (one of the murder victims). I knew very little about the murders before reading this book, but this version of the tale strongly suggests that Lizzie really is the murderer. Unhinged, childlike, selfish and manipulative, I hated her so much and felt awful for everyone that had to live in her orbit.

47. The Nature of the Beast / Louise Penny

In the 11th installment of Penny’s Inspector Gamache mystery series, she sets the story up with a parallel to the boy who cried wolf and introduces us to her first killer without a soul. Crimes of passion and greed abound in Penny’s universe, but a crime of pure, cold evil? This is a first.

48. How Are You Going to Save Yourself? / J.M. Holmes

This is a powerful collection of short stories about what it’s like to be a Black man in America right now. It’s about Black male friendship, fathers and sons, outright racism and dealing with a lifetime of microaggressions. Holmes makes some risky and bold decisions with his characters, even playing into some of the harmful stereotypes about Black men while subverting some of the others. This book really stayed with me. One disturbing story in particular I kept turning around and around in my mind for days afterward.

49. Split Tooth / Tanya Tagaq

This is a beautiful story about a young Inuit girl growing up in Nunavut in the 1970s, combining gritty anecdotes about bullying, friendship, family and addiction with Inuit myth, legend, and the magic of the Arctic. The most evocative and otherworldly scenes in the novel took place under the Northern Lights and left me kind of mesmerized.

50. Motherhood / Sheila Heti

Heti’s book is a work of fiction styled as a memoir, during which the protagonist, nearing her 40s, weighs the pros and cons of having a baby. I’ve maybe never felt so “seen” by an author before. I agonized over the decision about whether to have a baby for years before finally making a decision. The unsatisfying, but freeing conclusion that both the author and I came to is that for many of us there is no right choice (but no wrong choice either).

51. The Mistletoe Murder and Other Stories / P.D. James

This is a short collection of James’ four “Christmas-y” mysteries published over the course of a number of years. It was a perfect cozy read to welcome the holiday season.

52. The Christmas Sisters / Sarah Morgan

Morgan’s story is a Hallmark holiday movie in book form. A family experiencing emotional turmoil at Christmas? Check. Predictable romances, old and new? Check. A beautiful, festive setting? Check. (In this case, it’s a rustic inn nestled in the Scottish Highlands). This novel is fluff, but the most delightful kind.

53. Jonny Appleseed / Joshua Whitehead

Jonny is a Two-Spirit Ojibway-Cree person who leaves the reservation in his early 20s to escape his community’s homophobia and make it in the city. Making ends meet as a cybersex worker, the action begins when he has to scrape together enough cash to make it home to the “rez” (and all the loose ends he left behind there) for a funeral. The emotional heart of the novel are Jonny’s relationships with his kokum (grandmother) and his best friend / part-time lover Tias.

54. Yule: Rituals, Recipes and Lore for the Winter Solstice / Susan Pesznecker

Do you folks believe that I’m a witch now? I am, okay? I even spoke an incantation to Old Mother Winter while staring into the flame of a candle after reading this book.

55. Half Spent Was the Night: A Witches’ Yuletide / Ami McKay

Old-timey witches? At Christmas time? At an elaborate New Year’s Eve masked ball? Be still my heart. This novella was just what I wanted to read in those lost days between Christmas and New Year’s. You’ll appreciate it even more if you’ve already read Ami McKay’s previous novel “The Witches of New York”, as it features the same characters.

#50BookPledge 50BookChallenge

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bethevenyc · 8 years ago

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‘We Will Not Back Down’: Women's Activists Tell Us What’s Next

Women’s Marches spread empowerment around the world in January. What’s next for the movement? (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

For many of the women who were not thrilled with the outcome of the last election, these past few months have been filled with looking back and wondering what could’ve been, if only… But that doesn’t add up to much when it comes to feeling lifted up and inspired to go on fighting for the ideals you believe in.

And so, for inspiration, and in preparation for International Women’s Day, happening around the globe on March 8, we turned to a selection of national organizations that focus specifically on women’s issues — from reproductive and lesbian rights to efforts around immigration, sexual assault, and political representation — to ask each of them a simple yet vital question: “What’s next?” These are their answers.

I Am That Girl/ProtectHer

“I’ve been addressing sexual assault through frank, open discussions in locker rooms around the country since 2014,” says Alexis Jones, founder of these nonprofit efforts to empower women and girls. “Now, three years later, we face the potential loss of Title IX, which holds colleges accountable by the government for their handling of sexual assault reports. … To expand our reach, ProtectHer is introducing a curriculum this month that can be utilized in locker rooms around the country to address this issue with the influencers that so many students and men look up to: star athletes on college campuses. By rebranding what it means to be a man, we hope to empower male athletes to raise the bar for all men on campus to begin respecting and protecting their fellow female students.”

League of Women Voters

“Since the Supreme Court rolled back key provisions of the Voting Rights Act in 2013, we have seen a concerted effort in many states to stop some voters from voting, or to make it much harder for them to participate,” says Chris Carson, LWV president. “Elected officials have purged existing voters from the rolls, made cuts to early voting, reduced polling places, put in place strict voter photo ID laws, and levied onerous voter registration restrictions. The League is focused on making voting more accessible and working hard in all 50 states to make sure that election laws support the voters and not the politicians.”

NARAL Pro-Choice America

“NARAL members and activists around the country are taking part in daily acts of resistance, and we’re already showing we will not back down,” says communications director Kaylie Hanson Long. “This is just the start. As Donald Trump continues to attack nearly every aspect of our daily lives as women, we will be ramping up the fight to hold him and those who stand with him accountable.”

