the-queer-bong-boy

[the-queer-bong-boy]

Reblog if you respect trans identities. Reblog if trans women are women and trans men are men and non binary people are valid as fuck. Reblog if you support aroace, aroallo, alloace people regardless of their gender or gender expression. Reblog if the A in LGBTQIA is NOT for "ally". Reblog if being queer isn't determined by the oppression olympics.

Reblog if your account is a safe space for anyone and you're not a hateful, nasty, transphobic ass.

Reblog if that kind of hateful rhetoric will NEVER be seen on your blog

[the-queer-bong-boy]

Queer Glossary : A series

Hello folks. This will be a series of various words often used in discussions on LGBT topics and issues.

The posts will be in a very simple format :

Word -> definition -> meaning/explanation ->example of usage (if required.)

I hope this will be helpful to all my queer friends and allies.

[the-queer-bong-boy]

LGBT Identities : GAY

Hello folks, Rudy here.

In this new series, I would try to explain various identities and labels coming under the lgbt umbrella. It will be a sub-part of the QUEER GLOSSARY series on this blog. These posts will be short and crisp, with to the point info and their respective flags/images(if available).

As the first in this series, I would like to explain a label i identify most commonly with - GAY.

The word GAY is used to generally refer to men who are sexually and/or romantically attracted to other men. Although nowadays, many other queer people use this label to easily self-identify, historically it has been exclusively used to describe men loving men. The flag for gay men as shown in the gif, has two variations. The old one featured various shades of blue - a colour typically associated with masculinity. The newer one, though not very different from the old one, features shades of green and purple to be more inclusive of trans-masculine and masculine identifying/inclined non-binary and/or intersex people.

[the-queer-bong-boy]

Why the rainbow is used to represent the LGBTQIAP+ community?

Most people associate the LGBT 🏳️‍🌈 community with the colours of the rainbow🌈 . But why? Why rainbow specifically? In this post, we will find out.

The first and most self-explanatory reason is that the rainbow contains 7 different colours and it is easy to associate those colours with different sexual orientations, gender identities, gender expressions etc.

While this is true, the colours on the pride flag actually have their own individual meanings. The pride flag that we today know was designed by Gilbert Baker in 1978, in San Fransisco. The flag had 8 colours and each colour meant something different :

Pink for sexuality

Red for life

Orange for healing

Yellow for the Sun

Green for Nature

Turquoise for Art

Indigo for Harmony

Violet for Soul

And all these colours together coming under one rainbow is representative of all the different identities coming under the queer community.

Thus, the rainbow is the most commonly used symbol for the Queer community.

[the-queer-bong-boy]

Pride Month: A History

Today is the 28th of June. For most people, this day is nothing special(unless they have a birthday, anniversary or any event along those lines). But as a queer individual, this day is of utmost importance to me. Today marks 54 years of the Stonewall riots in New York and the rise of queer activism.

For those of you, who are clueless about what I am talking about, June is celebrated as International Pride Month for celebrating LGBTQIAP+ folks.

And although I say the word "celebration", there is much more history to it than just a mere celebration. The celebrations are about legends like Harvey Milk and Marsha P. Johnson who dedicated their lives to fight for LGBT liberation rights.

I will not go too much into the history of queer folks because spoilers alert- they have always existed. We didn't pop up in the last few decades. The ancient Romans and Greeks accepted homosexuality without any hatred. It is only homophobia that has sprung up in recent times.

But let's keep ancient history aside and focus on Pride Month.

The history of June being celebrated as pride month dates back to 28th June 1969 in New York.

Sexual acts between two consenting adults of the same gender were considered illegal at the time. Not only that, queer people had to always be on the run for their lives because of the police. Police raids were pretty common in gay bars and restaurants.

But those raids didn't stop queer lives from existing. People still went to these bars to hang out.

On the night of 27th June 1969, the New York City police raided the Stonewall Inn, a famous gay bar in the city. As expected, the bar was a safe space for queer folks to hang out and that night was no exception.

There were gays and lesbians and Trans folks and Drag Queens just being themselves and celebrating life there. But the heteronormative society couldn't bear that. The police raided Stonewall and brutally attacked the people who were there.

What followed is the revolt that led to modern-day pride.

The queer people there refused to give up their safe space and fought back against the police. They got beaten up, some got killed and some were seriously injured. But not a single soul gave up. Not only the people from the bar but also other gay residents of Greenwich Village participated in the fight that went on for the following few weeks.

This event led to a rise in protests for crimes against LGBT people and made a rise in general awareness about LGBT people.

To mark this historic event, on 28th June 1970, a year after the riots the first pride marches took place in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco. And that is how the Pride Walks started. In June 1999, U.S. President Bill Clinton declared the anniversary of the Stonewall riots every June in America as Gay and Lesbian Pride Month and in 2011, President Barack Obama expanded the officially recognized Pride Month to include the whole of the LGBT community.

The legacy of pride spread across the globe and on 2nd July 1999, South East Asia's first pride walk took place in Kolkata making Kolkata the first Indian city to engage in fights for LGBT rights. ("What Bengal thinks today, India thinks tomorrow")

My main point here in this post is that Pride Month is more than just a celebration. It is about remembering all those innocent lives who sacrificed themselves to make the world a safer place for us to live in.

Pride Today also talks of inclusivity and intersectionality. Pride doesn't stay confined to one section of society but includes every person from every section of the world.

Pride is about Gays

Pride is about Lesbians

Pride is about Transgenders

Pride is about Hijras

Pride is about Kinnars

Pride is about Non-binaries

Pride is about Intersex people

Pride is about Black queer folks

Pride is about Gender Non-confirming Women

Pride is about Neurodivergent Non-binary folks

Pride is about Transgender Migrating Labours

Pride is a celebration of love

Pride includes all.