lgbtq+ history & activism

Also thank you for the acespec flags, I'm making a bellussexual cross stitch today haha

You can definitely ask, the answer is i don't know what icf is 😅 (please tell me)

I put three goblins in a trench coat in my bio cuz 1) I thought it was funny and 2) I feel like im something else pretending to be a human sometimes (but dont we all?)

I asked ten queer people for their answers.

We chatted this week on our podcast about these answers – what museums are getting right, what queer people want to see more of, and how we can ensure museums continue telling queer stories into the future.

The US Government is currently trying to pass an incredibly dangerous national law for trans youth called HR 2616.

This bill would ban all Federally funded schools from teaching about gender identity or sexual orientation, prevent teachers from using the correct pronouns and names for trans students, remove books with any trans representation in them, and even go as far as to prevent teachers from acknowledging trans identity AT ALL.

Any school that does not follow this will lose all federal funding. This bill would also require teachers to forcibly out trans students to their families, which would be fatal to any trans student with a transphobic Family or just hateful family in general. Trans people are already a group that already has some of the highest rates of being victim to suicide, domestic violence, and sexual assault.

This bill actively makes teachers put those innocent children at such a big risk. This bill has rapidly passed the house this week with support from all 209 republicans, as well as 8 democrats. But, it's still being voted on in the senate, which means there is still time to help stop this.

To help stop this, you can visit 5calls.org (look up 2616 in the search bar), one of the most top issues filed Oppose Attacks on LGBTQ+ Students. Once you put in your general location, it will pull-up contact information for your senator, and give you a script for calling them.

If you are a minor and/or do not feel comfortable doing this, PLEASE repost this on here, or any other platform you are on/can find! This needs to be heard and fought against.

Thank you for reading this, my lovely people!

Deadline 12 June

Subject: Collecting the money to buy the medicine to my elderly parents

Current process:

USD 16,145 / $17,065

Vatted by @90-ghost

Vatted by @sar-soor

Vatted by @fairuzfan

My heart is breaking. We still need $920 to buy the medications that keep my mother and father alive. They are elderly, sick, and depend on these medicines every day. I try to stay strong in front of them, but inside I am terrified. I cannot bear the thought of watching their health decline simply because we cannot afford the treatment they need.💔

I keep staring at the remaining amount and wondering how I can save them. Yet if only 37 people donated $25 each, we could reach our goal. For many, $25 may be a small expense, but for my parents it could mean receiving the medicine that helps them continue their fight against illness.

Please, I am begging you, do not scroll past our plea. Imagine your mother or father needing medication and you being unable to provide it. Imagine watching them grow weaker while feeling completely helpless. That is the reality I am living every day.😔

Every donation, no matter how small, brings hope to my family. Please help us protect my parents and give them a chance to continue their treatment. We are desperately holding on, praying that compassionate people will hear our cry and stand beside us in this difficult moment.🙏💔😔

Its walls are worn out, and the cold seeps through every night as if we have no shelter at all.

Rodents are everywhere, getting close to our little food and frightening my children in their sleep.

I try to stay strong for them, but fear and exhaustion weigh heavily on my heart each day.

We are in desperate need of help… any kind hand that can restore a sense of safety and give my children a chance to live with dignity.

✅Vetted by @gazavetters, my number verified on the list is (#514)✅

Many people write about us with beautiful words, and express our pain through poetry and music, but the truth is, that doesn’t ease what we are going through. We don’t just need words, we need real support to keep going.

Every day we try to hold on, but the exhaustion keeps growing, and the fear never leaves us, especially with my father’s illness and his constant need for treatment.

Please donate to my family . If you are able to help, please don’t let this be just something you read and move on from.

Thank you to everyone who truly cares and tries to help.

There is no real safety, no stable access to food or medicine, and every day the conditions get worse.

What makes this even harder is that the donations have become very limited, and this is putting us in even more devastating conditions.

My father is still fighting to survive. He depends on daily medication, and without it, his life is at serious risk. Right now, we are struggling to provide what he needs because we simply cannot afford it anymore.

Please don’t let this become just another post you scroll past.

Stand with us. Donate and share 🙏❤️

I am writing now so that this sentence does not become our reality tonight while she is still breathing.

I hold my wife close, counting her breaths, bargaining with time.

Donations are scarce; every second matters.

Please, stop.

Share, donate now. Your kindness could change tomorrow and keep her alive today please, now.

Silence is killing my wife faster than her pain.

Every ignored post steals minutes from her life.

I beg you, stop here: donate, share, choose compassion before this silence becomes her ending.

„Making up stories about your life“ is actually common - and even healthy. 

Let me explain what I mean: when you freshly discovered you’re queer, you may look back at your life so far and suddenly feel like puzzle pieces click into place: stuff like „Ohh, that super intense friendship with that girl in my teen years was actually my very first lesbian crush“ or „Turns out I actually do not hate cuddling, I just couldn’t enjoy it while I was stuck in a constant state of gender dysphoria“ or „I was never actually in love with them, I just strongly admired them and figured that must be what romantic attraction feels like“. 

These kinds of realizations can feel really empowering or healing. They can take a weight off your shoulders you didn’t even know you were carrying. Understanding yourself better can make everything feel clearer and lighter!  - and unfortunately it can also irritate other people. 

People, especially those very close to you (like parents, longtime friends etc.) often have a pretty solid picture of you in their mind. Of course they should be able to adapt that picture when they learn new things about you… but some don’t do that, and instead just tell you you are „making up stories about your life“ in retrospect. They may accuse you of „trying to make yourself seem more queer than you actually are“ or „trying to rewrite history as if you have always been queer“ when really this is a brand new change which nobody, and especially not them, could’ve ever seen coming.

Hearing such things from your loved ones can really be disheartening. It can make you doubt yourself. It can make you feel bad about something that’s actually entirely normal! 

If you relate to any of this, then let me tell you: You are not trying to squeeze your past experiences into a queer mold - you are just realizing that your experiences have always been shaped by your queerness. 

Realizing something new about yourself that lets you see past experiences in a new light is not only a normal but also a beautiful thing! Being able to look back and think about the past differently is not a sign you’re a liar. It’s a sign of growth. 

With all my love,