#the trans in transformers stands for transgender

[buckbedrivertooth]

fucked up spaceship hrt

[fb-blong]

The best list.

https://gofund.me/4b7d0709

#https://gofund.me/4b7d0709 #lgbtia community #trans community #queer community

[chrissy-kaos]

God, you’re very beautiful. I love that you don’t post pics that are HEAVILY filtered like the other girls. It’s nice to see a real face once in awhile.

Look I’m going to be real with you. The filter thing isn’t me. I’m not into that. BUT if a girl uses a filter and that’s what helps her feel comfortable, confident and beautiful. Then it’s NOT anyone’s business or place to open their mouth about it. Let that girl live her best life.

I know what you’re going to say.. oh but it’s fake blah blah blah. You know what else is fake. “Just for men” or going to the barber and having them spray paint your bald spots 😑. Better yet using a pfp that’s 20 years younger..

Bruh shut the fuck up. Let people live their lives.

[bubblegumpopdefiance]

I am still waiting for my letter from Hogwarts.

I still want a sorting hat to take the hard choice from me and tell me “it’s okay, you’re safe here.” I’m still waiting for a howler to come out of nowhere and defend me when I’m afraid to speak up for myself. Because I have so many good reasons to be afraid.

But my letter isn’t coming. The letter came out the magical printer and Rowling saw it and puked. She saw a monster and tore up my letter.

And she forgets: I was a scared little girl in the back of a library reading Harry Potter. I thought I saw my mother. I thought: finally! someone gets it! Someone gets that it’s okay to be a monster! Those are those fantastic beasts, right?

So please, do it for me. Depose J.K. Rowling and write me a book that invites me to finally be myself.

[ashleymilesphil]

Tagging for reach , please if you see this kindly make a difference, reblog, share the link and donate if you can. @dirhwangdaseul @postanagramgenerator @commissions4aid-international @kyra45-helping-others @nibeul @irhabiya @anneemay @fleshdyk3 @symeona @ddeck @galactic-rhea @tortiefrancis @fromjannah @khanger @pitbolshevik

@socalgal @chilewithcarnage @ghelgheli @sabertoothwalrus @ana-bananya

@a-shade-of-blue @becausegoodheroesdeservekidneys @mothprincess @fly-sky-high-09 @professionalchaoticdumbass @jihaad @omegaversereloaded @vague-humanoid @slicedblackolives @nimbooz @hiveswap @paandaan @transmutationisms @neechees @toiletpotato @esperantokomencanto @bdluejay @z--z--wz--t-z @sweetsweethate

@frustrated-froglet @crapscicle @dk6514 @laz-laz-ace-pilot @blackpearlblast @olovelymoon-slow-answers @greed-the-dorkalicious @kordelilius @trans-axolotl @britomartis

No matter your answer, you have another opportunity right now.

We are a group of LGBTIQ+ refugees struggling to survive in Sudan. Every day, we face unimaginable persecution, violence, and rejection. On top of this, we are battling severe shortages of food, medical care, and shelter.

Hunger is a daily reality. Many of us go days without food, and medical assistance is nearly impossible to access. Our shelters are small and inadequate, leaving us exposed to harsh conditions. For lesbians, even basic sanitary products are out of reach.

With your help, we can change this. Your donation will go directly toward food, medication, and urgently needed tents to provide safe shelter. No amount is too small every dollar makes a difference in our survival.

🌍 Please donate today and be part of our fight for survival. Your kindness can help improve and even save our lives.

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If you can’t donate, please share this post to help spread awareness. Thank you for standing with us!

[enodia-polymorphous]

PRAYER TO HEKATE FOR TRANS DAY OF VISIBILITY

Hail to Hekate, the shapeshifting the goddess. Hail to Hekate, protector and advocate of the oppressed. Hail to Hekate, who looks upon her transgender children and sees beauty and worthiness in all forms.

Beloved goddess, on this Transgender Day of Visibility may you hold your torches to those who deserve to have their voices heard. May their creations be seen and known and appreciated. Thank you Hekate Phosphorus, Lightbringer and Torchbearer.

