#we would not be here without black trans women and the black lgbt community in general

[the-rad1o-demon]

Please share, and donate if you can!!

$375 is way too low right now to be of any use in stopping KOSA, so the more you share, the better, and it's also great if you're able to also donate (only if you're able to do so without worsening whatever monetary and/or safety situation you're in)!!

This bill affects all of us. Both children and adults of the following: the LGBTQ+ community, Black communities, Latinx communities, Native American communities, Asian communities.

It will affect ex-Jehovah's Witnesses, and younger folks still trapped. Same thing for ex-Catholics and children/teens still trapped in the Catholic Church. Same thing for Mormons.

This bill affects everyone, okay? There is no beating around the bush. It has been stated time and again by literal lawmakers that this bill is a censorship bill. Senator Blackburn, co-author of the KOSA bill, said herself it would be used to "protect children from the transgender."

So please help keep the fight going. Because the more of us contribute, the bigger chance we have of winning.

And don't fall for that "oh, what I do won't matter much, other people will do it" line of thought.

Even if you think other people will help: please help anyway. We are running out of time, and when one person falls into this line of thinking, so does everyone else, and then nothing happens. So if you can, please help anyway, because we need all we can get. It's all hands on deck at this point.

So far, chances of KOSA being enacted is 31% according to the site linked below.

We need to get it down to zero. 31% is way too big still.

Also, here's a petition you can sign!! If you can't donate, signing will also be a big help (I also recommend signing even if you do donate).

You can also call your senators' offices!!

(Correct call script document in post this time as opposed to comment section, ha!)

The call scripts linked below were originally for Congressional representatives, but now that the bill is in committee consideration by Senate Commerce, you should call your Senators instead and you can use the scripts for them. Also, when calling your Democrat senators, make sure to add that Senator Blackburn explicitly stated in interview that it would be used to "protect children from the transgender." I think it's pretty clear that this is not meant to protect children. It's just going to harm children further, especially trans children.

(Article below with a video of the interview embedded.)

Please help keep the fight going. If we let up for even a second, the bill might get passed and the fucking conservatives will win this round. Yeah, we can still fight after, but it's going to be so much harder with how much damage KOSA is going to do to social media sites and our ability to communicate online.

We need to stop KOSA now, if we want the best chance at protecting our freedom on the Internet.

[candytheartmajor]

5 things to Know about Social Media Policy and Community Standards

What if you were working for a platform, but you weren’t getting paid for it? What is a platform decided to silence you? Here are some ways you might be being exploited by online platforms.

Digital Labour

Monitoring discourse is a very important task in social media as we have all experienced. Though this is not ideal for most people this is something that most platforms do not feel that they are responsible for. As a result, it is up to the users to take on that role, not just by creating content that will keep the platform active and alive, but also to police that content without pay or any form of compensation, These people are regarded as venture community managers. An example of this would be people who tweet and post responses to misogyny and racism online

2. Black Twitter

A more specific example of this would be black twitter. Black twitter is a very core part of twitter that often is at the forefront of modern trends. This online space is comprised of black people who post for black people. Black twitter is comprised of a lot of people that take on these roles of online policy enforcers, reporting users who participate is racism, homophobia, and many other forms of bigotry. People of colour, particularly women of colour, according to Lisa Nakamura are prone to taking these roles across all platforms. (Nakamura, 2015) I myself have experienced this as a woman of colour. Constantly feeling obligated to report misogyny and racism online.  

3. Online Discrimination on Facebook

Why aren’t the policies being enforced by the platform itself? Bigotry is clearly against their policy guidelines so one would think that community guidelines should be enforced by the platform, but what if the platform is the source of the problem. In 2017 a study was done that showed fakebook’s moderators artificial and real are trained to favor majority groups over minorities. One of their training tests revealed that the platform favored white men over women who drive cars and black children. These kinds of things that cause people to have to moderate themselves. This is what happens when you cannot trust the very platforms you sign up to use.

4. The TikTok Algorithm

TikTok is another company who has shown clear bias in regard to the minority groups among community members. In September of 2022 TikTok was accused of censoring content pertaining to The LGBTQ+ community. They have done this through something called shadow banning, which is when the platform will, unbeknownst to the users, will reduce the visibility of content be banning a hashtag or a particular content creator for their own purposes. These actions to censor the LGBTQ+ community was to appease conservative countries. The platform was banning particular words that would lead people to LGBTQ+ content. They also shadow banned content relating to the Black lives matter content during the George Floyd protests. Banning words and content means that the user would only be able to search for particular hashtag or creator in order to access their content. The hashtag and the creator would be virtually invisible to mainstream media.  

5. The Influencer Economy, Brand Safety and LGBTQ+ Community

Influencers are now a billion-dollar industry for advertisers and a lot of these influencers overlap with the LGBTQ+ community.  There is a $1 Trillion blind spot for marketing when it comes to the LGBTQ+ community. This is because queer and non gender conforming creators are deemed as unsafe for brands. An example of this would be the Dylan Mulvaney. A trans creator who in early 2023 was offered a brand deal with Bud Light. Dylan appeared in a video where she was seen receiving a custom can with her face on it and drinking the beverage. This video sparked outrage in among Bud Light’s Conservative base, with them sharing videos of destroying Bud Light products. While this was occurring, Dylan was personally being attacked online and in real life. She began to fear for her safety and fled from the US. Bud light did not support her throughout her horrifying experience and have not contacted her since.

Related Sources:

Nakamura, L. (2015). The Unwanted Labour of Social Media: Women of Colour Call Out Culture As Venture Community Management. New Formations, 86(86), 106–112. https://doi.org/10.3898/NEWF.86.06.2015

Trusolino , M. (2023). Social Media Policy & Community Standards [Power Point Slides].

[twopoppies]

Hi Gina!

I haven’t seen much discussion about mermaids & queer mythology but I haven’t been around that long so apologies if this is well covered! But there’s a UK charity called Mermaids that’s pretty high profile, it’s all about supporting trans, non-binary and gender diverse children and young people since the early 90’s. And every time I am reminded of H’s mermaid tattoo, and him saying he’s a mermaid, I think of that charity. Anyway I finally got round to researching why they named it Mermaids, and came across this ArtUK article (linked below). I know we all know The Little Mermaid but I found the depth of queer history touched on in this article so interesting, and then the second story about trans-women and The Little Mermaid really made me think about H’s photo shoot and the way he talks about/portrays gender. I just thought those parallels were so interesting. (I’m not trying to make any claims about how H identifies in terms of gender but I think it’s clear he’s fluid in his approach if nothing else!) Sorry that was such a ramble but I just wondered if you think there’s more to the mermaid thing with H? Or maybe I’m just drawing on coincidences lol!

https://artuk.org/discover/stories/mermaids-a-queer-twist-in-the-tail#

https://www.allure.com/story/trans-women-mermaid-trend-meaning

Hi sugar. The mermaid connection has been talked about a bit here. And here's a little bit about the tattoo itself.

Here's a terrific article that discusses Hans Christian Andersen's original version of The Little Mermaid and its connection to the LGBT+ community

The Andersen tale is much darker, befitting not only from the black Danish seas from which its heroine originates but also from the fact that many believe Andersen was inspired to write this story because of his unrequited love for Edvard Collin, a member of the Copenhagen elite, who did not return Andersen's love. There is no happy ending for the mermaid in Andersen's version; for her, a devouring infatuation with a handsome, indifferent prince leads to her exile from her family and birthplace, and the decision to sell her voice—her soul—in order for a chance at love. After suffering excruciating pain—the Little Mermaid's newly formed legs are cursed; each step feels like she's walking on upturned knives—she is rejected by the prince in favor of another, normal woman, and the nameless creature is returned to the troubled sea from which she came, dispersed into the water as effervescent froth, cresting each wave in turn.

That the Little Mermaid would become an icon of queer culture as early as the 19th century is no surprise, really; she is emblematic of every young boy or girl who felt different from the family and place in which he or she was raised, who suffered in silence while loving someone they knew wouldn't—or couldn't—love them back, who died without ever realizing the versions of themselves they most wanted to be. More than just the Little Mermaid, though, the mythological perception of mermaids as being shape-shifting temptresses, whose sole purpose was to ruin the lives of men, trapping them with their siren calls, tricking them to succumb to their basest, carnal natures, is not so dissimilar to how queer people have been cast as duplicitous; there's a virulent aspect of homophobia which maintains that the LGBT community is trying to "lure" straight men and women into their clutches through deception and trickery.

Thank you for the articles you linked, too!

Mermaids: a queer twist in the tail

Beauty Beyond Binaries: The Mermaid Trend Has an Extra-Special Meaning for Many Trans Women

[bubbelpop2]

Gay and Tumblr etiquette: a guide

This is a compilation of rules that keep the lgbt community a safe space for all. A lot of the older gays are getting sick of seeing recycled bigotry, and we’re here to tell you what the general opinions are in the real world. Some of the content in this post contains not necessarily gay content, but cay culture. Gay culture is all about the lack of heteronormative toxicity, the promotion of critical thinking, teaching the youth that they need to rely on themselves and friends instead of the government, because the government doesn’t really care, and the abolition of White Christian ethics being forced onto people.

You need to read this essay. [x] You need to know your history. It’s important, you need to know it. This is the baseline you need to know. ACAB.

