Random Facts & Shit

This list includes doctors in the United States, Australia, Canada, and Europe!

Even if you're not the target demographic, please share for any of your friends who may be.

First: What if a trans kid asks their parents to show their support by attending Pride with them? What if a lesbian can only attend pride if she gets a ride from someone and the only person willing and able to drive her is her straight brother? What if a bi disabled person can't attend a large outdoor event without hands-on assistance from their straight partner? What if someone just wants to bring their fucking friends? What if, contrary to popular tumblr discourse, most queers don't inhabit perfectly pure social bubbles populated only by other queers?

we get to a part of the performance where the queen hosting does what i will lovingly call a queer roll-call. asked gays to cheer, lesbians to cheer, everyone under the umbrella to cheer, but then- she asked if there were any allies. this individual jumps and yells and she is smiling so wide, and i realized that very moment the ENTIRE time i had been genuinely assuming she was here & queer. she was an ally! the queen even comments "you got more energy than some of the performers out here girl, go ahead" and she just yells that she loves us. just this big loud "i love y'all" from the bottom of her heart.

i dont necessarily feel bad for assuming, but i learned something from this. i learned that i had never seen such an enthusiastic ally before, so seeing her enthusiasm at pride clocked her as queer to me somehow. this is NOT how it should be, pride is about community first and solidarity is necessary to achieve safer community. more importantly, just as prev post says, "they're a great reminder to the people in the community who are afraid that society in general hates us."

they remind us that support does not hinge on identity, but on general compassion and understanding. more allies at pride means more allies in the rest of the world. i have no data or whatever to back this up but i feel very strongly about it:

Bumblebees may seem like passive, cuddly, and docile creatures, but they won’t hesitate to defend themselves if they feel as if their warnings aren’t being read or taken seriously.

I.e. the photos and diagram below, when a bee feels threatened they will raise one or more of their legs into the air, signaling to whatever or whomever may be bothering them as a message essentiality saying: “hey, back off, too close!”

species pictured: bombus pascuorum, bombus impatiens

If their defensive posture goes unnoticed or ignored, they may be pushed into defending themselves by stinging (which is also a stressful experience for not only one such as yourself, but also for the bee.) If you ever find yourself getting close to a bumblebee while taking pictures, walking close to them, or just admiring them, remember this posture! If a bee does this, it is simply asking you to take a step back as it feels it is being threatened.

LJS 447 is an Arabic work containing descriptions and illustrations of domestic and wild animals, birds, insects, marine animals, plants, stemless plants, and herbs. Written in Aleppo, Syria, in 1710 by Jibrāyil ibn Mikhāyil al-Ḥamawī

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