National Center for Lesbian Rights

“In crisis there is opportunity,” says legal director Shannon Minter. “Despite the horrific setbacks of the past few months, we are deeply optimistic about the future. We see a level of engagement, determination, and collaboration we have not seen before — and we intend to be there every step of this new way, fighting for women, for LGBT people, for working-class people, for immigrants, for people of color, for Native people, for people with disabilities, and for all those who have been more and more economically and socially marginalized and alienated by policies that benefit only the rich and the privileged.”

National Organization for Women (NOW)

“The issues we face today are actually many of the same issues we have faced for decades — patriarchy, racism, misogyny, homophobia, and transphobia — if not hundreds of years,” says NOW president Terry O’Neill. “However, the current administration poses an acute threat to many — particularly communities of color. This political reality has inspired many across the country to increase their grassroots engagement, and to take part in leading the societal change we desperately need. In light of that — and in response to this political crisis — [we are] launching a National Action Program, which will be NOW’s set of action priorities [and campaigns] for activists all around the country: End the Sex Abuse to Prison Pipeline; Ratify the Equal Rights Amendment; Mobilize for Reproductive Justice; Advance Voting Rights; and Protect Immigrant Rights.”

National Women’s Law Center

“When the National Women’s Law Center was founded 45 years ago, our goal was to imagine, and fight for, a world where women are equal under the eyes of the law,” says president-elect Fatima Goss Graves. “We are digging deep and using every legal and advocacy tool we can find. We are building a network of attorneys ready to take on sex discrimination cases in schools and at the workplace. We are advocating new protections at the state and local level and already are seeing progress. We are strategically connecting our practical legal approach with an ability to galvanize our network of supporters to take action. The Center’s new campaign, We the Resistance, calls on this network to help amplify our advocacy — to weigh in with federal agencies, to contact Congress like never before.”

New Wave Feminists

“As the saying goes, ‘A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take away everything you have,’” says Destiny Herndon-De La Rosa, founder of this “anti-war, anti-death, anti-torture, anti-abortion” feminist group. “In the coming year, I’d like to see us move away from big government and back to small villages. We all need help, but we need help we can depend on, not help that might come and go every four to eight years. In my most desperate times of need, I didn’t call my senator. I called my neighbors. … We must always remember that it’s ‘we the people’ who have the true power. This will be the year that New Wave Feminists focuses on connecting people, helping them find local support systems, and building villages … because we may need them now more than ever.”

Planned Parenthood Federation of America

“People can start to talk to their neighbors and get other people involved. Tell your story about why you think these issues matter,” Kelley Robinson, deputy national organizing director, suggests as to how all women who support reproductive freedom can move forward. “This isn’t just policy, but real people and people’s lives. When people tell their story of why Planned Parenthood matters to them, that matters. Folks can get involved just by signing up online to be a ‘defender’ and get information on how to be an activist on a regular basis in your own community. It’s a community guide — calling your representative, showing up at their district office, being a community volunteer at a health center. We want to let people know to take action regularly and often to push bad policies back.”

Women’s March on Washington/A Day Without a Woman

“Women are leading the resistance against Trump’s authoritarian garbage fire of a government. We will not be silenced. We will fight systemic patriarchy by practicing powerful solidarity. In 2018, #WeWillReplaceYou,” says Winnie Wong, co-author of the Women’s March on Washington Unity Principles. The first action, happening on March 8, is A Day Without a Woman, in which the organizers have called for women across the country to take a day off from paid or unpaid labor, avoid shopping for one day (except from small, women-owned businesses), and wear red in solidarity with the day.

Trans Activist Attends Trump’s Joint Address to Send Message: ‘It’s More Than Bathrooms’

The Women’s General Strike Is Set for March 8

Pussyhat Project Founder Has Powerful Answer for Transgender Critics

yahoo

#_uuid:7f5da552-78b0-3cf0-b7b3-a77cbc9403be #_author:Beth Greenfield #_revsp:wp.yahoo.beauty.us #_lmsid:a0Vd000000AE7lXEAT

