#...the transphobic gay people aren't transphobic because they're gay. they're transphobic because they are transphobic.

[uncanny-tranny]

I’m not sure how to deal with my own anti-Blackness, the people who have been most interpersonally ableist and transphobic to me have been Black cishet people, and they’ve used their Blackness to diminish the importance of ableism and transphobia as not “real problems”. I think I’ve internalized some of that

I'll be honest, I think I have truly grown from intentionally seeking out Black activists and listening to their perspectives when they talk about it - and not to make any comments or try to correct, you know? Just to listen, to see exactly where they are coming from. I've found that there are so many Black people who will talk about Blackness and how it intersects with things like disability, queerness and transness, and all of that - hell, one of my favourite Black content creators is Kat Blaque who has made a lot of content about being a Black trans woman.

I've also come to realize... like, even if I meet a transphobic Black person, it doesn't negate the need for them to not be persecuted or targeted in any way for their Blackness. I don't think bigotry is right coming from anybody, sure, but I also don't think we should be subjugating Black people for bigotries (or assumed bigotries) through Anti-Blackness.

Black people never have been and never will be a monolith, and the idea they are looks like "all Black people mistreat [group]," so I encourage people to always watch out for statements worded like that or statements that defend Anti-Blackness because "well, that's just how it is".

I ultimately don't think I am the sole person to go to for this sort of thing, but also, I don't want the attitude of "Black people are all the same and they'll always be the same" to gain traction, because it doesn't solve the perceived issue.

[lord-radish]

imagine thinking that trans men are inherently bad or evil or predatory on the basis of gendered privilege and societal power structures. cringe

[just-your-average-tangerine]

I think the hardest part of being trans is the uncertainty.

Like, there's a new band I kind of like. They've only released a few songs, but I like those songs, and I like the bands style, so I followed them on Instagram to keep up with them. Neither member of the band is openly queer but many of their (young) fans talk about how their dynamic and their music fits with a popular gay ship. The band has really leaned into it and made content to appeal to that, so I feel confident in assuming they're decently gay friendly, at least. But said popular ship is from Harry Potter, so I don't feel at all confident that they're trans friendly. They haven't said or done anything specifically transphobic, but they haven't specifically said anything in support of trans people either. So it creates that uncertainty. Am I safe in this fan space? Am I wanted? Will I be accepted?

Even in queer spaces, it's the same story. I've been in queer spaces that claimed to be trans friendly. They have name tags and pronoun stickers and pins available to everyone, a trans flag on the wall. But most of the staff won't try to use the correct pronouns. And trans men aren't welcome in the queer men's group they run. And when they invite a group to do free haircuts, they won't cut trans men's hair because they "don't do women's haircuts."

It's like, I can go to pride with a trans flag and five different he/him buttons pinned to my chest, and I'll still get misgendered to my face.

Every time you want to be a part of something, you have to ask yourself

-do they accept trans people

-if so, is that acceptance limited and conditional

-do they accept trans people as a part of the group or do they allow trans people to be there but not a part of it, is it a "you can tag along but you're not one of us" situation. A "trans people can join but gay trans men are not "real" gay men and trans lesbians are not "real" lesbians" situation.

Every fucking thing is uncertain.

The tweet has long been deleted, but years ago, Laura Jane Grace tweeted something to the effect of 'do you think I don't know that everyone I admire would hate me'. And that it. That's the shape of it. You just have to live with the idea that there's a good chance anyone you look up to, would hate you.

And that eats at you.

It really does.

[irhabiya]

white people are something else, add as many marginalized intersecting identities as you'd like and they'd still find a way to underpin all that with racism.

if you think that a certain behavior, a certain prejudice, a certain violence is inherent to a whole collective of people rather than a symptom of broader systemic issues you are racist. that is that. you're a racist piece of shit

i am genuinely so fed up with white gays and their revolting homonationalism. and the usual response to them also irritates me, because most of the time people aren't even addressing the main issue with their thought process. saying that trans and gay people exist in palestine or that solidarity is not transactional is all well and good, but why aren't you directly shutting down the implication that palestinians, and more generally arabs and muslims are inherently homophobic, transphobic, regressive barbarians? say it like it fucking is. homophobia, transphobia and misogyny are huge issues in the middle east and north africa, just like they are everywhere else. they're not woven into our fucking DNA why are you even entertaining the thought that that is the case? and these issues are only further exacerbated by us intervention destabilizing the whole region for the interest of the us empire and their western allies. last i checked palestinians don't even have the right to freely travel on their own land, visit family members they've been forcibly separated from by apartheid walls and laws, but gay rights is definitely the pressing issue here, not that they can be expelled from their homes by batshit insane settlers at gunpoint with the glee and approval of the IDF.

"ah yes, the homophobic palestinian 16 year old being tortured in israeli prisons is Bad, he should be educating himself about stonewall in the dingy jail cell he's thrown in."

do you fucking hear yourselves.

and, for the record, homosexuality isn't outlawed in the west bank, thanks to endless advocacy by queer palestinians. while racist white gays do fuck all but tut-tut at people of color all day. eat shit and die

[trans-androgyne]

"these terfy events will let transmascs in but not transfems!!1!" yeah and I can't go to any gay man specific event in my area because they're all transphobic and don't consider me a man. there are many transfems in the (local) gay bdsm scene but no transmascs. it'd be an unfair leap in logic to blame the transfems who get included for me not getting to go? these transfems are treated worse then their cis counterparts and often misgendered, but I understand that it's not a privilege to have to suppress part of your identity to engage in community. idk acting like its trans peoples fault that cis people are transphobic is so weird to me.

Thank you, exactly. I don't know how else to explain to these folks that places with transphobic policies aren't good for any trans people, whether they're physically allowed in or not.

