transastronautistic

[transastronautistic]

statement from mahmoud khalil shared by the center for constitutional rights

[transastronautistic]

Okay, so. Yesterday, my spouse's cat (my beloved, furry stepdaughter) was suddenly very sick. Spouse had the car on the opposite end of the state for work, so I walked down the road to the local vet. Unfortunately, she needed to be rushed to the emergency vet in the next town over, so I had to order an Uber and cross my fingers.

Enter Donald, a gay Puerto Rican man who rolls up in an electric Kia with a rainbow Zelda shirt. I know he is Puerto Rican because that is the theme of his car's decor. He's probably in his late forties. He's gushing over the cat but his demeanor changes when I tell him how sick she is and how I need to get her to the ER. He solemnly informs me, "I'll take care of it," and RIPS out of the parking lot of my building.

Dude is flooring it. The entire time he is sending his husband text-to-speech messages about, "Going to the vet, do you want me to go in and talk to them?" He informs me that he actually needed to go speak to the vet at this clinic anyway--his dog who he just had to put down yesterday went there for renal failure treatments--and that "fate brought us together." He tells the cat to hang in there, that, "Girl, I will take care of you."

He turns on his emergency blinkers. He's weaving through traffic like he used to professionally race. Any gap he sees, he takes it. It is terrifying but I am in awe.

We get to blocked traffic because it is rush hour. He asks me if I trust him. I tell him, "I guess I have to in this situation," and he nods and swings into the shoulder, guns it, whips around the traffic, and takes off on a side road. The GPS means nothing to him. He knows exactly where he's going and he is beating the traffic jams for the sake of the cat. She can't wait.

When we pull into the vet clinic, he goes in with me. As my cat is taken in, he asks me if I want to see pictures of his late dog. He shows me a picture of a chihuahua in a bow tie and it is the cutest fucking dog I've ever seen. He tells me how his husband is a dog trainer and the dog had been around the world, and that this vet is a good one and my cat will be fine.

I compliment his shirt and he nods like Arnold at the end of Terminator 2. Then he just marches out the door.

Anyway. The cat is staying overnight at the emergency vet but seems to be doing fine aside from not wanting to eat. Apparently, this is a $2.5k case of "your cat has a cold and is constipated, and what you thought was respiratory distress was her gagging on snot while nauseous." We pick her up sometime today.

Wherever you are, thank you, Donald. My spouse left you a tip higher than the cost of the trip because you are awesome and your dedication to our cat was inspiring. 10/10, I would endanger myself on the road with you again.

[transastronautistic]

Gay historian Matt Baume has a great video on the Seinfeld episode that’s from!

[transastronautistic]

>doing a thing >neurotypical person stops me and tells me the "right" way to do it >ask if it's actually better or just societal convention >they don't get it >show a chart explaining what is actually better and what is just societal convention >"haha it's the right way to do it" >do it their way >it's societal convention

[transastronautistic]

Limb Difference Basics

Everyone loves to talk about us no one really knows about us

What is a limb difference?

A limb difference is a structural and visible difference in a limb. This includes limbs that formed incompletely, formed differently, or are missing entirely. There are two major categories of limb differences

Congenital limb differences: Congenital limb differences are limb differences where the variation developed in utero

Acquired limb differences are limb differences where a limb is lost (partially or completely) due to illness, injury, or medical treatment.

What isn't a limb difference?

Missing or different facial features (such as microtia- underdeveloped ears) are not limb differences, they are facial differences

Differences in how a limb moves (such as hypermobility) are not limb differences

Differences in how a limb feels (such as limbs with chronic pain) are not limb differences

"Limb difference" exclusively refers to structural differences in appearances of a limb.

Just because an aspect of a limb varies from "typical" doesn't mean it is a limb difference. Limb difference is a specific and narrow category.

"Limb typical" is a term that refers to someone without a limb difference.

"This sounds like differently abled"

This is so rude to say! We get to define ourselves however we want to. Beyond that, this term was created to be both more inclusive of the many types of limb difference as well as to escape derogatory terms like "deformed" and "disfigured." The terms are reclaimed by some of us but they have a complex history and not everyone is comfortable with them- hence limb difference.

