#uk dykes and queers where are you

[pretty-kitten-3]

Pet n praise counter at riot in Manchester tomorrow! If you pet or praise qell you get the bite option!

[gendercensus]

On how useful the data is for people in non-English-speaking countries

Someone put some good tags on the original promotional post so I'm going to copy-paste them here and talk about that a little bit.

#even though im not so sure about the way data about people who live their everyday life in nonEnglish speaking countries is being collected #like idk i really don't think that data collected from people who don't have to use English every day #and only have to think about some situations hypothetically bears the same weight as data collected from people who use English every day #i just think that the language we choose is based on our every day experienceand this survey doesn't really take it into consideration??? #like idk what's the point of collecting data from people who don't function in the English speaking world every day #if you are not going to consider the variables that make this experience with English different #than the experience of people living in English-speaking countries #like my answers are 99% affected by the way i interact with people online. #and honestly not even 1% by how i interact with people irl #so like idk the word queer or dyke or faggot is getting more popular for example #but what does it really mean? nothing if you don't consider the context in which the word is being used #i grew up in a country where these words carry no negative weight bc nobody uses them #so for me the word queer is neutral and positive and it's not because it's reclaimed etc #but because bad words are bad because we learn to view them as bad through our experiences as we grow up #and when i first learned this word it was in a positive context #so yeah i can identify as queer but isn't it WAY different than people who identify as queer in the UK or in the US? #so idk maybe it's a serious accusation but it feels so anglo-centric #so like yeah you can get results that say that 'queer' label is getting more popular but it's an empty result #if you don't consider the context

So yes, this survey is not a representative sample. It's a self-selecting online survey promoted mostly via social media, which means the results mainly reflect the memberships of the big social networks. That's younger people and very online people.

And yes, I only speak English proficiently, and I am incapable of running a multilingual survey for a lot of reasons beyond that, which I talk about a little bit in this other blog post.

The survey invites participants to enter their country. It is true that there are many countries where English isn't the first language or isn't an official language, and the data for those countries is probably a bit sparse for this reason and may not be useful! I allow people to enter any country, because how do I choose which countries should be removed? And if I remove those countries from the list, are people in those countries just not allowed to take part? In every country there are communities of immigrants and native speakers of languages not native to those countries.

But anyway. That's part of why I ask where people live - so that for the countries where English is the predominant language, the data might be more useful than not. Even then, for a specific country, the data is still mostly people who hang out online, on social networks where trans people tend to hang out.

so like yeah you can get results that say that 'queer' label is getting more popular but it's an empty result

But not for countries where queer is a well-known and emotionally loaded word, right? And the gender census survey results can be filtered to show only results from a specific country, so that is potentially useful or interesting or meaningful.

And for this bit:

i just think that the language we choose is based on our every day experience and this survey doesn't really take it into consideration

It is true that LGBTQ+ people's preferred language is shaped by the language they use every day, and if you don't speak English AFK in your day-to-day life you won't use those words for your identity in that specific AFK context.

However, if someone uses the internet regularly (e.g. uses queer-friendly social media every day), that is an everyday experience. If they see and understand the promotional posts and read the survey and understand the questions and have meaningful responses to input, they "function in the English speaking world" enough to be able to participate. The internet isn't a fake made-up thing, we're all speaking to each other, we're all real people having real social experiences online. In a way, the internet is like the whole world without borders, and this is a survey of the people in this giant international text-based nation who speak/type/read English. So as long as you're aware that you're looking at data from that context, it can still be useful.

[ Take the 2023 Gender Census survey here ]

[qnewsau]

Rainbow Bikers QLD celebrate their 1st birthday

New Post has been published on https://qnews.com.au/rainbow-bikers-qld-celebrate-their-1st-birthday/

Rainbow Bikers QLD celebrate their 1st birthday

Rainbow Bikers QLD founder Shane Stevens shares the club’s journey as they celebrate their first birthday in August.

When I founded Rainbow Bikers in Queensland, it was with the vision of creating a safe, inclusive space for the LGBTQIA+ community in the motorcycling world. 

Many gender-diverse individuals found it challenging to join existing motorcycle clubs without feeling out of place. 

Witnessing anti-trans movements and a lack of understanding towards the queer community, I saw a need for an all-inclusive space where people could be themselves, regardless of age, race, gender, identity, or sexual orientation. 

How it began

After being part of various motorcycle groups for many years and riding for over 30 years, I wanted to set up Rainbow Bikers. For two years, I questioned whether I could or should do it.

Encouraged by friends and family, I decided to move forward. I sought advice from other clubs in Australia, the UK, and America, learning from their successes and failures.

A huge help came from Dykes on Bikes Queensland, whose president, Petrea Cooper, and Vice President, Kerrie Anne, were incredibly supportive.

They promoted us, gave us advice, rode with us, and invited our club to their events. We formed a true symbiotic siblinghood, supporting each other as clubs and as human beings.

Growth and community

We started in August of 2023 with just me, and by October, we had 100 members in Queensland. This has now grown to 137 members. 

The same month I founded the club, we saw huge interest from other states and we started Rainbow Bikers SA (South Australia).

That club now boasts 116 active members and continues to grow. It’s incredible and something I never envisaged.

Events and activities

We hold monthly rides on the last Sunday of every month in Queensland, choosing favourite routes and destinations of our riders. We give opportunities for all members to lead a ride if they want to, promoting collaboration rather than one person leading everything. 

Our destinations have included a camel farm in the Scenic Rim, bowling and New Zealand pies on the Gold Coast, a picnic at a spectacular waterfall, and a meet-and-greet sausage sizzle in Roma Street Parklands. We cater to all kinds of riders, from learners to seasoned pros.

There are no fees for joining and the only requirement is that you bring your motorcycle, good vibes, smiles, and ride safely.