Yes, trans people afab may be considered women and allowed into women's events trans people amab are excluded from. Do you think they're treated well in there?

Yes, trans people amab may be considered men and allowed into men's events trans people afab are excluded from. Do you think they're treated well in there?

Do you think one of those situations is worse than the other? Why? Do you blame one group of trans people more? Why? I may not agree at all with trans people who choose to attend events with trans-exclusionary policies. But I also don't think that being misgendered means that one is in a place of privilege.

[babsaros]

hey. when cis society is oppressing a trans man, what he is experiencing is. In Fact. misogyny. i'm sorry i know none of us like to be reminded of our agab, and it hurts whenever people perceive you as the wrong gender. but a cis person hate-criming, assaulting, verbally abusing, etc, a trans man is not doing "transandrophobia" because they do not perceive him as a man.

they perceive him as a woman failing at her gender, as a woman who has been seduced and lied to and manipulated because women are so easily led astray, just like it says in the bible. they perceive him as a woman who has been mutilated. they perceive him as a dyke that needs to be fixed. if they are hate-criming him because they *do* perceive him as a man, because he passes well enough they aren't thinking he could be trans, then they're doing so out of homophobia, perceiving him as a gay man, a pervert, a sissy, a danger to children. OR, they are being transphobic but specifically because they think he might be transfeminine instead. when cis society oppresses a trans woman, they are able to do it on multiple levels at once. She's a woman failing at her gender, a dyke that needs to be fixed. Or she's an evil and grotesque crossdressing pervert, a rude caricature, a danger to polite society. she will never be doing enough to escape oppression entirely, no matter if she gets every surgery she can and wears makeup every day and passes perfectly, because she lives under a patriarchy, and she's a woman, so she lives in a panopticon, and HAVING to get surgery and wear make-up to be respected IS oppression, especially if the alternative is being hate-crimed.

trans women (and trans men who pass) are not experiencing "transandrophobia" when a 'queer women and nbs" event turns them away at the door for being too masculine. they are. IN FACT!! experiencing the byproducts of misogyny in a patriarchy!!! where the terfs and coward cis women running those events and occupying those spaces have been taught (sometimes through experience, sometimes by men, sometimes by women) throughout life that men = stronger and more dangerous than women ALWAYS. That they need to protect themselves at all times and always be vigilant. That men and women can't be friends without sexual tension (and so as queer women the mere existence of what they perceive as a "man" is a threat). That women need a separate sports league because they can't possibly compete with someone who has even a little bit "extra" (an unquantifiable amount actually because there isn't a standard range) testosterone. That women should cook and men should fix cars. i promise you, i promise i promise i promise. it's misogyny. like!!! you don't say cis gay men experiences "androphobia", bc that's not a thing!! you sound like fucking mens rights activists guys please! you don't say a black man experiences "misandrynoir"!! because living in a patriarchy fundamentally means men do not experience oppression based on their gender. its not happening. shut the fuck up. stop walking us back to 2014 can we please take a step forward and stop bitching about this. there are genuine issues in the world and i'm frankly sick of people who should be smarter than that needing to be gently hand-held through this fucking explanation for the millionth time and still stomping their feet.

[dadbodbuck]

ok my discourse opinion for today is that it's a MISERABLE existence being a queer person who makes their entire personality hating other queer people. i don't care if it's transphobic cisgays or self-identified homophobic gay men or (gbt+) man hating lesbians. you are one wrong move away from associating with people who hate you too. that's gotta just fucking suck. the leopards aren't gonna leave your face alone just because you said we should kill a gay man violently on screen for the crime of not being interesting to you particularly. you're gonna fuck up and they're gonna send the f slur to your inbox, and suddenly all the times they said it "as a joke" will seem very, very serious.

[decolonize-the-everything]

Hey this might be a weird question but you seem to know a lot about the strategies TERFs use and what they're hiding, so I just wanted to ask and you don't have to answer.

Why do so many TERFs have this weird hostility towards bi and ace people? I don't think either of those identities have anything to do with being trans but I've seen so many TERFs who are also biphobic and/or aphobic. My gut instinct was that there was some large overlap between bi/ace people and trans people, but then I've found TERFs give shit to cis bis and aces so I'm not sure if it's that or some other reason. I'm not trans myself but I want to be able to recognize TERF rhetoric to be a better ally to trans people.

A couple reasons.

First one is that hating bis/aces is at the entrance of the TERF pipeline; they utilize this 'soft bigotry' to radicalize LGBTs and it usually looks like this:

To recruit queer ppl first they try to get us to stop considering aces as Oppressed. That's how it starts. They're aren't Doing anything so how can they be oppressed? They don't know what it's like to marginalized....how could they? They're just stealing the spotlight of Actually oppressed ppl

And once you accept that they turn to bisexuals. Who are only half gay, you know? And most of them date men anyway or end up marrying men so like? How the hell would they know what it's like to literally Live oppression 24/7? Do we we really want them to have a voice and speak for those of us that don't have an escape from our oppression?

This works because on the surface TERFS/Radfems appear to care about women and gender equality, which a lot of queer people obviously support. But they exploit those of us that don't know enough about feminism's intersectional (and very gay) history to identify them as bad actors.

From here the person they've targeted will either a- accept this and likewise will eventually also accept that trans oppression isnt real either (fulfilling the TERF's actual goal of recruitment) OR b- they'll realize they've been manipulated and try to deconstruct.

Secondly:

TERFs are white supremacist and their beliefs are founded white supremacist ideology and outdated scientific theories that Support white supremacist rhetoric.

