#wlw/mlm hostility directed to a bisexual

[sillystringedrat]

Fandom brainrot

[deco-devolution]

Sexuality & Gender In Columbia 

Okay, so this is a frankly huge topic to cover, and because there is so little direct reference to any non-heterosexual/cisgender culture in the games, a lot of this will be me sharing/explaining my headcanons/worldbuilding. My ideas will be based on historical record of LGBT+ struggles at the time (1890-1915) and mostly US-centric, as Columbia seems to be fairly westernized. in addition, I will be focusing purely on the lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans communities to cut down on post size and research time. Here we go!

 Note: These all refer to Columbia (Rapture has a separate post) culture in the peak of the city’s life- a snapshot into queer Columbia circa 1910, roughly speaking. As such my talk about the culture is purely as I’d imagine it to be at that specific time only with no details as to the cultural development to that point.

cw for homophobia, transphobia, q slur

Sexuality In Columbia

If you’re not straight it’s over for you

Quips aside, just from playing the game you can tell Columbia is ruled by the most staunch of conservatism. The Edwardian Era in real-world history made heavy emphasis on modesty and a sense of duty but Columbia takes it a step beyond, and this can be seen in most every example of media or dialogue found in-game. Having such traditional Biblical leanings, it can easily argued that this also extends to sexuality.

Right off the bat, I feel like this is Heterosexual (& Cisgender) Land™. Any other sort of attraction, be it gay, bisexual, or anything else, is considered reckless experimentation at best and ungodly and deserving of punishment at worst. Aside from the religiously-motivated belief that only straight relationships are legit, there’s another reason they’re so heavily emphasized- population growth. Columbia, for all its pomp still has a relatively small population on a national scale- just from some educated guesses I’d put it around the borough to town region, as indicated on the settlement hierarchy of ekistics. While the limited space of the city means that the population can’t just continue to grow, a certain rate of births is needed to keep the population level.

Interestingly enough, even though Columbia is a hotspot of religious zealotry, the city still follows the conventions of Edwardian/Early WWI society- very proper, highly formalized in its ideals. Aside the propaganda and fearmongering, personal details are still taboo in polite conversation.

Cruising is done in places where social conventions are significantly different from formal events or even everyday conventions- namely the beach, pubs and lounges. 

In the same vein, hookups, flings, and dates are called vague things like “going out to lunch/drinks”, “going for a stroll” or “having a picnic” and same-gender partners are typically referred to as close friends. It’s all very underhanded, the result of both Edwardian discreetness and closeted language.

Gender In Columbia

Like most of Columbian society, the queer groups in Columbia tend to gather based on gender. Lesbians share space with bisexual women, and gay men stick with bisexual men. As far as trans communities go, however, the cisnormative, rigid interpretation of gender predominant in Columbia means that they tend to be misunderstood among the other queer groups. Typically not in a blatantly hostile way but rather an obnoxiously condescending “poor confused dear” way.

Gender is not so much an identifier as much as an determinator; whatever you are assigned will be the factor driving not only your upbringing but your life choices as well.

There are quite a few social clubs that operate as safe spaces for the community- they typically rotate between the members’ houses and frequently merge or splinter with or from other groups, going from book club, to knitting social to any other politely banal gathering. 

For those looking to dress how they’d like in safety, ‘costume clubs’ are popular among gender non-conforming, trans people and those interested in crossdressing. They present themselves as sort of novelty dance halls with every day being a masquerade. While technically legal, their image is strongly connected to immorality and looseness in Columbia and as such they’re rare and subject to higher levels scrutiny then other halls. 

Because of the rigidity of the culture, the LGBT+ culture in Columbia uses nonverbal queues to state their identities- for example men place certain flowers in buttonholes or alternatively pin them to their lapels to let outsiders know they’re in the community. Women can put these same blossoms in their hats, brooches and hair. These include flowers such as lavender, violets, pansies, carnations and daffodils.

There are HRT gene tonics for sale- they’re marketed under the guise of improving a woman’s femininity or man’s masculinity, they’re sold in pharmacies in the health and beauty aisles without the need for a prescription. This helps some looking to transition do so much easier, though the issue of financial barriers for those who are younger and/or living in poverty still linger. As far as options like SRS go, the procedure is entirely underground, practiced by surgeons of varying repute. While being able to do so successfully is considered a show of skill, most practitioners and citizens are morally opposed to the idea. 