We also regularly attend pride marches, starting with Brisbane last year, followed by Gold Coast Pride, Ipswich’s QueerSwich, and the upcoming Logan Pride event

First birthday celebrations

  View this post on Instagram

  A post shared by @rainbowbikersqld

To celebrate our first anniversary, we will have another monthly ride with spectacular scenery, leaving from Mt. Coot-tha and heading to the top of NSW to Woodenbong for a delicious lunch. And who knows, maybe there will be some cake to celebrate.

As we mark this milestone, I am filled with gratitude and pride for what we have achieved together. Here’s to many more years of riding, laughter, and unity.

To join the club visit the Rainbow Bikers QLD group on Facebook or follow them on Instagram @rainbowbikersqld

Read next:

Dykes on Bikes VP among brave firies fighting Qld bushfires

Dykes on Bikes slam group’s ‘lesbian born female’ event

Queensland Leather Pride announce new non-gendered title

For the latest LGBTIQA+ Sister Girl and Brother Boy news, entertainment, community stories in Australia, visit qnews.com.au. Check out our latest magazines or find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

[collymore]

Self-evidently, your Kate Middleton is having her plumbing removed; lol!

By Stanley Collymore

Look at the vast number of police officers they have guarding the door of what's undoubtedly a rather posh private hospital! Shouldn't such hospitals have their own security? So, quite sensibly, why essentially then are us, the quite average UK taxpayers literally and distinctly crucially footing the actual full bill obviously for all this when undeniably, significant numbers of us are very reasonably, and literally basically afraid to walk on the streets of Britain, even in truly broad daylight in plenty neighbourhoods these days, and evidently without a single bloody police car basically on patrol far less so, any coppers distinctively in sight!

(C) Stanley V. Collymore 18 January 2024.

Author's Remarks: Didn't the Metropolitan Police effectively quite arrogantly state in court documents relative to the Harry Windsor case relative to his personal security that they're simply and essentially not for hire? So how come, and why the fuck, are they so categorically providing that said service for a distinctly rather expensive posh hospital which most Britons obviously simply couldn't afford to be a patient at, yet the Metropolitan Police whose salaries they pay are the distinctive ones providing that same service literally, that Harry allegedly wasn't eligible for!

Welcome to still undeniably deeply Feudal Britain asininely ensconced in this the 21st Century and suitably infested with its sick, vile, toxically verminous, and undoubtedly, likewise unquestionably surfeit of actually sycophantic, monarchical serfs! Much too stupid to redeem their own pathetic state of affairs!

The rampant, and I'll even employ the apt terminology rabid kerfuffle as well clearly attendant with its wilfully contrived and purported mystery to very essentially milk maximum public sympathy while evidently purposely disclosing bugger all relative to this Stepford mother's obvious admission into hospital, stems undoubtedly so from a very embarrassing state of affairs which is essentially syphilis, and the urgent, and as well all appropriate measures to effectively deal with it!

Philip Schofield personally quite publicly admitted in later years after being clearly married for quite some time when he did come out, that he knew he was distinctly homosexual when he got married, later had two biological daughters that he very naturally sired by his wife but all the same, nevertheless carried on with is very secret homosexual passion. The Windsor family and their palace environment are littered with Queers and Dykes - a terminology I use only for those I utterly and evidently thoroughly despise, and not the likes of Phillip Schofield and other decent Gays and Lesbians worthy of respect; a state of affairs the Windsors and their lot rather markedly aren't worthy or will never be every worthy of. So it was altogether in my estimation very commendable of Philip Schofield and likewise courageous to do what he did; but most significantly as well confiding in and being honest with both his wife and daughters, who appreciated his honesty and have continued loving him. A marked contrast I assure you as would be the case with the plethora of Queers and Dykes in the Windsor family and their also equally debauched households where the likes of Jimmy Savile, Jeffrey Epstein, Bishop Peter Ball and Rolf Harris along with Ghislaine Maxwell had full sway and established relationships with the utterly sick and odious vile Windsor lot that you purblind cunts so grandiosely worship.

Not however a Philip Schofield situation with the Windsors and specifically so the current principal Stepford wife and also self-evidently very redundant mother and spouse. The body language, for all the sycophantic Daily Mail and its illiterate hacks hype, between gold digger stalker and her succumbed bi-Queer, makes what transpired between Diana and Charles look rather mild and tame stuff by comparison. A man who is distinctly bisexual but more so, as Philip Schofield was, evidently quite homosexual, and with a distinctly marked preference for homosexuality, but clearly without the balls or integrity of Philip to state what he actually is!

Likewise, he has also markedly turned off this rabid social climbing, stalker and gold digger slut that he was told to marry by his grandmother, who saw her as the quite apt Stepford wife and brood mare as she also perceived Diana to be. Categorically that old, thankfully now dead, cunt has a lot to answer for that's still plaguing Britain. But for this stalker to do a Diana and publicly complain is out, as both this stalker and her own mum have invested far too much in terms of controlled enterprise to simply give up now because their undeniably very successfully target has eventually come to what limited senses he has. Which are so very minor I assure you.

Consequently, they would both have very separate lives: Liz and Philip did, Charles and Camilla do, and the list goes on with this lot. In other words whenever Queer boy wished to prove his rather miniscule heterosexuality he would have some real fanny, generally with his long associated mistress and next door neighbour with whom they jointly have a bastard daughter but as transpires in such cases the wife is always married so the cuckolded husband quite automatically becomes the Dad! But we now thankfully live in the era of the DNA so knowing you're in the wrong yet making legal threats of defamation of character doesn't any longer work! Eh Baldy!?

Anyway, somewhere in this equation the dreaded lurgy of syphilis was contracted, possibly by him, but I think unlikely, and more likely by her given her known school days behaviour and recent indiscretions. But as the saying goes, you ultimately do reap what you sow. And from this clearly mentally liberated and discernibly proud Bajan/Briton what's happening to this vile, racist Karen woman and her still legally connected KKK aficionado husband just couldn't happen to two better persons. Lol!