It's called gender-essentialism which is a branch of bio-essentialism which is the belief that the biological body you have has inherent skills and abilities. Racists have used this to deny Black humanity just as TERFs use it to deny the existence of gender diversity.

But nobody is inherently weaker because of a uterus, nor are they bad drivers just because they have a uterus. All women are not good mothers just because they are women. Men are not all abusers just because they are men.

TERFs would have you swallow these beliefs; they're vital to maintaining the Core TERF Value that that trans people aren't Real and people with uteri are always helpless victims to be defended against evil men.

And as white supremacists their goal is to disrupt and destroy minority communities so that we are too divided to unify against legal attacks. TERFs do this from the inside out by putting bis/aces in a different category from the other queers while disguising their bigotry as feminist. They get us to voluntarily undermine and destroy our own movement this way by causing intercommunity "bi/ace discourse" that makes bis/aces out to be an enemy of "real" oppressed people (like transphobic lesbians for example)

Thirdly:

Lots of queer people are feminists which makes us easy targets and that's why they focus on the queer community. Additionally, the queer community has a history of being a threat to the white supremacist establishment so dividing us is vital to their goal of eventually wiping out anyone who isnt cis, straight, white, neurotypical, and able bodied

[retropineapple]

In response to a transphobic post that I found,that was made by a fellow member of the LGBTQ+ community.

Just because the term nonbinary was created in 2000 that doesn't mean that nonbinary people didn't exist before then.

Trans people were at Stonewall,although it is true that the terms transexual and transvestite were used then(I'm not sure as to whether or not transgender was used then). And yes,these trans/transexual people we're usually gay as well. Also,trans is often used as an umbrella term for transgender,transexual,and transvestite people,and nonbinary people (as we aren't the same gender we were assigned at birth).

It is true that the Stonewall riots aren't the only reason we have Pride, it was,and in many ways still is,a demonstration for equal rights.

Memorializing "...queer,trans,black, indigenous and people of color(QTBIPOC) activists at the forefront of the 20th century lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual, plus (LGBTQ+) movement." doesn't mean that we stop memorializing the white people at the forefront of the 20th century of LGBTG+ movement that didn't use the term queer for themselves and were cisgender or didn't use the term trans/transgender.

People may night ID as just queer or use the term queer, but queer is an all-encompassing and all-inclusive term. It describes anyone and everyone that has an identity that challenges the heteronormative standard. The standard that a person will be with one person of the "opposite" sex/gender;the standard that a person will develop both sexual and romantic attraction to people;the standard that a person's gender matches their sex;ECT.

It is also true that Intersex people are often only brought be people in the queer/LGBTQ+ people as a sort of gotch'ya. Specifically Trans people and Trans allies bring up Intersex people to tell transphobes that sex and gender are more complicated than they think. And it's not right,we shouldn't bring up Intersex people as a stepping stool for our rights and acceptance. Intersex people deserve their rights too. Obviously not all trans people and allies do this,but it is a problem.

Pride is and has always included lesbians,gay men,and bisexuals,saying otherwise is ridiculous. Trans people aren't the end of the queer/LGBTQ+ community, we've always been a part of the community, we've always existed,and we aren't going anywhere.

Lesbians,gay men,and bisexuals have NEVER been an afterthought in the community, they're focused on the most,and have the most representation. More rights and representation for other queer people doesn't mean less for others.

Transphobia is always misinformed and harmful, but your transphobic message is even more so because it comes from a fellow member of the community who should know and be better.

The first rainbow flag, designed by Gilbert Baker, does cover everyone,and here you are trying to pull it away from trans people and other "niche demographics". The message of the flag was inclusion,but it seems you don't understand that.

🩷❤️🧡💛💚🩵💙💜

[pinchinschlimbah]

On "Coming Out" and Noel Fielding

I mentioned forever ago that I had this post in mind and then never got around to it, but now with the new interview quote I was yelling about recently it feels like a particularly good time to get it out of my brain and onto the page! tl;dr: musings on the concept of "coming out" as it has evolved over time, whether it's something that should continue to be necessary or expected of queer people, and why Noel is particularly inspirational to me in that regard since this is, after all, my brainrot blog. This may be extremely long and a bit disjointed but I hope some of y'all will enjoy it!

So a while ago myself and several friends were discussing the concept of coming out. All of us are some flavor of queer both in gender and orientation, but each is in a different place along their self discovery and identity journey, with some being long since out and proud, and others just starting to dip their toes into exploration past the expected cishet.

This discussion actually was prompted by a different discussion about Noel, spurred by comments we'd come across slamming him as being homophobic/transphobic on Bakeoff for making comments suggesting he has romantic or sexual attraction towards Paul, referring to himself with female-centric terms, playing female characters in the skits, and a particular moment where he brings up Old Gregg while talking to KimJoy and says "he was a sea transsexual....quite a demanding role for me" while laughing to indicate that that last part was said in jest. Hey fellas, is it homophobic/transphobic to be a little bit gay and trans? This got us talking about how the current culture of queer identity has evolved to the point where "coming out" feels more like something the public feels they're owed in order for them to view one's expression as valid, rather than its original purpose as something one does for themself in order to live most authentically. I don't think I need to go into detail about how many artists have been harassed by their "fans" into coming out before they were ready because people wouldn't accept the validity of that person's work without knowing exactly how that person identified, there've been plenty of articles and video essays and better written tumblr posts about that, but it's definitely a concerning trend. It can be particularly dangerous when it comes to people who aren't feeling confident or safe enough to come out, who end up being criticized and shunned by the queer community as being somehow problematic for not being able to fully articulate to a group of strangers the ways in which they're experiencing their identity. In this situation, the people who are struggling the most end up with the least support. Forcing people to either declare an identity or get out just leads to more people staying closeted out of fear of doing it "wrong" and never getting the chance to explore the most authentic and joyful versions of themselves, or even worse, feeling the need to out themselves before they're in a safe place to do so and suffering the resulting consequences. Questioning or cautious people deserve space in the community to experiment even if they haven't yet or maybe never will come out! My high school's Gay Straight Alliance was comprised entirely of "straight allies" when I was there. There was not a single "out" person in the school at the time. Nearly all of us in the GSA ended up being some flavor of queer or trans years later after graduation. But whether it was intentional closeting or just feeling an innate affinity towards something we couldn't quite pinpoint at the time, we all knew we belonged there and made that space for ourselves and others like us. Back when "coming out" first became a concept in the public consciousness, it was during a time where cishet identity was not just considered the default, but the only option. By coming out, queer people were giving genuinely revolutionary representation for themselves and others like them by telling the world that, as the old saying goes, we're here, we're queer, get used to it! Nowadays, we're lucky to live in a culture that is much more cognizant of queer identities being a thing, so in many cases coming out has become less about having to explain to those around you the basic concept of queerness existing, and moreso about which specific identity you fall under, and that's where things get messy.

