#gay positivity

[the-sappho-of-lesbos]

Source: Becoming Visible; An Illustrated History Of Lesbian And Gay Life In Twentieth-Century America- by Molly McGary and Fred Wasserman

[your-gay-grandma]

incentive to live to old age - one day you can be an elder queer and inspire those younger than you and offer them the guidance you mightn’t have had. you can be living proof to them that they can grow old and be happy

[sapphic-sprite]

I honestly feel like media needs to start portraying more lesbians and gay men who didn’t realize they were gay until much later in life. Lesbians and gay men who married the opposite sex and had a family. Lesbians and gay men with religious traumas that made it hard for them to understand they could have been gay. Lesbians and gay men who honestly struggle to make the connection that they are gay because of how ingrained societal standards are in them. I need for the media to start having characters that didn’t always know. Not everyone always knows and it would be beneficial to show that. There is no time limit on realizing your sexuality or gender.

[hussyknee]

Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani’s Kitab al-Aghani records the lives of a number of individuals including one named Tuways who lived during the last years of Muhammad and the reigns of the early Muslim dynasties. Tuways was mukhannathun: those who were born as men, but who presented as female. They are described by al-Isfahani as wearing bangles, decorating their hands with henna, and wearing feminine clothing. One mukhannathun, Hit, was even in the household of the Prophet Muhammad. Tuways earned a reputation as a musician, performing for clients and even for Muslim rulers. When Yahya ibn al-Hakam was appointed as governor, Tuways joined in the celebration wearing ostentatious garb and cosmetics. When asked by the governor if he were Muslim Tuways affirmed his belief, proclaiming the declaration of faith and saying that he observes the fast of Ramadan and the five daily prayers. In other words, al-Isfahani, who recorded the life of a number of mukhannathun like Tuways, saw no contradiction between his gender expression and his Muslimness. From al-Isfahani we read of al-Dalal, ibn Surayj, and al-Gharid—all mukhannathun—who lived rich lives in early Muslim societies. Notably absent from al-Isfahani’s records is any state-sanctioned persecution. Instead, the mukhannathun are an accepted part of society.

...

Far from isolated cases, across Islamic history—from North Africa to South Asia—we see widespread acceptance of gender nonconforming and queer individuals. - Later in the Ottoman Empire, there were the köçek who were men who wore women’s clothing and performed at festivals. Formally trained in dance and percussion instruments, the köçek were an important part of social functions. A similar practice was found in Egypt. The khawal were male dancers who presented as female, wearing dresses, make up, and henna. Like their Ottoman counterparts, they performed at social events.

- In South Asia, the hijra were and are third-sex individuals. The term is used for intersex people as well as transgender women. Hijra are attested to among the earliest Muslim societies of South Asia where, according to Nalini Iyer, they were often guardians of the household and even held office as advisors.

- In Iraq, the mustarjil are born female, but present as men. In Wilfred Thesiger’s The Marsh Arabs the guide, Amara explains, “A mustarjil is born a woman. She cannot help that; but she has the heart of a man, so she lives like a man.” When asked if the mustarjil are accepted, Amara replies “Certainly. We eat with her and she may sit in the mudhif.” Amara goes on to describe how mustarjil have sex with women.

...

Historian Indira Gesink analyzed 41 medical and juristic sources between the 8th and 18th centuries and discovered that the discourse of a “binary sex” was an anachronistic projection backwards. Gesink points out in one of the earliest lexicography by the 8th century al-Khalil ibn Ahmad that he suggests addressing a male-presenting intersex person as ya khunathu and a female-presenting intersex person as ya khanathi while addressing an effeminate man as ya khunathatu. This suggests a clear recognition of a spectrum of sex and gender expression and a desire to address someone respectfully based on how they presented.

