Having read through and tortured myself with all the bullshit regarding the acephobics screaming that asexuality ‘preys’ on young homosexuals and that adding Asexuality to its list means that young homosexuals will be told they are asexual and not just dealing with internalized homophobia, I have a few things to say.
Harvey Milk was shot and killed 33 years ago today.
I’m sorry. Sorry about the bullying, the fighting, the insults, the fear, the worst. I’m so sorry you had to go through this. You deserved a better life. You won’t be forgotten.
Being attracted to only one gender* seems about as much fun as only liking one kind of ice cream. Sure, chocolate is great! Vanilla’s great, too. But what about Birthday Party? There’s an ice cream called Birthday Party. I want to try that. I guess I just can’t imagine letting a silly thing like anatomy dictate who I want covered in chocolate sprinkles.
SO UH. WHO HAS TWO THUMBS AND WANTS ICE CREAM?
THIS GUY.
…there’s an ice cream called Birthday Party?
Wait, I’m lactose intolerant D:
BOY THIS IS WHY YOU GET SORBET! JEEBUS!
Even as a bisexual person, I’m not fond of this post or this analogy, to be honest. Phrases like “a silly thing like anatomy” imply that people who do have an anatomy preference aren’t as enlightened or mature as people who can look beyond something so “silly”. Even when you’re a minority in your preferences or orientation it’s still important to be respectful and understanding toward everyone, just as you’d want them to be to you.
…is today. If you are choosing to be open about your sexuality today, I hope you don’t encounter hostility. If you do and things don’t work out as well as you’d hoped, remember there are resources out there that can try and help you if you need them.
Who you love and who you’re attracted to does not define you and you shouldn’t let it. Still, it’s a facet of who you are, and as long as you express it in ways that are respectful of others, you should not be made to feel ashamed. I have faith that someday coming out will be less of a frightening prospect for a lot of people and a day like today won’t be needed. If you are coming out today, feel good about the fact that by putting yourself out there today you might just help make that day come a little quicker.
Rainbow Health Ontario, CAMH and The Public are incredibly excited to launch the Bisexual anti-stigma campaign in Toronto this fall. Check out the launch party on September 9th. For more information check out http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=199052006821971
We are thrilled to have been a part of this exciting initiative. Challenging biphobia is part of building strength in our communities!
That top one really makes me happy. YAY VISIBILITY AND INTERSECTION AND YES.
Today on “fabulous things that show up on my dash”.
(Because, seriously, unfuck the fact that this has to be an issue at all, since the whole anti-bi thing I understand even less than normal heterosexism, which says a lot.
But hella props to this lot.)
Okay. So that one yes-butno secret or post or whatever really rubbed me the wrong way, and here’s why.
Straight people are not the center of the queer rights movement. White people are not the center of the civil rights movement. Men are not the center of the women’s rights movement. Get it?
Privileged people do not get to go into a space for oppressed people and decide what they are offended by in that movement. A straight cis person being bothered by being called gay or lesbian or bi or trans* needs to reexamine their privilege and then promptly shut up about their offended-ness. Because it doesn’t belong there.
Look, I like straight people being involved in the queer rights movement, I do. I’m glad they’re there to support me. But if they’re going to be vomiting their privilege all over the place, it’s going to bother the hell out of me and they can gtfo, because they’re obviously not 100% behind me and the cause that’s dear to me—dear to my life.
Because really, what oppressed people are fighting for is their right to exist. I’m glad there are people out there that want to be allies to this movement, but if they don’t constantly check their privilege and apologize when they’ve messed up (and I’m certainly willing to forgive them, don’t get me wrong), then they need to get out.
I sound like goddamn Larry Kramer rn, lol.
What I was saying in my reply to your reply post was that I don’t think people always say the “but I’m not gay” with the thought process of not wanting to lose their straight privilege in the course of offering their support. I think in many cases they’re saying, “I support gay rights and I want straight non-supporters to realize that support for queer people continues to extend far beyond the actual number of queer people and so non-supportive behavior will continue to become less tolerated” or “I support gay rights and I want to show that I recognize the fact that it is not my movement” and so forth.
Do they get privilege by making the statement regardless of their intentions in saying it? Yes. But that doesn’t mean they don’t know it or that it doesn’t do more than just give them privilege, as I think the identification of who is a straight ally and their numbers is beneficial. Does the gay rights movement need the support of straight people to validate the movement? Absolutely not. But that doesn’t mean that I don’t like knowing there are straight people supporting gay rights or that having openly straight people involved in the gay rights movement doesn’t help in its own ways.
In high school, I was a part of the school’s GSA and it meant a lot to me, and some of the people who were most outspoken and worked the hardest to make that group work were straight, and I often felt like they made the most impact as individuals when they were saying “I support gay rights and I’m straight” (which they didn’t often and their involvement made them occasional victims of anti-gay bullying regardless of what they said their orientation was) — because they set an example for other straight people in the school and they enforced the idea that the involvement of straight people in GSA was appreciated and therefore encouraged more people to join, and even if the gay rights movement doesn’t need the support of straights to validate their fight, a school GSA appreciates as many bodies as they we can get to have a presence and accomplish tasks.
tl;dr: I don’t think people mentioning their straightness in the context of gay rights discussions are always just trying to ensure they keep their privilege. Some people definitely do, but I don’t think it’s fair to generalize the intentions of 29,700 people on Tumblr in reblogging a post. You have every right to be offended by whatever offends you, but I just feel like you’re jumping to conclusions about a statement that can have a lot of different intentions and come from a lot of different sorts of people beyond the negative characterization you’re describing.
Thirteen US Senators make “It Gets Better” video
And the ball continues to roll: Earlier this year, a spat of polls showed, for the first time, majority support for same-sex marriage. Last weekend, New York state passed the Marriage Equality Act, granting equal marriage rights to all New Yorkers. Now, thirteen US Senators have filmed an “It Gets Better” video. When you think about the political prospects for gay rights even five years ago, this is kind of astounding — these thirteen individuals (all Democrats; Republicans apparently weren’t asked to participate) are amongst the most powerful people in the most powerful country in the world. Much respect to Senator Chris Coons for posting this; Coons, you’ll recall, was the 2010 candidate everybody wrote off until the Republicans nominated Christine O’Donnell to run against him. So, in a weird way, we have O’Donnell to thank for this video. Thanks, Christine! (via gaywrites, thegayrepublican) source