If you want to know more than just the baseline: [ here ]

Don’t debate transphobes, racists, or n@zis. Don’t debate them, block them. Do not reply. You are giving them a place to express themselves. This emboldens closeted racists and transphobes. Don’t do it.

If you disagree with someone who isn’t any of the above, carefully consider their argument. Could they be right? Is it a lesson that you’re just not ready for? Block them, ponder their words, and consider your stance on the subject. Only a fool walks away from an argument more convinced than ever that they are correct.

Pedophiles are not in the lgbt community. Pedophilia is not a kink nor is it a sexuality. It has been proven to be a mental illness in which the brain is shaped and ordered incorrectly. 

“Queer” Is not an inherently harmful term. It is a term that the community has reclaimed, and many people identify as queer. By calling someone who is queer “gay” or policing THEIR right to be called queer, you are erasing history. Queer is a term that people have used in the lgbt community since before stonewall. Queer isn’t your term to take away, especially if you’re not queer. 

“Gay” Is an umbrella term. If someone LIKES being called “gay”, no matter what the complex rules of their attraction are, respect it. Don’t insist that they belong in a certain box according to your definition of different sexualities. 

If someone is questioning their sexuality, don’t push them. The point is for them to FIND OUT what they’re attracted to, and what they like best. Whether they turn out to be gay, straight, bi, or ace, leave them the hell alone. Especially if they’re a kid.

“Terfs” used to be called “political lesbians” because people who were not wlw would take over lgbt spaces and advocate to “kill all men” and would point actual wlws against men. This is terrible. Bisexual wlws deserve to express their sexuality fully without judgement. Trans lesbians deserve to express their gender without judgement. ANYBODY who is amab or trans, or attracted to amab or trans people, deserves a safe place to express themselves. We got rid of these “political lesbians” and stopped them from poisoning the minds of bisexuals and trans men. We can do it again. 

(” queer is a slur “ was started by terfs. stop saying it if you’re not a terf.)

Nonbinary is not a fad. Nonbinary people have always existed. It is not new, and you are not allowed to police other people’s gender.

There are a lot of things to gender as a whole. Your gender, what you identify as, is a large part of your identity. Some people identify as female, some people identify as male, and some people identify as neither, both, or any combination of any other genders! This may be confusing, but that’s okay. You don’t need to completely understand someone’s gender, and someone may not even understand their own! What IS important is that you respect their gender expression.

Gender expression is mostly just two things. Pronouns, and Presentation. Pronouns (He/She/They/Xhey/Ect) are for the person who has them. Pronouns don’t have to “match” your gender. Your presentation doesn’t have to “match” your gender, either. It’s all about your comfort. You don’t have to understand someone’s gender identity, but you DO have to respect their name and pronouns. Always.

Mogai is a great term, even if it’s not popular. Mogai is an all-inclusive term for all people who are not allocishet.

Being ace does not make you straight. Being aro does not make you straight. Straight = You are actively and wholly attracted to the opposite gender. It is the lack of attraction to the opposite gender that includes them in the community, as well as the constant harassment from both straight and gay people for being “broken”

“Femboy” Is not an inherently harmful term. Calling a trans woman a “Femboy” without her permission is. People who use the term to refer to themselves, or to refer to people who are comfortable with the term, are not infringing upon anybody. You need to stop taking away terms from gay people because of what transphobic pieces of shit do. Yes, shitty transphobes refer to trans women in porn as femboys. This doesn’t mean that who the term was ORIGINALLY meant for, which is, gay feminine men, can’t use it to describe themselves. This is far too similar to “queer is a slur” for me to change my mind on this. A lot of people identify as femboys, and use the term for their comfort, leave them alone.

Truscum and Trumeds are gross. Their entire personality is built off of policing other trans people’s identities. They want trans people to act like they’re cis, and conform to heteronormative societal standards. Their opinion is that it’s flamboyant trans people’s fault that cis people are transphobic. Which is simply not true. Transphobes are Transphobes because they’re bigots. It is never, in any shape or form, the fault of the oppressed for being oppressed. Ever.

Your love for the oppressed should come before your hatred of the oppressor. This does not mean that you expressing your hatred is “performative” in any way. You’re allowed to hate the oppressor, verbally, and often, so long as you, personally, know which is more important.

It is not okay to call people out. Calmly talking to people, or simply blocking them, is best. It is not okay to send hate anons. It is not okay to interact with bigots willingly. It is not okay to do something that is mean-spirited.

Be gay do crimes. (As in, fuck the police, they’ve always been against every minority. Including us.)

Disabled people are beautiful and loved. All gay spaces should be accessible.

The people that lead the protest that sparked lgbt rights across the world were black trans women. Remember that. Remember it good and well. 

Autism isn’t shameful. People with autism are worthy of respect and admiration.

Punk culture is antifa and gay culture. Bigots like punk fashion, and dress in punk fashion. We call these people “posers” and they should be beaten if spotted being a bigot at a punk function. Punk culture is all about being against the systemic oppression of the lower class and marginalized. Many punks go to protests for human rights and better work qualities. 

It is neve okay to police someone else’s identity. Period. 

It is never okay to police someone’s kinks. Pay attention to actual abusers and rapists, not fictional and 100% consensual scenarios.

Child touchers get their heads bashed in with baseball bats.

It’s not okay to bully people for shipping anything. Yes, anything, including abusive ships. Quit telling people to kill themselves over fictional people. What you SHOULD be worried about, is straight white boys who romanticize REAL abuse towards REAL people, not people just minding their own business and expressing themselves via FICTIONAL characters. Don’t tackle ships, tackle rape culture in real life. Go outside. 

It is never okay to police someone’s writing, art, or artistic expression. Yes, dark and violent content included. The idea that you can be punished for thoughts or expression of thoughts, regardless of if you’ve ACTUALLY harmed anyone, is white and Christian purity culture. If you think this is okay, read this: [x]

The above is in the same mindset of soccer moms that say “people who play video games are inherently violent” which is simply not true at all. Here’s an interesting post on a similar topic that will interest you: [x]

Just follow lace code. Doc martens have a lace code in the punk community, If you’re not a racist, follow the lace code. 

mosh pit etiquette [x]

more about gay punk: [x]

That’s all I could think of for now! Any other queer elders wanna have a stab at it?

[havenscloset]

FAQ for Mobile Users!

FAQ

Free clothes? What? Why?

When I first started the blog, I had a lot of clothes in my closet that needed new homes. I wanted them to go to women who needed them, but didn’t have the resources or ability to get them on their own. Since then, people from all over the world have donated clothes to trans women in need! And not just clothes - I have also given away body care and accessories through this blog.

Can I have some clothes if I’m not a trans girl?

I specifically want to support and uplift girls who are starting their transition by giving them some good, feminine clothes that they may not otherwise be able to afford. That being said, I want to give to anyone in need, so of course you can still get some clothes! Please just be considerate of my goal and if you don’t need, don’t take.

Will you be adding more items?

Yes! I update semi-regularly, as it depends almost entirely on when donations come in.

How do I know if something’s already taken?

I will delete posts as they are given away, so if you can see it on the blog, it is available.

How do I ask for the clothes?

DM me on this account or on my main @coast-modern, or read the details of the post to see who is donating, and message them.

Why is shipping negotiable?

Ideally, I’d like for people to pay some or all of the shipping costs, but realistically my goal is provide for those without the funds or resources to buy them, so I’m willing to pay for that as well. Again, please be considerate and help pay for what you can, but no hard feelings if you can’t! Everyone who has donated clothes has been informed that they may need to pay shipping as well. For more specific shipping questions, dm me or the person donating the clothes. 

Where will you ship to?

I live in California, so anywhere in the US is fine. Outside of the US, it just depends on if I (or you and I) can afford it at the time, so don't be afraid to ask! For all donated items, if the person donating can only ship within a certain location, the post will say so.

Can I donate my clothes?

Please do! If you have clothes that are in good condition that you want to give away, send me a dm and we'll figure it out. Please keep in mind that not everyone will be able to pay for shipping, so that might fall to you. Any items that you would like to donate to trans women are welcome, as long as it can be shipped. 

I don’t have clothes to donate, but I want to help! 

If you’d like to support this little thing of mine, I could use some help paying for the shipping costs. My venmo is @havenpukey and my cashapp is $havenpukey

I greatly appreciate donations, but they aren’t necessary! If you still want to help trans women, here are a few others you can donate to instead of me:

The Okra Project -  The Okra Project is a collective that seeks to address the global crisis faced by Black Trans people by bringing home cooked, healthy, and culturally specific meals and resources to Black Trans People wherever we can reach them.    

TransJustice: the Audre Lorde Project -  TransJustice is a political group created by and for Trans and Gender Non-conforming people of color. TransJustice works to mobilize its communities and allies into action on the pressing political issues they face, including gaining access to jobs, housing, and education; the need for Trans-sensitive healthcare, HIV-related services, and job-training programs; resisting police, government and anti-immigrant violence.

PFLAG - A well known LGBT+ advocacy group. They actually helped my high school’s GSA back when I was in it, and it would be nice to give back.

[pumpumdemsugah]

It literally feels like I'm in an alt reality because Black feminism has always had issues with being very hetero focused and considering it was heavily smeared as a white supremacist movement up until the 2010s by anti racist pro Black empowerment activists and it still is

Has a history of not being well received by alot of Black people, even Black women because we straight up see misogyny as a different distraction from racism

And being in the LGBT community was also seen in the same way ( a white plot to destroy to Black community). How would the conditions of come about for a mass awareness about trans people to be trans inclusive ?