[coochiequeens]

Woke men are just as dangerous to women as regular men

Women stating their opposition to males self-identifying as lesbian were attacked at a ‘lesbian’ pride march in Cologne, Germany, with one of the demonstrators being brutally choked by a male trans activist.

On July 2, a group of women gathered outside of Museum Ludwig and unfurled banners which defined lesbians as “female homosexual persons” and declared opposition to the ‘queer’ trend.

The women, comprised of members from Women’s Declaration International (WDI) Germany and LGB Alliance, also held up a flag bearing the Labrys symbol, a double-sided axe adopted as a pride symbol by the lesbian community in the 1970s.

The women were located on a balcony which was just above where the rest of the Dyke March participants were walking the street, and quickly caught the attention of the activists amongst the crowd.

According to a representative of WDI Germany who spoke with Reduxx on the condition of anonymity, trans activists within the march started playing a song which repeated the words “F*ck you,” and began hurling insults at the women as they stood with their signs. 

Dyke March event organizer Annette Rösener can be seen in video footage shared on Twitter attacking a young woman holding the lesbian pride flag. During the struggle, the Labrys flag, along with several other banners and signs, were stolen by trans activists. 

Rösener then assisted others in replacing the pro-lesbian flag with a banner which read ‘Dykes Against Transphobia.’

One of the organizers also lashed out against lesbians who who “exclude” males from their sexuality, grabbing a sign which read “lesbians don’t have penises” from a woman and attempting to destroy it. 

But Rösener wasn’t the only one lashing out against the women peacefully demonstrating. A masked man rushedthe young woman who had been holding the lesbian pride flag and put her in a headlock, wrapping his arms tightly around her neck. 

Susanne, a member of the LGB Alliance, struggled against the assault, and was eventually released.

Speaking to Reduxx, Susanne said she wasn’t surprised about the attack on her group, but was taken aback by the violence from the trans activist towards her.

“I guess I was anticipating it, but not how sudden and violently it happened,” she explained, “I was scared I could die when the guy put me in a headlock.”

Susanne pointed out that when the organizers of the Dyke March tried to intervene, it was only to defend the man choking her as she struggled to free herself.

A police report has been filed, but no arrests have yet been made. Charges listed in the report include robbery, theft, intentional simple bodily injury, insult and damage to property on streets, roads or squares.

But Susanne is not optimistic that action will be taken by the authorities. 

“I’m not sure the police will be effective,” she said. “They seemed very confused as to why we were attacked at all. One of them suggested we were victims of a homophobic hate crime. Another one asked us if we were protesting against people changing ‘Geschlechtsidentität’ or ‘sex identity,’ the German word for gender identity.”

Violence against lesbian and women’s rights activists have been on the rise in recent years. Trans activists have assaulted women in various countries for protesting sex trafficking and resisting male colonization of lesbian identity and spaces.

In July 2021, Get The L Out UK posted video recordings showing lesbian demonstrators being physically assaulted by trans activists during Paris Pride. The women were voicing their opposition to males identifying into lesbianism.

In Paris a few months prior, a group of women with the Collective Against Pornography and Prostitution (CAPP) were attacked by transactivists while protesting against sex trafficking and male violence. The counter protesters pelted the women with eggs while spraying red paint in their eyes. Many of the women assaulted were survivors of the sex industry.

In March of this year, sex industry abolitionist feminists in Barcelona were confronted and threatened by “people in favor of prostitution.” The women had gathered for a protest planned by Catalunya Abolicionista Plataforma Feminista (CATAB) in Plaza St. Jaume, where they were surrounded by counter-protestors who attempted to assault them, but were prevented by police.

Politicians from both Germany’s Green Party and the Socialist Democrats are lobbying for a sex self-identification bill which previously would have allowed children as young as 14 years old to legally transition, regardless of parental consent.

Women’s Declaration International (WDI) staged protests against the proposed legislation. A petition written by members of WDI Germany asserted that the “Self-Determination Act” interferes with the rights of parents and endangers the well-being of children.

“Children from the age of 14 may therefore be exposed to unnecessary and irreversible genital-altering surgical interventions, which include the amputation of breasts, uteri, ovaries, and penises,” the petition reads. “Amputating healthy parts of the body or taking puberty blockers and hormones that damage the body cannot change a person’s sex. The law should not suggest that this is possible.”

Following the backlash, the legislation was amended to allow for parental consent for childhood medical transition; however, should parents express opposition, children can then file a petition with the court system and receive approval from judicial authorities.

By Genevieve Gluck Genevieve is the Co-Founder of Reduxx, and the outlet's Chief Investigative Journalist with a focused interest in pornography, sexual predators, and fetish subcultures. She is the creator of the podcast Women's Voices, which features news commentary and interviews regarding women's rights

[max--phillips]

If you don’t want to be called queer, that’s fine. I won’t call you that. I know there are complicated feelings with that word depending on where you grew up (ie outside of urban liberal spaces). That means depending on where you grew up, it may or may not be considered a slur at this point in time. I use the term queer in everyday conversation on a fairly regular basis, but if I’d grown up in the middle of nowhere in a conservative area, I would probably feel a lot different about it. There are some words that aren’t considered slurs in US English but are considered slurs in UK English.

My point here is: everyone’s experience is different and if you don’t want to be called something, you have every right to not be called that. Just say so. Don’t try to convince people to stop using the term queer, though. Queer is a slur, but just like other things it depends on context and intent. Queer is also a beautiful term with uses that are incredibly important as umbrella terms. Not everyone wants to explain the details of their sexuality and/or gender every time they talk to someone about it; queer is a great way to wrap that all up in a bow and make it easier to talk about. It’s a lot like other slurs against lgbt people in that way; it’s a lot easier to just say “yeah I’m a dyke” than explain why I describe my gender and sexuality with pretty much the same label. I’m positive there are gay men who feel the same way about the f slur. But good god if someone tried to tell me to stop calling myself a dyke? LMFAO who do you think you are?