Fearsome goddess, may you stand by those who protest, advocate, and fundraise on this day so that they may be safe and guarded. Thank you Hekate Apotropaia Propylaia, Averter of Evil and She Before the Gate.

Gentle goddess, may you be with those healing and those still fighting for safety. May you make your precense known to them not only today but any day that they may need you. Thank you Hekate Kourotrophos, Protector of the Vulnerable.

Hail to Hekate, shapeshifting goddess, our Lady of the Liminal, Transitions and Transformations!

[your-bigender-big-brother]

The Recontextualization and the Disidentification of Gender

Maverinity is an autonomous gender quality that lies outside of masculine, feminine, neutral, and null - this makes it an outherine identity. While it is obvious that the intrinsic categories that maverinity falls into are autonomous and outherine (both at the same time), there are two very distinct features to this autonomy that are specific to the maverine experience: The recontextualization of gender and the disidentification of gender.

Autonomy starts with a separation from any governance, which is why maverique - a “maverick-like” gender - gets its name from being a maverick of sorts. It stands out, existing separately from any pre-established gender category. It isn't masculine, feminine, neutral, or null but is a distinct gendered feeling based on the “personal inner conviction” of one's gender. What this means is that our gender is defined by ourselves with none of the stringencies that come from conventional gender. Maverinity, the gender quality tied to being maverique, exists outside of the norm just the same.

When we recontextualize gender for ourselves, we reshape what it means to be a specific gender and shake up the expectations connected to it. If I were to use my own gender as an example, I would say that my malehood is of a maverine quality. While it may look like traditional malehood from someone else's perspective, its experience is far outside of the binary and is more comparable to abinarity. But it is the reshaping of my malehood that makes this gender experience an autonomous one, not simply an abinary or outherine one.

Maverinity is also the recontextualization of gender itself, rather than relying on existing genders as the context. Most people might think of gender as binary, nonbinary, multigender, neutral, and genderless (as very broad terms for several corresponding genders.) A maverine gender does not fit in with any of these terms, giving us a brand-new category for genders that doesn’t look like typical genderedness. This means that maverinity can recontextualize existing genders as well as gender as a whole: How this manifests will change from person to person depending on what maverinity means to them.

Disidentification is the other part of gender autonomy. It is the rejection of gendered expectations and of the rigidity that comes with being forced into a box. For example, one might have a gender that is not binary, but they may elect to not call themselves nonbinary or abinary either. Just because that person technically fits the definition of nonbinarity or abinarity doesn't mean they should feel obligated to use those terms - they are removed from the categories they would normally be forced into that would correspond with their gender. As for myself: I'm a transgender man but I reject “transmasculine” as an identifier. I am not transmasculine even though the general consensus supports that trans men automatically fall under that category. My transgender identity - my masculinity - is maverine-in-nature, which is why I call myself transmaverine instead.

Disidentification is what makes maverinity not feminine, not masculine, not neutral, and not genderless. It is defined, in this context, by what it is not. It establishes itself as a quality that cannot be forced into any one of these categories and is often not comparable to such. It is removed from specific identifying categories and is, instead, within its own category. Disidentification does not start and end with breaking expectations of specific genderedness, but extends to the idea that maverinity by default and on its own cannot be categorized using conventional means.

It's important to note that maverinity doesn’t just exist as a way to transform or transcend gender conventionality. It is very much outside of existing genders and of any comparison to such and because of this, it doesn't have to use midbinarity to establish itself nor does it need to even be compared to abinarity. When someone is maverine, that more than likely means they have an outherine identity with no proximity to the binary or binary-related concepts. There are plenty of singular maverine genders and specific maverine qualities that are simply based on one’s personal belief of their own gender that can’t be compared to any other gender. The variability of the maverine quality is why it works so well for so many people. Recontextualization and disidentification is only one fraction of how that quality presents itself.

[rainbowsforbeginners]

Rainbow 101: 001

Today’s topic, as voted by you: What is LGBTQIA+?

Hello, class!

Welcome to Rainbow 101!