My friends and I shared our own thoughts and experiences. One is currently identifying as "unlabeled" because they haven't found a term that feels correct yet, and therefore hasn't come out because they wouldn't know what to say. One spoke about how when they first came out they were much more insistent on what terms or pronouns people used for them but as time has gone on they've grown to find joy in being inscrutable and letting others wonder what they're perceiving. One expressed that given the state of the world they've been retreating somewhat back into the closet for safety reasons rather than being super outward with their queerness like they used to and is working on learning to embrace those parts of themself again. One said they felt like they'd already been existing as queer and expressing that queerness "before I even had the terms to come out to myself" and is now working on catching up on the conscious end of figuring out what's what. I myself never really had an official "coming out", I just became increasingly visually/socially/vocally queer as I became more and more confident in who I was and what I wanted to be and who I had on some level always been, and decided if people didn't get the hint that's their own problem. I came into consciousness of my queerness during the early 2010s original tumblr MOGAI microlabel boom, where there was a ton of focus on figuring out the hyper specific identity labels that exactly described what you were experiencing. I did a lot of digging and soul searching and experienced a lot of unnecessary stress trying and failing to find my perfect labels and landed on clumsy terms like "full time drag queen" because it was the closest I could get to what I was feeling about my gender, only to be told it was problematic for me to call myself that as an AFAB person because drag "belongs to cis gay men" (don't get me started on that statement, that's a whole other essay lol) It was a real wake up call once I distanced from these aggressively labeled and segmented online spaces and made my way into real world queer communities where I was relieved to find that in fact no one there asks to check your membership card before letting you in, if you feel like you belong there you're welcome no questions asked.

I had other people in these communities referring to me as "queer" and "fag" and "gay" and "queen" before I felt comfortable doing so myself based on online Discourse I'd experienced over who is Allowed to use certain terms, and having these community leaders I respected recognizing those things in me and welcoming me in like that gave me the confidence to really find my own footing in ways that attempting to find my exact correct identity label so that I could officially proclaim it never did. Once I could answer the question of what I was with a shrug and "queer I guess!" things became so much easier. Microlabels can be incredibly helpful and liberating for some, don't get me wrong if it works for you that's great, but let's not pretend that everyone is going to have the same experiences.

So anyway, back to Noel. Noel has never, to my knowledge, ever had any sort of official “coming out” or explicitly referred to himself as queer. So I know there are people out there who will disagree with me considering him to be queer. But so much of what he’s said and done throughout his several decades long career has indicated to me that this is clearly someone of queer experience navigating the world as such, and just as the queers in my local community welcomed me as one of them before I knew to do it myself, I extend that welcome forward. 

Let’s take a look at some of the facts. In the public span of his career, Noel has.....(in no particular order, also if anyone wants to add additional instances of note in the reblogs or comments please feel free, this is by no means a fully comprehensive list) -repeatedly called himself "the woman of the Boosh" or Julian's/Howard's "wife" in ways that suggest that's how he actually felt about it rather than it just being a punchline that he was mistaken for female in the show [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] -referred to himself at the GQ "Man of the Year" awards as "never been a man" and "a sort of girl, he/she" -been referred to by Sandi Toksvig as being "on the cusp" in regards to gender, to which he reacts with amusement and acceptance -consistently expressed excitement and appreciation when others refer to him with feminine terms or say he looks like a girl [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] -said "I love being a man-woman, it's much more interesting than being one or the other" and expressed that the loved shooting the Boosh Electro episode for this reason -referred to Vince Noir (a character who he's been pretty open about being based on himself) as "wasn't seemingly one gender or the other" -expressed that he felt most free and happy when presenting femininely [2] -had Julian, one of the people closest to him, express that Noel and Sandi (an out lesbian) may have "real sexual chemistry" because Noel is "all over the shop, he's a different sex" -used the "Confuser" line of "Is it a boy? Is it a girl? I'm not sure I mind" to refer to himself rather than Vince, and express that he's had to work to find new ways to feel as androgynous as he'd like now that he's older -referred to himself as a lesbian [2] -said that he "sometimes looks in the mirror and sees a woman", in the same interview that Julian implies that Noel is in fact a girl -referred to himself as a "girl/boy" -consistently referred to himself with feminine terms on panel shows and bakeoff -made a joke on bakeoff about not being a testosterone-based person -responded positively when asked about the ways Boosh had influenced queer and nonbinary youth -has said he's "quite obsessed with the man/woman mixup thing" -has said if he was an animal he'd want to be a seahorse because the males get pregnant -Had Lee Mack, who Noel used to live with, refer to him as "the little transsexual one, yeah I think she's fantastic" in a Boosh documentary and "a young lady who came out here happy to be herself" in response to Noel's Wuthering Heights drag performance -had his own mother refer to him as "the daughter I always wanted" -described his own appearance as that of a "transsexual witch" and when an interviewer attempted to make fun of him for calling himself "a transgender witch" by showing Noel a drawing the interviewer clearly found repulsive, Noel responded that the interviewer was "holding up a mirror" and called the image his passport photo