A lot of Black feminist spent so much time proving it's not white supremacist to Black people because we're that married to hetero-patriarchy and Black feminist aren't some entity that exist outside the Black community

If you really want to believe a bunch of Black women born in the 50s 60s and 70s have always been trans inclusive, that's your delusion and no amount of lazy analysis by modern social media Black feminist claiming Black women experience transphobia doesn't change that fact ( it's literally just how racialised misogyny works for Black women, we have trans people who can ask about being Black and being trans ). No one is out here claiming Black men are experiencing transphobia for equally being stereotyped as a non-man and beastly, you know its a form of racism, hypersexualization and dehumanisation. If you want to make links between Black feminism and something else do it without lying about shit that wasn't even a major feature of it in the late 00s in alot of LGBT activism

[jamieoh]

So fed up. Please go look at what I’ve been posting on my story. It’s been effecting me for ages but it’s just so horrible to see it happening on video. People laughing and joking while trans women get beaten, robbed and assaulted. Makes me sick. I have had enough of how people treat trans women and the trans community in general. I see you. You follow me on here because you like how I look, slide into my DMs and you talk provocatively to me. Countless straight boys telling me they want me and want to “try me out”. How about you stop being such a pussy and come out and openly say you are attracted to transgender women and then maybe stick up for us when we are discriminated against because I’m done with these “men”. If you can’t respect me in the streets, you won’t be getting in the sheets. To my non trans friends who read this and go about your day without sharing anything from my story or this post I just wanna say I hope you have a lovely day and even though I know we all go through shit and especially now more than ever I want you to think how it would feel to be attacked in the street and have people stand there and not help you, no, record you and laugh at you and tell you that you deserve it. Just think about that. My thoughts are with @edenthedoll , @jaslenewhiterose and @joslynflawless sending love, healing and power ladies 💗 remember Black Trans Lives Matter too. . . . #transgender #transpride #transpower #edenthedoll #jaslenewhiterose #joslynflawless #justice #blacktranslivesmatter #translivesmatter #transwoman #protecttranskids #protecttranslives #transwomenarewomen #transwomen #lgbt #enoughisenough #la #endtransphobia #jamie #love #tgirl #tuesdaythoughts #speakup #silenceisviolence #transgirl #transgirls #transgirlsofinstagram #stoptheviolence #feminism #feminist (at Cork) https://www.instagram.com/p/CEClR8RH84o/?igshid=60xtcdbzdpr6

[low-budget-korra]

The first text I made was over 2,000 words so I’ll try to summarize it.

First I'm going to talk about what I think is Bury Your Gays and poor writing of minorities.

For me, Bury your gays is when certain productions kill the lgbt character for the sake of shock value, often in the most stupid ways possible. A famous example of this was what happened to Lexa in the 100. When it feels like the character only died because he is gay.

And for me, poor writing for minorities (poc, lgbt, people with disabilities ...) can be characterized as:

1. Productions that want to portray the image of progressives and put a poc or lgbt character (which are the most common cases) without personality, unimportant, without development ... Character that are just there for decoration

2. When they even create an interesting character but soon create a reason to kill him to shock the audience. Kill them because they are poc.

And for me having a poc or lgbt character (since these are the boxes where I identify with) interesting, important ... this is the word: Important! whether it is important directly in the plot as a protagonist who carries the story or a supporting role with a good role on the story and a good development, it is much more significant than a character forced only for certain productions not to be accused of racism, sexism or lgbtphobia.

Of course, each case is different. I will now comment briefly on Atomic Blonde, The Last of Us part II and The Legend of Korra.

In Atomic Blonde we have the death of Delphine, a lgbt character who has generated some discussions about being a "bury your gays". I don't particularly agree because I believe that if she were a man or straight, she would die anyway. Since the protagonist's other love interest had died in the beginning and he was a heterosexual white man, and because the character of Delphine, despite being a spy, did not belong in that work or life style . Something even commented by herself. She was an inexperienced agent in the worst possible scenario to be one . But i now understand and why some people still think It was bury your gays.

In The Last of Us part II I saw many people complaining about the death of Jesse, Yara and how Lev was just a supporting character. The Last of Us part II .... a game that is not afraid to kill loved characters without any ceremony simply because in that world, one mistake can cost your life. Regardless of gender, sexuality, age, skin color ...

Jesse and Yara played Asian American characters and died. Mel, Joel, Owen ... were Caucasian, cishet characters who died too. None of them die because they are asian american or caucasian, they die cuz that world is fucking ruthless.

And about Lev not being important just because he is an supporting character... First that he is for Abby what Dina is for Ellie, both of them are extremely important support for the protagonists and Interesting characters with their own internal struggles and development. I think it is very unfair to throw this away with the argument like: "ah, but he is not the protagonist so it is not important"

And still about The Last of Us part II we are talking about a game and for those who do not know the gamer community is toxic, full of sexism, racism, lgbtphobia ... And the game developers had the balls for not only make two protagonists women outside the steryotype of femme fatalle or defenseless love interest(still very present in games) and one of them a lesbian, but also introducing an important trans character in a mainstream high-budget game.

People, until recently the only image we had of women in games was that of a busty model running around, made purely to please male players, good and important black, asian and lgbt characters was really rare or just didnt exist at all.

And today we have characters like Ellie, Lev, Kassandra (AC Odyssey), Jill Valentine and Claire Redfield who were reimagined more humanely in the remakes of Resident Evil, Lara Croft herself in the 2013 Tomb Raider remake, Max and Chloe(Life is Strange), Lee and Clementine(TWD from telltale), Marcus (Detroit Become Humam ), Connor (AC3) ... I know, there is still a long way to go until we have achieved the equality and representativeness that we want in the world of games but we are advancing. They may be a baby step but they still are steps forward. We should continue to support this initiatives and demand better representation.

Now about The Legend of Korra ... Reading the comments in the post i get the feeling that people were much more angry with Bryke for being cishet than with questions related to the narrative.

It bothers me the fact that it seems that whoever made the posts (originally from twitter) did not watch avatar or simply watched without paying attention. It was NEVER about Korra needed suffering but about finding Meaning in suffering. And yes, they are two different things.

When in the end Korra is talking to Tenzin, about understand the why she had to go through all that , for them be abble to be more compassionate of others. That shit is real. When you have a panic attack , for exemple, you become more abble to help someone who also suffers from that. Or when some people lose someone for a disease or acident and choose to become a doctor to help others, wanting no other person had to go through that pain... In this case, the person didnt have to lose someone to be a doctor but maybe after saw all the fight that the doctors put in to save someone and the pain of losing someone may have made the person spend the rest of his life saving people. Get It?

And in Avatar, both TLA and TLOK, people have suffer.

Aang: Cast aside by his friends when people discover he was the Avatar. Runaway and lose all of his people. Had to see the devastation for himself and find the bones of his friend and possible father figure. Almost die a few times. For many years had the weight of been the last of his people. And in a part of the journey, lost Appa.

Sokka and Katara: Lost their mother. Their dad leave to fight and possible die in the war. Sokka was only a teen when he was the man responsable for his tribe. Katara had the weight of being the only waterbender of her tribe and be the only one that could calm Aang once he was in Avatar State.

Toph: as a blind kid, her parents think of her as someone unable to do anything. Had to choose between save Appa or save the others in some point of their journey

Zuko: When i start with him?

Azula: oh Boy...

Iroh: Lose is only son. Had to see his brother burn Zuko's face. And Zuko betrayed him, kind of, in the end of book2.

Asami: Her mom was murdered , maybe even in front of her. Her dad was a evil genius. She probably suffered with Korra in those 3 years.

Mako and Bolin: They grow up as orphans on the streets...

I could go on and on, dude, even the cabbage man had suffer from losing his cabbages over and over.

But all of the sudden, Korra now had to have plot armor or else Bryke is wrong and are terrible people.

Everybody loves to talk about how perfect Zuko's arc and development is. Zuko, who was one of the characters who most have suffered in the show. But for him all was necessary, had meaning, perfect storytelling and structure but with Korra.... "She cant suffer cuz she is brown"

And its not like Bryke was making something up outta nowhere just to torture the character. All she face it was a consequence direct or indirect of her actions and actions of other people.

Amon and the Equalists? Aang didnt kill Yakone nor put him in prison for life, just took his bending. Yakone was a terrible father, and one of the reason Amon hate bending (even himself been a waterbender) so much to the point of him do what he did. The same to Tarrlok. He turn his sons into monsters. And the triads only help them, because they use their bending to rob the non benders.

Vaatu? Look up The Beginning epsodes because this one is more complex.

Unalaq? Look, the worst villain of Avatar. But he took advantage of things that happen as consequences of the ending of book1

Zaheer? Direct consequence of that happen in the finale of book 2.

Kuvira? Direct consequence of things that happen in book 3

Again, i could go on and on and go deeper on all that. But this is already getting to big.

But what pissed me off most is ... Look im years in this fandom. As a Brazilian i saw and read stuff from the fandom here in my country and the fandom here in Tumblr. And in those years i read so much about how Korra journey help people overcome their struggles with ptsd, anxiety, depression...myself included. How much Korra was important to lesbians and bissexuals girls, especially girls of color.

And them we have those few people throw shit on all this and "cancel" you for not agree with them...