To start us off, today I’ll explain the acronym LGBTQIA+:

It stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning, Intersex, and A-spec - And the little “plus” at the end stands for any other queer labels that don’t fit neatly into the main acronym!

You may also see it shortened to LGBTQ+, LGBT+, LGBT, as well as a few others - But, they all refer to the same community!

Now, as this is a beginner-friendly lecture, I’ll also give a brief explanation of the main “flagship” identities - Though I highly encourage you do your own research of any terms you find interesting, as I will likely not be able to cover all nuance here!

Also, if anyone has any comments, questions, corrections, or kudos, please put them in the ask box after class!

Alright, let’s get started:

Lesbian:

Someone who is a lesbian is a women who is attracted to other women - Non-binary people can also use this label if they wish! The term Lesbian is also related to the terms WLW and Sapphic - Though I recommend finding sources who are more well-versed in those labels to understand the nuances/differences!

Gay:

The “proper” definition of gay is similar to lesbian, being a man who is attracted to other men - And non-binary folk can use this one, too! - However, you will also find many people use “gay” as a broad blanket term similar to “queer,” so context is useful here! Gay is also sometimes called MLM (men-loving-men, not multi-level-marketing :) )

Bisexual/Biromantic:

Someone who is bisexual/biromantic is attracted to multiple genders - Commonly interpreted as simply “likes both men and women.” But, as with many of these labels, there can be nuance that is different for every person; Such as having attraction for multiple, but preferring one over another. You’ll often see Bisexual/Biromantic shortened to Bi!

Transgender:

Someone who is transgender doesn’t fully identify with the gender they were assigned at birth. For example, someone who was born as a girl named Jane and later transitions to a man named John. (Something to note here: While many transgender people do fully identify with the “opposite” gender, and undergo various visual/biological transformations (ha!), there are many who don’t do either! Some people only change their pronouns, and some may not change anything!) Non-binary people are also under this umbrella term - though not everyone identifies with the label! You’ll often see Transgender shortened to Trans!

Queer/Questioning:

From what I’ve seen, “Queer” is a pretty broad label, often used as a collective term for all LGBTQIA+ people - But, I’ve also seen some people use it as a catch-all personal miscellaneous label, when they don’t care to explain or define the details! “Questioning” is pretty simple - It just means the person is figuring out some aspect of their identity, but hasn’t quite gotten there yet!

Intersex:

This one I don’t know as much about as I could, but my understanding is that an intersex person falls between or outside of the biological sex binary - And it can be as drastically obvious as physical organ differences, or more often, as subtle as having unusual chromosomes!

A-spec:

A-spec, or the A-spectrum, is a wide category for those who experience little, no, and/or specifically-parametrized attraction! Aromantic (or Aro, little-to-no romantic attraction) and Asexual (or Ace, little-to-no sexual attraction) are the more popular, “flagship” labels, but the A spectrum also includes Aplatonic, Agender, Afamilial, Asensual, and probably a few others I don’t know of! To oversimplify for the sake of comedy, the A-spec is for those of us who look at everyone else and go, “No thanks!” with varying degrees of intensity.

Plus (+):

And the + is for everyone else who might not fit within the above!

…And there you have it - That was a lot, and I’m glad you stuck around to the end!

I want to note here that many of these labels have more sub-labels nested under them, and/or have more nuance than we covered today - So, if any of you have questions or clarifications, or have a correction to make, please feel free to drop a note in my ask box!

Also, any ideas for future topics to cover would be much appreciated!

Batteries and Bars,

Neon

[cnjosephs]

POLARIS TRANS*

A poem for Pride. Continued under the read more.

As I grew from a little girl to a teenage boy, They said I should call myself trans*, with a star at the end: A star for something unfinished; a star for possibility.

As I grew from a teenage boy to a femme young adult, They said I should call myself trans, with no star at the end: That the star’s sharp points only served to cut and divide.

As I grew from a femme to a gloriously butch dykefag, I thought again about the star of my youth And about all the things it can stand for:

Trans* is for transgender— It’s for language that grows and shifts Like a living being; like a tree; like a child; For Sylvia’s Transgender Action Revolutionaries And for the kids at their high school GSA Walking into the club with their hearts in their hands.