In conclusion. Let people do what they want. And if you don’t want to be called something, just say so and move on. It’s not that complicated.

[thisstableground]

Okay, so what was Brighton like in ~1933? Did people "just" go to the beach (and made sand castles? but with rocks?) or were there a lot of other things to do besides? What was on the piers (West and Palace)? And when you say it was gay - were queer people really freer there than in other parts of the UK?

well do bear in mind i’m not at all a historical expert, but okay, so in the early 30s it was a pretty attractive tourist area, the holiday industry wasn’t impacted too hard by the first world war compared to other areas, or compared to how Brighton was impacted by the second world war. i think the area got a little bit of a rough reputation in the late 30s, especially after Greenes’ Brighton Rock was published, but it was a very popular destination nontheless pre-WW2, especially after the railways were in because it made Brighton a very accessible coastal destination for Londoners (we’re about an hour and a half away from London Victoria by train). look up the Volks Electric Railway for some local train history, i don’t know a lot about it personally but i believe that’s the one that had the London links back in the day. might still have been Southern Railways, though, i’m not sure.

it depends what you mean by ‘freer’. it still wasn’t acceptable to be openly queer, so it would still have been a sort of coded system trying to identify other LGBT+ people (i think i recall reading in a book somewhere that white socks were supposed to signal your sexuality to other gay men, but don’t quote me on it). and between it being sort of an artsy place with a lot of authors/actors etc ( i know Wilde visited here a few times in the 1800s, and others who i can’t recall off the top of my head), the fact that during the Napoleonic wars a lot of soldiers were stationed or passing through the area, and the accessibility from London, it kind of had that “what happens in Brighton stays in Brighton” anonymity to it since the 1800s. so it was kind of a Thing to just get away from the compulsive heterosexuality of normal life for a weekend in Brighton where nobody knows who you are. in the early 30s it probably wouldn’t have been quite as well-known as an LGBTQ+ hotspot as it was during and after WW2, but it certainly still had the reputation. there was a rapid expansion of gay and lesbian bars starting popping up in the 1930s, i believe it mostly around the Kemptown area, so it’s worth looking at some photos from around there. so i could imagine it to be the kind of place that, when one is In The Know, it’s considered The place to go to have at least somewhat more freedom than you’d be afforded in your normal life.

in terms of what to do there, Brighton had a pretty good entertainment scene. we got cinemas in the early 1900s. there were theatres - in particular i believe the Hippodrome was central to Brighton’s theatre industry, it hosted a lot of variety acts. hotels and restaurants and such along the seafront. the Pavilion’s there, of course, i don’t know what they were doing with it back in the day (i.e if it was a space the public can access like it is now or private grounds for the royals). i believe that the West Pier (rip) had a concert hall. the Palace Pier i think also had a concert hall or a theatre of some kind and had some fairground rides, whatever those would’ve been at the time. i assume also the general standard seaside moneymaking opportunities - fortune tellers or street artists and so on. can’t recall when the Lanes/North Laine got popular as a shopping area, so you should check the timelines on that. there was a big open-air swimming pool where the Marina is now. the racecourse is not too far away, if you’re into the horses, though that was a pretty rough place in the 30s and 40s so not a great idea to take a kid there, probably, unless you’re into razor gangs. i don’t know what the transport was like in those days but we’re also not far out from the South Downs, Devil’s Dyke, and the Seven Sisters, which are all just nice beauty spots if you’re up for a drive out from central brighton.

this is like, extremely basic information, again i’m no historian so if you want to peruse at your own leisure or find some era-appropriate photo reference, here are some really good archives from the area. 

my brighton and hove screen archive south east royal pavilion and museums trust

[queerlyhalloween]

Not to sound like the joker™��� but i hate western society. I know that hair and clothes aren't gendered, so do most of my mates, ive been working hard at unlearning the internalized transphobia that's just a part of being trans in the UK and actually ALLOWING myself to think about going on hormones and dressing in ways other than "ambigious as possible" despite the fact im non-binary

i grew myself a little mullet because ive not been working in the pub and wanted solid snake hair, ive allowed myself to look at my face and the long hair around it and not despair because i know that longer hair doesn't make me a woman, but the moment you go into a shop, or get takeaway or pass by people in the street its all "move out the way of this lady!" and "thank you, ma'am"

i dont want the gender option of 'other' on my ID i want to know 1 good reason why gender should be listed on an ID in the 1st place

ive just come back from the range and i had my hair up like some e-thot fuckboy, i had to go BACK to the range because they got my click and collect order wrong so ive got two members of staff looking over my order, im dressed in black jeans and a black masc-looking ripped shirt, mask covering half my face and as the manager's showing the kid who served me the receipt they go "oh I served that guy earlier" and the manager corrects them "its a lady". I say "im niether" and they both just stare at me like im a toddler. Im already panicking because the air feels the same way it did when some cunt came after me in the pub toliets. "dont worry about it :)" i say, they both turn back to the tills and completely ignore me.

Anyway, micro-aggressions, ive experienced a lot of them for many reasons over the course of my life and today ive decided to snap.

Not at the people in the range like, just in general.

I will never pass. That's just an element of trans euphoria i will never get to experience. Not right off the bat, anyway. Not where i live, and most likely not in my lifetime. Maybe for kids in LA or Brighton, and hey power to you guys man im happy for you, but people assume or guess m/f when they look at me and they will never get it right.

So when i see people on this site try and twitter etc rank "who's the most oppressed"™️ like a godamn smash bros tier list it blows my mind because of all the things you could spend your days doing thats what youre expending energy on?!

You could be the exact same age, race, sex, gender, sexuality, you could have the exact same disabilities, mental health conditions and money in your bank as another person on this site and you'd still never understand what they've been through. Our experiences, our families, our morals and lives are always gonna be different and the moment you try to write definitive rules on whose got it worse you've already lost and you're already wrong. Oppressed classes are not a fucking hivemind and pretending they are is only going to cause you more problems. I get the strong sense that some of you looked at the word intersectionality, went "ah yeah, i know what that means" having never read up on the matter, then proceeded to play the pain olympics.