The Legend of Korra ended 2014, 6 years ago and still is so loved, so important to so many people, for the most diverse reasons.

For a cishet, Bryke did a amazing job creating this amazingly beautiful universe. With the most diverse inspirations, coming from places that are forgotten on western media. But i guess its easier criticize, and cancel them and the show than do what they did.

I know that sometimes we just wanted a scape from our difficult reality but seriously, if you Just want a movie/tv show/book...100% happy, rainbow and sunshine with no suffering at all, stick with the fanfics because even romcons sometimes have their among of "i you make you cry and suffer" kind of shit.

Suffer is present in our life and what a lot of movies/tv shows/games/books...try to do is bring our struggles and our suffering into them. Why? Its easier have simpathy for characters who look like us, characters who had been through the same stuff as us.

Is so difficult talk those things in another language. I always feel like i didnt express myself right. And im really sorry if i offended anyone, it wasnt my intention.

[fandomshatelgbtqpeople]

mod a’s lgbt musicals

Hi there! I’m a big theatre kid so I thought for pride month I’d put together a list of LGBTQ musicals. Despite its association with queer people, musical theatre is not known for its amazing representation. I’ve put together a list here of musicals I know of with queer characters. I’ve tried to avoid those where the queer characters are incredibly minor roles or those where the representation is just not good enough to be salvageable (*side eyes Legally Blonde*) I know there are many musicals I will have missed out but these are the ones I am most aware of. Feel free to add more! So without further ado, here it is.

Fun Home

The big Tony winner of 2015! Based on Alison Bechdel, a butch lesbian cartoonist. At the age of 43, she looks for new material by trying to explore her past and her relationship with her closeted gay dad. Looks back at a version of herself when she was 10 and a “tomboy” and at 19 when she came out and got her first girlfriend. Has very cute lighthearted moments as well as very sad moments. Has a beautiful song where small Alison sees a butch deliverywoman. Problems in that since the original broadway cast, Alison’s costume has got less butch. Content warning for suicide.

Here’s their Tony performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMAuesRJm1E

The Color Purple

Based on Alice Walker’s novel about black women in the 1930s. Follows Celie who has been abused by men her whole life who discovers she is a lesbian but also makes a journey of self discovery and learns to love herself. Her love interest is a bisexual woman. Won best revival at the Tonys in 2016. Content warning for discussion/implied sexual abuse.

Here’s their Tony performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3k2xzQyT2bk

Everybody’s Talking About Jamie

A teenage gay boy in Sheffield wants to be a drag queen and go to prom in a dress.Also a nice touch that is does not focus on him having a relationship (since he is sixteen) and him having to come out as he is already out. Focuses on his close relationship with his supportive mother. Has a diverse cast. Jamie is currently played by a black actor and his best friend wears a hijab and has a very diverse ensemble as well. Unfortunately has a part where Jamie responds to a homophobic bully by calling him a bunch of ableist and classist slurs.

Here’s a clip of the most popular song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7C3FuFWDdw

The Prom

Emma is a lesbian teenager in Indiana whose prom is cancelled by the PTA after she requests to bring her girlfriend to it. A group of Broadway actors come down to help her campaign to be allowed to attend prom, as well as styling her, helping her work on her confidence and educating the town’s people. What ensues is basically a two hour musical episode of Queer Eye. Cheesy and fun with so many musical theatre references crammed in. My one issue is that the show is rather harsh on people who are closeted since Emma has conflicted with her girlfriend Alyssa because she is not ready to come out.

Here’s a clip of their Tony performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGcG_r5xv3E

Rent

Probably the most well known on this list. Artists in New York during the AIDS crisis. Two of the main couples featured are queer: Maureen is bisexual and in a relationship with Joanne who is a lesbian, and Angel is a transgender woman of color in a relationship with Collins, a presumably bisexual man. However, she tends to be played bi cis men and there are instances of her being misgendered by the main characters uncritically. In Rent Live (2019), all instances of her being misgendered were removed and her gender identity was confirmed. She was played in this by Valentina, an nb drag queen and has also been played by Pose’s MJ Rodriguez, a trans woman. Very diverse with Jewish characters and people of colour and in the live show, only 1 of the 8 main characters was white. Has been criticised over the years, mainly for its biphobic portrayal of Maureen who is promiscuous and implied to cheat, but in the 90s did a lot for the LGBTQ community and is more progressive than a lot of media even now.

Here’s a clip of Maureen and Joanne from Rent Live: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06oCfKYYPTY

And here’s some Angel and Collins: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hl-M94o_x8

Falsettos

Marvin comes out as gay in the late 70s but decides to move his ex wife and son in with his boyfriend. Addresses AIDS crisis in Act 2. Has “lesbians from next door” in act 2. F Revived on Broadway in 2016. All of the characters are Jewish. Unfortunately, in revival casts, very few actors tend to be Jewish.

Here’s the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjnAHOdMQVk

Come From Away

In the aftermath of 9/11, 38 planes are diverted to a small town in Canada called Gander. Shows people of different races and nationalities bonding in a scary time. Addresses Islamophobia. Has one song called Prayer where prayers from different religions overlap. Has an interracial gay couple called Kevin and Kevin. They break up in the end but are very important characters. Won best direction of a musical in 2017. The Broadway production starred Jenn Colella who has referred to herself as ‘mostly gay’.

Here’s a clip of Jenn Colella singing a song from the musical: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8ukgH6U-d0

Head Over Heels

Honestly I don’t quite know what this musical is about, even by reading the plot summary and listening to the soundtrack. I know it’s set in a Tudor fantasy world and that there are wlw couples as well as an explicitly non binary character, played by Peppermint, a trans woman, and that there are interracial couples and plus sized actors. It is a jukebox musical using songs by the Go-Gos and yes the wlw anthem that is Heaven is a Place on Earth is one of them. The soundtrack is fantastic even if you can’t follow what is going on.

Here are some show clips: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wx2qQ7QAPm0

Spring Awakening

German school kids in the 19th century discovering their sexuality. Two of the schoolboy supporting characters, Ernst and Hänschen, have a romance when they have a reprise of an earlier song in Act 2.  A BIG content warning as it has graphic discussions of rape and songs about it and a sex scene with very dubious consent. However there was a very wonderful 2016 revival using deaf actors and sign language.

This is another one you can very easily find the full show of on YouTube which I won’t link. However here’s the Tony performance for the revival: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSagsMcak4Q

If/Then

A woman named Elizabeth (originally played by Idina Menzel) moves to New York after a divorce and contemplated how different her life would be if she took two different paths. Four supporting queer characters. Her ex-boyfriend is bisexual and played by Anthony Rapp (who is bisexual in real life) and he gets a boyfriend in one timeline. Another of her friends is a lesbian called Kate who marries her girlfriend in the musical. Problems occur as in both timelines, cheating goes on in the lesbian relationship although they stay together in one. Elizabeth also says she doesn’t believe in bisexuals, a view no one ever challenges her on, however Lucas is very clearly bisexual which is some proof for the audience that she is wrong.

I’m not going to link it here but there are many very high quality bootlegs on it on YouTube if you want to watch,

Ghost Quartet

A bit of a weird one. This is more of a concept album. There are four performers who each play instruments and they tell the stories of many interconnected timelines. It is very hard to explain but there are souls travelling through time who keep being reincarnated as different people with different relationships to each other which usually end with one woman killing the other. In the song Soldier & Rose, the ghosts Rose and Pearl are lovers as Rose seduces the soldier for her honey.  In the song Four Friends, for one chorus the men sing “I like to put my hand on a pretty girls’s knee” and the women sing “pretty boy’s knee” and then they switch for the next chorus so they’re all bisexual. In general, a lot of fun if you like weird musicals and I mean really weird.

The full show is online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJSaEJm8pCE

Mean Girls

Yes there’s a musical of it. I was not looking forward to it when it was announced but have actually grown to quite like it. It’s hardly lyrical genius but the songs are fun and a lot of the problematic aspects of the film have been fixed. Damian is more explicitly gay in the musical and sings about an ex boyfriend in one song. Janis is heavily implied to be a lesbian (confirmed by actress offstage) and she doesn’t end up with Kevin Gnapoor. She is played by a queer actress in the tour cast. Both queer characters are much bigger roles than in the movie and get several songs each. I’d consider the musical to be quite white feminist but it does address issues such as the sexualisation of teenage girls and the notion that to be ‘sexy’ is ‘empowering’.

Here’s a clip of one of Damian’s songs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-zM6QKkxEQ

& Juliet

An English jukebox musical about what might have happened to Juliet in Romeo and Juliet if she had not died at the end. I haven’t seen it but I’ve listened to the soundtrack and it is mainly comprised of 21st century songs by women. One of Juliet’s best friends is non binary although is played by a cis man as far as we know. Also I went to the same school as one of the actors which is a bonus for me. Very diverse cast.

Here’s a trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dm2k9nS3o20

In Transit

A capella musical about several people’s adventures on New York public transport. Two of the main characters in this ensemble cast are an interracial gay couple where both are pocs. They are engaged but one of them is having trouble coming out to his mother. I found it refreshing in that his fiance for the most part was not upset with him at his struggles in coming out and they were both able to live fulfilling lives despite this. I am always astonished by the talent of a cappella singers.