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lord-pigasus · 8 years ago

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No Pride For The Police

(content warning: this essay contains conversations on police brutality, homophobia, transphobia, racism, mental illness, and rape that may be upsetting. it also uses reclaimed slurs) Pride is our day to be out and be loud. To many, these events are the only face of the queer community. They're loud, colorful, and celebratory. Seeing my people celebrate their queerness all over the country is inspiring. However, these marches often fail to focus on important political issues that affect more vulnerable queer populations. Among these issues is the trend of increased police involvement. Police are everywhere at pride parades, they escort the marchers, they block off the route, and they patrol the area. At the last pride march i attended, the police even paraded alongside the marchers in their cruisers, waving rainbow flags at the audience. Police love to play like they’re supporting the community. They smile, crack jokes, and pose for pictures. To them, pride is a way to build clout in the community. A way to get people to trust them and rely on them. Once pride is over however, they aren’t so friendly to the queers. Mya Hall, a 27 year old black trans woman took a wrong turn off the highway and ended up headed towards the Baltimore NSA headquarters. Before she reached the gates of the facility, police open fired at her car. Kayden Clarke, a 24 year old trans man, called the police for help during an Aspergers-related meltdown. Instead of attempting to talk him down the police fired their weapons. Both of these people had their lives end at the hands of the police. Stories like these are shocking examples of how police interact with queer bodies. Police violence is a constant threat against us, felt most by trans people, people of color, and differently abled queers. Black trans women especially are targeted. They are profiled as sex workers or drug addicts by the police who use the law as an excuse to harass, beat, sexually assault, and arrest these women with no repercussions. According to the National Coalition of Anti Violence Programs, Transgender people of color are six times more likely to experience police violence that cis white people, and the Office of Justice Programs says that thirty two percent of black trans women report being sexually assaulted while in police custody or jail. As a community, our number one priority should be to ensure the physical safety of our most threatened members. Any queer organization that supports or works with the cops does it in the face of every queer person targeted by them. If a group doesn’t fight for the protection of all queer people, especially trans women of color, then it is fucking useless. When the modern gay rights movement began, police violence was one of the main points of action, and we would not have the rights that we have without our spiritual ancestors’ anti-police resistance. Unfortunately, that history of resistance has been lost or erased by the mainstream community. In the 1960s, the queer community had to work underground to avoid police harassment. Raids on gay bars and restaurants were regular, and sometimes even scheduled. Organizations such as the Daughters of Bilitis and the Mattachine Society worked to create public acceptance of homosexuality, but were very restrained and quiet in their tactics. They excluded trans people, demanded formal dress, and did their work from the closet using respectful and non confrontational tactics that were slow-working and ineffective. In 1966, police attacked a group of trans people at Compton's cafeteria in San francisco's tenderloin district. Fighting soon broke out as queers smashed windows and threw plates, cups, and furniture at the police. this quickly became a battle between police and trans folk and spilled out into the street. Those riots showed the community that they had the power to fight against the police. It inspired queer militancy all over the country, and helped create a network of fags in San Francisco that would organize and fight for queer rights in the coming years. More well known is the 1969 Stonewall Uprising. When the police attacked the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar popular with homeless queer people, they were met with bricks, fists, and shouts of "gay power!" In the aftermath of the battle, queer people began organizing into groups such as the Gay Liberation Front (GLF) and the Gay Activists Alliance (GAA). These groups borrowed tactics from black and anti-war activists, and advocated for queer people to come out and protest their unfair treatment. On the first anniversary of the uprising, gay activists marched in the Christopher Street Liberation Day parade from Christopher Street to Central Park. Similar marches were organized in Chicago and Los Angeles. In the coming years, these marches had spread across the world and became the pride marches that we see today. As we achieved more and more rights, the tone and politics of these marches changed. They became bigger, gained the support of city governments, corporate sponsors, and the police. The legacy of militant resistance was erased, and the participation of trans people, and queers of color was discouraged. Today's pride events hardly have any resemblance to the anti-police spirit that created the movement and gave us our collective power. The only way to achieve queer liberation is to resist capitalism and the police that support it. Simply asking the system to give us rights can never ensure our safety, because the violence against us is a fundamental part of capitalism. Gender and heterosexuality are constructs created by capitalism to assign labor roles on the personal level. Capitalism is strengthened when it can promote straight nuclear families that work for the benefit of the wealthy. If you were assigned male, you are pressured into doing wage labor for the wealthy so that you can support your family. If you were assigned female, you are pressured into unpaid labor in the home, supporting your husband in his wage labor and raising the next genderation of workers. Gender is a life given to us at birth without our consent. Any deviation from those assigned roles is a threat to capitalism. As queer people, our bodies and sexualities are fundamentally opposed to the social order. We are the targets of violence because our very existence represents a loss of capitalism’s control over its workforce. Police exist as the enforcement arm of the wealthy. They were created to protect the property of slave owners, and are the only group given permission to use violence. Their main goal is to protect the power of the wealthy under the guise of justice. Because we’re a threat to capitalism’s control over the workforce, cops set out to terrorize and destroy vulnerable queer populations whenever possible. They don’t attack us because they’re homophobic, They attack us because it’s their job. No sensitivity training, policy change, or civil discussion can change their purpose. The police are fundamentally opposed to our existence and in order to achieve liberation, we must put an end to them and the capitalism that gives them power. Once we understand the nature of our oppression, it becomes our responsibility to resist capitalism and ensure that our community does the same. In the 2016 Toronto pride parade, Black Lives Matter was asked to march as "honored guests". As they reached an intersection, the float stopped and the marchers sat down. As the entire parade came to a stop, the group demanded that the event's organizers agree to a list of demands calling for more inclusion of black and poc issues, and an end to police floats and booths. Within thirty minutes, the organizers agreed to these demands and police were not invited to have a float at the 2017 march. This tactic was effective because it was confrontational, direct, and gave power to the protestors. They spoke truth directly to the spectators, and obtained bargaining power that allowed their demands to be met. We need to have open resistance against the police at pride events. Our tactics must be confrontational and dramatic. Pride is a stage that can be hijacked for a radical message. It’s easy to take the stage. even if you can't get permission to march you can jump in as a group and pretend to be a sponsored float. If you have banners and signs, none of the spectators will think twice about you being there. At the risk of bad publicity, Police will be hesitant to use force at pride. Remember they're there to make friends and they're not trying to drag fags off the street. In a confrontational situation, there's nothing the cops can do to look good. They either do nothing and give us space to educate and agitate, or they react with clumsy aggression (the only way they know how) and end up looking like the gay-bashing fascists that they are. There is no limit to the protest strategies that can be used at pride. You can set up booths, perform theater, hand out literature, and use your bodies to bring police outreach to a halt. You can chant, sing, dance, or speak. An organized group of twenty or thirty fags can easily turn a pride march into a radicalizing experience. In fact, it was a group of just a few fags dedicated fighting against the police that started the movement. Use your imagination, and don't forget what you're fighting for. The mainstream movement has blood on its hands when it works alongside those who jail, rape, and murder our queer family. we have become obsessed with positive visibility and personal validation at the expense of ignoring the violence that continues to hurt us. Our liberation cannot come with rainbow flags and good intentions. Liberation can only come through action. -asher p. savio, 2017

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ask-lightning-n-dusk-blog · 8 years ago

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Unsure about doing this... here goes

I have announced on this blog before that I am an MRA, well yes, that does mean at times I will pause to talk about issues relevant to that. That being said, here is a warning that the following will contain mature subject matter. Only read if you can handle adult discussions.

This is my own experiences with sexual harassment.

