#faithfully lgbt

[rainbow-believer]

If there are any lgbt+ folks out there who are Christian or who are exploring the Christian faith, then I’d really appreciate it if you’d like this post :’) Trying to find other people who can relate to my struggles and my journey.

Feel free to interact regardless of how you define your lgbt identity or how confident you are in your faith. I’m looking to connect with all sorts of people with differing backgrounds and opinions. Your blog doesn’t have to be faith-centered or sexuality-centered either.

[contradictorypenguin]

So... how’s your pride month going?

[castingmysilver]

A little anthem for queer joy and religious reclamation.

[deenahalaqsa]

My identity as a Muslim lesbian is one that I will continue to keep close to my chest.

For some people, that mere label is a misnomer – or, worse, an oxymoron. I’m not going to go into the interpretative religious nitty-gritty, because I can guarantee it will only serve to confuse or aggravate people further. But in case you’re wondering, the short answer is that, yes, I am Muslim, meaning I follow the five pillars of Islam, including five daily prayers and fasting during the month of Ramadan. Simultaneously, I identify as a gay woman, which means my sexual and romantic attraction is confined to other women.

From an outsider: The reality of being lesbian and Muslim

[createdgay]

Excellent short video about Bible passages used against #LGBT+ people.

[russianmuslimlesbian]

messaged a white British guy to stop fetishising and posting disgusting shit about muslim people. here’s the response:

[pilgrimbright]

what about pray for more gay

[what-even-is-thiss]

sending this for prev anon because they sound like old me—there are plenty of people out there who both faithfully practice Christianity and support lgbt+. when you grow up surrounded by homophobia which people excuse by saying "the Bible", you may not think they exist, but they do! you just have to look for them!! my wife (we're lesbians) recently found a local, very progressive church where, the first time she visited, she talked to a lovely little 80s-something lady who ended their conversation with "so lovely to meet you!! bring your wife next time!!". i haven't been to any Christian gathering in over 2 years, but i'll be going with my wife to church this Sunday.

Oh yeah. The old people at my church all love me and know that I’m trans. There’s good folks out there.

[frogfrizz]

FreenBecky (BeckFreen) and WLW representation after Gap the Series

I’m once again pulled into the world of Gap the Series, but in particular, the rich, warm fandom that has become FreenBecky or on occasion, BeckFreen, in its wake. As we all grapple with Gap the Series finally ending, the fandom seems to have gravitated towards the main stars, namely Rebecca “Becky” Armstrong and Freen Sarocha. This is a thing unto itself and vastly different from the fan service that the Rich Man’s Daughter gave us.

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Here, we find an army of fans translating nearly all content from the actors across Tiktok, Twitter, Instagram, and Weibo from the Thai language to others’:

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It’s a concerted effort among a web of individual to fan-club-run accounts that drum up enormous coverage, enthusiasm, admiration, funds for billboard ads or fan projects, and even gifts for the pair.

The fan community is self-sustaining in its growth; it is massive in Southeast Asia and South America, hashtags trending in one country or another, and even globally nearly every day. I have the impression that this fandom never sleeps and there is new content to traverse and giggle over every 12-hour cycle. It’s refreshing to see this level of self-sustained, growing adulation for actors of an LGBT show in countries that have traditionally been so conservative in their views and sorely underrepresented in mainstream media.

But it isn’t just the fans. There is consistent, honest regard in Freen and Becky’s interactions with each other, a world of memes and a language of their own that they share between themselves and with the fans (ex. “mami” and “honey” lines, the “phi-nong” interactions *wink-wink*).

(Source)

We have so little of this attention and enthusiasm for and in the LGBT community with mainstream actors, but these two! They demonstrate a commitment to the fans that is unwavering and unprecedented. They are clear and vocal about their acceptance of the LGBT community, which make up so much of their fan base, trumpeting their advocacy at every opportunity simply by showing up together.

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And oh! Do they have opportunity. They sell record amounts of product as the faces for a variety of brands on live streaming –from make-up, to magazines, to something as innocuous as seaweed chips.

Together or individually, they are constantly being promoted in magazines or on bright, LED billboards in Thailand and even so far as New York’s Times Square:

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A magazine seems to be released nearly every week, and it has left fans languishing with empty pockets as they faithfully try to collect every single one. Though these magazines aren’t distributed internationally, an informal network of locals purchase them for international fans (or interfans, as they’re called), and ship them out at the buyer’s expense, which interfans are more than willing to cover.

(Source)

Freen and Becky are adored, loved, and fiercely protected. It’s an amazing phenomenon to watch, and even more extraordinary to contemplate that their popularity has brought their relatively new promoters IdolFactory tremendous exposure and a mountain of ad cash. To an extent, because of such exponential growth, the company has been criticized for poor security and an inability to cater for a large fan base during events as it continues to hire woefully small, inadequate venues.