Here’s a trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhvik6qoass  Another one where the bootleg can be found very easily on YouTube

Firebringer

Remember A Very Potter Musical? Well, the company that did that are still putting out new pieces of theatre on their YouTube channel. In 2016, they put out their ridiculous comedy musical Firebringer, about a group of bisexual cavewomen. I won’t spoil the ending but trust me, it’s great. You may know it from the viral clip of one of the main characters singing ‘I don’t really wanna do the work today.’

You can watch the full musical here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmVuNlu0LCk

Special Mentions

Company

Musical by Stephen Sondheim about a man unable to commit to a relationship, surrounded by his friends who are all in couples. However, the award-winning 2018 West End revival chose to change the genders of some of the characters. The main character Robert became ‘Bobbie’ (although all of her love interests were gender-swapped as well). One of the originally M/F couples became an M/M couple. It opened on Broadway for about a week before the Covid outbreak so that will be one to look out for.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtDK03y4gT0

In the Heights

A musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda about the Latin American community living in Washington Heights in New York. The original theatre production has no explicitly queer characters. However, in the upcoming movie version (that was meant to be released this summer but has been pushed back to next summer) it has been confirmed that the characters of Daniela and Carla (Daphne Rubin-Vega and Stephanie Beatriz) will be explicitly a couple.

I absolutely love this musical and the trailer for the movie looks beautiful check it out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0CL-ZSuCrQ

[hullomoon]

Transcription of speech provided by @cafetropical

I wanted to first acknowledge and send love and support to the trans community and everyone who marched today at the trans march in Washington. [applause] There is an epidemic of murders of black trans women, this is a crisis that needs to be seen and heard and acknowledged by the highest levels of power and influence in this country and around the world. 

 [applause] 

I wanna start by thanking my friends and brilliant castmates who came and did this for me for their beautiful words, um, I’m beyond touched, I really am. Even if those words and their appearance here tonight were built into their Schitt's Creek contracts. By me. Nevertheless, I am thrilled to be up here to be accepting this award in your contractually obligated company. In all seriousness, I love you all very much and thank you so much for doing this for me, I don't… this is tough. I am very honored to have you all up here tonight. 

 Noah, thank you so much for the character of Patrick and bringing him to life with such heart and skill and compassion. 

I want to thank GLAAD and Sarah Kate Ellis for this incredible honor, um, we’re Canadian so we don't accept things like this well.Standing up here, it's hard not to think back to a very specific time in my life when I was still in the closet. I was in high school, I had a bad faux hawk because the first Mission Impossible movie had come out and I thought Tom Cruise was a real drink of water. Um, when I was falling in love with my best friend and instead of being able to do anything about it, I watched him fall in love with someone else because I didn't have the courage to act publicly on my feelings. Thinking back to those formative days where I was missing out on all the good stuff because I was walking around with an invisible raincloud over my head, smiling through the heartbreak so as to avoid anyone asking me what was wrong, because I didn't have the strength to tell them. I think back to the bullying, the name-calling, the shoving, the side-eyes, a guy in math class calling me a faggot but then also telling my two straight girlfriends that they were lesbians because we went to Lilith Fair and that we all probably had sex with each other on weekends, to which I replied “that theory has some serious logistical flaws”… doesn't make sense. 

I think back to that time where I legitimately thought I would have to live with this secret - my being gay - for the rest of my life because I didn't have the security of seeing a lot of people like myself being celebrated in popular culture. 

I bring this up because when I was told I would be receiving this honor, I went back to that place and asked myself how did I get here, to this place, standing in front of all of you tonight, an out and proud gay Emmy loser. 

And the answer was a three-parter.

I was supported by my friends, at the time a group of very strong, funny, dazzling young women, who were the keepers of my secret and the protectors of my soul. Never letting the threat of high school boys who didn't know how to process my closeted gayness affect my happiness. 

I was encouraged by my high school English teacher who, one day after reading a long-form poem I submitted in lieu of an essay - partly because I didn't read the book and partly because my brain has a hard time following the rules - told me that there was something special in my writing and that I should I think about pursuing it. Up until that point, I hadn't even thought about being a writer. 

And lastly, I was loved. I was lucky to have a family that supported me fiercely and unconditionally when I needed it the most. When I came out at 18, and my sister Sarah is here tonight, so… 

I didn't wanna cry, again, one bread roll for an entire day, it's not okay. 

Had I not had the support to build my courage, had I not been encouraged enough to find my strength, had I not had the love to give me a sense of security, I don't know if I would've found my way out of the closet, let alone create the opportunity for myself to tell stories on television that have effected some kind of positive change in the world. 

Support, encouragement, and love. Three relatively simple acts of kindness that can change the course of a person’s life, and yet for so many members of our beautiful community, those simple transformation acts of kindness aren't just an arms reach away. Almost three-quarters of LGBT youths say they are more honest about themselves online than in the real world. 

A national study found that 40% of transgender adults have reported having made a suicide attempt. 92% of those individuals said it happened before the age of 25. 

The statistics are staggering and seemingly endless, which is why when I found myself in a position to tell stories on a global scale, I seized the opportunity to make a television show that might,  in its own way, offer some support, encouragement, and love to those who might not have it in their homes, in their schools, or in their day-to-day lives. It was… [applause] it was a small way of paying back the generosity that had been shown to me, while at the same time, creating space on television for queer characters that I could relate to. 

The result was Schitt’s Creek. A place where everybody fits in. A place where love is celebrated and people’s differences are a reason to start a conversation, not end one. It’s a place where my character David, a pansexual man with really intense pants and sweaters, can fall in love with his now fiancé Patrick, a gay man, without fear of consequence. It’s a place where acceptance incubates joy and creates a clarity that allows people to see themselves and each other more deeply. It’s fiction, yes, but I've always been told to lead by example and this felt like a good place to start. 

[applause]    

So, thank you to GLAAD for this vote of confidence, for validating the idea that entertainment can affect positive change. I promise to continue to do my part in celebrating this radiant community in all the work that I do, big and small, and honoring the incredible work that GLAAD does on a daily basis. 

On that note, I would like to raise a glass to all of you for coming out here tonight and supporting, and encouraging, and loving this organization that does just that for so many people. This is a night I won't forget, thank you so much. 

[applause] 

[jasontoddschildbearinghips]

Some black youtubers I like you can support

So I’m not a very big blog. Obviously. But I figured what little influence I have I can use to direct people in this time to some underrated black creators I like since I spend all my time watching YouTube and feel free to add as always. Also this was originally supposed to be in order of sub count but that didn’t work out at all.

1. Jarvis Johnson.

Probably one of the most popular creators on this list with over 1 million subscribers but extremely funny and if you haven’t heard of him and you like comedic Cody Ko-esque commentary videos, go give him a sub. He’s reacted to many of the same channels Danny Gonzalez and Drew Gooden have such as Troom Troom and 5 Minute Crafts. He’s also a software engineer which is pretty badass.

2. Lana Summer.

Does mainly fashion and hair related videos but is very chill and easy to listen to. Sometimes I like to put on her videos while I’m doing things even though I 100% have straight hair and she does mostly curly hair tutorials. But she’s covered a large umbrella of beauty topics in her videos and if you’re the least bit feminine it’s highly possible she’s covered at least one topic that’ll be useful to you. She’s very pretty (lowkey crushing on her) and lovely and I enjoy her channel a lot.

3. The Curly Guy.

A highly underrated channel that does content similar to Lana’s but for guys! He’s a guy with long, curly hair and talks about how to take care of it. I am always here for nontoxic male positivity and getting more guys involved in taking care of their appearance. It’s very sweet to watch. He’s also reviewed bad hair products which we all like to watch bad reviews of things on YouTube, right, and once pierced his ears at home. So. Idk about you but that sounds great to me.

4. Jolie K.

We’ve got some black queer representation in here! She’s a queer woman who makes videos about queer women. She hasn’t uploaded in a minute but I think she’s still worth supporting. She’s done some cool story times about being gay as well as some beauty stuff.

5. Honest.

Honest is a drama channel run by a black guy who talks about drama between music artists and sometimes youtubers. He’s not only a black person in the drama side of YouTube but he’s a black man in the drama side of YouTube two demographics that feel excluded from that world. If you do like drama videos like Teaspill, it’s cool to support a POC in that world. I can’t say I agree with everything he says but that’s drama channels for you.

6. Ranting Minority.

This guy’s super new and super underrated! He makes spicy political content, is extremely eloquent and chill, which makes him good to listen to, and is a leftist. If you can’t stop watching left-tubers like I can’t, I would totally recommend this guy. He makes videos on racial and societal issues from a liberal and anti conservative perspective. He has less than a thousand subscribers, so I’d highly advise giving him a sub.

7. MacDoesIt

So this guy is also one of the more popular on here. Basically if you watch any LGBTQ+ content on YouTube at all he pops up. He’s like the Strange Æons of the mlm community in that respect. He’s super funny, does reaction videos, does some very comedic red carpet fashion reviews, just if you haven’t subbed to MacDoesIt, what are you doing?

8. Kat Blaque.

Kat Blaque has been under fire for certain opinions before, but all in all she’s a good leftist, political youtuber who is also a black trans woman. She does videos on LGBT+ issues, racial issues, lots of other things, and is a smart, beautiful lady. Basically you can’t be a political youtuber without being controversial so, decide for yourself if you wanna support her, I personally do. Also I am not a trans woman but I know trans women who have said she helped them figure out certain things, so that’s good.