And I'm not even going to bother citing sources on the countless times he's made comments suggesting romantic or sexual attraction towards men. Literally just watch any non-character appearance he's ever done, it's kind of his whole thing??? Not to mention his penchant for picking up explicitly queer and gnc character roles, and also just [gestures vaguely to everything Noel and Julian have said about each other suggesting romantic and sexual tension between them and how they used their characters as an excuse to explore those feelings in a less scary way, again that could be a whole other essay on its own but ooh boy] I also think there's something interesting to explore in the idea of Noel repeatedly referring to his appearance as transgender or transsexual rather than identifying himself as such- at what point does the appearance of something become reality?

It all begs the question- is it even a joke anymore if it's that consistent? Either it's not a joke and it's an authentic expression of his real feelings and experiences, or he for some reason really really wants everyone to believe that he's queer when he's not, with this behavior spanning back to a time before the concept of queerbaiting was on anyone's minds and when being publicly queer could mean the end of your career. Which scenario do you think is more likely? And, does someone who’s been conducting themself like this for their entire career really NEED to come out? Honestly, I find this level of simultaneous authenticity and inscrutability aspirational.

In this Velvet Onion interview from 2012, Noel compares his penchant for dresses to both Grayson Perry and Eddie Izzard. This is interesting because those two people represent pretty opposite intentions behind their presentation- Grayson identifies solidly as cis male, and for him the shock value of crossdressing is the point, saying “I signed up for a gender and I want them to be very clearly delineated so I know I’m dressing up in the wrong clothes.” This doesn't seem particularly in line with where Noel is coming from given him famously referring to himself as "the Confuser" and stating in that same Velvet Onion interview that he "never even bothered giving it a label, I never went oh I'm a transvestite, I just went yeah if I fancy wearing a dress I do, never really thought about it really" Eddie on the other hand has famously said "They're not women's clothes. They're my clothes, I bought them." indicating that they were a genuine part of her authentic expression rather than a crossdressing costume, and has subsequently over the years identified more and more solidly as transfemme. I find Eddie's trajectory particularly fascinating because it's been so non-linear. In the 90s when the language for transness was much less public knowledge, she referred to herself consistently as a transvestite- a cishet man who enjoyed dressing as a woman, as well as using terms like "male tomboy" and "male lesbian" and "a full boy plus extra girl". Despite doing most of her standup shows in femme looks, most of her acting jobs were male-presenting, and there was a period of time in the 2010s where she dropped the femme presentation entirely in an attempt to be taken more seriously as the "crossdressing" was seen by many as a gimmick. Swinging back around more recently, Eddie has been explicitly identifying as genderfluid and transfemme, and in recent years has made the decision to "be based in girl mode from now on", and use primarily she/her pronouns. Since this announcement, in her trans advocacy work Eddie has described herself as being "out" as trans since the 1980s despite all of the above. She always knew who she was, it's just she's gotten access to more accurate terms over time to describe what she was experiencing, as well as feeling more safe to do so the more that transness became a known and accepted concept in the public eye.

The interview I mentioned at the very start of this post isn't really a coming out from Noel. And I don't think we'll ever really get one from him. In my opinion Noel has spent the past several decades conducting himself as someone who is in fact already out- it’s pretty clear Noel knows and is proud of who he is regardless of how he chooses to describe that identity. At this point, making some sort of official statement would just be for the benefit of others looking for clarification on their own perception of him and people who want to be able to put him in one box or another, and that’s not what coming out should be. The statement in the new interview is not "I am genderfluid", its "I've always been genderfluid", simply putting an accurate name to what's always been publicly visibly true now that he's got the terms to do so.

[that-one-kiddo-in-the-back]

The Forgotten Gays of Western Animation... apparently.

Tw Lily says the F-slur despite her having a problem with Q-slur and talks about incest... again.

Now I'm not from Canada, nor was I old enough to have seen these shows that she's talking about, meaning I have no choice but to assume she's telling the truth about these shows.

To get this out of the way. Lily, throughout the whole video, was also making jabs at people who like lore based shows how they're the ones who are ruining shows because she thinks people on Twitter have any power over what a creator does on the show I mean if that was the case then JK Rowling would actually shut up about her transphobic thoughts. To put it simply, people on Twitter with their egos don't have much or any power over a show their not a part of, not even the people who are in charge of drawing the frames. now a creator can see multiple people asking about the lore of the world they worked so hard on. Lore might not be important to Lily, but anyone who's worked on making a completely new world wants to talk about and show the lore of the world. To get a bit personal, one of my siblings is writing a book, and there are days they will talk about the lore for hours because they're proud of it.

Now. Lily is very much wrong about moving the goal post for LGBTQ rep. Moving the goal post for LGBTQ characters means we are highering our expectations for what's good rep and what's not. To keep that post in the same place would be doing more damage than good.

Personally, I think (if we have to) the goal post should stick where the owl house is as that's one of the few shows that doesn't really have straight ships, hunter x willow and amity's parents are the only straight cannon relationships (and that's straight in quotes BTW) and I only think that because I haven't seen any of the nickelodeon shows with LGBTQ rep.