Over the last several months something has been called to my attention, an aggressive series of social justice movements seeking to divide people based solely on born traits or otherwise superficial identifications. One of the most dangerous trends I’ve seen is the concept of trying to say who can and cannot suffer in certain ways, for instance saying only women, transsexuals or other sexual “minority” groups can experience sexual harassment or at least their suffering is more important because they are “marginalized”. To be clear, if you are the victim of genuine harassment, rape, sexual or violent assault, murder, discrimination-anything like that- your suffering is real and understand there is no circumstance that makes it less important. We should not be governing ourselves by who we can forget, the children starving in Russia do not need our help more than those starving in the US. Each person has to decide who they will help for themselves, but do not mistaken such choices for evaluations of who is or is not important. The suffering of a white man is no less important than the suffering of a black woman. When you help someone, you really do need to be mature and realize your choice should not be based on who is or is not important, but rather what your heart leads you to do.

So here goes, my sexual harassment experiences, yes plural… they all kinda blur together over the course of a five year period. You see, about ten years ago now, I joined the army. I was told me being a virgin would be a problem, but I never understood to what degree until I entered. Outside the army some people would ask questions and maybe be a little rude trying to guess the size of my penis, but never anything I couldn’t handle… it was just seriously awkward is all. (There were a few times when the teasing got out of hand to the point of me running and crying from bullies who thought it was funny to constantly badger me about sexual concepts and positions when I was in the sixth grade for some reason, but my parents eventually homeschooled me so that stopped all together.)

(A warning, anyone even thinking of finding out who was in my units and going after them let me be clear- you try and I find out, I will ruin you. Those guys could be mean, but a damn lot of them would have willingly laid down their lives for me so screw the hell off. Maybe that’s why I sometimes hesitate to bring this up, because I know some jerk will always try to say something nasty about soldiers using this as evidence. This is not something against the army. The army has problems and this centers on one of them, but the people in there can be good people. Reform it by all means, but don’t try to hurt the people in it.)

The army was a different story though. One of the major issues with sexual harassment in the army is the frequent imposition of not being allowed to leave certain areas coupled with group punishment. This means if someone thinks it’s funny to constantly ask questions about your genitals you cannot demand he or she leave, nor can you leave yourself. Demanding they knock it off and trying to get them in trouble usually causes just as much trouble for you, if not more. If a woman, knowing you’re a virgin, begins to insist that you are therefore a pedophile, and you rightfully snap at her, you are punished right along with her and the rest of your unit. The idea is that this should create cohesion by making the unit suffer together. What it really does is silence victims because other members of the unit see it as easier to silence them, than address a trouble maker. This means, like me, many people in the army and similar services are subject to nigh and sometimes actual daily sexual harassment or other forms of harassment (people with mental handicaps have it far worse generally BTW) with little to nothing they can do about it.

It’s hard to say what was the worst of it either. Maybe it was AIT where I was constantly told I needed to compare my penis size to other men, which of course I never did nor did they want me to do, I was just an easy target because I was a virgin and they could use the “curiosity” excuse to get away from being called the dreaded “gay”. (Ironically this was a problem word even among those who were staunchly anti-homophobia.) Maybe when I turned people down to visit bars with them and constantly had to defend myself against accusations that I was either hiding the fact that I was a pedophile or fantasized about rape. Maybe it was because at times I subjected others to the same treatment because it was the only way I was ever able to be relieved from it myself (not excusing that, I never should have given in, but I did). Maybe it was experiencing the same harassment from women as men, when feminists and most of society had always taught me this was a “gendered” issue. Maybe it was my loss of innocence regarding women entirely when I slowly found out that women treated each other and other men exactly the same and only men could ever be expected to get in real trouble and only if they were harassing women. Maybe the worst was when a homosexual man grabbed me in public, rubbed his genitals on me and when I threw him off me, I was shouted down by him and my peers for “homophobia”. Maybe it was the constant need to explain to even the more rational people that no, there is no connection between penis size and virginity, nor worse yet, pedophilia, rape, serial killers or other forms of violent crime- why would there fucking be, how did that line of questioning even make sense to them anyway?!!-. Guess they thought they were “just making sure”.

Go ahead folks, tell me, which is the worst sounding of all that? Some of it was near daily, some weekly, some of it got better over time, some got worse and to tell the truth it was all so frequent it all blurred together. (To be fair the gay guy was a one time experience, though as you can imagine it stuck out.) It was worst when I first went in and didn’t know it was coming. Over time I did learn to redirect conversations and how to make people just as uncomfortable discussing my sexuality as I was. (A favorite trick of mine was to question the insecurities that must obviously be present in someone so afraid of virgins.) Maybe the worst of it was knowing no one else really had it much better and no one who wanted a solution had any idea what it would be.

I suppose I should address something that happened as a result of all this. If I were to trace the origin of this, it probably was experiences like this- but I suppose it’s possible I’m just self-diagnosing-. For whatever reason, I have lost all interest in being sexually active, even in a marriage relationship. I suppose that makes me part of a legit minority group officially recognized by a social justice group- a-sexuals… no. I refuse to play that game. You can care about me because I was human and hurt, I will not let you pretend I’m “one of you” so you can continue to neglect concern about my brothers. (Make no mistake, all men are your brothers and all women your sisters.) To LGBT, I remember how you guys acted years ago before you started adding letters. Virgins, by choice or by biology were pariahs to you guys. I have no problem with gay or trans people themselves, but advocacy groups associated with them... I was your enemy ten years ago because I didn’t want to have sex before marriage, and five years ago because I said I wasn’t interested in having sex. Now suddenly you speak for me because you wanted to add a vowel to your dumb acronym? No, you don’t get that privilege. I’m not a-sexual, I’m a virgin. It was mostly people on the political left even in the army who attacked me for my sexual choices. The left gave me the label “virgin” and refused to let me forget it, now I won’t let them forget it. I’m taking that label to my grave.