And its creating a culture where kids feel the need to spills their souls online to justify living their lives!

You've not listed your disabilites in your bio so you're able-bodied. You're Irish but haven't listed your race so you're white. You're cis man so you've never played with gender and suffered as a result. You're asexual so clearly you're a cringeworthy baby who's never experienced a wrong-doing in their life.

The reverse is true too, if you list every aspect of yourself then you're automatically honest. The more opressed you are the less likely you are of causing harm to others. Psht, don't have a carrd in this day and age? What are you, a fraud? cishet white man playing make believe? Post a selfie or face the wrath of ozymandaus. What's privacy? It takes me 3 minutes to read the bio on this discourse side-blog so clearly they're an angel.

my mam abused me for years, she did the same to my brother when i left home at 18 and my dad drank himself to death. My nan, his mother, never believed me because my mam's a disabled woman with a lot of trauma, and at 14 how do you explain to the woman who takes you to the beach that it's WORSE because as she's beckoning you to the side of her bed so she can scream point blank in your face, or hit you, you're never truely sure, you're thinking about running away because of course she physically can't chase you but she can throw. And then where would you go if you did buggar off?

"You have to sleep sometimes" she used to say to me when I'd piss her off. Other days she told me horror stories about kids in care, and disabled people having their kids taken away, made me promise that I'd always love her and always be her baby, and I'd do that for her because she's my mam, she'd be satisfied then ignore me for a while. I grew up thinking that was entirely normal until i'd tell funny family stories at school and nobody would laugh. The closest I got to truely running away was when I changed my name and pronouns and her rejection, turned to vitriol one night and I so, so, nearly held a knife to my throat and simply fell forwards in the uni showers. Obviously I didn't do that.

But she's had a shitter life than me thus far so she's in the right, as the online black/white dichotomy states. I keep her at arm's length but I'm unable to cut her away without losing the rest of my family because I dared defy the role of eldest child and care for her as I've done my whole life, as is expected.

we need to take things on a case by case basis, and learn when stuff is none of our business.

"Hey! :) I see you've reclaimed (X) slur, without submitting the proper paperwork. Real quick tell me every trauma you've ever experienced or I'll write a callout post :) delete this anonymous message (as is your right) and i'll assume you as sus ❤"

you can only call yourself a dyke if on your 13th birthday, the moon's tender rays struck you through your bedroom window and gave you your first wet dream about girls.

Great, cool. I have no interest in calling myself a dyke, i cant call myself a lesbian because it makes me dysphoric, thats why im queer, but i can assure you that when 3 kids from catholic school pinned me under the bridge and threatened to cut me open for being a "dirty dyke tramp" they didn't play 20Qs with me first to check that i was actually a lesbian.

if your first thought is "well thats just misdirected homophobia, so youre not ACTUALLY a victim" log the fuck off and consider what's wrong with you. Because all our oppressors care about is sniffing out the wrong on you and beating it out, they dont care what breed of wrong it is.

so you're going to spend your day, the enlightened adult that you are, frothing at the mouth because some 15yr old dared call themselves butch despite them being OnLY a BiSexUAl? You're gonna say that trans woman deserves to be suicidal because yes she may be trans BUT she's from the UK, so clearly she loves her horrid country and government. You're gonna say that black lad deserves racial abuse because he's trying to focus on his studies rather than go to protests. That 19yr old who's living in poverty deserves it because they work for Amazon. Texans deserve to freeze to death because there are republicans in Texas.

You're going to harass a complete stranger coming to terms with the parts of themselves society has taught them are worthless at best because they're not doing it the way YOU think is right.

This post has not ended where I started it but I really dont care:

Some of you are so fucking desperate to be the bullies you never got to be in secondary school and it shows. But you're cowards. You can't just admit you want to divide and concur so you do it in a new woke way and when your time on this earth is done, you'll have commited the same pain that's been dealt to you and wonder why you died miserable in a world thats more or less the same.

okay to reblog but dont @ me for a debate because i have, like, real problems and will just block you

[madethisforclasstim-blog]

Feature #3

My Struggle With Being In Two Minority Groups

By Timothy Heath

Hypothetically speaking, let’s say you first have this thought to yourself: “What is it like to be openly gay?” If you ask a general audience, depending on the area, some of the common answers would be along the lines of “being different,” “gay means happy,” or (this is my personal favorite) “sassy” Now let’s say your next hypothetical question is “What is it like to be African American in everyday society?” Most of those common answers contain negative historical context. Imagine if you had to combine these two thought processes together and you have not a clue of when these thoughts will occur to you in your everyday lifestyle. In short, this is just a start of what can be described as living in society having to worry about being apart of more than one minority group.

Because of these thoughts, people in the African American LGBTQ community will find it difficult to come out as homosexual. According to an article featured in The Guardian, many gay men and women speak on their life adjustments due to feeling more accepted with their community as opening gay. In one section, a couple explains how they had to move to Atlanta so they could feel safer. I could agree with Delaney when she says that “unless you are in the gay community, people aren’t open about it.” 

“Fag,” “queer,” and “fruity,” are only a few derogatory terms used to bring down our community. According to the Center for American Progress, they reported that 47% of LGBTQ students hear racial slurs during one school day and 85% hear specific words such as “dyke.”

Going to school is not every child’s favorite thing to do, but for me it was a matter of if I was going to be chosen last, made fun of for the way I speak, or anything I felt was normal and natural to do. For example, I was called “oreo” which is slang used to describe a black person who acts or speaks proper or “preppy” instead of speaking with other slang words and dialect. According to StopBullying.gov included in their LGBTQ Youth section, about 10% more openly LGBTQ students are reportedly missing school due to safety concerns than heterosexual students. No child should have to worry about any type of harm while in an educational building, especially at younger ages. The same website also states 33% of LGBTQ students being bullied on campus and 27.1% cyber bullied. 