Tolerance of gender ambiguity and non-conformity in Islamic cultures went hand-in-hand with broader acceptance of homoeroticism. Texts like Ali ibn Nasir al-Katib’s Jawami al-Ladhdha, Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani’s Kitab al-Aghani, and the Tunisian, Ahmad al-Tifashi’s Nuz’ha al-‘Albab attest to the widespread acceptance of same-sex desire as natural. Homoeroticism is a common element in much of Persian and Arabic poetry where youthful males are often the object of desire. From Abu Nuwas to Rumi, from ibn Ammar to Amir Khusraw, some of the Islamic world’s greatest poets were composing verses for their male lovers. Queer love was openly vaunted by poets. One, Ibn Nasr, immortalizes the love between two Arab lesbians Hind al Nu’man and al-Zarqa by writing:

“Oh Hind, you are truer to your word than men. Oh, the differences between your loyalty and theirs.”

...

Acceptance of same-sex desire and gender non-conformity was the hallmark of Islamic societies to such a degree that European travelers consistently remarked derisively on it. In the 19th century, Edward Lane wrote of the khawal: “They are Muslims and natives of Egypt. As they personate women, their dances are exactly of the same description as those of the ghawazee; and are, in like manner, accompanied by the sound of castanets.”

A similarly scandalized CS Sonnini writes of Muslim homoerotic culture:

“The inconceivable appetite which dishonored the Greeks and the Persians of antiquity, constitute the delight, or to use a juster term, the infamy of the Egyptians. It is not for women that their ditties are composed: it is not on them that tender caresses are lavished; far different objects inflame them.”

In his travels in the 19th century, James Silk Buckingham encounters an Afghan dervish shedding tears for parting with his male lover. The dervish, Ismael, is astonished to find how rare same-sex love was in Europe. Buckingham reports the deep love between Ismael and his lover quoting, “though they were still two bodies, they became one soul.”

...

Today, vocal Muslim critics of LGBTQ+ rights often accuse gay and queer people of imposing a “Western” concept or forcing Islam to adjust to “Western values” failing to grasp the irony of the claim: the shift in the 19th and 20th century was precisely an alignment with colonial values over older Islamic ones, all of which led to legal criminalization. In fact, the common feature among nations with anti-LGBTQ+ legislation isn’t Islam, but rather colonial law.

Don't talk to me I'm weeping. I'm not Muslim, but the grief of colonization runs in the blood of every Global South person. Dicovering these is like finding our lost treasures among plundered ruins.

Queer folk have always, always been here; we have always been inextricable, shining golden threads in the tapestry of human history. To erase and condemn us is to continue using the scalpel of colonizers in the mutilation and betrayal of our own heritage.

[lgbtqtext]

[chaos-in-one]

Since I don’t see positivity for them very often, shout out to transmasc lesbians and transfem gays <3

[tboydog]

id: the dinner scene from the 2016 movie moonlight, chiron, a dark skinned Black man wearing a black du rag and gray shirt sits in a booth across from kevin, a Black man with medium brown skin, close cut hair, stubble and a goatee, he is wearing a white polo and smiles as he listens, text over the image says “your masculinity is not incompatible with your sexuality” end id.

[noonesgaylikegatson]

Gay men are not your punching bags. We are not your cheerleaders. We are not your entertainers. We are people. Human beings from the day we take our first breath to the day we take our last.

[anything-but-a-girl]

Sometimes I forget how much of a safe place Tumblr is. There's unstable corners that need help but as for queer shit, this is a haven. Maybe its cause we're all Millenials or Gen-z, maybe we're all just really fuckin' gay, maybe I'm wrong and have just been lucky enough to not run into the other side of things. Whatever the case, as much as we call Tumblr a Hellsite and worse, its safe. So thank you @staff (hoping that this isn't just a gag blog) for being where I can run to when I'm not at home anywhere else.

[intersexfairy]

my boyfriend is so fucking silly i love him. let's give it up for the silly boys. they make us smile so often i think all of them should have 1,000,000$. especially if they're queer. ilya. keep being you.

[lgbtq-userboxes]

[kamenootblr]

Hey y’all, here’s a new vid for the road and the new yeuh https://youtu.be/w6tqnQo2DNU?si=3nERlWsp6hWqca38

[vampire-bat-boy]

Loving men is not a tragedy actually. I love the way men

Men

[lgbtqtext]

[theonlydrewboo]

❤️❤️❤️❤️

[mikeyvampire]

i should be allowed to kiss a boy this pride month