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Hey Tumblr!

We’re so excited to introduce some amazing LGBTQIA+ artists for you to support on Tumblr. As part of our Educate. Advocate. Celebrate. theme for this year’s pride, we asked some of the best artists on Tumblr about the role their art has played in forming their identities. Whether it be a follow, sharing their work, or even buying their products, check them out! 

This is by no means an exhaustive list. Feel free to use #Tumblr Pride to share other artists that we should support. Let’s spread the love!

Milomars (he/him)

Milo of @Milomars is a queer trans artist and plant enthusiast working out of the Boston area. He says, “Creating art has been a way to explore the human figure as well as the gender spectrum. Through art, I have been able to discover what type of person I am, as well as what I want my art to represent for me. I was able to find comfort in my identity and in my trans-ness through my work.”

Browse his collection of handmade products here.

YoMeryl (she/her)

@YoMeryl is a dynamic art + animation duo based in Los Angeles, consisting of Bronwyn Lundberg and Sarah Zucker. Bronwyn is an animator and painter known for her iconic work Lesbian Last Supper, and Sarah is a writer and artist who is also a Jeopardy! Champion. Sarah says, “Art reminds me that I am the architect of my own identity and that my notion of myself is as fluid and malleable as any artwork I’m creating.“

Check out their prints, shirts and pins over here.

Cat the Frazier (she/her)

Cat Frazier of @AnimatedText is a proud Black queer woman, also known as the internet meme queen. “Art has allowed me to create a world in which I wish I lived. It also helps me process anxieties, and connect with other people.”

Looking for the perfect baseball cap to say it how it is? Head over here!

Kylie Wu (she/her)

Kylie is the creator of @TransGirlNextDoor, where she shares comics about her life as a trans girl in her 20s. “I’d say my identity, personality, and beliefs, etc. influence my art and keep providing new ideas for my comics.”

Want more? Of course you do! Here you go!

Topher McCulloch (he/him)

Designer, developer, and illustrator Topher is based in Chicago and loves to @makesomethingawfuleveryday. “Through art, I’ve been able to explore queer identity, gender norms, aesthetic appropriation, nostalgia, and the internet. Art has helped me investigate and come to terms with my own identity.”

Grab some of his work here.

so every dot on this map is basically someone’s queer experience: coming out, meeting their future wife, seeing another gay man in public for the first time, anything you can think of that truly left a mark on them

So right now there are pretty crazy right-wing nationalist sexists in Japan. They’re dressing up in WWII military outfits, they’re standing outside of Korean schools (in Japan) shouting that Koreans should be killed, and just generally being horrible human beings. For reasons unknown, the Japanese police haven’t done anything to stop them, and when people get physical with the right-wingers and a fight breaks out, it’s not the right-wing people who get punished.

Enter: the Yakuza.

Yakuza, for those who don’t know, is the name for the world of Japanese gangs, commonly known for being covered in tattoos. A few retired yakuza members (most of whom are notoriously and vocally conservative) got tired of this extreme right wing BS. They believe that picking on people who are weaker than you, like the children at the Korean schools or refugees, is embarrassing, and not something to be proud of. They want these right wingers to man up (the group is almost entirely men) and shut up.

These old retired yakuzas start showing up at the right wing protests and intimidate the hell out of these guys. When they feel like it, they’ll use physical force too. The police don’t mess with the yakuza so these right wing protesters become human punching bags. All their talk of killing Koreans or their superiority to just about everyone flies out the window when these gangsters roll up.

It started with only one or two yakuza who were bored and fed up, but more and more started to come. They started training in boxing and street fighting, and wouldn’t you know it…the number of right wing protesters got less and less.

Then, people of other walks of life joined in too. With the yakuza throwing the police off, professors could join by writing about the issues profusely. Suddenly a ton of otakus joined too, using their art and community to protest. They’d show up in droves and stand behind the muscle (yakuza) and make a ton of noise. They literally staged an “otakus against racists” rally.

Slowly, the protests have seen the right wing attendance drop more and more and I am living for these “manly men” being trashed by retired gangsters and fans of Love Live.

In conclusion:

First, I’d like the extreme right wing to gtfo