pale blossoms called innocence

The thing is... Israel admitted to this from the very beginning.

They said the confessions were obtained through 'interrogation' in the Shin Bet aka torture (Shin Bet is where they like to torture Palestinian prisoners for intel) so every country that cut funding to the UNRWA knew from the beginning that Israel was using false forced statements.

(…)

All those who contend that gay male promiscuity is merely sexual compulsion resulting from fear of intimacy are now faced with very strong evidence against their prejudices. For if compulsion were so easily overcome or redirected, it would hardly deserve the name. Gay male promiscuity should be seen instead as a positive model of how sexual pleasures might be pursued by and granted to everyone if those pleasures were not confined within the narrow limits of institutionalized sexuality. Indeed, it is the lack of promiscuity and its lessons that suggests that many straight people will have a much harder time learning “how to have sex in an epidemic’’ than we did. This assumption follows from the fact that risk reduction information directed at heterosexuals, even when not clearly anti-sex or based on false morality, is still predicated on the prevailing myths about sexuality in our society. First among these, of course, is the myth that monogamous relationships are not only the norm but ultimately everyone’s deepest desire. Thus the message is often not about safe sex at all, but about how to find a safe partner”

I would also discourage people from using online therapy apps like BetterHelp and Talkspace. Though BetterHelp says they are HIPAA compliant, that is a lie. They have shared data with Facebook. Their most recent privacy policy update says “We may share your information in connection with an asset sale, merger, bankruptcy, or other business transaction.” Any data breach could put your information at risk. Any health app could suddenly decide to change their privacy policies without notice.

Jamison Green, born in 1948. He was a pioneer for trans men after Lou Sullivan's death. He's still alive.

Carter Brown, a victim of workplace transphobia, and the founder of Black Transmen Inc.

Robert Eads, 1945-1999. Pictured with his trans female partner, Lola. I recommend watching Southern Comfort, which follows him throughout his final year of life. His story is a beautiful one, but also a tragic example of medical transphobia.

Loren Cameron, born in 1959. A photographer and artist, who curated exceptional and groundbreaking collections of trans photography.

Willmer Broadnax, 1916-1992. A black gospel singer who never medically transitioned, but lived his entire life as a male, in public.

Lucas Silveira, born in 1979. He is the first openly transgender man to have signed with a major record label. He is still alive.

Billy Tipton, 1914-1989. He did not undergo a medical transition, but raised multiple children, and had a successful musical career.

Jim McHarris, a black trans man born in 1954, who you can read more about here.

Reed Erickson, 1917-1992. You can read about his insanely important contribution to LGBT+ progress here.

Stop erasing trans male stories by leaving us out of Pride Month posts.

Trans men are not a footnote in history.

Trans men are not an afterthought.

We have always been around.

Erasure of trans men, and transmasculine people more generally, perpetuates the myth that queerness is inherently feminine. Butch lesbians, male impersonators, and trans men have always been central to LGBT+ progress and pride. I'm tired of people defaulting to anti-FTM mindsets, or at the very least, erasing trans men as their first instinct. I'm sick of the invisibility that we suffer. I'm sick of masculine lesbians, like Stormé DeLarverie, being treated as irrelevant. I feel so much solidarity with butches and lesbians who have been cut out of history, because the same thing is happening to trans men.