With this being said, it has also been calculated that about a quarter of black LGBTQ students have missed one full school day in a month due to safety concerns compared to 6.3% of the black youth. This means that these students are expected to have an average GPA drop of at least .5 of a point compared to students that do not experience harassment at school. 

I grew up with two very different sides of my family; my dad originates from South Dallas and my mom’s side moved to Texas from California. Both of my parents taught me to always follow the rules and learn as much as I want, so I always talked proper. To other kids your color, you get looked at as weird, trying to be better than them, or just not spoken to. On the other hand, I also grew up with three sisters and one brother, me being the youngest sibling. My brother is the oldest out of us all, so I did not live with him as much growing up, which could probably explain why I am so in touch with my feminine side. Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying this is “the reason I am gay,” as that is a very unexplainable human trait. Because of this, I am not interested in monster trucks, sports, or even Legos. I enjoyed female characters as a child and believed they were much more cooler and stronger than the central characters whom were always men unless you watched all female cartoons. 

Another trait a lot of men try to hide is the ability to cry. I say this is a “trait” because most men act as if they were born without the ability to. My point is that it is seen as a feminine quality to have any emotions that would lead to tears, disempowering the man. According to the UK website “The Independent” on masculinity, about 55% of men say that they are afraid to cry in front of others because it would “make them feel like less of a man.” Hiding your emotions is not healthy at all. I have unfortunately learned how to do this, but I have never felt like I have mastered this. Actions such as these can lead to suicidal thoughts, insecurity, and any other action that would be seen as a reason to get help from therapy.

We see these facts as early as our toddler years. When a boy gets hurt, their father will more than likely talk him through the pain and explain to his son that he needs to “be tough” in order to get through this while if it was the daughter, she would be coddled and reassured that everything would be okay because their father was their to “be tough” for his daughter. 

I will admit that I have always been afraid to cry or be drastically upset in front of my dad and brother. They have both universally been assigned the job of teaching me how to “be a man” which means to stand up for myself, be assertive to prove dominance, and to “man up” when life gets difficult. I have hidden my emotions from them for most of my life to avoid further conflict and as a result, I am closed off when it comes to discussing my personal issues. According to The Independent, about 53 percent of men surveyed agreed that they do not expect members of society to come to them for emotional support.

It is unfortunate that based on the information above, people like me and others feel the need to relocate ourselves into a safe space whereas public places like school should be a universal safe space for all students. While students are missing school due to concerns of safety, they are also missing opportunities to be in a safe space where they can be free to express their emotions and actions. When I joined theatre arts, I finally felt like I could be my feminine, weird self and unexpectedly, people loved it! I used theatre to break out of my shell and in my own way become a voice for the kids that feel like they cannot speak. No one should have to feel worried about being who they were born to become.

[ladystylestores]

How to virtually celebrate Pride 2020 from home

Due to the impact of COVID-19, many Pride events have been cancelled or significantly altered for 2020. Naturally, we are devastated that our world is going to be a little less colorful this year and contain a little less Madonna. However, just because we can’t travel to Pride parades and celebrations, it doesn’t mean we can’t wave a flag for everything that Pride stands for – equality, diversity and acceptance.

Pride means something different to everyone. It is a time when people, no matter where they fall on the gender and sexuality spectrum, come to celebrate our diversity and help to increase the visibility of individuals from all parts of the LGBTQIA+ community. It is also a time when we remember those that fought for, and continue to fight, for LGBTQIA+ rights, and push for social and political change.

Each year, Pride has continued to grow across the world. This year, it will be a different kind of celebration. However, if the LGBTQIA+ community has proven anything over the years, it is strength and resilience. And that nothing will stand in the way of a good party!

Live stream Global Pride 2020

Under a banner of ‘Exist Persist Resist’, Pride organizations from across the globe will celebrate Global Pride 2020 on the 27th June. Live stream 24 hours of performances, speeches and a whole heap of rainbow-loving content from all over the world.

New York: Attend Black Queer Town Hall

NYC Pride are putting on virtual events and performances all month, including this three-day virtual event with GLAAD on the 19-21st June to support and raise money for black, queer organizations, and LGBTQIA+ performers.

London: Celebrate Bi Pride

Forced to cancel their September Pride event, Bi Pride UK will be live streaming a Bi-Fi Festival on the 20th June instead. The event will include a heap of bi voices, discussions and performances, plus a live DJ after party. (Obvs).

Dublin: Log on to Digital Pride

If there’s a nation that knows how to celebrate, it’s the Irish. Dial in for Digital Pride Dublin on the 18-28th June, plus events throughout the month including discussions on mental health, political debates, a cook-along online breakfast and a pet parade!

Toronto: Support Stay Home Saturdays

Featuring an online Trans Rally, Dyke Rally and Virtual Pride Parade, Pride Toronto’s online festival weekend kicks off from the 26-28th June. Plus, log on every Saturday in June for Stay Home Saturdays, which showcases and supports LGBTQIA+ talent.

Berlin: Save the date for CSD

On the 25th July, the 42nd Christopher Street Day Berlin Pride is going digital. Under the slogan of ‘Don’t hide your pride’, expect a live stream of DJs, performers and political statements, Berlin-style. (aka, don’t hold back on the PVC…).

Support your local drag artist

Without being able to support themselves through their typical means during their biggest income month (June), drag and LGBTQIA+ artists need your love more than ever. Support your local performers through their online shows, follow their social media activity, or purchase a personalised video via Cameo.

Throw a living room party

Pride just wouldn’t be the same without a screaming version of ‘It’s Raining Men’, a bucket load of glitter and some baby oil. Put on this Spotify Pride Classics playlist and a full face of makeup, jump on a video call and have a living room blow out.