If anyone feels the desire to apologize to me who didn’t do anything to me, don’t you dare. That’s nothing more than virtue signaling. The only reason to apologize for something you personally were never involved in, is to be seen by others as being sorry, it’s profanity in my book. I hold no grudge against random gay people because one molested me, nor do I hate the sexually active because so many people of that persuasion couldn’t leave me the freak alone. If you feel sorry for me, just say that, but know that I’m fine and moving on, but don’t you dare try to legitimately apologize for something someone else did.

Do I feel like a victim? Objectively myself and many others at the time were, but now, not really. It was years ago and there’s no reason for me to demand anything now, just recognition that my problems were real and therefore, the problems of other men are too. I’m not demanding justice, nor apologies, I’m just asking people to finally realize equality means equality. My suffering is the same as yours, whether I’m part of your group or not. I guess that’s another reason I refuse to identify as an a-sexual, I refuse to give the social justice movement that kind of an out. No, I’m not an a-sexual that you can now pretend to care about when before you thought I was scum of the earth because I was a white male virgin. You either care about me as a human being regardless of my identity or you can get lost.

So yea, that’s my story and my feelings. Do with them what you will.

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whittlebaggett8 · 6 years ago

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Why a US Sale of Fighter Jets to Taiwan Matters

It would not transform the armed service stability throughout the Taiwan Strait, but would sign a shift in U.S. help for Taipei.

By John Lee for The Diplomat

April 03, 2019

In the direct-up to the 1996 Taiwanese presidential elections, mainland China executed a sequence of missile tests to categorical its displeasure in opposition to the pro-independence leanings of then-leader Lee Teng-hui and impress on the Taiwanese electorate that returning Lee to workplace might lead to war.

The United States’ response to the so-called Third Taiwan Strait Disaster, which was to purchase two aircraft provider teams to the area, did the trick. The greatest display screen of American armed forces could possibly given that the Vietnam War compelled a humiliating Chinese backdown and persuaded Beijing it necessary to modernize its military to counter the U.S. Navy. The Chinese move also backfired as Lee’s acceptance in Taiwan obtained a shot in the arm for standing up to the mainland.

Again in 1996, China’s military budget was only about twice that of Taiwan’s and around 16 occasions more compact than that of the United States. Nowadays, the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) budget is practically 22 situations larger than Taiwan’s and more than one-third that of the United States. China’s highly developed brief-selection ballistic missile could ruin each runway attached to Taiwan’s 6 air drive bases and ruin nearly all Taiwanese fighter planes in the early times of a war. The PLA has set up superiority more than Taiwan in the air, and on and under the water. The only thing the PLA can not realize is landing troops on Taiwan with out suffering unacceptable losses.

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In late March, Bloomberg described that U.S. President Donald Trump’s advisers experienced inspired Taiwan to submit a formal request to purchase up to 60 innovative F-16V fighter planes. Any sale need to nonetheless be permitted by Congress and would be the first important aircraft acquire from the United States by Taiwan considering the fact that 1992. In the course of her stop by to Hawaii very last week, Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen verified that Taiwan had asked for a buy of new fighter jets from the United States. Days later, two Chinese fighter planes crossed the median line in the Taiwan Strait that divides China and Taiwan – the first time this has happened for 20 a long time.

Even if the F-16V sale goes forward, Taiwan’s new planes will not alter the armed service balance in between China and Taiwan, nor dissuade the mainland from even further provocations such as the median line flyover. That is not Beijing’s major concern, even so. The most essential calculation China ought to make is not the relative abilities of the Taiwanese armed forces but how the United States will react in the function of a crisis or conflict in the Taiwan Strait. Just about every clue with regard to uncovering U.S. intention is vital simply because U.S. intervention could tip the military services stability towards China in any such conflict. In any occasion, it guarantees the finish of any “acceptable cost” final result in the celebration of conflict for China.

Below the United States’ 1979 Taiwan Relations Act, any try to forcibly decide Taiwan’s upcoming is regarded “a threat to peace and safety of the Western Pacific and of grave issue to the United States.” To reduce that, Washington is obligated to sell “arms of a defensive character” to Taipei to allow for the latter to defend itself and dissuade China from launching any military motion. Since the Monthly bill Clinton period, administrations have denied Taiwan’s ask for to invest in new fighter planes on the foundation that the grey line from “defense” to “offense” might be crossed.

Talking from Hawaii, Tsai enable the cat out of the bag when she said the buy of state-of-the-art fourth era fighters would “greatly increase our land and air capabilities, strengthen navy ethical and present to the environment the U.S. determination to Taiwan’s protection.” It is the very last line which sends shivers down the backbone of mainland leaders.

Considering the fact that the Taiwan Relations Act came into pressure, the United States has intentionally embarked on a plan of “strategic ambiguity” with regard to its armed service commitments to Taiwan in the function the latter is attacked. Whether or not the United States intervenes is a make a difference of political judgment and strategic evaluation. Under the Barack Obama administration, the conclusion to only give Taipei upgrades to its growing older F-16 A/B planes advised to Beijing that de-escalating tensions arising from variances in excess of Taiwan was the predominant attitude.

In distinction, the Trump administration has revealed unparalleled willingness to escalate tensions with China around political, strategic, and financial distinctions. The speech by Vice President Mike Pence last October at the Hudson Institute and the 2017 Countrywide Protection Method pulled no punches in pinpointing China as a thorough rival to the United States. If the sale of F-16V planes goes through, then, it is evidence that the attitude in Washington with regard to Taiwan has also changed and is a lot less accepting of mainland sensibilities and calls for. These kinds of a sale would be an indicator that preserving de facto Taiwanese independence is once a lot more regarded vital to U.S. and allied strategy when it arrives to maintaining the PLA confined to inside of the so-termed To start with Island Chain.

