megaunicornhearts-blog

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"We stand at the edge of the watery marsh, representing the primordial emotional state that holds all potential and creative energy within the human psyche, and are drawn to the horizon where Moon meets Earth beyond the barren trees." You are on the precipice of discovery. Your intuition is awake. Your initiative will move you through and beyond - transformed.

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What's an ally? How are allys like underwear?

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Van Gogh, Watercolors. 

Prints

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Lily Tomlin’s relationship with Jane has been an example of the neutralizing of queer relationships. She’s been mentioning her long time love for decades but her comments are often absent form the article or film. Lily and Jane are not an example of the heteronormative narrative that our dominant culture expects. 

Thanks for being authentic and lovely Lily! 

Lily Tomlin is showing the world that an actor doesn’t need to be closeted to be successful. The Screen Actors Guild will present the Grace and Frankie star with its Lifetime Achievement Award early next year. The lesbian actress will be the first out performer to receive the honor.

The 76-year-old comedian rose to fame on the variety show Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In and in films like 9 to 5 and All of Me.  She also voiced the character of Ms. Frizzle on the popular animated television series The Magic School Bus. In 2014 she was among the honorees of the Kennedy Center Honors.

Recently, Tomlin has starred in the film Grandma as well as the Netflix seriesGrace and Frankie, for which she recently received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series.

“Lily Tomlin is an extraordinary actress as equally adept at narrative drama as in comedy roles,” said Gabrielle Carteris, the president of SAG-AFTRA. “But it is through her many original characters that Lily’s creative genius fully shines. She has an ability to create diverse and distinct characters that are at once familiar, eccentric and oh so honest — in a way that illuminates life’s hidden corners.”

“From Edith Ann to Frankie, her characters are wholly unique, and by exposing every nuance of human behaviour they widen our scope of understanding,” she concluded.

Tomlin has never had a formal coming-out. Both publicly and privately, she has always been open about her decades-long relationship with her partner Jane Wagner, whom she wed in 2013. However, as Tomlin noted in 2008 to Just Out magazine, members of the press chose to keep her in a glass closet.

“Everybody in the industry was certainly aware of my sexuality and of Jane,”she said, adding “in interviews I always reference Jane and talk about Jane, but they don’t always write about it.”

The news of the out actress’ honor comes at a time when many actors still struggle with the closet — and few out actors receive leading roles in films. In a recent interview with GQ, Jared Leto called out the disparity in Hollywood, which he described as a “very conservative business.”

“I definitely don’t think a gay leading man would have the same opportunities as a straight leading man,” Leto said. “I don’t know if that’s offensive or not, but that’s my thought right now. It shouldn’t be that way.”

Out actor Noah Galvin, who portrays a character based on a young Dan Savage in ABC’s The Real O’Neals, spoke out against the glass closet earlier this year in a controversial interview, which used coarse language to describe closeted performers. He apologized for his remarks the same day the piece was published in Vulture.

Afterward, rumors circulated that ABC would penalize the show for Galvin’s remarks by giving the season a reduced order of episodes. These rumors were put to rest this week by executive producer Casey Johnson, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

“That part of that story is not true. There wasn’t any threat to cut our order,” she said. “ABC has been incredibly supportive. There wasn’t much going on behind the scenes. The article came out and Noah regretted what he said and apologized really quickly. I think we’ve all said things we wish we hadn’t. It’s all good, and we all got back to work. There wasn’t that much buzzing behind the scenes.”

Tomlin will receive her honor at the Screen Actors Guild Awards in January 2017.

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The first time I saw this video - I had a huge mix of feelings. I’m a mother and can’t imagine rejecting my child. 

Queer youth are far more vulnerable to exploitation than hetero youth. Some statistics say that 40% of homeless youth are queer. 1 in 4 homeless youth will be exploited, sex trafficking, unpaid labor, etc. How do we as a nation that loves family and children, constantly fail our most vulnerable?

There are only a few things that separate any two people - genetics and customs/culture. All the rest is the same. We want to be loved, accepted and embraced by our family and society... 

Love is love

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I love this song for it’s tender and cheeky expression of love.

I can’t wait for the dominant heteronormative expectation and definition of relationships, love and sex to no longer demand assimilation.

I also think it’s bigger than acceptance. We can’t just allow the dominant culture to accept queer relationships. If queer love and sex are ‘accepted’ under dominant rules - there is always a price to pay - and that is to adopt the same standards as the dominant cis, white folk that make and perpetuate this standard. Blend or be chucked out. 

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I wasn’t in love with her. And she didn’t love me. For me the question of love was irrelevant. What I sought was the sense of being tossed about by some raging, savage force, in the midst of which lay something absolutely crucial. I had no idea what that was. But I wanted to thrust my hand right inside her body and touch it, whatever it was.

Haruki Murakami (via lovelustquotes)

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Remember, Remember, Remember, There is something beautiful about being lied to: Rainbows are just a trick of light, They make us forget the storm is still happening, When walking towards the end of the rainbow, it will always move away.

Queer Rage  (via thequeergeologystudent)

Rainbows are a trick - but they are also a moment of reprieve. A bit of whimsy and beauty, magic reflection of mist and light. Magic is not tangible.

When the world turns out to be something we didn’t think it could be, when we are thrust into waves of judgement, fear, oppression and greed - how do we retain or gain balance? Is there a way to push back against inhumane and unjust practices? Is there a way to hold society, religion and families responsible for the bone and heart crushing (literal and figurative) judgement, violence and exploitation?