9. Rickey Thompson

A black gay comedian who does story times and random funny videos. I also think he’s an ex viner. I’m only a comedic fan of this one but I do know he’s very handsome and I came from his LGBT+ story times. Just someone you might wanna check out. He’s kind of like Mac in some ways just like. Much chiller.

10. WiseJae

I love how this is a mix of semi popular youtubers and super obscure youtubers I like for very specific reasons. WiseJae is a very small youtuber with a little over a thousand subs last time I checked but she does videos about jobcorps and trade school and has recently started making videos about college. So basically. A cool guide for how to get your life started if you’re a young, low income adult or late teen. She’s also got a very pretty accent, soothing voice and . . . is just so fucking beautiful . . . so. So gorgeous. So like. If you’re like. 18. And you’ve been thinking about a place like jobcorps but don’t know how to start. I would say her channel would be the first place I’d go for information.

11. NotYourMommasHistory

I actually love historical fashion. And this black woman named Cheyney is a historical reenactor with a focus on African and African-American history, and often overlooked part of history and fashion history in general. She’s done stuff like historical head wraps and similar as well as talked about serious issues like sexual harassment. Most recently she did a video on white people misrepresenting Martin Luther King Jr. Basically if you like channels like Rachel Maksy, Bernadette Banner, or our meme mom Karolina Żebrowska, you’ll probably like her. Or maybe you’re just curious about African history. That’s cool too.

12. Rebranding Autism.

Black autistic rep! Jen is a black autistic woman who talks about autism, the struggles she’s faced and she was literally sent to the notoriously abusive Judge Rotenberg center and talked about the atrocities committed there. She’s amazing and has also made vlogs about her life, made advice videos on mental health that are relatable for many people not just people with autism specifically, tho certainly those too. She also makes music.

13. Tater Tatiana

Small youtuber who is in the anti Onision community. She reviewed Onision’s shitty books. She writes, does drama videos and does beauty videos as well. She read Onision fanfiction on her channel, Lilee Jean tried to take down her channel and she bounced back. I highly recommend the channel, I love Tatiana and I’ve loved watching her channel grow these last few years.

So, that’s my list, will definitely add more later, I hope this didn’t come off as pandering or me thinking black people are charity cases, which they aren’t, this is simply me, a white girl, trying to share some black creators I enjoy instead of just spouting my opinions on tumblr, since I come from a privileged place.

[marveliciousmae]

Hello

My name is Amelia

I was born in South Africa, 10 years after incredible change happened, but it seems as if that change has become more relevant in recent times.

I came here today to talk about the horrors of today, but I feel before I do that, I need to speak my truth.

I was born into a privileged white family. We did not choose this, our ancestors forcefully made this happen. I am ashamed of this and wish I could take my privilege away and turn it into equity if I could.

My parents raised me to be myself. They raised me to respect authority and to do what I was told. They taught me to see the potential in myself and thus I did well in my schooling. They have always tried to expose me to the world and have always had the best intentions.

They taught me not to see colour but people. That we are all humans born into different circumstances that are not always just and fair.

Along the way I learnt more about myself and the world.

I encountered racism, sexism, xenophobia, homophobia, transphobia. I could go on. I recognize that my privilege has sheltered me and that I have not and will not experience the severity of these situations like my family of colour do. I apologize. I am ashamed of the violent and disgusting people hurting you.

I will stand with you, against them. I will stand for anti-racism and more. You did not ask for this pain and discrimination. We can end this. We can win. We can try.

I truly realize that standing up like this and expressing myself can be dangerous, but if I can help save lives or at least be a drop in the rainstorm, it will be worth it.

Last year the sisters and siblings from my school stood together with numerous groups of other people around the country and world, against the violence against women and the feminine. Femicide. It is a brutal and horrible disease.

Me and many others feared that everyday would be our last. That we’d be taken by these animals who dare to call themselves human. South Africa has a deep rooted past in racism. And now even our police force, takes part in brutality against the innocent.

I went to a colour majority primary school and have many colour friends around the world, especially in the US and South Africa. They should not have to fear for their lives. They are family. And we will stand against the discrimination, hidden and obvious.

6 years ago I discovered the world of the LGBT+ community. And over these years, I’ve learnt to associate and love myself within this community.

A few days ago I heard of the horrible attack that is rumored to happen over pride month, called pridefall. Many people mainly from 4Chan are planning to attack and harm and just destroy the queer community.

As a stand against this I want to tell you who I am, and tell you that your words cannot hurt us anymore. We are stronger than ever. And we will never let you take off our crowns that we fought for, and will continue to fight for.

All of you know me as Amelia. Family knows me as Mila. Friends know me as Mae. Some of you more recently know me as Apollo.

I will not be restricted by a title. I am me. I am no woman or man. I am a human that wants to love. And about who I love, that is my business.

But if you really want me to give it a label, then I am a queer non-binary individual who does not see gender. I see people who deserve to live in a world where they can be themselves, without having the fear that they will die for it.

I will say proudly that I use They/Them pronouns and I will stand by my names.

I understand if you are confused or do not wish to know me any longer, but please know that I am still me, nothing has changed, I am still here, the same me I was and will be, even if being me is dangerous.

The history behind the queer and black communities are truly incredible.

The people behind gay rights, were trans women of colour that rioted against the police. And if that isn’t a sign of the times I don’t know what is.

Did you know that trans people have lower life expectancies, due to violence?

We owe a lot to these brave women.

The world is in a terrible state right now.

There is a global pandemic spreading which has caused a dubious amounts of racism towards the Asian communities.

The American government is going against its people. The land of the free. The American Dream. That does not exist.

And the month that was supposed to allow queer people to be able to express themselves and reflect on the struggles of the past, now has people waiting to threaten it, and hurt people for loving.

1093 reported deaths due to the police in the US, according to the guardian.

Michael Brown.

Eric Garner.

Ahmaud Arbery

George Floyd.

Breonna Taylor.

Say their names. Say all their names.

They will not die without justice. At least, we will try not to let them.

Black lives matter.

White privilege exists and it’s gross.

Even through a pandemic, the US will find ways to increase their gunpower which is incredibly wrong.

If you feel the riots are too violent and wrong then you haven’t opened a history book. These riots are a few of many throughout hundreds of years. And we will not stand for this unjust. We will not go quietly.

They will hear our voices and we will do what must be done to show that change is needed more than ever.

I ask you to take time to reflect this week. And take time to donate. Would you rather buy a Big Mac, or help people fight this horrible disease that is happening all over the world? And I am not just talking about Covid-19.

For the first time in history people have more opportunities than ever to be able to make their voices heard. We hear you. And we must stand together.

Martin Luther King once said, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character.”

Nelson Mandela said, “No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate they can learn to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than it’s opposite.”

The year is 2020.

We just sent a crew on the first spacecraft for commercial space travel.

Why are we still dealing with the issue of skin colour, who we love, and gender?

Barack Obama said, “While we breathe we hope.”

Thank you for listening.

There will be links in the description where you can learn how to help and where to donate.

Black lives matter.

We will not be silenced.

Be safe.

[star-anise]

Hey! Your post about any wlw being able to identify as butch/femme etc was really enlightening. I was curious about your thoughts on the word stud. From what ive read its a word that only applies to masculine lesbians of color, but it seems like youre more knowledgable abt lgbta+ history than me.

I think that the LGBTQ+ community on Tumblr spends way too much time word-policing. People saying “femme” was a lesbian-only term was just way too hilarious to pass up, given how lesbian separatists have traditionally felt about the butch/femme dynamic, so I went into provenance for that.

But generally? There is no Central Administration of Queer Word Usage, and I don’t think there should be. I think that most of the time, policing word usage hurts us as a community. It creates unnecessary division and renders people Problematic when they’ve been part of the community for decades. 

Part of my experience is in the disability community. In 2009 I was excited when my friends started a group blog, FWD/Forward: Feminists with Disabilities for a Way Forward. I was an avid follower, and in small part, contributor. One of the things the blog tried doing was Ableist Word Profiles, which pointed out the discriminatory underpinnings of common derogatory words, like “idiot”, “moron”, “cripple”, and “stupid”. People were challenged to reflect on the biases underlying their speech and change how they used language.

It was a SHITSHOW. A genuine public relations nightmare. The furor around those word profiles drowned out every other thing we tried to talk about. Even people who would normally be on our side perceived us as a group of hypercritical, never-satisfied nitpickers. It derailed every outreach effort we made, alienated allies, and even made participating in the community as a member a really fraught process. The barriers to entry were so high; if someone wanted to run with our crowd, they had to police their language to an incredible and unnatural degree.

Ableist word profiles were correct. They were factual about the ableist bases of words, and did in fact point to the ableist base assumptions of our culture. But they were a TERRIBLE hill to die on. As a community you have to pick your priorities, and I’ve come to the conclusion that there are so many more important things than policing the non-hateful speech of your natural allies.

Also? “Stud”? For as long as English has been a language, the word “stud” has pertained to horse breeding. A stud, specifically, is a stallion of exceptional quality, kept for breeding mares. When it was applied to singular people in the 19th century, it originally applied to cis men. “Yeah, that guy’s a real stud.” Then, 50 years later, it began applying to lesbians and other members of ball culture as a synonym for butch and dyke.

Stud STILL APPLIES to straight cis men! Go check out its urban dictionary entryl Half its entries don’t even mention lesbians. It’s a word the LGBTQ+ community borrowed, but that doesn’t confer ownership. 

Here, let me get my thoughts in order with a numbered list.