That would be a substantial blow to Chinese President Xi Jinping’s options. In a wide-ranging speech on Taiwan in January to mark the 40th anniversary of the “Message to Compatriots in Taiwan” delivered to the 1978 Nationwide People’s Congress, Xi implied that “reunification” with Taiwan was a “historic task” he desired to attain in the course of his tenure. A U.S. sale of F-16Vs to Taiwan — and all it indicates — helps make fulfillment of that endeavor considerably less most likely.

Last but not least, the energy of American aid for Taiwan will impact how other nations react to persistent Chinese tries to lower global space within just which Taiwan can act as a de facto sovereign entity.

The most crucial regional marriage for Taiwan is with Japan, which has emerged under Shinzo Abe as the political, strategic, and financial chief between democratic Asian nations. On issues these types of as the Trans-Pacific Partnership, Tokyo has revealed initiative when Washington has been located wanting. The Japanese chief has emerged as one particular of the handful of regional nations to have founded a powerful own romantic relationship with Taiwan’s Tsai and is commonly noticed as the most professional-Taiwan leaders amongst U.S. allies in the area. Even then, Abe’s area to shift is dependent on the extent to which the United States is ready to defend Taipei’s want to behave as a de facto sovereign entity.

If it is confirmed that Washington is going to a extra robust strategy with regard to cross-strait relations, Japan, Australia and other folks will stick to. Xi is now under interior stress from the global pushback versus his flagship guidelines these types of as the Belt and Highway Initiative and “Made in China 2025.” China has dropped goodwill with neighboring states around its actions in the East and South China Seas and alongside the disputed border with India. It is in the center of an economic war with the United States even though the European Union and Japan are brazenly criticizing China for violations of financial procedures and norms, together with the systematic theft of mental home by Chinese condition-owned corporations and “national champions.”

Xi took a great chance in abandoning the rhetoric and diplomacy of China’s “peaceful rise,” which was promulgated by his predecessor Hu Jintao. Earlier admired for his iron determination to achieve China’s wonderful “rejuvenation,” Xi is now being criticized domestically for overreach and miscalculation. It is speculated that the legitimacy of the Communist Social gathering would not endure the “loss” of Taiwan. If the United States goes in advance with the sale of F-16Vs to Taiwan, then the stress on a president who has embarked on an unparalleled “anti-corruption campaign” to silence political enemies and doubters will be enormous.

Professor John Lee is a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute in Washington DC and United States Scientific tests Center in Sydney. From 2016-18, he was the national protection adviser to the Australian international minister.

The post Why a US Sale of Fighter Jets to Taiwan Matters appeared first on Defence Online.

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#China-U.S.-Taiwan triangle #Cross-Strait Relations #F-16 Taiwan #F-16V to Taiwan #Flashpoints #U.S.

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brendamclerie-blog · 6 years ago

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Cholesterol Reduction (2)

Cholesterol-lowering medicines corresponding to statins are prescribed for people who are at best total threat of cardiovascular illness. Who should get a cholesterol screening? A low LDL cholesterol is much better. This take a look at evaluates the 4 key components of a cholesterol check: complete cholesterol, excessive density lipoprotein (HDL), low density lipoprotein (LDL), and triglycerides. Soluble fiber attracts water, slows digestion, and may help lower bad (LDL) cholesterol levels by interfering with the absorption of dietary cholesterol. Excessive cholesterol can increase your threat of heart disease, one of many leading causes of death in Canada. Why should I care about my cholesterol? Take the cholesterol quiz! Let’s check out 28 easy strategies for tips on how to decrease cholesterol and how it will possibly impression your health. There is little proof that reducing one's intake of cholesterol is, by itself, useful. There are two different types of fibre: soluble fibre and insoluble fibre. Will increase in HDL levels are often positively related to a decrease in LDL and VLDL cholesterol ranges.