Trans* is for transgressive— It’s for shattering expectations Shattering societies, boundaries, and binaries Like panes of fractured glass; The glass was breaking already, you know, But now we can turn it into a mosaic.

Trans* is for transsexual— It’s for those who pick up an old word That they’ve been told is “outdated” And brush the scorn off of it Like dust off of fine China To display it with pride on the shelf.

Trans* is for transformation— It’s for the little girls who became men, For the little boys who became women, For everyone who became everything, For everyone who became nothing, For everyone who became.

Trans* is for transvestite— It’s for shedding the skin you were forced into Like a snake shedding too-tight scales And growing something that fits you better; Making something new and beautiful, Wearing something beautiful and yours.

Trans* is for transitory— It’s for those of us whose gender shifts Like the phases of the moon; For people who fall asleep a femme fag And wake up a butch dyke And repeat the process again in a week.

Trans* is for tranny— It’s for picking up the stick they beat you with And sharpening it to a spear; Holding it up to defend yourself, To defend your kin, and saying: “You really wanna mess with us?”

Trans* is for those who reject the New Queer Binary— Who answer “Are you transfem or transmasc?” With an annoyed “Neither, actually”; Whose gender is not silence, but absence of noise; For men who are also women, For lesbians who are also gay men; For people so outside the binary That “nonbinary” feels like a chain around their throat; Maybe you can’t be cis and trans But I know you can be cis and trans*, And I know that you can’t draw a line between genders Like the respectable queers pretend you can.

Trans* is for all of us— For boydykes and girlfags, For queens and kings and crossdressers, For masculine women and feminine men, For my oft-excluded intersex darlings; For FTMs who wear suits and MTFs who wear gowns, For MTFs who wear suits and FTMs who wear gowns; For those on hormones and those who eschew them, For those who change their name and those who don’t; For those who want surgery to get a penis or a vagina, And those who want surgery to get both, And those who want surgery to have nothing.

Trans* is for everyone who marked the path we walk on now— It’s for Lili and Dr. Barry, For Roberta and Christine, For Marsha and Sylvia, For Stormé and Miss Major, For Leslie and Lou; And for so many others whose names we do not know Because they were blessed with the safety of privacy Or cursed with the violence of erasure.

If you asked me to name trans-with-a-star I’d tell you to call them Polaris Trans* The gender-variant community’s guiding light.

Trans* tells us where to go— To follow the paths cut by our predecessors, While keeping their drive to explore untrodden ground. To offer our hands for each other: Both to raise each other up when we fall And to fight when we’re under attack.

Trans* tells us who we are— We are faggots and dykes and sissies and queens, We are a bunch of rowdy queers who won’t shut up; We are armed with bottles and glasses, With bats and pens, with guns and paint; We are the people who have only survived Because when nobody would take care of us, When respectable queers treated us like a stain on their flag, We took care of each other.

Trans* tells us who to be— It tells us that we must be so brave and so strong, And so scared and so soft. That we must save our anger for those who hurt us, And not turn it on each other. That we must hold each other accountable for harm, But understand we are all flawed humans, And that mistakes are not unforgivable. That we must not hurt our trans* siblings For daring to be trans* in a way we cannot understand, And that you don’t need to know exactly what stars are made of To love how they shine in the sky.

Historical Notes

The figures referred to in the thirteenth stanza are, in order: Lili Elbe, Dr. James Barry, Roberta Cowell, Christine Jorgensen, Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia Rivera, Stormé DeLarverie, Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, Leslie Feinberg, and Lou Sullivan.

Sylvia Rivera is the same Sylvia mentioned in stanza four. In the 1970s, Sylvia and Marsha founded the Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries together. They provided housing and care for homeless gay and trans* youth while working towards broader goals of achieving trans* liberation. Sylvia and Marsha kept their kids fed and housed through funds they raised via sex work. 

