I will meet you there

by Rainer Maria Rilke tr. Joanna Macy

Quiet friend who has come so far,

feel how your breathing makes more space around you. Let this darkness be a bell tower and you the bell. As you ring,

what batters you becomes your strength. Move back and forth into the change. What is it like, such intensity of pain? If the drink is bitter, turn yourself to wine.

In this uncontainable night, be the mystery at the crossroads of your senses, the meaning discovered there.

Next up someone is going to claim that the Narnia series isn't kids books.

Costume appreciation series: The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994) dir Stephan Elliott

because to hear even Tumblr the "gay gender website" talk people only wear harnesses while strapped into a sex swing while being fisted

but the reality is that the harness, both leather and spandex, in gay male world is like stiletto pumps, a bright red lip stick, a short skirt or push up bra.

sure some people are wearing those things because they're about to get laid or hoping to. But lots of people wear them just to feel sexy, confident or powerful. And there's nothing X rated and "shouldn't be seen in public" about any of that.

lots of gay guys wear harnesses to bars or clubs not because its a sex thing, but because its a sexy thing, they feel attractive and confident.

I get that gay men feeling attractive and confident terrifies people, but if you're at Pride and a guy walks past you in jeans and a harness, either shirtless or over his shirt, he didn't violate your civil rights or do a sex thing in front of you, he's wearing a totally appropriate outside that makes him feel confident and powerful.

This is the only known photo of the first trans woman to have her gender legally recognized in Switzerland.

In 1914, Adine T. sent a letter to her local police to grant her a pass to dress as she pleased. She petitioned that "I be granted permission to live as a woman, to wear female clothing and to pursue female occupations, and to be considered a woman before the world in all and every respect, since my emotional feelings are totally feminine and I feel unspeakably unhappy in male clothing."

Her gender was so clear that even the conservative Swiss government had to recognize it. Obtaining permission to live as a woman "is a matter of life and death for me," Adine added.

Lover's Eye Bracelet,from c. 1860, British {via}