Policing all but the most extreme and hateful speech within a community or among that community’s natural allies is going to demand a ton of work with very little return. Pick your battles carefully and sparingly.

If you want to create a separatist lesbian state that has positive and respectful relationships with bi women and trans people, you are going to have to create one from scratch. All attempts to find such a group in the past are going to either find you

Groups of queer women that include and intermix with bi women and trans people, usually in the context of a shared need for protection because of widespread sexual/gender deviance, OR,

Groups of lesbian separatists who have been exclusionary towards bi women and trans people in ways that have been hurtful and unhealthy.

That’s it! Those are your historical choices! And in the future, the only way to kick out bi women and trans people, without being exclusionary, is to vigorously support those groups in the spirit of solidarity and mutual aid. Otherwise the moment one of your members transitions genders, dates a man, or God forbid, has a son, you’re going to treat that person or child badly, and they will not thank you for it.

I am SUPER SUSPICIOUS of lesbians who will police word usage by people who are, within the LGBT community, more marginalized than cis lesbians, but will NOT police the word usage of straight cis men. If lesbians want to claim “stud” as lesbian-only, they can send me receipts of them spending at least a year a year actively trying to wrest the word away from straight men, and then I’ll consider their request as genuine. Until then, it just reeeeaaaally feeeeeels like round 6381 of “Cis lesbians shit on bi women and trans people”.

So yeah. Do I think “stud” is a good word for white WLW to use, given its history predominantly among Black lesbians? I don’t know. If it applied to me, I’d think really hard before using it. I might decide against it. But there’s a really big difference between “this is a word people should use thoughtfully,” and “this is a word people should ATTACK SOMEONE ON SIGHT over if they see her using it.”

[pepperstrawberry]

Heavy post...*waves to frens*

Warning: Long post... but not putting it under a cut because I specifically want new followers to read this. Mutuals and long time followers? Nothing new here, feel free to hit that page down button a few times XD

So, over the last few weeks, I’ve gained a lot of new followers... and lost some too. Now of course, I generally don’t worry too much about it (or try not to). I know some folk unfollow maybe because it’s been a while and their interests have changed, or maybe in some cases they were dealing with some frustrating things that I happen to be also talking about at the time and so they wanted to get away from it all for a while and it wasn’t really a personal thing. No judgement on that stuffs...

But, I do want to make some things clear for those that have recently followed me and might have followed just because of a cute image or two I made for magic stuffs with the new set dropping:

First: I am a trans woman. I support the full LGBTAQ+ spectrum. Yes, this includes Non-binary, Asexual, Aromantic, and all. I’m not going to argue with folks on the inclusion. It’s just that way. Oh yeah, and Bisexual, both being and supporting. This means even when a couple is not with who you think they should be with (a straight person seeing a ‘bi’ with the same or gay seeing ‘bi’ with different, you know that whole thing... no matter who a bisexual person is with, they are still bi)

Second: I’m anti-capitalist. Yes, I live in a capitalist world, and have to abide by the current machinations of it. I mean, consider things like Patreon, Go Fund Me, and the like. Those are not ‘capitalist’ (though can and have been used in that way), but are a way a community can help creators make a living without having to worry about making every product ‘marketable’. (which is why I’m against the recent shift that Patreon is doing for it’s creators, but that is a whole other post).

Third: I am a supporter of things like Black Lives Matter and other inter-sectional things. Look, the same sort of oppressive arguments, and often even the same people, are used against both people within the LGBTQA+ community AND people of color. It just makes sense to back them up as much as my fellow lgbt friends.

Fourth: Which leads me to being Feminist. 3rd wave specifically. Yes, there are crap folk that claim to be feminist, but that is the case with any group. I mean there are lesbians that are against trans woman, soo... Anyhoo, the bottom line of 3rd wave Feminism is inter-sectional support. Women, LGBT folk, People of Color, and everything like that. And before you go ‘but what about white males?’, consider that that is who holds the power right now. Well, White, Male, and Rich. But many of the things that real feminism fights for also covers things that would help out men as well. Things like better therapy and psychological help. The idea of ‘toxic masculinity’ isn’t the idea that ‘masculinity is toxic’, but that there are ways that being a ‘guy’ has been pushed that are toxic in nature, both a danger for others as well as the men themselves. Remember the idea of ‘real men don’t cry’? That’s toxic. It teaches men that being sad isn’t a manly thing, but to express anger is okay. Which is why we get a lot of these shooters doing what they do.

Fifth: I’m... I guess I’m agnostic? I used to be christian, but I have found that some threads within that faith are... problematic lets say. But I find ANY system of belief (or non-belief in the case of Atheism or however you want to define it) has fringe folks that are... problematic as it were. I judge less on religious affiliation and more on how that religious faith is expressed. I would have more to say on that, but really that is the bottom line. If your faith is more about proving others wrong/judging others over just living the best life you can and helping others, then your faith is garbage. end of story. Don’t matter which god, gods, or even no gods at all you follow.

Sixth: I tend to be a bit of a critic about things. Sometimes I blow things out of proportion, sometimes I don’t go quite far enough. But in the end, I try to be as honest as I can and as clear as my rambly nature lets me. Though, as I always emphasize, I never mean to judge a person on their love of a thing. There are rare exceptions of course. Like, I will judge you if you love “Birth of a Nation” or “Triumph of the Will’ as they are both KKK/Nazi movies and white supremacist in nature. There is nothing in either to be lauded save that they were likely the first movies in their era to pull together several film elements that had already existed (really they were more a triumph of budget then of talent). If you like Game of Thrones because of how ‘realistic’ it is to do -that- to so many women (you know what that is), then yes, I’m judging you. But If you like Game of thrones for all the other reasons -in spite- of -that-, then no judgement at all. Those moments shouldn’t be enjoyed. At best, they should effect you will a visceral disgust as the moments are intended.

I used to (and sometimes still do) reblog the heavier, more ‘polictical’ posts to my other blog @pepperolitics, but after the purge messed up my adult blog, it’s harder to bother with a side blog these days. So there are times where my more direct political aspect comes to play on main.

And really? That shouldn’t be that much an issue when you think about it.

I mean, I try to stay positive and light on my main blog. That usually means the heavy subjects get put to my other blogs. Adult subjects to my adult blog (which is now effectively gone even if I haven’t actually deleted it yet) and the POLITICS go to the political blog...

But that would be the seventh thing on the list of getting to know me:

NOTHING IS EVER NON-POLITICAL.

Nothing.

Now, I will say there is a difference between ‘political’ and ‘POLITICAL’, that is to say: we are human, the way we interact with each other is inherently political. How we agree, disagree, compromise on a day to day basis is political. Manners are political.

All ART is political.

But then there is the capital ‘P’ POLITICAL, where we are talking about government, the big policies, the big moments, the major events.

Where we switch from political to POLITICAL is when we go from things that are inherent, inferred, or basically subtext to straight up text and direct.

In otherwords: I refuse the idea that me suddenly talking about politics is me “becoming” political. I have always been political, we all are. it’s just sometimes, you have to make your politics clear.

Or in other other words: White, capitalist, hurrah! jingoist soilder of things like C.O.D/battlefield is just as POLITICAL as a Woman with a girlfriend and a trans side kick or something... it’s just we have been so surrounded by the former over the latter that we think of it as the accepted norm rather then one flavor of story hero among so many others...

...okay, I’m getting extra rambly and tangental... But that was kinda the point of this post.

Some of you will disagree with some of my points for one reason or another. Sometimes in shades, and sometimes in full... But my base point is, many of my long time followers already know this about me, but some of the new folk might not. And if you are going to stick around, this is the sort of lady you are following.

Hi. I’m Anita Priscilla Barton. Many call me Strawberry, or Pepper, or even just Pep. I am a Bisexual Trans Woman, I love magic the gathering, coffee, and all my wonderful friends and mutuals. And yes, I am a political entity who’s beliefs,  shape her art and critique. Just as all of ours do.

[drunkexmormonsexplain-blog]

So my dad posted an infuriating article on facebook...

Here's the link: https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2019-01-22/what-to-do-with-your-questions-according-to-1-general-authority-whos-an-expert-on-anti-church-materials-48843

After reading this absolute garbage, I was so infuriated that in the height of pettiness I decided to write a 3 page rebuttal essay. Then I realized that as much as I want to stir shit with the Mormons, I don't actually want my dad to disown me. So I'm gonna post it here instead of on my dad's facebook. It's extremely rough and overwritten, but since I have no plans to revise it I'm just gonna let it into the wild. There are a few paragraphs where the wording is too poor to convince real diehards, but it should be convincing enough for my fellow exmos at least! LONG POST AHEAD

---

Valerie Johnson’s piece, “What to do with your questions”, covers LDS leader Elder Corbridge’s visit to a BYU campus and outlines his response to concerns many members of the church have about unsavory parts of its history and current practices. It’s an effective piece of LDS propaganda: a piece of media that obscures or inflates the truth in order to advance the beliefs of an organization. As we’ll see below, not only does the piece fail to address the valid concerns of many latter-day saints, but it also uses familiar techniques to undermine the importance of those concerns in the first place. The following outlines both the inaccuracies in Corbridge’s arguments and the subtle ways in which the article discourages LDS readers from thinking critically about the issues at hand.