Sylvia would later say that the death of STAR came at the 1973 Christopher Street Liberation Day Parade, where trans* activists were told they couldn’t speak on stage. Sylvia and drag queen Lee Brewster physically fought their way to the stage and criticized the gay community for abandoning the trans* community after the trans* community had spent years fighting for rights for all of them. Lesbian activist Jean O’Leary verbally attacked them both, claiming that drag was “misogynistic” and “demeaning”, and that trans* people had no place in the gay rights movement. Receiving such a devastating rejection from people Sylvia had considered friends pushed her out of working in activism for many years. 

Marsha was tragically murdered in 1992 at the age of 47. Eight years later, in response to the murder of trans woman Amanda Milan, Sylvia resurrected STAR as the Street Transgender Action Revolutionaries. While Marsha and Sylvia were both integral to the initial work of STAR, I refer to it as “Sylvia’s” in the fourth stanza to make it clear I’m referring specifically to the later incarnation, which used “transgender” in their name. You can read more about Sylvia’s life in her essay “Queens in Exile, the Forgotten Ones”, written just before her fiftieth birthday in 2001. The closing paragraphs of the essay are, in my mind, both a profoundly valiant rallying cry and an agonizing indictment of our community’s failures:

Before I die, I will see our community given the respect we deserve. I'll be damned if I'm going to my grave without having the respect this community deserves. I want to go to wherever I go with that in my soul and peacefully say I've finally overcome. Editor's Note: Sylvia died on February 19, 2002, from complications of liver cancer. She was 50 years old. 

[connyscomics]

Until I Become Me by Satou Hatsuki

Trans rep: 8/10

General enjoyment: 8/10

Okay so this will be the first of my longer reviews that I post, and so for readers that don’t want that I’ll first say some words about the comic (in summary or smth). Basically the comic is good but oddly executed and is built around a sort of stupid gender swap premise. Okay so uhm yeah heres my goliath of an essay (actually its just like 600 words, but yk this is tumblr not a newspaper… oh whatever):

I started writing about Trans comics almost three years ago because I noticed that there was not one single thorough guide or reading list for someone trying to find comics about Trans people. There are a few guides out there that allow you to search under the tag of “Transgender”, but every single one has the same five or ten entries that barely have any Transgender representation.

The genre of Transgender comics may seem small, but once you start digging you’ll quickly find that there are so many great comics to be found, if only you just look hard enough!

It took me three years of searching to find Until I Become Me by Satou Hatsuki in the footnotes of a poorly written article about another Trans comic I was researching, but boy was it worth the wait. Until I Become Me is a not-so-classic twist on the classic manga trope of “gender benders” or “gender swap,” in which a character (typically male) magically Transforms (typically overnight) into the opposite sex. This trope generally plays into outdated understandings of gender and sex and the intersection of the two to create what has historically been seen as a humorous plot point.

Gender swap tropes are rooted in a gender-essentialist perspective that there is something inherently “female” about some bodies and something inherently “male” about other bodies and that only a magical binary “switch” could turn a boy into a girl. In reality, gender and bodies are not so completely binary and not so completely set in stone, and furthermore if someone wants to change their body, modern medical transition options are very effective for changing someone’s “sex”.

Normally I can’t stand comics like this because they are full to the brim with Transphobic rhetoric, gender-essentialism, and usually a good amount of oversexualization. However, Until I Become Me is different, because the gender swap mechanic is not seen as a funny joke or a one-off bit but instead as a serious and confusing emotional experience for a character with a lot of internalized self-hatred and Trans desires.

The main character, Akira, hesitantly explores what it means to have a feminine body while simultaneously coping with her growing enjoyment of this experience: she didn’t magically become a girl overnight (mentally speaking) but the “girl” might have been there all along.

This strikingly fresh take on both the Transgender experience and the gender-swap trope is as fun as it is heart wrenching. Before her body changed, Akira regularly harassed and bullied girls in her class, and then after changing ends up facing much of the same treatment from boys in her class. Watching Akira reflect on her own past behaviors towards girls when she was a “boy” hits deep into the real-world challenge of many Trans people to balance internalized prejudices with learned experiences.

Although overall I found the comic really enjoyable and its storyline surprisingly poignant, there were definitely some moments that were hard to read.