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High blood cholesterol is certainly one of the key controllable threat elements for coronary heart illness, coronary heart attack and stroke. That is the principle trigger of coronary illness and heart assaults, the first cause of premature demise in the developed world. ]. In supermarkets, you’ll discover a major array of spreads, yoghurts and cereals which declare to enhance your cholesterol levels and lower your risk of heart disease. Attempt to scale back the quantity of saturated fats, trans fat and cholesterol in your weight loss program. Butter, margarine, and oils of all types typically comprise ninety five to 100 p.c of calories from fat. Okay, triglycerides aren’t a type of blood cholesterol, they’re really fat. They are, as an alternative, one part of a bigger equation that includes your age, your blood strain, your smoking standing, and your use of blood stress medicines. "Cholesterol is a pure part of being human. The problem is is right now most people have a tough time being able to tell either A, what their cholesterol levels are or if what they're doing really makes a distinction. Folks Die Every year From Coronary heart Disease! A high level of LDL cholesterol displays an increased risk of heart illness. Then medical doctors guess how much cholesterol they assume they carry. I believe essentially the most devastating e book on cholesterol is The great Cholesterol Con by Anthony Colpo. If you have too much cholesterol in your bloodstream, the surplus may be deposited in the arteries of the guts, which might lead to heart illness. 77-387 mg/dl) - you may wish to stop worrying. These are generally ranges less than 50 (mg/dL). The 200-239 mg/dL vary is termed borderline high. Whether or not you’re naturally slender or overweight, you simply can’t devour high ranges of these fats without elevating your cholesterol," Dr. Jamison mentioned. Age and Gender. As women and males get older, their cholesterol levels rise. Have you been told that you've got high cholesterol? Statistically speaking, cholesterol ranges have zero relevance in figuring out heart assault danger. Excessive levels of LDL cholesterol increase an individual's possibilities of having coronary heart illness and strokes. Having excessive cholesterol is a serious threat issue for heart disease. The upper your HDL (good Cholesterol), the decrease your risk of coronary artery illness. Three. Castelli WP. The brand new pathophysiology of coronary artery disease. This could enhance the danger of heart illness. That is essential because this reduces the quantity of small, dense LDL particles that can relocate within the linings of the center and blood vessels to potentially create blockages. Atherosclerosis is largely driven by the degeneration of lipids which infiltrate the blood vessel and thereby trigger inflammation. Hypercholesterolemia is related to elevated risk of creating atherosclerosis. It's manufactured by the physique and in reality, if you do not get enough from foods you eat, your body will manufacture its own provide. Ingredients - In the very smallest print, you will see all the components in the product. She's additionally a mom of two. Try to incorporate two servings a day into your meals. Fats, in the type of low-density lipoproteins (yellow) deposits in the lining of the artery, eventually blocking it enough to cause signs. You’ll be glad to know that cholesterol is actually important for well being: We want it to kind sure hormones and to build up all our cellular membranes. What can I do to decrease my cholesterol? And how can we possible know? Lately Americans heard some unbelievable-sounding news: A federally appointed panel of specialists announced that we can cease worrying about cholesterol. The Cholesterol Wars: The Skeptics vs. Smoking. Apart from what we already know, corresponding to its connection to our lungs, smoking additionally takes its toll on the heart. Is it not protected to say that "the average American" dies from coronary heart illness? Until very just lately, statins have been thought to be secure and properly tolerated by patients, although some studies reported unwanted effects corresponding to muscle weakness, non permanent memory loss, and cognitive impairment. For some, these muscle issues would possibly simply be minor. Modern wheat is a hybrid, containing newer proteins which at the moment are believed to trigger inflammatory responses, nutrient deficiencies and intestinal issues together with Celiac illness. Particularly, one should choose complete wheat or grain foods. Most of these methods caused substantial damage to the arteries and resulted in a "regenerative thickening" of one or one other type. Get checked as often as your healthcare provider suggests. "Those typically appear on food labels as hydrogenated oils or partially hydrogenated vegetable oil," Dr. Nissen says. Should you have just about any queries relating to exactly where along with the way to employ penurun kolesterol herbal, you are able to e mail us at the web page.

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trendingnewsb · 7 years ago

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The Fight for LGBT Equality in 2018 Will Be Fierce

Jay Michaelson: So, here we are at the end of a strange year for LGBTQ Americans. On the one hand, mainstream acceptance of gay people continues to spread; gays are now officially boring. On the other hand, trans people are being singled out for government persecution on the one hand and continued street violence on the other.

Meanwhile, as all three of us have written, the Trump-Pence administration is inflicting the "death of a thousand blows" against LGBTQ civil rights, severely limiting employment rights, marital rights, access to healthcare, access to safe facilities in schools, and so onwhile literally erasing LGBTQ people from government forms, proclamations, and observances.

For that reason, it's even harder than usual to look toward 2018 with any sense of certainty. What are we most hoping for in the year to come? And what do we fear?

Samantha Allen: I have written the word bathroom hundreds of times over the past two years of covering the various state-level attempts to restrict transgender peoples restroom use. I wish I never had to type it again; I didnt sign up to be a reporter to write about the human excretory system every week.

But in 2018, I am hoping to talk about bathrooms a lot less frequentlyand I have reason to believe that will be the case.

One of the most important victories for transgender people this year came in the form of something we avoided: a bathroom bill in Texas that would have effectively made birth certificates into tickets of entry for restrooms in public schools and government buildings. But that was scuttled at the last second by the business community, local law enforcement, and a sympathetic speaker of the House who said he [didnt] want the suicide of a single Texan on [his] hands.

Im confident that well see somebut fewerred-state legislatures really push for bathroom bills. Theyre political losers and money drainersand everyone in elected office knows that by now

I was in the state this summer when this thing almost got passed and I witnessed firsthand the gloriously outsized Texas rage against a bill that could have cost them billions (Tim wrote about the Texas bathroom battle at the time for the Daily Beast).

Between that and North Carolina being forced to repeal the most controversial aspects of HB 2 under pressure from the NCAA, Im confident that well see somebut fewerred-state legislatures really push for bathroom bills. Theyre political losers and money drainersand everyone in elected office knows that by now.

Tim Teeman: Id like to share your optimism, but Roy Moore supplies a harsh correctivefor me anyway. In the celebrations that followed his defeat at the hands of Doug Jones in the Alabama Senate race, some difficult questions were left hanging.

Moore was a candidate whose rampant homophobiahis actual desire to see discrimination enacted against millions of LGBT Americans, his desire to see prejudice and discrimination enshrined in lawwent mostly unchallenged and unquestioned. Only on the last day of the race did Jake Tapper of CNN ask his spokesman whether Moore believed homosexuality should be illegal (the answer: Probably).

This was a shameful and telling omission by the media. The depressing footnote to Moores loss is that extreme homophobia itself is not a disqualification for a political candidate in 2017. Active homophobia was seen as a valid mandate to hold by the modern Republican Party.

Moore was only too happy to hold it close even in defeat, as he showed by posting (on Facebook) Carson Jones, Doug Jones gay sons, post-election interview with The Advocate. It was a sly attempt to stir up anti-gay poison. Politicians like Moore are thankfully fewer and fewer in number, but homophobia and transphobia are still a major currency in this White Houseand that Trump and other of Moores high-profile Republican supporters dont see it as a disqualifying characteristic tells us something very sad and alarming indeed.