Something lily really needs to understand is that CEOs and the men in suits have a huge say in what goes into shows, so most shows aimed at children that want LGBTQ rep have to fight to have it Steven universe and the owl house all had to fight to get the rep they wanted. The reason you didn't see much of ruby and sapphire is because they are always fused together in perfect harmony. Every permafustion in SU were in a healthy relationship and only unfused was when they need to play the part their made for or fighting she also needs to remember that SU had the FIRST same-sex wedding in a kid show. The owl house was already set to be canceled, so who cares if they have a main gay couple it's not like they were gonna see them for long anyway. To me, it seems that if the character isn't kissing, holding hands, or cuddling, then that's not good enough that the LGBTQ rep has to be the most perfect relationship and never show what a real relationship can be like i.e. sometimes unhealthy, one-sided, and unrequited.

Lily then goes through a really long rant about how we shouldn’t hold She-ra to such a high platform because of the incest and how abusive the relationship was... completely forgetting that catra was the scapegoat while adora was the golden child. Both were in an abusive relationship with their perennial figures, with catra getting the brunt of it. Catra and adora are friends to enemies to lovers. Just because you wrote your incest story (scars, pokemadhouse) as some sort of coffee shop, AU, you think that you have any footing about complaining about catradora? Lily can't talk smack about adora and catra being technical sister when all of her fanfiction and even the books she reads aren't technical incest. It is incest. For all the mud slinging Lily does to She-ra, TLOK, and SU, you'd think the creators killed her family.

Also, I haven't heard of anyone saying that those slice of life relaxing shows that have the same rep as "not counting." In fact, people who like those types of shows have praised and really liked it, there's no one saying that shows with rep aren't valid just because there slow pace I've seen that's not valid because it's not good enough rep as in the LGBTQ character dies, doesn't get into a relationship, never get screen time, or how in Steven universe pearls love with rose is one sided and therefore pearl is an incel and "doesn’t count" funny enough all the complaints about rep not being good enough is from Lily herself. Steven universe doesn't count because you don't see enough, TLOK doesn't count because korra and asami didn't kiss as they walked into the spirit world, she-ra doesn't count because catradora is "fetishist towards abuse" and the list goes on.

Despite how much Lily praises Brace face for having a good gay character that wasn't the butt of the joke, he's still a stereotype, 6teen had one episode with a gay character and is never seen again, Lloyd in space had one Non binary character that in the end chose their gender and the main characters forcing gender norms on them. All of those in Lily's own words and past videos those shows aren't good enough.

No one has forgotten about the Canadian shows with LGBTQ characters their just not talked about, which is a shame. If I had seen these shows when I was struggling with my identity, it might have helped me deal with it better. As time goes on and millennials who grew up with the shows that said "its okay to be different and that just because you have no one now doesn't mean you will be alone forever." Begin to make their art. What was good then just isn't good now. Sure, those shows were ahead of their time, but now we are getting shows with better rep that don't need to use slurs or stereotypes.

[just-your-average-tangerine]

So, a lot of people are talking on my 'people assume gay trans men aren't shamed for our sexualities' post about things like the transphobic use of fujoshi, and being called a straight girl, things of that nature.

Which is all very important, and so I'm not going to edit or add to that post. That post can be about that now. But that's not entirely what I meant, and I think this needs to be addressed as well so:

Cis gay men are shamed for their sexuality because men are "supposed" to be attracted to women, so being attracted to men deviates from that. Often, this shame and mistreatment starts young. Gay men grow up being taught that the attraction they experience is wrong, even before they're old enough to understand it.

And so people assume that gay trans men, raised as girls, aren't shamed in that way. We're attracted to the "correct" gender therfore there is no "deviance," and we're not treated as such. When that is, very often, not the case.

I've talked before about my joke that I knew I was a gay man before I knew I was a man. But I remember being 10 or 11 years old amd hearing my mothers very southern baptist friend who worked a museum in the park where pride was held, talking about "those men" and "how disgusting" it is and that she "wouldn't wish seeing that on anybody". And I remember sinking down in my chair, hoping no one saw me, because I knew she was talking about me. I didn't know what being gay was, I didn't know what pride was, but I knew that this thing she hated was me.

When I was taught that snapping a rubber band on your wrist is a good way to break a bad habit, I decided that I could "fix myself" by snapping the rubber band every time I felt even the most basic passing interest in the "wrong gender". Except, the interest I felt wrong about was my attraction to men. That's what I felt ashamed of, that's when I felt like I was doing something wrong. I would go through cycles of checking out a guy at the mall, feeling ashamed, snapping that rubber band, then realizing that was supposed to be right, forcing myself to check out girls, just to punish myself for it. By the time I started to accept my queerness, I convinced myself I was bisexual solely because I didn't feel like I was doing something wrong by being with a girl. It didn't appeal to me, I had no interest in being a relationship with a girl, especially not long term. But I wasn't ashamed of it, so it must be right.

I know so many other gay trans men who experienced things like this. And yet the assumption that we couldn't have this experience is used to deny us community with cis gay men on the grounds that we "just don't understand what its like to grow up gay."

[anamericangirl]

I read something earlier and wanted to share it with you and your followers. Enjoy!

"LGBT as a community makes no sense, and here's why.

In the Warhammer 40k community, there's people who are straight, gay, bisexual, lesbians, married, single, etc. who are connecting over their love for Warhammer 40k being a common thread between them.

In the Disney Animation community, there's people who are straight, gay, etc. who are connecting over their shared love of Disney Animation.

Same for Furries. Same for Bronies. Same for Trekkies. Same for 90s Slasher Movie fans. Same for Punk Rock fans. Same for Paint Appreciation fans. Same for Modern Art fans.

But with LGBT, you're trying to take people who are from all walks of life and force them to operate as part of a community based solely on their sexual attractions to other sexes.