Contact your local government

Write to your local government representative and let them know that LGBTQIA+ issues matter to you. Every day people are discriminated against and unjustly treated, and taking a personal stand goes a long way to making a collective difference.

  By Corey Waugh, STA Travel Marketing Exec, Melbourne.

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[fringefilmfest]

Queer Cinema Magic from Female Filmmakers at Fringe!

Chavela, dir Catherine Gund. We don’t want to prematurely herald The Year of the Lesbian, but this year’s Fringe! programme displays a very welcome breadth of feminine film talent, as well as dynamic female subjects. With a Catherine Gund strand throughout and a range of female, non-binary, lesbian and trans directors in attendance for panel discussions, we have really seen a shift in the queer film-making landscape, and the range of queer cinema being made is all the better for it.

Catherine Gund, Act Up.

First we’ve got to talk about our Catherine Gund Focus. From two unbelievable feature documentaries that see Gund ingratiated in the lives of her subjects: Born to Fly: Elizabeth Streb vs. Gravity and more recent work, Chavela, will leave you gasping at the strength of their subjects’ presence in the world. Gund’s films celebrate lives lived fully. We will be tracing this fervour in her earlier career with a presentation of early, social justice based, short films in the aptly titled Lez be Honest. We are even treating you to a masterclass with the master documentarian herself, presented in partnership with Open City Docs School.

Hot to Trot, dir Gail Freedman.

Continuing with a look at dance, Hot to Trot, Gail Freedman’s delicate portrait of same sex ballroom champions preparing for the Gay Games comes to Europe, and we’ll host a Q&A with the director herself. Following the routines and preparations of a section of professional and romantic same sex partnerings, this intimate record will sweep you up in the rapture of bodily movements that express love, passion and tensions between our dance mavericks.

Paris is Voguing, dir Gabrielle Culand.

Repeat attendees will remember our Vogue strand last year, complete with an English Breakfast London ball, a Kiki discussion on the history and relevance of the scene and art of voguing, and films including Kiki and Strike A Pose which each included valuable images of the expressive and vital scene. This year Fringe! screens a new documentary on a European vogue scene. Paris is Voguing sees Willi Ninja’s words “make the real Paris burn!” come to life through the ferocity and tenacity of its vogue champions. Gabrielle Culand’s document of Paris Ballroom culture seen through the bickering and banter of House Mothers Stephane Mizrahi & Lasseindra Ninja is something you will not want to miss.

Homemade Melodrama, dir Jacqui Duckworth.

With queer feminist curating collective Club des Femmes we take a look back at feminist filmmaker Jacqui Duckworth, whose incredible 16mm works discussed open relationships, ‘sweet dyke revenge’ in the porn industry, multiple sclerosis, identity and coming out were pioneering, years before her premature death in 2005. Curated in her honour, and with a great deal of love and thanks, An Invitation to Jacqui D comes to Fringe! on festival Saturday.

195 Lewis, dir Chanelle Aponte Pearson.

Festival Sunday sees a special event at the Barbican: a screening of Brooklyn web series 195 Lewis by Chanelle Aponte Pearson in full. Getting the lesbian series right has been an occasionally disappointing endeavour, but web-series 195 Lewis is definitely the hottest kid on the block.

From the creators of Revival: Women and the Word and An Oversimplification of Her Beauty (two films chronicling the efforts and grace of strong women), 195 Lewis engages with and reflects our London scenes with its hilariously self-referential art talk, playful explorations of gender and sex, and a genius, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it Bette Porter reference. This is accompanied by shorts including the award-winning We Love Moses by Dionne Edwards, and a panel discussion on QTIPOC representation and successes in film and media.

Upon the Shadow, dir Nada Mezni Hafaiedh.

Don’t miss gems of female achievement earlier in the festival too! Head to Tunisia, where first time director Nada Mezni Hafaiedh’s incredible and heartfelt documentary Upon the Shadow follows former Femen member Amina Sboui and her group of activist friends whose lives hang in the balance and at the whims of nations and border forces. The friends and their matriarch Amina look out at cool blue seas wondering what destinies await them and what forces will impact their futures in this stunning documentary that shines a spotlight on the lifestyles of those members of our global queer community that are still fighting for many of the freedoms we have already inherited.

FLUID0, dir Shu Lea Cheang.

Closing out the festival with a lasting impression (and a palpable climax), moving image artist and provocateur Shu Lea Cheang of Fresh Kill; IKU comes to London to accompany our opening film in its UK premiere, FLUIDØ. This sex-capade from the Taiwanese director concerns a future Berlin, a genderfluid race of ZERO GENs, and a struggle to gain control over the production and exploitation of bodily fluids.

Representations of feminine sexuality range from the DIY to the delicate at this year’s Fringe!

There are so many more gems from female filmmakers in the Fringe! Queer Film & Arts Fest programme that I hope you’ll explore, displaying, expressing and recording tenacity, vivacity and the distinct queer feminine perspective.

Full programme info: fringefilmfest.com

[blackcoffeekid-blog]

dear cishet aces + aros

right, i would like cishet aces / aros to respond to this answering my q’s in a polite + informative manner please. i’m really trying to educate myself here ‘cause i can’t see myself ever becoming an inclusionist but i want to be sure i’m as well-educated as possible on the matter.

first thing first - I THINK ASEXUALITY AND AROMANTICISM ARE REAL AND VALID. 

however i don’t feel that cishet aces / aros have a place in the LGBT community. i am bisexual. ever since i started telling people, i’ve received a lot of abuse despite living in the UK, which is a relatively progressive country. i’ve been called ‘dyke’, ‘fag’, ‘freak’, ‘attention-whore’, ‘slag’ and more. i’ve been asked invasive and downright rude questions about my private life. members of my own family won’t speak to me. one of my godmothers told me she believed bisexuals were responsible for the AIDS crisis, and that we were ‘frightened gays too scared to come out’. my own father, every time i mention my attraction to girls, says: “so you’re still keeping up that queer thing?”

there have been laws against my SGA. bisexuals across the globe, along with our gay, lesbian and trans brothers and sisters, have been subject to torture to try and rid us of our ‘illness’. 

i cannot understand how cishet asexuals and aromantics should be in the LGBT  community when they obviously do not face these issues. there has never been any laws against them. there are no slurs that target them, and nowhere i can think of where they would be oppressed.  asexuality is an absence of sexual attraction - i get that. but that’s all it is. i don’t understand how that qualifies you for LGBT resources and support when you don’t need it.

i’m not trying to invalidate your personal experiences + struggling with your own  sexuality, but people struggle for all sorts of reasons. that doesn’t mean they should be part of the LGBT crowd.

would be interested to hear from cishet aces / aros as to how they can justify their inclusion in the LGBT community.