I don’t know. But I know rainbows are an accident of rain and sun. If we keep pushing back, and keep following justice, we may not need to reach the rainbow. We may create our own magic. 

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There is still a lot to be done to create equitable access to personal, political and social rights - but what does it say about culture, when a cause becomes trendy? Will there eventually be a backlash or boredom attached to the movement - similar to the rejection and boredom attached to fashion fads, tech fads and other trendy things?

“Academics saw queerness as possessing revolutionary potential. Eve Sedgwick, a professor at Duke who is considered one of the founders of queer theory, described queerness as an “open mesh of possibilities.” David Halperin, a founder of an academic journal on queer studies, describes queerness as a practice, one that is an “exhilarating personal experiment, performed on ourselves by ourselves.” Writing in 1995, Halperin bemoaned the dilution of what he felt was a subversive word. “There is now a right way to be queer ... to invert the norms of straight society,” he scoffed, referring to clothes, haircuts, piercings, even diets tailored to gay and lesbian buyers. “How can queer modes of consumption count as resistant cultural practices?” Eight years later, the hit makeover show “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” debuted on Bravo, literalizing Halperin’s concerns. Each episode culminated in a lavish shopping trip that distilled gay culture down to clothes and hair products — and it was all done in the service of straight men.”

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When heteronormative standards are no longer the dominant narrative, we will be free from the oppression to assimilate.

The Seattle City Council has voted unanimously to ban conversion therapy — the abusive practice of trying to change someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity — for anyone under age 18. 

This makes Seattle the 10th U.S. jurisdiction to enact a ban on conversion therapy. The others are California, New Jersey, Oregon, Illinois, New York, Vermont, Cincinnati, Washington, D.C., and Miami Beach, Fla. 

“Being gay, lesbian, bisexual, queer, or transgender is not an illness,” said Councilmember Lorena González, the ordinance’s chief sponsor, when introducing it, reports local newspaper The Stranger. “Nor is it something that needs a cure.” The council passed the ordinance by a vote of 9-0.

The Seattle ordinance provides for a fine of $500 for the first offense and $1,000 for any violation after that, The Stranger reports. There will also be misdemeanor charges for advertising conversion therapy.

This. Is. So. Important. Congratulations, Seattle. Set the example for the rest of the nation that conversion therapy needs to go. 

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#genderstereotypes #queer #lgbtq #feminism #pavingtheway #megaunicornhearts

On his birthday yesterday, the President published an article in the women’s magazine, in which he spoke about the world his daughters are growing up in.

He declared that “it is absolutely men’s responsibility to fight sexism too”, explaining that “Michelle and I have raised our daughters to speak up when they see a double standard or feel unfairly judged based on their gender or race—or when they notice that happening to someone else”.

He wrote: “It’s important for them to see role models out in the world who climb to the highest levels of whatever field they choose. And yes, it’s important that their dad is a feminist, because now that’s what they expect of all men.”

Elsewhere in the piece, the POTUS hailed the ways that the younger generation “refuses to be bound by old ways of thinking” in terms of gender identity.

He said: “And you’re helping all of us understand that forcing people to adhere to outmoded, rigid notions of identity isn’t good for anybody — men, women, gay, straight, transgender, or otherwise.”

“These stereotypes limit our ability to simply be ourselves.”

He wrote: “When you’re the father of two daughters, you become even more aware of how gender stereotypes pervade our society.”

“You see the subtle and not-so-subtle social cues transmitted through culture. You feel the enormous pressure girls are under to look and behave and even think a certain way.”

“And those same stereotypes affected my own consciousness as a young man. Growing up without a dad, I spent a lot of time trying to figure out who I was, how the world perceived me, and what kind of man I wanted to be.”

“It’s easy to absorb all kinds of messages from society about masculinity and come to believe that there’s a right way and a wrong way to be a man.”

“But as I got older, I realised that my ideas about being a tough guy or cool guy just weren’t me. They were a manifestation of my youth and insecurity. Life became a lot easier when I simply started being myself.”

“So we need to break through these limitations. We need to keep changing the attitude that raises our girls to be demure and our boys to be assertive, that criticises our daughters for speaking out and our sons for shedding a tear.”

“We need to keep changing the attitude that punishes women for their sexuality and rewards men for theirs.”

And if we needed another reason to be proud and appreciative of Obama, here it is. 

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Identity TV is a new YouTube channel that will specialise in LGBT Themed videos. Their vision is to create a network that builds a community and creates a network throughout YouTube’s LGBT stars and vloggers.

Identity TV’s goal is to provide a well-rounded selection of original content including celebrity interviews, cooking/drink recipes, travel, comedy, fashion and more!

The money raised from this Kickstarter Campaign will go towards booking celebrity interviews as well as production costs to grow their reputation as one of the greatest channels for this community.

Click here to see their channel! 

If you can donate, the team at Identity TV would greatly appreciate this, if not, please share! Thank you so much everyone.

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I love this conversation! I’ve been pondering the existence of gender, and wonder if it’s just a system that we employ to easily categorize each other as a way of assigning specific social roles?

There are only 2 genders

Please people thee are only two genders…. I can’t believe that Tumblr is allowed to exist and make up all these ridiculous identities and not have all its users in mental health facilities. 

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Please share with any family or support person you know. Simple, straightforward advice yes, but it may not be obvious if you are a scared, uninformed parent.

EDIT: fixed the link! 

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follow realpsycho.tumblr.com for more mental health info!