Apparent Angel

-> nonsense, redundant term (hyper-invisibility? as in more invisible than invisible?? Is the issue really just that people can't see us? Why can't they?) that frames our issues as if they're the opposite of trans women's issues (i.e. the opposite of hypervisibility)

✅💯👍 "transmasc erasure"

Left wingers do this too. Except instead of "THEY'RE EATING THE CATS AND DOGS" it looks like:

"No one else will ever accept you."

"You're too oppressed to be understood by anyone but us."

or

"Anyone outside our group is dangerous."

Check in with yourself about how online communities make you feel.

Do they make you feel hopeful, or hopeless? Connected, or isolated? Accepted, or tolerated?

Do they encourage you to think for yourself, and use critical thought? Or do they ask you to accept without thinking and toe the line? Is there open communication, or are differing opinions bullied into silence?

Beware of anyone who tries to isolate you.

Beware of anyone who tells you no one else will ever love you like they will, that no one else will ever accept you.

Beware of anyone that tells you life is nothing but pain, or that there is no hope.

Hopeless, lonely people are easily controlled.

I know things are scary right now. I'm scared too.

Look out for people who WANT you scared.

Try to find spaces that make you feel like change is possible. Look for people who make you feel empowered to do something!

^THIS!!!!

There are many valid reasons to be angry, or scared right now. But don't give up on hope, and don't let anyone isolate you.

up until that point, during the day lily continued to dress in masculine clothing and even attended galleries showing gottlieb’s paintings of her. which was kind of iconic. she got to stand in a room full of people who were marveling her beauty, not knowing she was right next to them. it must have been such a cute little secret for them as a couple.

here’s gerda and lilly together

not to mention that for most people there is no real “after” to a transition. especially for these trans historical figures who had to balance identity and safety at all times.

i think having a wife paint these portraits must have felt really amazing for lily. to be able to see herself through the eyes of someone who loved her. i’m very much seconding op on the getting teary eyed.

here are some of my favorite gottleib lily paintings

Hey artists, C. Spike Trotman, founder of Iron Circus Comics, just posted an invaluable thread on depicting different types of black hair. I’d do the thing where you screencap the whole thread and post it but it’s just too long (which is great because it’s a whole lot of useful information!) Give her a follow while you’re there.

If you ever wondered why they call tattoos and piercings "unprofessional" and "unsophisticated"