Since ordinary gays are now not so novel, Hollywood's search for novelty is causing them to explore stories of people of color, rural folks, genderqueer folks, and other people who aren't Will or Grace

Jay Michaelson: I am putting most of my hopes outside the machinery of the state. Hollywood told some beautiful queer stories in 2017; I hope this expands and continues in 2018. A decade ago, when I was a professional activist, we had it drilled into us that the number one factor in someone "evolving" on any particular LGBTQ issue was knowing someone who was L, G, B, T, or Q. And if they didn't have firsthand knowledge, media figures counted too.

So, while the Republican party caters to its Christian Right base, I hope that continued media visibility makes them pay for doing so. There's a nice irony too: since ordinary gays are now not so novel, Hollywood's search for novelty is causing them to explore stories of people of color, rural folks, genderqueer folks, and other people who aren't Will or Grace. That might not be for the best motive, but the consequences could be profound.

Tim Teeman: Then we have the 'wedding cake' case at SCOTUS, which you have written about Jay. That seems currently going in favor of the baker refusing to bake a wedding cake for a gay couple. This isn't just about a wedding cake, of course, but providing a signal that discrimination based on "beliefs" is OK, which can be used against LGBT people in so many contexts.

Samantha Allen: Im afraid the Trump administrations attacks on the LGBT community will continue to be so persistent and so piecemeal that they will continue to get shuffled to the side. This past month, we were stunned when the Washington Post reported that the CDC had been discouraged from using the term transgender in preparing their annual budget, but if people had been paying closer attention to Trumps appointments in the Department of Health and Human Services and other federal agencies, this wouldnt have been a surprise.

We cant afford to pretend anymore like these are stunningly cruel attacks that come out of nowhere: leaders of anti-LGBT groups regularly walk the White House halls, they wield tremendous influence right now, and the administration is quietly giving them what they want.

Im worried that, with so many other scandals dominating the headlines, the systematic erosion of LGBT rights will continue to fly under the radar

Trumps tweets on transgender military service created a media shockwave, but that moment aside, the administrations attacks on LGBT people in 2017 have been considerably less flashy: amicus briefs filed to the Supreme Court, tinkering with executive orders, adjusting the Department of Justices approach to transgender students. All of these perniciously subtle attacks have taken place against a cultural backdrop of continuing bigotry and violence: In the last year, for example, at least 28 trans people have been killed, most of them transgender women of color.

Tim Teeman: I think one of the things the U.S. would do well to figure out (he said vainly) is the separation of Church and State. The Religious Right has such a grip on the levers of power here, in certain states and in certain administrations like President Trumps which is greatly relying on the bedrock of its support. LGBT people, activists and groups are facing a traumatic 2018, as the far right of the Republican support seeks to shore up support around Trump, and trans people especially are especially vulnerable in such an atmosphere.

Jay makes a good point: at a time when the Right seeks a ratcheting up of the LGBT culture war, LGBT people and their straight allies working in the culture at large should work to put a wide diversity of LGBT lives and characters into that culture, whether it be TV, film, literature, art, or whatever. Actual LGBT presence will be vital in 2018.

If this global backlash isn't stopped, queer people will be murdered, arrested, targeted, stigmatized, and forced to leave their countries (and then denied refugee status) in numbers we have never seen before

Samantha Allen: The death of a thousand blows of LGBT rights under Trump is only going to continue in 2018, and Im worried that, with so many other scandals dominating the headlines, the systematic erosion of LGBT rightsa phenomenon thats directly affecting at least 4 percent of the U.S. population and 7 percent of millennialswill continue to fly under the radar.

Thatd be like the Trump administration deciding one day that everyone in the state of Pennsylvania didnt deserve human rightsand it somehow not being front-page news every single day until it got fixed.

Jay Michaelson: My greatest fear for 2018 is on a somewhat macro-scale. The rise of nationalism, nativism, and right-wing populism around the world is terrifying. On one level, it's an understandable backlash against globalization, multiculturalism, and technology: people unable or unwilling to change are clinging to old identities and myths. But it's also profoundly dangerous, and queers are just one population endangered by it. It's not to be taken lightly.

Already we've seen the United States retreat from the whole concept of human rights, giving carte blanche to murderous anti-LGBTQ elements in Russia, Egypt, Chechnya, Indonesia, and elsewhere.

In 2018, the US will practically zero out its aid to vulnerable LGBT populations around the world. At the UN as elsewhere, America is now allied with Putin's Russia, in this case withdrawing protection from LGBT people and instead defending the oppression of us.

But this is just the beginning. If this global backlash isn't stopped, queer people will be murdered, arrested, targeted, stigmatized, and forced to leave their countries (and then denied refugee status) in numbers we have never seen before.

Figure out some way to help those who dont have as much, or who are especially politically and culturally vulnerable, and who could do with support. Give money, volunteer, whateverdo what you can

Tim Teeman: On that basis, LGBT people and their allies with any time, money, commitment and energy might think about involving themselves with activism and campaigning for organizations like The Trevor Project, HRC, Anti-Violence Project, National Center For Transgender Equality, GLSEN, PFLAG, OutRight Action International, and groups in their local area. If they don't want to do something overtly political, then maybe figure out a way to help those who dont have as much, or who are especially vulnerable, and who could do with supportwhether that be financial and pastoral.

If you need inspiration, look to Nathan Mathis who wasn't going to let Roy Moore winor lose at it turned outin Alabama without shaming him over his homophobia; and without remembering, in the most moving way possible, his dead lesbian daughter, Patti Sue.

Listen to, and be inspired by, the stirring stories of those from times when things were not just bleak but political progress and cultural evolution seemed alien and utterly distant. Eric Marcus has distilled, and continues to distill, amazing interviews with the likes of Sylvia Rivera and Frank Kameny, conducted for his landmark book Making Gay History: The Half-Century Fight For Lesbian and Gay Equal Rights, into a must-listen podcast.

Read more: https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-fight-for-lgbt-equality-in-2018-will-be-fierce

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