lunasbun

[lunasbun]

Sure, Pride Month is June, but Pride is year round because everyday queer people face hardships, and everyday we overcome challenges.

Everyday, a queer person wins a court case securing more rights for us, or comes out unapologetically, or uplifts another queer person, or stands up to their bullies and harassers. Everyday is faced with victories small and large for our community.

Everyday, a trans person gets gender affirming healthcare, or finds clothes that they enjoy wearing, or smiles after hearing someone else use their chosen name and pronouns of the first time.

Everyday a lesbian finds out what it's like to kiss another woman for the first time.

Everyday a polyamorous person finds out what it's like to hold two or more lovers at once.

Everyday we reclaim a part of our history that was once used to oppress us (slurs, pink triangle, the list goes on).

Everyday, we have victories big and small.

That's why pride is year round.

[lunasbun]

In the mind of the healthcare system I don't have "low estrogen by female standards", I have "gender incongruence".

In the mind of the healthcare system I don't have "unwanted and severe facial hair growth impacting self image", I have "gender incongruence".

In the mind of the healthcare system, procedures that are taken for granted as justified medical interventions when it's a cis woman are reluctantly offered if and only if they can be convinced that my mental health will improve, and I better pay up myself.

That is the systemic difference between a woman assigned male at birth and a woman assigned female at birth.

Failure to understand these mechanisms will inevitably lead you to transmisogyny. Inevitably.

[lunasbun]

infodump something RN!!

Fun fact: England owned most of France at one point (good on them screw the French!!!!), basically long story short there was this guy in Normandy (a region to the North of France) called William the Bastard that conquered England in 1066 also taking in the Norman lands into England. This caused a lot of tensions between the French and English which eventually lead to the hundred years war after like a couple hundred years lol (which funnily enough wasn't actually 100 years exactly, it was just the name given) that resulted in kicking the English out of mainland Europe!

I'd love to give more details but I don't wanna write like.... 20 paragraphs :3

[lunasbun]

It often feels like mainstream acceptance of queer people, particularly trans and nonbinary people, is contingent on there being few of us. When I was a kid witnessing arguments about gay marriage, statistics about LGBTQ people were so often presented in such a way as to reassure everyone else that we are not dangerous because we are rare. "It's not going to cause societal collapse ... because such a small percentage of people are gay."

And conservative rhetoric against queer people, particularly trans people, which explicitly refers to us as a "social contagion," really underscores that any perceived "increase" in sexual or gender diversity will be seen as a threat. If queer people are permitted to exist, we must be aberrant and isolated. If we are normal and natural and commonly occurring, it is because something has gone terribly wrong.

So. Forgive me if I bristle at the well-meaning argument that "these trans athlete bans are ridiculous, they're only going to affect a few dozen people!" I understand where they're coming from. But I think trans people should be free and abundant.

[lunasbun]

are u...gay? 🙈

Yes!!!!!

[lunasbun]

like we really hate to hear this - but power is in every human relationship. unless you are the exact same as your partner in age, class, race, ethnicity, religion, language, nationality, citizenship status, gender, sexual orientation, physical and mental ability, salary, education, etc, you have to negotiate the problems material power differentials pose to love, to treating others well. the response to this seems to have been to make certain points of difference - like age - load-bearing, in a way that erases others - class would be my example: far bigger a power disparity than, say, a ten year gap in age between adults is class and inheritable wealth, but you almost never see that acknowledged in the same way. and even if you were at parity in all those areas (gay twincest sweep??) there is still the emotional power that someone’s love and desire for you gives you over them. you can’t get rid of it. you cannot find the perfect relationship where it doesn’t exist by steadily winnowing down your “ethical” options via widening designations of “problematic relationships.” you have to confront the power you have over other people and think how you will wield it most lightly. sorry!