Additionally, originally the only term to describe limb difference was "amputation" and "amputee" which do not remotely cover the vast experiences of limb difference. It leaves even people with congenital limb reduction in an awkward spot. "Limb difference" is far more inclusive of the variety of people who find themselves in this community.

Disability and limb difference

Not every limb different person considers themself to be disabled! Despite popular misconception, this does not come from a place of internalized or externalized ableism.

The decision made by some limb different people to not identify as disabled does not usually come from a negative view of the label. It generally comes from people with congenital limb differences or other people who have lived with their limb difference from a very young age. In the same way that a limb typical person knows exactly how to navigate the world with their typical limbs, so do limb different people with our own limbs.

The viewpoint of some limb different people is that they can navigate the world exactly as a limb typical person would because they know their body and how to move it. They view their limb (or lack thereof) as something that differs in appearance rather than something that disables them.

Some limb different people reject the pathologization of their body entirely, declaring that they do not have a medical condition and instead exist as natural, non-disordered variation.

While most limb different people embrace the label of disability it's important to respect and acknowledge those who don't.

The umbrella

Limb difference is a huge category that many people fall under. Many disabled people read about limb difference and ask themself "could this be me?"

If you're asking this, the answer is probably no.

One of the defining features of limb difference is its notability to others and yourself. While many limb different people are not handed the term "limb difference" on a platter by a doctor the realization of this term's existence tends to be a definitive lightbulb moment- a word that finally describes all those experiences you've had up to this point.

Medical neglect happens and people are diagnosed with limb variations later in life (hell, that was me! victim of small town healthcare ✌️) However, even before receiving a specific diagnosis, limb different people tend to notice that their limbs are, well, different from other people's.

If you do not feel absolutely sure that you have a limb difference and if you do not have a difference in the appearance of your limbs visible to the naked eye of a stranger, you should not be calling yourself limb different.

A non-exhaustive list of limb differences

General

Achondroplasia and many other forms of dwarfism

Amputation

Arthrogryposis

Limb length discrepancy

Skeletal dysplasia

Arm and Hand

Cleft hand

Clinodactyly

Macrodactyly

Madelung's deformity

Polydactyly

Radial longitudinal deficiency

Radioulnar synostosis

Symbrachydactyly

Syndactyly

Ulnar longitudinal deficiency

Leg and Foot

Cleft foot

Club foot

Femoral anteversion

Femoral retroversion

Fibular hemimelia

Genu varum

Metatarsus adductus

Miserable malalignment syndrome (🙋)

Proximal focal femoral deficiency

Tarsal coalition

Tibia hemimelia

Tibial torsion

^^ even if your condition isn't on the above list it still may be a limb difference. This list is just a handful of thousands of examples. ^^

I cannot tell you if you have a limb difference. do not ask.

Diagnosis, treatment, & assistive devices

Limb differences are generally diagnosed via examination and x ray. Diagnosis is typically made through examination with details later being confirmed through radiology. Radiology is rarely required to identify a limb difference as they are, by nature, visible to the eye.

Surgeries are available for some limb differences. These surgeries often aim to make a limb appear as typical as possible and are many times cosmetic. Many limb differences are rare, and especially in their more severe forms. This means that many of these surgeries are experimental. Corrective bracing is sometimes used in children to train a bone to grow in a more typical fashion.

The more common approach to managing limb differences is through assistive technology. Limb different people may use any combination of prosthetics, wheelchairs, walkers, rollators, crutches, canes, braces, and splints. Many limb different people, particularly those with upper limb differences, use additional assistive technology at home to make everyday tasks easier.

[transastronautistic]

really enjoying all the videos Muslims have been posting of their cats looking like this

when the humans are up at 4 am for suhoor

[transastronautistic]

be sure to leave out milk and cookies for brutus tonight

[transastronautistic]

PUBLIC COMMENTS ARE OPEN FOR GENDER IDENTIFIERS ON US PASSPORTS

Right now, you can submit a comment for consideration on the proposed changes to US Passport law that will include requiring a change from "Gender" to "Sex" on all passports and require that people identify with their sex assigned at birth.