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We deserve to be heard. LGBT content, specifically wlw content, is valuable, loved, adored. If it came to just the bottom line, it is also incredibly profitable. What a message to send to media creators, to brands! I want this to be heard loudly, and for media executives to realize that they are missing out by cancelling so many wlw-centred shows on their streaming services:

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I wish FreenBecky every success, good health, and happiness.

I want Gap the Series to have even more exposure and recognized as the phenomenon that it is –as the first wlw web series that has breached more than 17M collective views on YouTube. It is the singular show pushing very, very hard against the norm: whether against the persistent cancellations of many wlw shows, catering to a mainly Western audience, or the more Western narrative perpetuated in majority of famous LGBT media today.

[starrywangxian]

an open letter to all media companies

dear media companies,

i know you won't stop cancelling good tv shows and media with, let's not beat around the brush, predominately lgbt+ characters (lesbian characters to be more specific), so i won't ask you to. however, what i do ask of you is that you, at least, give a chance for the fans to say goodbye to their characters and for the story to be at least somewhat done.

i'm writing this after sobbing over the last episode of the owl house and boy, that was emotional. but there was one thought that mainly went through my head after watching the last episode (apart from "i need more") which was: at least they got to say goodbye (literally). because so many tv shows have been cancelled without a chance to finish their stories, without a chance to say goodbye. for example, i was very angry, annoyed, and unsatisfied when dead end: paranormal park was cancelled by netflix but, unlike the owl house, it was cancelled on a cliffhanger without any means to finish the story or say goodbye to the characters, and my anger was overpowered by the sadness i felt. the owl house, though, got a chance. and i guess what i'm saying is that you media companies will never listen to queer people when we tell you how important representation is especially in children's media, so i'll just save my breath but please, give it one more episode or at least a clip or something. because you may just see a price tag or angry emails from homophobic parents but we see ourselves in those characters, so they will always be more than just kids' tv show characters, and it hurts to just leave them without having any closure.

but i'll be accommodating, if you don't want to give the series one last episode, then at least tell the producers of the show before you cancel it so they can prepare, so they can give a massive fuck you to you one last time in the form of excessive PDA or pride flags galore for one last hurrah.

you can cancel the tv shows that actually matter and ignore the communities you hurt but we'll never back down. animators, storytellers, producers, directors etc. will still push for change, equality, representation, and awareness no matter when you decide to cancel our stories.

yours faithfully,

⣞⢽⢪⢣⢣⢣⢫⡺⡵⣝⡮⣗⢷⢽⢽⢽⣮⡷⡽⣜⣜⢮⢺⣜⢷⢽⢝⡽⣝ ⠸⡸⠜⠕⠕⠁⢁⢇⢏⢽⢺⣪⡳⡝⣎⣏⢯⢞⡿⣟⣷⣳⢯⡷⣽⢽⢯⣳⣫⠇ ⠀⠀⢀⢀⢄⢬⢪⡪⡎⣆⡈⠚⠜⠕⠇⠗⠝⢕⢯⢫⣞⣯⣿⣻⡽⣏⢗⣗⠏⠀ ⠀⠪⡪⡪⣪⢪⢺⢸⢢⢓⢆⢤⢀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠈⢊⢞⡾⣿⡯⣏⢮⠷⠁⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠈⠊⠆⡃⠕⢕⢇⢇⢇⢇⢇⢏⢎⢎⢆⢄⠀⢑⣽⣿⢝⠲⠉⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⡿⠂⠠⠀⡇⢇⠕⢈⣀⠀⠁⠡⠣⡣⡫⣂⣿⠯⢪⠰⠂⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⡦⡙⡂⢀⢤⢣⠣⡈⣾⡃⠠⠄⠀⡄⢱⣌⣶⢏⢊⠂⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⢝⡲⣜⡮⡏⢎⢌⢂⠙⠢⠐⢀⢘⢵⣽⣿⡿⠁⠁⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠨⣺⡺⡕⡕⡱⡑⡆⡕⡅⡕⡜⡼⢽⡻⠏⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⣼⣳⣫⣾⣵⣗⡵⡱⡡⢣⢑⢕⢜⢕⡝⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⣴⣿⣾⣿⣿⣿⡿⡽⡑⢌⠪⡢⡣⣣⡟⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⡟⡾⣿⢿⢿⢵⣽⣾⣼⣘⢸⢸⣞⡟⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠁⠇⠡⠩⡫⢿⣝⡻⡮⣒⢽⠋⠀⠀⠀

[side-b-bumblebi]

Side B Steve Rogers headcanons:

Steve had crushes on guys from a young age, but he never realized they were crushes and it confused him why he felt pretty much the same towards men and women. But because he didn't want women to think he was hitting on them out of nowhere, he was shyer around them, so he figured that meant he was perfectly hetero until—nope.