You now have a Furry, a 90s Slasher Movie fan, a Modern Art fan and a Warhammer 40k fan who you're trying to say share a common bond because one of them's Gay, one's a Lesbian, one's Trans and the other one is Asexual. But because they all share the same LGBT label, they should bond over that and have that be their shared interest.

They literally have nothing in common, and you're trying to force them to think they have something in common. They don't. The literal only common thread all LGBT people have is that they are usually not very interested in straight sex or identifying as cisgendered. Which even those two things aren't common in the LGBT. Trans is only a small part of LGBT, and Bisexual people still find straight sex appealing. But you're trying to say a Bisexual person and a Trans person should get along under the pretense that they're both LGBT?

And if they don't get along, oh, the Bisexual person is just transphobic and the Trans person is just toxic or homophobic. Never mind that maybe the reason they don't get along is because THEY HAVE NOTHING IN COMMON TO FORM A FRIENDSHIP OVER."

That's a really good assessment. It's hard to actually build relationships and communities when the only unifying thing is that some of the members like to screw the same type of people.

It's kind of ridiculous to expect people to connect over that type of thing. I don't feel more connected to people or find it easier to be around them because they're sexually attracted to the opposite sex. That has nothing to do with any aspect the groups of people I hang out with.

And trying to force people to bond with each other when that's the only thing they have in common is like trying mix oil and water. People bond over similar interests and that's why it works better to build groups and communities around hobbies and things that attract people regardless of sexualities. That's how bonds form. I've never bonded with another female based on the fact that she's sexually attracted to men too.

[talisidekick]

I wanna talk about how transmen are sexualized.

Transmen aren't Femboys.

Transmen aren't Sissys.

Transmen aren't for your sexual pleasure.

Transmen are biological women who have dysphoria.

You cannot change sex, you can change gender presentation and how your gender is perceived.

-Sincerely A transguy tired of being sexualized and misinformation

When people go out of their way to say "all trans men are" or act like all trans mascs are a specific thing only, like a femboy, or a sissy, it's transphobic because it's debasing people to a kink and not recognizing that these can be aspects of a person, but not their entire personality. When someone treats a kink like the default for a type of person, it's offensive. Gay men got reasonably upset when people kept expecting and depicting them to be effeminate because it was rightfully offensive as fuck. We shouldn't be debasing people to sexual roles and stereotypical presentations grounded in bigotry. In your examples, that's transandrophobia. Beyond this, I will disagree with everything except your sign off.

Transgender men are not 'biological women'. They're men. Medically, commonly assigned female at birth (afab). I say "commonly" because intersex transgender men exist and the term 'afab' isn't all inclusive of the biological reality we're dealing with. The term "women" is a social term, not a medical one, that relates a person to experiences of womanhood and defines them as a woman by proxy. This is incorrect. Transgender men are men, period. If you're talking biology, use biology terms. Social terms belong in social contexts. Conflating the two aids no one and instead walks right into the rhetoric fascists like the so called "radfems" and "gender criticals" use to associate sex with gender as falsely inseparable terms.

Also, no again to "you cannot change sex". That is a falsity in the reality of modern science. We can make functional penises for transgender men, this is widely documented, and modern science has procedures that would allow an individual to no longer be accurately medically classified as "female" and even "male". One such procedure is called SRS or Sex Reassignment Surgery, sometimes referred to under a broader category of Gender Confirming Surgery or GCS that covers the creation or removal of primary and secondary sex characteristics. Now before we get on the "what do I mean by functional" train, I'm deliberately not including sperm production or egg production in this statement because if that's your argument that it's not 'functional' unless it can be used to reproduce, you're an asshole that just said sterile men aren't men, and post-menopausal women aren't women, and fuck you. Men and women aren't defined by their ability to reproduce. That's bioessentialist bullshit that can fuck right off, this ain't the fucking 1960's.

I'm being highly specific here because I want to be very clear that the terms we use have impact, they're meant to be used in certain contexts and conflating terms with eachother doesn't help us make the points that we're trying to here.

The real meat of this though is that these sexualizations as femboys and sissy's being default used on trans masculine people in general is deliberately denying transgender men and mascs their masculinity. If a transgender man or masc chooses to express themself in such a way, that's their choice. But it's a choice an individual is making, not a collective. It doesn't matter what a transgender man or masc looks like, it matters how they want to be treated, and denying them that treatment to force them into a sexual role they don't agree with is a big fucking baaaaaaaaaaad move. We talk about sexual liberation in being 2SLGBTQIA+, and defining ourselves our way, but doing this to trans mascs is just reflavouring homophobia to attack a different group. Fucking stop it. Let trans mascs and transgender men be masculine. Stop default coding them as feminine.

[simnostalgia]

The Pedophile Hunts in Progressive Spaces Were an Alt-Right Operation to Cause a Rift in Our Communities.

So, I need to talk about something for a minute that has been REALLY bothering me even though the drama about it is pretty much over. I'm stirring it back up because it's not sitting right on my soul. I know I'm gonna get flack for this but I don't care.

A few weeks ago someone started referring to an MTS user as a pedophile because he posted a picture of a teen sim in their underwear. However, the problem was that it was pretty much immediately a reason that he was targeted for a harassment campaign against him.

Which, no, we're not going to ruin a man's life over this. If you think I'm a bad person for that- the unfollow button is above. Block me. We Are Not Friends. Goodbye.

This isn't even about The Sims community, or at least not just about it. You've been tricked. I'm sorry but you have. This is obviously bigger than this ONE small drama but it's obvious that this is being used as a manipulation tactic on a macro level to create distrust and a way to break down people easily. And it's specifically henious since it's targeting queer people with propaganda which has historically been used to demonize them.

