Blood and Guts and Ice Cream Dreams

Who were your queer childhood heroes?

I’m bisexual. I didn’t really come to terms with being bisexual until… I was almost 20, I think. And part of the reason for this, I think, is even though I attempted to be an ally for LGBT+ rights since I was a teenager, my only ‘introductions’ to bisexuality were, well:

-Dr. Frankenfurter from The Rocky Horror Picture Show (I’m not even really sure about this. I just saw him as a gay man- who happened to have sex with Janet. So. I dunno.)

-A magazine article a friend of mine showed me about how a guy cheated on his girlfriend- with a man!

So not great representations.

With that in mind, I want to know who y’all looked up to in conjunction with figuring out your sexuality- particularly in the media you watched. I don’t think my schools had any books with queer characters in them- and if they, I didn’t know about them (AND I LOOKED). 

Personally, my heroes were:

-Augusten Burroughs. I read Running with Scissors in 7th grade. I think he was my introduction to homosexuality. (Sidenote: A lot of people say that you can’t have queer characters in kid’s tv because they’re too young to learn about differing sexualities. All this meant for me is that as a young’un, I learned about queerness through adult books and bad yaoi and porn. Good fucking job.)

-Sailor Neptune and Sailor Uranus. They were ‘cousins’ in the dub, but they were my first lady-ship before I knew what a ship was.

-Fox and Collin from the webcomic Friendly Hostility. I was introduced to them when I already knew a little bit more about bisexuality (edit: I just checked. The first comic came out around when I was 13. I don’t think it fully hit me that he was bi for a while though because I was under the impression same-sex male relationship meant he was gay. Let’s say I figure it out when I was 16), but I think Fox was the first positive bisexual representation I’d seen. Fox and Collin were the first happy LGBT couple with whom I could relate. They had a relationship I wanted- so it really broke my heart when they started falling apart and eventually split up. (Uh. Spoilers I guess.)

So who did y’all look up to? When you were (or, well, are, this is tumblr) trying to figure out who you are as an LGBT+ person, who helped you come to terms with who you are? [ugh poorly worded]

they don't allow you to have bees in here: An open letter to all Fandoms- From a Bisexual Fan

succexiest:

fandomsandfeminism:

Hi Fandoms,

My name is Rosie. I’m 22. I grew up in Texas, about an hour south of Austin. I’m the oldest of 4 children; the child of teachers; on my way to be a teacher as well.

I’m a fan of Sci-Fi and Fantasy, of anime and manga, of magical girls and pirates. I’m a…

“Here’s the thing about media representation: You don’t notice it when you do have it, but when it’s missing- it is like an ache. I looked around me at every book, movie, TV show, comic book I had and saw no one like me.”

ruraljackdaw:

The Gripping Saga

Made rebloggable for Steven

wizardpeeper:

fandomsandfeminism:

If you’ve ever wondered by many LGBTQ+ people are wary as shit about our “allies”

There ya go.

Ewwww allies ewwwww

Jason Collins Is Not the First Out Gay Pro Athlete

stfuconservatives:

thepoliticalfreakshow:

There have been a number of out, professional women athletes before him.

Although his coming out in Sports Illustrated is big news, NBA star Jason Collins is not the “first openly gay athlete in professional North American team sports,” as some have claimed. Claiming as much implies that either women’s sports don’t matter as much (or don’t exist at all), or that coming out is somehow less of a big deal for professional athletes who happen to be women. Here are just a few of them:

• Retired WNBA star Sheryl Swoopes, who came out in 2005 when she played for the Houston Comets. (She later married a man.)
• Brittney Griner of the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury.
• Chamique Holdsclaw, former WNBA player most recently with the San Antonio Silver Stars.
• Megan Rapinoe, member of the US Women’s National Team, now playing soccer professionally in France.
• Lori Lindsey, USWNT member in the 2012 Olympics who currently plays for the Washington Spirit in the National Women’s Soccer League.

There have also been a number of out stars in individual sports—including Billie Jean King and Martina Navratilova in tennis and Orlando Cruz, a professional boxer.

There have also been other male professional athletes in team sports who have come out, even if they’re not in the “big four” professional sports—like Andrew Goldstein, the goalie for Major League Lacrosse’s Long Island Lizards.

I was just about to post this link! It’s awesome that Jason Collins publicly came out, but he’s not the first pro athlete to do it.

Do professional MMA fighters count as professional athletes? (This might be a dumb question. I’m not a big sports person.) Cause then I’d like to add Liz Carmouche.

lgbtlaughs:

The Rainbow Crosswalks Of Sydney, Australia

A popular rainbow crosswalk has been suddenly removed from Sydney, Australia’s gay and lesbian district because the city claimed it was a traffic hazard. The crosswalk was created to honor the 35th anniversary of the gay and lesbian carnival, and supporters want to keep the crosswalk because they say it serves as a symbol of the city’s tolerance.

In response to the city removing the crosswalk, people have started creating their own rainbow crosswalks.

callmekitto:

callingoutbigotry:

alphabonesoup:

Here it is! I’m not 100% sure if I like how it came out… it almost seems a bit too cutesy for the subject. Maybe I just like drawing cute clothes and bright colours too much! 

This is for a contest with the Canadian Human Rights Agencies for their conference in May. All the Advanced Illustration students and Design students had to enter as part of their final. Kinda pissed that they required us to print it off at 24 x 36…. which I think is way too big and expensive ($50!!) for most students and their budget. We don’t even get to keep the posters. And the top prize is only $200. I feel kinda ripped off. :/

EDIT: A couple of people have sent me notes saying that “Transgendered” is incorrect terminology. I apologize, I kind of added the text last minute, and should have known better. I’ve uploaded a fixed version. :)

This poster is a good reminder that pronouns aren’t “preferred”. They’re NECESSARY. 

If it’s okay, I’d like to put in my two cents re: the color scheme being “too cutesy—” I… kinda like that. For one, she’s a femme woman and the color scheme reflects that. She’s not muted or neutralized even when the wrong words surround her. I like that she’s strong and cute and bright and herself. Even when it’s hard.

dweeb-prince:

deafmuslimpunx:

pretendpagan:

Trans* activists in Mexico City, protesting violence against the LGBTQ community.

damn

This is a powerful fucking picture. Fuck.

(Source: tzintzuntzan)

dwemerkin:

thedailywhat:

Comic Book News of the Day: DC Comics Introduces First Transgender Character

DC Comics broke new grounds today by introducing its first transgender character Alysia Yeoh in issue #19 ofBatgirl. Although Yeoh is technically not the first trans* character in comics, she is the first to appear in a mainstream comic and author Gail Simone says Yeoh won’t be the last one:

“It’s time for a trans hero in a mainstream comic. … I’m sure it’s controversial on some level to some people, but honest to God, I just could not care less about that. If someone gets upset, so be it; there are a thousand other comics out there for those people.”

This is being handled fairly well so far, so for the love of god, don’t fuck this up, DC.

(Source: catbushandludicrous)