"No One Can Love You Until You Love Yourself" Is Like The Worst Possible Way Of Articulating "if You

We need representation

We need representation so kid's eyes aren’t covered by parents who sense danger in two men holding hands

We need representation so women can kiss and not feel ashamed or sexualized

We need representation so bi and pan and omni and anyone with a heart so big it can’t love just one gender isn’t told to choose

We need representation so the people with multiple partners aren’t condemned for cheating

We need representation so kids don’t run up to people asking if they're a boy or a girl when in reality they are neither

We need representation so trans kids don’t grow up feeling dysphoric without the words to express themselves

We need representation so aro and ace kids don’t grow up thinking something in them is broken

good evening from your local they/them artist. reminder to stay hydrated by drinking your respect trans people juice!

EDIT: i forgot his scar shfjdsflsdf

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can we like…get rid of the so-called leather and rubber “pride flags” ? it’s honestly ridiculous and offensive to the lgbtq community. those aren’t pride flags. 

^^^

The debate of all time

If you don't like brownies then this poll is not for you. Please move along

Women shouldn't have to share our traumas for our ideological convictions be taken seriously, but just like how during Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing, every woman I know shared her experiences with sexual violence to try and stop his confirmation, I don't think we have a choice.

An informational comic I illustrated for my comics 2 class about drag!

Just a reminder that we aren't gatekeeping Pride.

I know it's only April, but I just saw such a rancid take on Tiktok (and the person blocked me, woo!) That I need to vent somewhere.

The argument went "bi/pan/queer people with cishet partners shouldn't bring those partners into queer spaces/Pride because it makes those spaces unsafe for lgbt folks."

Which is a frankly awful take for many reasons.

First of all "makes a space unsafe" is not an identity. It is a behavior. And ANYONE who is making those spaces unsafe, regardless of their identity, *shouldn't be there.* Whether they are a cishet man or a lesbian, if you are making people unsafe, you shouldn't be there.

Secondly, it's blatantly unenforceable. You can't clock someone's identity at the door. You don't know if they are bi or trans or nonbinary. And no one should have to out themselves to a bouncer.

As a caveat to this, you also don't ever know *why* someone might bring their cishet partner to pride. Whether that's because this is an important part of their life they want to share with their partner, or they are disabled and need help managing their meds or mobility aides, or the partner is a designated driver. You just don't know. So even if you did know they were cishet, maybe they have a "good reason" for being there.

So between it not solving an actual problem to not being enforceable, all this discourse does is create an EXTREMELY hostile environment for, well, bi/pan/queer folks especially. Always. We always get targeted for this kind of stuff.

But also anyone who might worry that *they* aren't queer enough or not look queer enough. Trans folks who haven't socially transitioned, non-binary folks who aren't androgynous enough, ace and aro folks, people who are newly out- they see this rhetoric and think "Oh no. What is someone sees me and thinks I'm cishet? What if someone tells me I can't be there? What if I don't really belong?"

So we aren't doing it. It's shitty snd hostile and biphobic and exclusionary.

Everyone can come to pride.

Except cops.

Fuck cops.

There is so much more I could say about this, but there is not enough room. Remember to check with reality rather than believing conspiracy theories promoted, supported, and funded by white nationalist hate groups.

Missouri is proposing 20% of the nation’s anti-trans legislation this session. Gender-affirming care for young folks is on the edge of being criminalized (so much love to trans friends in states where that has already happened).

Please keep up with the anti-trans legislation in your state and combat it. There are lives at stake.

Transphobes do not touch this post.

Image ID: a 10-image cartoon comic featuring Joey, a boy with short hair.

Image 1: Joey, upset, gesticulates towards an open laptop. Text reads: The reality of St. Louis trans kids. Last week, a former (non-medical) employee of Washington University’s Pediatric Transgender Center was featured in a viral article about how the clinic was “rushing” kids into medical care and “mutilating” us. Every single thing she said was a lie, but the media loves it. Footnote reads: I wouldn’t give any more attention to this, but it is immediately endangering the lives of trans people. Missouri has launched a state investigation and is actively attempting to criminalize gender-affirming care based on conspiracy theories.