This sudden fear of pedophiles was a targeted effort by the far right to sow discord in the queer community and I can prove it.

Firstly, 4chan and other online arenas have been doing missions like this for YEARS. Some are successful and others aren't. They were responsible for the discourse surrounding whether or not being "bisexual" made you transphobic.

Second and MOST importantly, I NEED you to know about the alt-right group curiously named Gays Against Groomers. This group was created to undermine the queer community. They've regularly supported anti-lgbt bills and targeted schools. This group is a psyop.

The MO of these sorts of movements has ALWAYS been packaging harmful content in a way which would resonate with queer social media spheres to get them to claim it as their own and the propagate it. This is a MARKETING company. This was a MARKETING STRATEGY.

When you repeat a lot of these things, using the specific verbiage that you do, you're following the plans of people like Jamee Michell.

They specifically targeted areas that had large groups of young impressionable queer people who wouldn't already be familiar with the tactic of equating gays with pedophiles so that they would create a sort of panopticon. This is what has caused this "obsession with pedophiles" this was not an accident.

Hyper-vigilance of groomers, a hatred of pedophiles, was the place to start and then creating a ever-changing definition of what a 'groomer' was is just a long play to make things like 'being a drag queen' a stand in for pedophilia.

For people around you, in your fandom communities who are 'progressive' but seem overly obsessed with grooming. Fandom spaces are often targeted as they're overwhelmingly queer. We know for a fact that the proship debate came specifically from this sort of messaging.

Keep an eye on them. They might not be who you think they are. And if you're mad at me for saying this?

I'm sorry but I'm not afraid to align myself with some potentially terrible people to protect queer people from being falsely accused.

[atwoodsfemalefantasy]

WOMEN I NEED YOU TO LISTEN! this election rests on our shoulders. we have the power to beat Trump and Vance, and if we all work together to educate each other and understand how dystopian Trump and Vance will make this country for us, we can beat them.

Here's the facts:

-Trump and Vance want to get rid of No Fault Divorce. No Fault Divorce basically makes getting divorces possible without serious repercussions. No Fault Divorce saves women from abusive relationships ALL THE TIME. Trump and Vance plan to force women to stay in abusive relationships and are hiding it under the guise of "protecting families. Getting rid of No Fault Divorce ensures that women in unsafe and abusive marriages stay there and will lead to women being murdered because they couldn't get out. every voting age woman in america, take heed. Trump wants you to be forced to stay in abusive marriages. if you care about women's lives DO NOT LET HIM WIN

-JD Vance does not want women to be able to work. if you vote for Trump, women might lose their right to work, and along with it, their right to individual financial stability, and will be forced to stay in unhealthy relationships, forced to be homemakers, and have no choice in their own lives. do you want to go back to the 50s? do you want a man controlling your life? how long until they take our bank accounts again?

-JD Vance associates with people who say "feminists deserve rape". what do you think a man who associates with monsters like that will do to women in this country? first, we'll have to carry rapists babies, and then what? rape becomes even less punished than it is now

-Vance openly opposes gay marriage. are we prepared to live in a world where not only are we and our gay friends aren't allowed to marry but also aren't allowed basic rights like hospital visitation only allowed to spouses? and any queer person (like me) knows that marriage is not even close to being our biggest concern. it starts with denied wedding cakes. it ends with denied healthcare, and we all remember the last time that happened to the LGBTQ+ community.

-both Vance and Trump are openly transphobic. all those anti trans bills we've been proposed that never pass? they'll start passing. and if empathy for your trans sisters isn't enough for you to vote blue, remember that anti trans laws hurt women too. the second you drop your guard and don't look falsely feminine the way they want you too, you could be assumed to be trans and targeted. cis women have been beaten up for being in women's bathroom. cis women have been sent to mar jails because they're assumed to be trans. and to all trans people out there, we have the power to save this election. even if it seems pointless, even if you're losing hope, GET OUT TO VOTE. if you care about your rights, VOTE BLUE

-Vance and Trump want to get rid of ALL ABORTIONS with NO EXCEPTIONS! even if you're anti-abortion (i refuse to say pro lifers when abortion bans KILL WOMEN) THINK ABOUT THE RAMIFICATIONS. They want no abortion for rape victims. they want no abortions for incest. they want children who are pregnant to be forced to give birth EVEN IF IT WILL KILL THEM. women who will die from ectopic pregnancies WILL DIE if they can't get abortions. please, i am urging you, if you care about the lives of women, VOTE BLUE. even if you're pro abortion, the bans they want will kill women AND abort the fetus. A) zygotes are not alive or children. they aren't alive. B) even if you believe they are, please, you have to care about women's lives enough to trust them to make that decision for themselves. please do not be responsible for the women who will die. the women who will commit suicide. the women who will be murdered.

-Project 2025 includes cutting the department of education. do you want your kids to grow up intelligent and capable and educated? Trump and Vance don't.

-need any more evidence of Trumps racism? he wants to cut the EPAs office of External Civil Rights. actively cutting offices dedicated to equality and STILL he's supported

-i understand the concerns about Palestine. i hate the way Biden handled it too. but please, i need you to think. Trump, who openly hates middle eastern people will not handle the situation any better.

DO THESE ISSUES AFFECT YOU?

they should TERRIFY you.

Trump and Vance want to take us to Handmaids Tale America where women are forced to stay home to serve a man, have his babies no matter what, and never leave.

but we have the power to stop it. women, we account for more than half of this country. these men want to steal your rights away from you. DO NOT STAND FOR IT. we can beat those fuckers if every single one of us gets out to vote and votes for our fucking human rights.

we have the power, women. we have the power, POC. we have the power, LGBTQ+ community. if we protect our rights, we can win