Let’s start with the first question in the article. “The kingdom of God is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as described in the book of Daniel as standing forever. The question is, will you and I stand?” Corbridge/Johnson asks. While claims about the longevity of “God’s kingdom” are unprovable, it’s evident to any non-church-funded source that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, at least, is dwindling. Church sources commonly claim that membership numbers are increasing, because they count all individuals who have been baptized but not ex-communicated. On the other hand, counting only active, financially-contributing members reveals that membership is declining sharply. Teens and adults who were raised in the church are leaving at a higher rate than ever. A large portion of the membership inflation reported by the church consists of individuals converted by missionaries as adults, who are counted as members until death although they often stop attending within a year.

From there, Johnson moves on to claim that attacks on the church are broad, including church doctrine that conflicts with “shifting attitudes of today”. This is a common phrase in LDS writing, used to encourage but not specifically state the idea that church doctrine, unlike the rest of the world’s social values, is permanent and unchanging. This is untrue, as many church teachings have changed with time, often shifting to become more in line with North American social norms. A famous and relatively recent example, alluded to in Johnson’s article, is the fact that black men were not allowed to receive the priesthood until 1978. Though there have been many apologetic explanations for this overdue change in doctrine, it’s hard to ignore the fact that its introduction coincided with a government warning that the church would only be able to keep its tax-free status if it got rid of its racist policies. With this and other examples, it’s clear that the church does have a historical precedent to alter teachings in order to keep up with society’s “shifting attitudes.” However, the way it’s phrased in the article contributes to the subconscious idea among many church members that society is at fault for becoming more progressive, not the church for its inability to keep up.

Changing church policy, a history of immoral doctrine, and dwindling membership statistics are only a few of the concerns plaguing modern Mormons. Corbridge and Johnson attempt to address this huge umbrella of issues with a simple response: “Answer the primary questions.” According to Corbridge, these fundamental questions about the church include: “Is there a God who is our Father? Is Jesus Christ the Son of God and the Savior of the World? Is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints the kingdom of God on the earth? Was Joseph Smith a prophet?”

The first three questions refer to the existence God, which is unprovable, and the role of Jesus Christ, a distant historical figure whose true actions in life are hard to discern. In contrast, the last question refers to Joseph Smith, a man who lived in America in the 1800s, whose life is well documented and researched. Was he, as Corbridge asks, a prophet? Researching his life, the answer is clear: hopefully not.

There’s a well of damning evidence on Joseph Smith available with some quick research. He scammed people with his treasure-hunting business, was often jailed for his crimes, and even killed others during his escape attempts. Although the church tried to cover it up for years, he is most well known for his polygamy: by the time he died in 1844, he was married to at least 27 women. The youngest of these, Helen Mar Kimball, was 14 years old. Joseph Smith was 37, which makes him a pedophile on all counts – even in 1843, when they were married, the average marriage age for women was between 20 and 22. If such a man was chosen as a prophet of God, we should question what type of God would choose him, and what type of church would follow his teachings. The church itself has not addressed these concerns, sweeping them under the rug as “lies and deception”, despite multiple sources proving their accuracy. Predictably, Johnson and Corbridge do not mention anything else about Joseph Smith in the article.

Corbridge then moves on to what he calls the “secondary questions,” which Johnson broadly generalizes as “questions about Church history, polygamy, black people and women and the priesthood, how the Book of Mormon was translated, DNA and the Book of Mormon, gay marriage, different accounts of the First Vision and so on,” not going into specifics on any of these topics. Corbridge follows this up with the most bizarre claim in the entire article: “If you answer the primary questions, the secondary questions get answered too or they pale in significance and you can deal with things you understand and things you don’t understand, things you agree with and things you don’t agree with without jumping ship.”

There’s a lot to get into with this statement. Firstly, the article attempts to trivialize many valid concerns about the church. For example, “Gay marriage” is used as a buzzword to cover an array of questions about the church and the LGBT+ community such as why same-sex couples aren’t allowed to be married in the church, if it’s possible for LGB members to be happy even though they’re forced to be celibate, if trans and gender non-conforming individuals are allowed to present their true identity and be fully accepted into the congregation, why children of LGB parents aren’t allowed to be baptized into the church without cutting contact with their family, and so on. These topics are trivialized by presenting them so broadly and following them up with the statement that they “pale in importance” to the primary questions. This is not the case for the LGBT+ individuals in question, or other individuals whose happiness is directly affected by any of the issues mentioned.

Secondly, the idea that some of these secondary questions are also answered by the primary questions is a bold and frankly false statement. Knowing the “correct” answers to the primary questions does nothing to answer the far more nuanced subjects of the secondary questions. A devout Mormon who firmly believes in God and knows that Joseph Smith is a prophet can still easily have questions about why God wouldn’t allow women to hold the priesthood, or how the Book of Mormon can be a historically accurate account of pre-colonial America when DNA evidence proves otherwise. It’s clear that most of these questions fall into Corbridge’s “pale in importance” category, which minimizes the real struggles that even faithful members can experience in the church.

The last part of this statement is the most telling to Corbridge’s, and more broadly the church’s response to criticism and questioning members. He says that it’s important members deal with these controversial subjects, with “things you understand and things you don’t understand, things you agree with and things you don’t agree with, without jumping ship.” According to Corbridge, Mormons should stay active in the church if they believe in the “primary questions”, even if they have doubts about the “secondary questions.” Historically, many religious groups have been formed by those who share the same primary beliefs as another sect – belief in God and Jesus Christ, for example – but differ on how the church should be run or the details about God’s doctrine. There is even history within the Mormon faith of separate factions who have split off from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints based on their different answers to the “secondary questions”, even though they share belief in God, Jesus Christ, and Joseph Smith with the mainstream branch of LDS faith. It doesn’t make sense for LDS members who disagree with or don’t understand controversial church doctrine to remain members, even if they believe in God, Jesus Christ, or Joseph Smith, as they can seek out other denominations that are more in line with their personal beliefs. Remaining in the church is not beneficial to their spiritual well-being or happiness. Non-believing or disillusioned members can create disharmony within the church, so it isn’t good for the health and harmony of a congregation for leaders like Corbridge to encourage those members to stay. What it is good for, though, is the church’s finances, since LDS members who want to access all the benefits of Mormonism must pay 10% of their income to the church. Therefore, it’s unsurprising that the purpose of this article is to suggest doubting members ignore their concerns and stay active, tithe-paying members.

Johnson’s section on the methods of learning is familiar to anyone experienced with religious anti-science rhetoric. Though it references the scientific method and “analytical learning” (research), those mentions are meaningless as Corbridge states “the divine method of learning ultimately trumps everything else by tapping into the powers of heaven.” This is echoed often in fundamentalist religious writing, and means that whenever scientific evidence, academic research, or social values clash with religious beliefs, believers are to ignore the facts and trust “God”, or the teachings of their church. It’s a way to shut down logical arguments from doubters or non-believers without having to think critically about church doctrine and has been discussed at length in other writing.

A somewhat amusing and unique addition to this article is the concept of “academic learning” as separate from scientific or analytical. The idea that simply reading a text can provide the reader with truth without the “analytical” step of fact-checking and resource gathering is false. After all, anyone can write a piece (such as Johnson’s) and fill it with lies. Without multiple opinions and validations, a text on its own has no truth value.

The final two sections of “What to do with your questions” move away from laughable pseudo-academic claims and give us insight into the far more insidious psychological methods the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and other religious groups use to keep their members in order. The first section is entitled “The Presence or Absence of the Holy Ghost.” Generally, most LDS members and leaders assume the “presence of the Holy Ghost” to mean a happy, warm, and comfortable feeling. This type of feeling commonly occurs in familiar, safe settings such as churches and homes. Corbridge goes on to state that “the gloom I experienced as I listened to the dark choir of voices raised against the Prophet Joseph Smith and the Restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ… is the absence of the Spirit of God.” In other words, if members who read about controversial church history and practices feel bad or uncomfortable while doing so, it must mean these claims are false.

The truth is that anyone who learns about information that radically disrupts their current worldview will be uncomfortable. In the case of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, leaders have so effectively hidden parts of its history from its members and lied about doing so that the discovery of things like Joseph Smith’s history of polygamy and multiple accounts of the First Vision can be shocking and upsetting. Issues dealing with the happiness of LGBT+, women, and black members of the church make many members feel guilty and sad, as they feel empathy for those who have been wronged by the church’s present or past teachings. By equating the natural and understandable feelings of sadness, guilt, and discomfort with the absence of the spirit and therefore falsehood, Corbridge convinces questioning members that they should bury those feelings and ignore their questions. This is not an acceptable way to address controversial church topics, nor is it healthy to encourage members to suppress their emotions.

The final section of the article, “Elimination”, is the final nail in the coffin telling LDS members to keep their doubts private and unanswered. Corbridge reiterates that he and God can’t answer all the member’s doubts – obvious, since he and Johnson have done nothing to address any concerns in this article – and that those who truly answer the “primary questions” will not even need answers to their further questions. This effectively combines the church’s policy of repression and communal guilt: if you are bothered by unsavory aspects of the church’s doctrine, you probably don’t believe in God or Joseph Smith. LDS doctrine already encourages a heavy amount of personal guilt for members who don’t feel they are perfectly living up to the church’s expectations, but if they voice their concerns, they now face the shame of their peers. Nobody in a faith setting wants to be known as the unfaithful member, and Corbridge’s statement is clear: if you want to be respected by your religious peers, keep those questions in.

-North