Image 2: Joey points to a map of the United States where Missouri is singled out, and a map of Missouri where St. Louis is indicated with a star. The text reads: The Transgender Center, located in St. Louis, Missouri, has been the target of hateful attacks from the far-right state legislature for years. It is part of Washington University Hospital, a branch of a prestigious private university.

Image 3: A younger Joey injects his T shot in his leg while someone takes a photo. Text reads: I can tell you that everything in the article is false because I received care at the Transgender Center beginning at 16 years old. My medical transition has brought me nothing but joy. What a gift it is to be trans!

Image 4: A younger Joey sits on a couch and stims with a tangle fidget toy. Text reads: No one is “rushed”. I sat on many waitlists, had to have 6 months of specialized gender therapy and a diagnosis of gender dysphoria before even being referred to the Center, and I was denied as “not ready enough” by an endocrinologist the first time I finally got an appointment. Footnote reads: If you’re curious about what it looks like to be a trans kid, I did another piece on that! Check out tinyurl.com/transkidscomictumblr.

Image 5: A colorful map of the United States shows how many states have a Negative Gender Identity Policy Tally and how many states have criminalized gender affirming care. Joey holds a credit card. Text reads: St. Louis’ Pediatric Transgender Center is the only one in the region, meaning the waitlists are extremely long. Plus, no one in the only industrialized country without free healthcare is getting medical care for fun. Many American trans folks have to fundraise for our care.

Image 6: Joey, distressed, sits on a couch while talking on the phone. The person on the other end says: “That’s me!” Text reads: This former employee spoke about specific cases, and patients have been able to identify themselves. She shared our private medical info and called us horrifying.

Image 7: This is split into two panels. In the first, Joey holds up a box of condoms and a packet of birth control pills. Texts reads: She especially hated trans men such as myself, saying that trans ideology was destroying “girls”. She lamented about hormones making us “sterile”, which is a complete lie. We trans mascs have to actively prevent pregnancy. In panel two stands a doctor. Text reads: Every time I had an appointment at the Center, doctors reminded me: Remember: testosterone is not a contraceptive! Footnote reads: The wonderful Erin Reed wrote a breakdown debunking all the lies in the article. See tinyurl.com/erinreedmissouri.

Image 8: Joey, masked, sits at a circular table with his brother, an unmasked boy with fluffy short hair. Joey’s brother is showing him his phone. Text reads: Major newspapers continue to platform these complete lies because they bring in engagement and money. The Washington Post tracked down my little brother’s personal cell phone number to try to get in contact with our mom – the president of an organization supporting trans kids in Missouri. Freaky, right?

Image 9: Joey, looking disgusted, leans against a door frame while talking on a cell phone. Text reads: But no one wants to talk with me, the adult who medically transitioned at this clinic as a minor and has not “desisted” in six years. The Washington Post reporter, who didn’t know anything about trans people, talked with me for 20 minutes and used a sentence of mine in an article about “both sides of the debate”. She didn’t mention that this former employee is being legally represented by a recognized anti-LGBT hate group, nor that all of her claims are unsupported by reality or science.

Image 10: Joey looks angry and gesticulates. Beside the drawing are two photos of Joey, one of him happy in front of a trans flag, and the other of him drawing up testosterone to take his first T shot. Text reads: There is no debate. There are trans people, and there are people who want us dead. There is truth and there are conspiracy theories. Where is my viral article in a major paper?

Published Feb 16, 2023. End ID.

I'm really fucking angry & have been sitting with this for a few days.

Why is nobody talking about the fact that 215 children's bodies were discovered in Canada, all killed in Kamloops Indian Residential School?

the last Residential School was closed in the fucking 80s, but I've heard fellow native people say it's 1996.

closed in the 1980s-90s.

that wasn't long ago.

I'm crying as I write this and my blood is boiling, nobody is fucking talking about these poor babies who were ripped from their families and MURDERED!!!

nobody outside of Canada fucking talks about this. I'm so sick of it. There's so much violence towards native people, and nobody gives a shit.

They're ripping through our land as I speak, and our Prime Minister is at the center of it!

his statement towards the discovery of these children is to call this a "shameful chapter of our country's history" BUT HEY, JUSTIN??? the chapter ain't fucking done, you sick monster!!

there are 40 year olds who are still alive, who were survivors of the residential schools!!!

I'm so disgusted. I'm so done. I'm so, so disappointed in this awful country.