The way in which her parents treat her, as a freak of nature that desperately needs “fixing,” and the way that boys in her class (particularly early on when they knew her before the change) treat her, as a subject of ridicule and regular sexual harassment, its all quite difficult to read. But this does not make the story any less valuable as a Trans narrative, in fact the balancing of the softer internal exploration with the harsh outside world is exactly what makes Until I Become Me one of the most harshly realistic comics I’ve ever read.

Admittedly, the gender swap mechanic is a bit cheesy at first, but I think Hatsuki did a good job separating the brain from the body and allowing the Transgender themes to come front and center. The comic is on chapter 63 currently and regularly updating, already having cemented itself as one of the greatest Transgender texts, comic or otherwise, that's ever been written.

[mexicanegbert]

trans jade thought post

cw: use of the word queer

figured i'd try to put my thoughts somewhere since i've been asked before about it! disclaimer though: i want to get into my feelings/considerations with the context of jade's canon, but this by no means is "definitive" or anything. trans experiences are all different, so this is just me having a bit of fun. ok jumping in!

jade's character is all about isolation from her own life and her relationship with it. this is reflected in literally every inch of her experiences, so naturally, it will heavily influence her identity. she grew up "knowing" what the future would hold, both from her dreams and in the life laid out by her grandfather. she knew what she would become (her own thirteen-year-old corpse was right there) and her image was literally cast in metal (jadebot). to be honest, the simplicity of being what she already knew was likely comfortable. additionally, she spent half of her time asleep and literally removed from her "real" body.

the moment she didn't have the comfort in a predetermined path and had to face herself (literally her reincarnated thirteen-year-old self) head on; she could hardly stand to offer any patience. from here on out, jade is regularly faced with the actions of her physical self, both in the quiet of her free time (less asleep) and socially with her friends. she has to learn who she actually is and wants to be is while also balancing everything else. to me, this is the open door into a world that jade is just now getting around to (the transgender door........ ?)

The Werewolf Trope Thing: for starters, this trope is both problematic and also something that gets sort of reclaimed actively by queer & trans ppl due to the implications of "becoming/being a monster" in society's eyes + a specifically dysphoric time of the month. jade doesn't become a monster (and is not a werewolf lol), but the physical transformation into something dog-like feels similar. her feeling on the change is something she doesn't discuss too heavily, but the moments of her struggle with newly heightened senses, her new "aggression," and her overtly animalistic behaviors during the grimbark phase just feel sort of reminiscent of this trope. (some more stuff on this since i suck at summarizing: x, x, x, x )

what makes this interesting to me is that jade is established to like dog people (+ is a furry), and on several occasions expresses joy about her new body. she also takes offense (rightfully so) when she is othered for it. there is a lot to say on that in relationship to this trope.

^NOTE: not talking about anything in the epilogues here, but i do believe, in general, there is a lot you can say about her experiences during that time and its connection to a trans identity. i will go insane if i have to reread the epilogues sorry :[

The Wizard of Oz Thing: so, jade has one million references to WoO in her canon, including her ruby slippers, her title as witch, emerald city (the green sun), and the yellow (brick) road sequence in callie's void. there are so many more, but for this purpose, i'm just going to focus on jade getting removed from the small, isolated life she once knew and thrown into a journey of self-discovery as a young girl. i won't lie, there's so much that can be read into this, it's like impossible to summarize it. here's some texts just so you can see what i mean: x, x, x.

Exposure to genuine queerness through Davepeta: this one is kind of short and sweet, but jade's isolation (as previously mentioned) is something that limits her exposure to casual queerness in person. davepeta, among lots of things, is most definitely intended to be read as nonbinary (even if this is far from perfect lol). seeing that davepeta is a much happier implicitly transgender version of someone she once knew to be struggling with their identity is the kind of direct 1:1 "aha!" butterfly effect moment a lot of isolated trans ppl experience.

final thoughts for now: to say that jade is transgender is just like saying the sky is blue or that we need oxygen to breathe. there are so many other smaller nuances here i haven't even covered but, very personally, i read jade as transmasculine. no matter what though, i believe with all my heart that jade is transgender <3

also note: i skimmed a lot of the linked texts but pls read them with the understanding that they're here more for thought than to be genuine citations.

ok thanks for reading ^^ sorry if none of this makes sense, i am not a deep thinker, but its still been on my mind. i just figured it put this out there since i want to be able to reference back to it + ill probably add more as time goes on.

