-ALGAE-

Chinese emperor Ai of Han, fell in love with a minor official, a man named Dong Xian, and bestowed upon him great political power and a magnificent palace. Legend has it that one day while the two men were sleeping in the same bed, the emperor was roused from his sleep by pressing business. Dong Xian had fallen asleep across the emperor’s robe, but rather than awaken his peaceful lover, the Emperor cut his robe free at the sleeve. Thus “the passion of the cut sleeve” became a euphemism for same-sex love in China. — R.G.L.

Akram Zaatari, 1950s-60s, Saida, Lebanon

Women lovers are depicted exchanging love letters, visiting one another by day in palanquins and by night via ladders that ascend to rooftops, wearing each other’s clothing, dressing and undressing each other, inviting and entertaining other female couples, eating together, visiting gardens where they swing together, enjoy the beauties of nature, and sometimes engage in sex outdoors - Gandhi’s Tiger and Sita’s Smile: Essays on Gender, Sexuality and Culture by Ruth Vanita. 

Separately I always wonder about those translucent cloaks/kurtas (pic 1), sometimes its hard to make out all the elements of a costume. 

⏳ 🌈 ⏳ - 🌈 ⏳ 🌈 - ⏳ 🌈 ⏳ 

Looking (2014-2015)

excerpt from To My Women Friends (1993), dir. Natasha Sharandak

Chloe Sherman, Jew Dykes: Ali and Tai, 1994

portraits from Queer Love In Color by Jamal Jordan

ModLars 🐸 ModLucy

ModLars 🐸 ModLucy

excerpt from Secret Years (2009), dir. Mária Takács

https://www.gaystarnews.com/article/worlds-oldest-tortoise-discovered-gay/

“[S]ince I was diagnosed, my family thinks two things about my situation. One, they think I’m going to die, and two, they think that my government is doing absolutely everything in their power to stop that. And they’re wrong, on both counts. . “[I]f I’m dying from anything, I’m dying from homophobia…,from racism…,from indifference and red tape, because these are the things that are preventing an end to this crisis…If I’m dying from anything, I’m dying from the President of the United States. And, especially, if I’m dying from anything, I’m dying from the sensationalism of newspapers and magazines and television shows, which are interested in me… as long as I’m willing to be a helpless victim, but not if I’m fighting for my life. . “If I’m dying from anything, I’m dying from the fact that not enough rich, white, heterosexual men have gotten AIDS for anybody to give a shit…Living with AIDS is like living through a war which is happening only for those people who happen to be in the trenches. Every time a shell explodes, you look around and you discover that you’ve lost more of your friends, but nobody else notices… . “Someday, the AIDS crisis will be over. Remember that. And when that day comes…there’ll be people alive on this earth—gay people and straight people, men and women, black and white—who will hear the story that once there was a terrible disease in this country and all over the world, and that a brave group of people stood up and fought and, in some cases, gave their lives, so that other people might live and be free. . “So, I’m proud to be with my friends today and the people I love, because I think you’re all heroes, and I’m glad to be part of this fight. . “We’re so busy putting out fires right now, that we don’t have the time to…plan for the next wave…we have to commit ourselves to doing that. . “And then, after we kick the shit out of this disease, we’re all going to be alive to kick the shit out of this system, so that this never happens again.” – Vito Russo, “Why We Fight,” ACT UP demonstration, Albany, New York, May 9, 1988 . Picture: Vito Russo (July 11, 1946 – November 7, 1990), Washington, D.C., October 10, 1988. Photo © Rick Gerharter.

happy pride! 🌈