Unlike Rapture, there’s not many fun or quirky terms for LGBT+ citizens. Those with same gender attraction are rudely referred to as “victims of unnatural passions” and those who ID as anything other then cisgender are accused of “falling into delusions of identity”. Among themselves though, WLW call themselves “Lady Lovers of Liberty” (as in the statue based on the Roman goddess Libertas) while MLM call themselves “Sons of Antinous” while trans citizens typically refer to themselves as “Children of Agdistis”. (Note that while Agdistis was portrayed as intersex in Roman mythology, their nonbinary existence and transformative identity made them a relatable icon for most trans people in Columbia)

Questions or comments? Let me know! Thanks for reading.

[stfudiscoinfernoed]

1/ What’s interesting is that this whole “inclusivity” talk happens only in wlw/Sapphic spaces. Lesbians, bisexual women, and trans women want a space only for ourselves? Then it’s suddenly gatekeeping and problematic and Bad™. It happens on all levels and it is infuriating. We can’t have shit. IRL example: the only Sapphic library in my small town now has to accommodate trans men for some reason the second they started openly accepting trans women? it’s not the same thing ffs!

2/ Online example: every discord srver and subreddit I’ve been in (even those who have shit like “only lesbians” or “only sapphics” in the name) have a paragraphs long disclaimer about being inclusive and not shunning anyone. You don’t see that shit in mlm spaces. You just don’t. You're politely asked to leave, at best. Try being a trans lesbian on a mlm only space, I dare you. 

So I have some thoughts as to why this is. It’s a bit long so under the cut it goes:

Firstly, I think the intersection of heterosexism and misogyny means that sapphic people tend to be more invested in dismantling gendered oppression which includes addressing how trans people fit into the system. This is why you see both a large number of highly vocal pro-trans sapphics as well as very vocal TERF sapphics. I won’t say that mlm spaces are more focused on the single issue of heterosexism as there are plenty of mlm who are invested in dismantling other systems of oppression like racism and ableism, but the fight against gendered oppression is not as central to mlm spaces.

It’s this investment in dismantling gendered oppression that leads to pro-trans sapphic spaces being inclusive to all trans people, because they recognize the difficulty of creating or finding trans inclusive spaces and the way that trans men and afab nonbinary people are impacted by issues typically thought of as “women’s issues”. It’s often done in incredibly misguided ways that harms everyone involved, because the efforts are usually directed by cis sapphics and afab nonbinary sapphics (and the occasional trans man who refuses to get rid of the lesbian/sapphic label after coming out as a trans man) and as a result can turn a bit bioessentialist. This is also why spaces that purportedly are for everyone but cis men can be actually pretty hostile to amab nonbinary people and trans women who don’t present femme enough.

Mlm spaces don’t tend to be super vocal about trans inclusion because of their lack of investment in dismantling gendered oppression. This means that trans and nonbinary mlm tend to be pretty invisible and trans issues in the mlm community are rarely discussed. This can and should be changed, but it requires getting mlm spaces to care about gendered oppression and that will slow down efforts.

Secondly, the trans women who want to be in mlm spaces and trans men who want to be in wlw spaces tend to be straight and/or have absorped a very bioessentialist understanding of being trans/gay. You say “try being a trans lesbian in a mlm only space” as if gay trans men are barging through the doors of sapphic spaces as if they own the place. I have never seen a gay trans man who wanted to be in wlw spaces. Nonbinary people who aren’t sapphic and trans men rarely, in my experience, want to be involved in sapphic spaces. There are absolutely some and they make the issue of enforcing sapphic only spaces more difficult, but by and large we are uncomfortable being lumped into the “women and trans” category and shunted off to being involved in sapphic spaces.

TL;DR: The feminist orientation of many sapphic spaces is largely why trans inclusion tends to be a big deal in sapphic over mlm spaces, not necessarily because of misogyny or because trans people who aren’t sapphic are banging on the door trying to be let (though there may be small aspects of that).

Lastly, where tf are you that your small town has a sapphic library?? Most small towns would struggle to have a gay bar or a feminist library let alone a sapphic only library.