Steve's mother ended up finding out about him being bi. She decided to be a good mentor to him and loved and supported him. That made losing her even harder.

Steve had a crush on Bucky for a time and it wasn't until he got over the crush that he finally came out to Bucky. Bucky was just like, "Bro, I know, did you just realize that??" Bucky keeps Steve's secret faithfully and accepts Steve's choice to stand by his religious beliefs.

Even though Steve is Side B and therefore doesn't have relationships with men for religious reasons, his experiences with being bi have made him vehemently anti-queerphobia. He ended up getting a reputation for standing up for gay soldiers in the military. While some of the soldiers were stuck in their ways, others came to talk to him and educate themselves and became allies to the gay soldiers, even though they were straight. Steve became something of a counselor for gay soldiers during the war — and their biggest ally. The U.S. government didn't dare try anything when Captain America stood up for the little guy. He was the country's darling.

Steve has a green rosary with a little golden crucifix that his mother brought over from Ireland and gave to him. When he misses her or is having a PTSD episode or has fallen back into depression, he pulls it out and kisses the crucifix. It makes him feel closer to her and to God. He keeps it on him at all times. Some days when he feels exhausted and lonely and thinks nobody will understand his being Side B, he gives it a little squeeze and remembers his mom.

One time when Natasha was trying to set Steve up, she jokingly suggested a man. Steve said, "No, but it's nice to see you're picking up on my type." Natasha was confused for months.

Steve is very open about his sexuality at his local church because he knows how much the taboos of the day negatively impacted his mental health. He serves as a mentor to many Side B people not only in his church, but in other churches in the area. He ended up starting a Side B club at his church where they watch movies and eat snacks and read books and discuss their experiences. Steve is proud of being able to give these people what he never had, especially young people since he doesn't want them to be saddled with the years of unlearning toxicity that he was stuck with. But he also finds it's incredibly healing for himself as well. Young LGBT+ people at his church look up to him and often go to him for advice and understanding. He's their biggest hero.

Feel free to add on!! :)

[castingmysilver]

Pentecost Sunday, the outpouring of the Spirit of God.

I like the interpretation that it's like... throwing open the doors, inviting anyone who likes into God's vision, rather than empowering a faithful few.

Also the liturgical color on the church calendar is red, which is my favorite color! I think I'm actually going to dress appropriately. ;)

[deenahalaqsa]

The misconception that Islam is inherently oppressive can be incredibly harmful to LGBTQ Muslims like myself, because it insinuates being queer and being Muslim as mutually exclusive, not two parts of an identity that can coexist harmoniously.

Hidayah LGBTQI: Gender, Sexuality and Islam

[createdgay]

Happy Pride!

[books-to-add-to-your-tbr]

Title: Call of Calamity

Author: Liv Savell, Sterling D’Este

Series or standalone: series

Publication year: 2021

Genres: fiction, fantasy, romance, LGBT+

Blurb: Allee and Etienne have been friends since they first came to the Moxous School of Magics...but when they unwittingly release a terrible ancient power, their bond will be tested in the journey towards fixing their mistakes. Delyth was raised to faithfully serve the goddess Enyo at the temple where she was abandoned as a baby...so when the sword Calamity is thrust into her keeping, she faces the task of protecting the goddess’ vassal with equanimity. Unfortunately, no amount of training could have prepared Delyth for the strain on her loyalties caused by the beautiful vassal herself. Under enough pressure, even the beliefs of a lifetime will bend.

[the-bjd-community-confess]

IDK if anyone remembers this, but a while ago (maybe like a year ago or more?) I posted about how I'm LGBT+ and I was feeling conflicted because there's a character from Harry Potter that was especially meaningful to me when I was younger, because they give a speech that really hits home for me and helped me to see myself in a different, more positive light than ever before, and that I wanted to make a doll of that character to memorialize what they had "done" for me despite Known Bigot Joanne K. Rowling being Like That... And pretty much everyone encouraged me to do it because it was meaningful to me personally (and she hadn't said quite as many awful things then)... So yeahhh... I did make that doll. It's completely unmistakeable what character the doll represents, because that character has totally unique and very recognizable physical features which I reproduced faithfully. I used my long-sought grail. It's the most beautiful doll I own and I'm more proud of my work customizing it than any other art I've ever made... and I'm never, ever going to post any pictures of it anywhere, ever. I'll never even take a picture of it.

Known Bigot Joanne K. Rowling should be ashamed of herself for the evil that she's doing. I refuse to take my fondest childhood heroes out back and put a bullet between their eyes because some smug out-of-touch celebrity boomer wants me to use a different bathroom or love a different type of person. They're mine now, even if I have to hide them. The author is dead.

~Anonymous