[transread]

A Beautiful Journey Through Love and Identity

Blossoming True: Transgender Romance Tales

In Blossoming True: Transgender Romance Tales, readers are invited to traverse though vibrant love stories that redefine romance and celebrate authenticity. This collection breathes life into Trans experiences too often overlooked, painting an evocative picture of the courage, passion, and joy that flourish when love is allowed to bloom without boundaries.

Celebration of Diversity

Every tale in this collection is a heartfelt exploration of connection, identity, and the transformative power of love. The characters are beautifully nuanced, their journeys resonate with anyone who has ever yearned for belonging or dreamed of a love that sees them for who they truly are. Each narrative is a testament to the strength found in vulnerability, the joy in self-discovery, and the nature of love.

Why Blossoming True Stands Out

What sets this book apart is its ability to balance intimacy with universality. While the stories focus on transgender romance, the emotions they evoke—hope, fear, exhilaration, and acceptance—are universal. Each tale is an example of empathy, bridging gaps and challenging readers to see love not as a construct but as an unbounded, transformative force.

Unbound Love

The narratives within are mirrors, windows, and bridges. They reflect the diverse ways love manifests, offer glimpses into lives rich with complexity, and build connections that transcend labels. Whether it’s a tender first date, a moment of self-realization, or the quiet triumph of being seen and loved for who you are, Blossoming True is a reminder that love is as diverse as the people who experience it.

A Must-Experience Collection

Blossoming True: Transgender Romance Tales is an experience, a celebration, and an invitation. These tales of love, courage, and authenticity are bound to linger in your heart, sparking conversations and reshaping perspectives. If you’re ready to explore the transformative power of love, this collection promises to be an unforgettable journey.

[chrissy-kaos]

🏳️‍⚧️

[nerdygaymormon]

Exodus 10: 7-11, 24-26 - Passover is an annual reminder that we do not leave others behind

Moses and Pharaoh met together several times to negotiate the terms for the release of the Israelites. Pharaoh initially agrees to just letting the men go, then just the adults, then all of the people but not the animals. In the end, the Israelites young and old, and their animals, leave Egypt.

Moses never caved to Pharaoh's counter offers. It was to be all Israelites & their animals or none. In a stirring moment, Moses states, "Not a hoof shall remain behind."

Passover celebrates the events surrounding the Israelites leaving Egypt and is an annual reminder that we don't negotiate for our benefit at the expense of others. In our journeys toward freedom, we don't leave a single hoof behind. Civil Rights and freedoms aren't to be doled out sparingly but are to be obtained for everyone.

The Passover story has served as a prototype of liberation for centuries. The Passover is a reminder that peace, justice and liberation are not fantasy but a reality that can be obtained. Passover arrives in the spring, a period of new growth and hope.

One lesson of Exodus is that when you have privilege, it's easy to become blind to the fact you hold privilege. Initially Moses didn't recognize the privilege he had, it seemed like the natural order of things. When he learned the truth of his background, it transformed his understanding of things. As a consequence, he was willing to stand with and for all Israelis.

It's not a coincidence that in the United States and Europe, straight, white, able-bodied, cis men are the least likely to use the word "privilege" to describe their situation. They are the least likely to know and understand the privilege they hold. It seems normal and natural to them.

Sadly, some in the LGBTQ community are at times blind to the privileges that we hold, and are too willing to wield them in a way that harms others despite our own status as second-class citizens. We are too often a movement that favors white, cisgender, middle class gay men. Our most visible advocates portray our cause using traditional family structures — monogamy, marriage, and kids — while leaving behind people whose ideas of love and family make us uncomfortable or push our limits. Some gay and bi people fear losing the progress made for themselves by the backlash occurring against our transgender siblings, and consequently some speak of removing the T from LGBT. This is not a queer ideal. Nor is it a Passover ideal.

