whatahyuck

you are allowed to be LGBTQA+ and religious 

it is ok to be both

they are not mutually exclusive 

and when people jokingly refer to being gay as sinning,

don’t pay attention to them

because they don’t have religion in their lives the way we do

you are also allowed to be questioning, 

“"How can I serve and love God the way I want to while also being my true self?”

because guess what?

not every LGBTQA+ person is an atheist or a non-believer

so here’s a shoutout to the Christian LGBTQA+

and the Muslim LGBTQA+ 

and the Jewish LGBTQA+ 

and the Buddhist LGBTQA+

and every other religion that you may believe in

religion can coexist with your sexual identity and your gender identity

Sex is not essential. You can live without it. Full stop.

Not having sex isn't shameful or a sign of failure. It also doesn't make anyone boring.

You are not entitled to having sex with anybody and nobody is entitled to having sex with you.

Sex is not what makes someone an adult.

Nobody's worth is defined by how much sex they have or don't have.

Sex is not equally important to everyone.

You can have fulfilling and happy relationships without sex.

You should only have sex on your own terms, not because you feel like you owe it to someone, or because you feel like you'd be incomplete without it.

Know your boundaries around sex and be firm about them. Know how to respect other people's boundaries.

The previous point also applies when it comes to discussing sex. If someone doesn't wanna talk about it or hear about it you have to back down.

I’m in my mid-thirties and I have never had sex. I’ve thought about it and could have had one or two opportunities if I put in more effort, but I always decided against it because I just wasn’t into it at the time.

I can safely say that I do not feel I have missed out on anything. I was perfectly capable, by myself, of learning about my own body and boundaries without anyone else there to muddy the waters. The immense pressure that was there in my teens/twenties to Have Sex Just Do It is basically gone. I’m vibing. I’ve got my routine by myself in bed that I enjoy, and that’s enough for me.

And in the unlikely event that I ever decide to have sex with someone in the future, I don’t feel at all like I’m lacking some essential Knowledge or Skill that would “make it good” for someone else. I fully expect to ask my partner out loud what they like and to receive an answer clearly communicated and to relax and have fun. And if it’s a disappointing experience, I’m fine with that too. It is what it is.

"oh, that's why the book is called the traitor baru cormorant"