THIS IS THE LAW THAT WOULD BAN TRANS PEOPLE FROM UPDATING THEIR IDENTIFICATION

Please take a moment to click through and submit a comment. This kind of thing is fast, easy, and is one of the many ways to show your support of the trans community to the people that need to know how many of us there are.

[transastronautistic]

do you guys remember “kick his ass baby i got yo flower”

[transastronautistic]

over and over in my life I’ve met people who could not stand musicals in the slightest, with the single exception of Singing in The Rain, which they loved. and I’ve been trying to figure out why bc it’s a great show, but there are plenty of great shows that don’t work for musical haters. and just now I was thinking about the end of Moses Supposes where don and cosmo are in the wreckage of the office giggling and trying to catch their breath after tap dancing irresponsibly hard for several minutes, while their poor shell shocked therapist just sits there with a lampshade on his head, and how awesome and nice that bit is. and then I thought about how it was also really cute at the end of Make Em Laugh. And Good Morning. And then all at once it hit me. The reason Singing In The Rain works for musical haters when nothing else does is because it fixes the thing i think people hate most about musicals, the thing they aren’t even aware is creeping them out about it. in the most literal terms, it works because the characters have to catch their breath after they finish dancing.

I think the thing that makes ppl hate musicals so much is that for some people, watching the sudden transition from characters interacting like normal humans to suddenly bursting into elaborate song and dance, then returning to normal conversation completely straight faced like nothing happened, feels like watching someone make a scene in public. Even if the viewer knows and accepts that it’s a musical, and that musical ass shit will probably be involved, it doesn’t feel like the characters are interacting naturally with the world of the show, it feels like they are behaving extremely strangely out of nowhere with everyone watching, and are completely unaware of themselves. i know that sounds silly and dramatic, and it totally is, but that’s also just literally just how it feels.

Singing In The Rain does not cause this discomfort in people because the big weird showstopping musical numbers interact naturally with the rest of the world in the story. One of the characters has a number where he spends a full four minutes doing backflips and jumping over upright chairs, and after the last note of the song cuts off, he just dies. collapses on the spot. it’s a show with incredibly acrobatic musical numbers, with tons of prop work and carrying around set pieces and overturning furniture, and they’re all amazing, but they look fucking exhausting and basically destroy whatever room they occur in. and when the numbers are over, the characters do indeed look fucking exhausted and the room is indeed destroyed. i cant really think of any other musicals that make a point to do this. Even if the stage actors have to catch their breath, it is not a part of the show canon. The actors are tired, the characters are fine. Singing In The Rain’s approch feels much less like watching someone make a social blunder, and much more like watching someone behave in a way that, while not normal for our world, is perfectly appropriate and commonplace for the world of the show. it’s much easier to roll with All That Musical Bullshit Out Of Nowhere when the characters roll with it too instead of acting like it didn’t even happen

[transastronautistic]

STOP CENSORING YOURSELF ON THIS WEBSITE. FUCK SHIT SEX MURDER ALCOHOL DRUGS FAGGOT DYKE QUEER TRANS BITCH SLUT WHORE SEX SEX SEX SEX!!!!!!!!!!!

[transastronautistic]

Frosty morning ❄️🌿

[transastronautistic]

shinzo abe day was incredible. still not over seeing all the rumours about what happened, joining everyone in wondering how the fuck a shotgun assassination could have happened in japan, and then seeing the first photo of the doohickey

[transastronautistic]

Is he "female socialized" or is he just a standard flamboyant sensitive artsy gay dude who would honestly be indiscernible from any other fem gay guy if you didn't see him as a walking vagina first and foremost.

[transastronautistic]

youre so cool thanks for being butch dyke. that’s all the world is just winning because people like you are butches

sobs!!! here’s me bein a butch in nature!