Transgender rights are human rights, we're all in this together. When the more vulnerable are taken care of, the rest of us are also taken care of. When transgender rights are secured, the rights of other queer people are secured.

There's a famous example of sidewalk cutouts, the curb ramps which make moving onto or off of a sidewalk less difficult. Kalamazoo, Michigan installed curb cuts in the 1940's as a way to aid veterans with disabilities. In the 1970's, Berkeley, California installed curb cuts as a way to help the disabled to better live independently.

Although these were intended for the benefit of people with a disability, such as people using a wheelchair or crutches, they are used by walkers who may be a little unsteady, by people pushing a stroller, by those pulling a cart, by children riding a bicycle, roller skate or skateboard. By making accommodations for a small group, we all benefited.

This is a vibrant illustration of how laws and programs designed to benefit vulnerable groups, such as the disabled or people of color, often end up benefiting all. We are all humans, we rise or fall together. If gender-affirming care is protected for trans people, such care is protected for all people, including a breast reduction for a male with gynecomastia, hormone blockers for young people who enter puberty too early, hormone replacement therapy for people experiencing the effects of age, hair removal, and so on.

[journeytothewestresearch]

Is Sun Wukong Trans?

The notion that Sun Wukong (孫悟空) is transgender became popular on English-speaking social media sometime around 2022. The central idea appears to be that the Monkey King, or I should say “Monkey Queen,” was originally born a cis-woman but magically changes to a trans-man sometime after learning the art of transformation. Whether this is true or not has two possible answers:

If you or a loved one are trans, identify with Monkey’s ability to transform his body, and choose to personally interpret the character or portions of his story as an allegory for transness, then yes Sun Wukong is trans. 

Historically and canonically speaking? No.

In this article, I will present common arguments in favor of a trans Monkey King that I’ve seen on social media. I will also introduce counterarguments supported by historical oral, published, and pictorial evidence that calls any claims of canonical proof into question. If I don’t have a particular counterargument in mind, I will simply post a comment.

Before continuing, I want to expressly state that this piece was written for two kinds of people: 1) Those who might openly claim that Sun Wukong is canonically trans; and 2) Those who don’t know enough about the character’s history or JTTW in general and might be swayed by seemingly knowledgeable online comments. It does not pertain to those who already personally interpret Monkey as trans and don’t care about canon because they were first exposed to him via movies, TV shows, video games, comic books, etc.

General readers will certainly find this article interesting as it features a lot of lesser-known historical information about the simian immortal.

An accurate Sun Wukong standing in front of the trans flag (larger version). The base drawing is by my friend Alexandre Palheta Coelho (instagram and deviantart). It was originally posted on this article.

[sapphicrot]

Before you stands a magical girl. his name is Robert Dunning. When it is time for him to cook, he does a magical girl transformation into Gordon Freeman. When the apprentices fail to appease, he yells "where is the gun sauce?". a strange quirk, don't you think? see in this part of town gun violence has gone down by 6.2% so during the day Robert Dunning collects guns from homeowners, and at night he cooks them into sauce. What does this sauce taste like? metallic. like blood. He puts them on pancakes. It reminds him of the blood pancakes he had when he was a little girl growing up in finland. That's right, he's transgender. Unfortunately the publishing company thinks it'd be weird to call it a magical boy transformation so the name has to stick around for now. One day when he does a magical girl transformation into Gordon Freeman, he intends to plant a bomb tree outside the publishing company as revenge. Strange, don't you think? Gordon Freeman is a famous chef from Limbo's Kitchen, why would he know gardening? Well it's a side biz he picked up when he was a teened ager in finland. See, in finland, they plant trees that eventually grow into bombs. This is done because by the time the bombs go off, years will have passed and it is impossible to trace the tree back to the planter. The Fins are in for the long game Revenge is a dish best served with some gun sauce.

those certainly are words. also i love half life but know fuck all about it so trans gordon freeman ftw