[madethisforclasstim-blog]

Feature 3: My Struggle With Being In Two Minority Groups w/ Reflection

By Timothy Heath

Hypothetically speaking, let’s say you first have this thought to yourself: “What is it like to be openly gay?” If you ask a general audience, depending on the area, some of the common answers would be along the lines of “being different,” “gay means happy,” or (this is my personal favorite) “sassy.” Now let’s say your next hypothetical question is, “What is it like to be African American in everyday society?” Most of those common answers contain negative historical context. Imagine if you had to combine these two thought processes together and you have not a clue when these thoughts will occur to you in your everyday life. In short, this is just a start of what can be described as living in society having to worry about being part of more than one minority group.

Because of these thoughts, people in the African American LGBTQ community will find it difficult to come out as homosexual. According to an article featured in The Guardian, many gay men and women speak on their life adjustments due to feeling more accepted with their community as opening gay. In one section, a couple explains how they had to move to Atlanta so they could feel safer. I could agree with Mercedez Delaney, 27 year old, when she says that “unless you are in the gay community, people aren’t open about it.” 

“Fag,” “queer,” and “fruity,” are only a few derogatory terms used to bring down our community. According to the Center for American Progress, 47% of LGBTQ students hear racial slurs during one school day and 85% hear homophoic words such as “dyke.”

Going to school is not every child’s favorite thing to do, but for me it was a matter of if I was going to be chosen last, made fun of for the way I speak, or anything I felt was normal and natural to do. For example, I was called “oreo,” which is slang used to describe a black person who acts or speaks proper or “preppy” instead of speaking with other slang words and dialect. According to StopBullying.gov’s Youth section, about 10% more openly LGBTQ students are reportedly missing school due to safety concerns than heterosexual students. No child should have to worry about any type of harm while in an educational building, especially at younger ages. The same websitesays 33% of LGBTQ students being bullied on campus and 27.1% cyber bullied. 

With this being said, it has also been calculated that about a quarter of black LGBTQ students have missed one full school day in a month due to safety concerns compared to 6.3% of the black youth. This means these students are expected to have an average GPA drop of at least .5 of a point compared to students that do not experience harassment at school. 

I grew up with two very different sides of my family; my dad originates from South Dallas and my mom’s side moved to Texas from California. Both of my parents taught me to always follow the rules and learn as much as I want, so I always talked proper. To other kids your color, you get looked at as weird, trying to be better than them, or just not spoken to. On the other hand, I also grew up with three sisters and one brother, me being the youngest sibling. My brother is the oldest out of us all, so I did not live with him as much growing up, which could probably explain why I am so in touch with my feminine side. Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying this is “the reason I am gay,” as that is a very unexplainable human trait. Because of this, I am not interested in monster trucks, sports, or even Legos. I enjoyed female characters as a child and believed they were much more cooler and stronger than the central characters whom were always men unless you watched all female cartoons. 

Another trait a lot of men try to hide is the ability to cry. I say this is a “trait” because most men act as if they were born without the ability to. My point is that it is seen as a feminine quality to have any emotions that would lead to tears, disempowering the man. According to the UK website “The Independent,”about 55% of men say that they are afraid to cry in front of others because it would “make them feel like less of a man.” Hiding your emotions is not healthy at all. I have unfortunately learned how to do this, but I have never felt like I have mastered this. Actions such as these can lead to suicidal thoughts, insecurity, and any other action that would be seen as a reason to get help from therapy.

We see these facts as early as our toddler years. When a boy gets hurt, their father will more than likely talk him through the pain and explain to his son that he needs to “be tough” in order to get through this while if it was the daughter, she would be coddled and reassured that everything would be okay because their father was there to “be tough” for his daughter. 

I will admit that I have always been afraid to cry or be drastically upset in front of my dad and brother. They have both universally been assigned the job of teaching me how to “be a man” which means to stand up for myself, be assertive to prove dominance, and to “man up” when life gets difficult. I have hidden my emotions from them for most of my life to avoid further conflict and as a result, I am closed off when it comes to discussing my personal issues. According to The Independent, about 53 percent of men surveyed agreed that they do not expect members of society to come to them for emotional support.

It is unfortunate that based on the information above, people like me and others feel the need to relocate ourselves into a safe space whereas public places like school should be a universal safe space for all students. While students are missing school due to concerns of safety, they are also missing opportunities to be in a safe space where they can be free to express their emotions and actions. When I joined theatre arts, I finally felt like I could be my feminine, weird self and unexpectedly, people loved it! I used theatre to break out of my shell and in my own way become a voice for the kids that feel like they cannot speak. No one should have to feel worried about being who they were born to become.

For the third featured writing assignment, my biggest struggle was figuring out how to tie in my main topic with the research of others to help describe the concern. I was thinking about the assignment too directly by feeling like I always needed to include sources that has both the black and gay discrimination cases. Once I broke out of that process, I gained more sources that helped me learn more about the topic I chose. I definitely could have included more quotes from the sources. Overall, the assignment helped me gain more knowledge beyond my personal experiences.