#lesbian day of visibility 2022

[skyxedits02]

something i made for lesbian visibility day back in 2022 ♡

[pers-books]

‘We don’t disappear after 30’: the Old Lesbians telling a century’s worth of raw, revealing stories

Featuring more than 900 candid interviews, the Old Lesbian Oral Herstory Project seeks visibility for those long denied it

Arden Eversmeyer, the late founder of the Old Lesbian Oral Herstory Project. Photograph: Meghan McDonough

Two women who met as teenagers, fell in love, and stayed together for 69 years – spending all but the last decade of their relationship in the closet. A woman who, in her 70s, finally decided to come out to two friendly lesbian strangers she saw together at the grocery store. One woman, born in 1918, who found herself in a lesbian bar one day, not knowing such a thing existed, and finally felt at home.

These are all stories pulled from the Old Lesbian Oral Herstory Project (OLOHP), a catalogue of more than 900 interviews with lesbian seniors in the US. Arden Eversmeyer, a retired Houston schoolteacher who devoted her retired years to campaigning for visibility for older lesbians, who she felt were missing from the cultural discussion, began interviewing women in 1998.

She grew a team of interviewers – all of them also old lesbians, as they call themselves – to travel around the country speaking to women. These transcripts, audio recordings, and photos of the subjects live in an archive at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts. After Eversmeyer’s death at age 91 in November 2022, a dedicated group of friends and fellow activists took up the cause. Last month Meghan McDonough, a Brooklyn-based film-maker, released a documentary called Old Lesbians telling the story of OLOHP, commissioned by Guardian Documentaries.

Barb Kucharczyk speaks in a scene from the film. Photograph: Meghan McDonough

Eversmeyer and her team recruited interview subjects through a word-of-mouth network, and by placing ads at venues such as women’s music festivals or the free magazine Lesbian Connection. The only requirement was that the woman be over 70 years old and identify as a lesbian – she didn’t have to be out publicly, and could remain anonymous. (The age requirement has since been loosened.)

“Arden’s famous quote is, ‘You don’t have to climb Mount Everest to have an interesting life story, because the the fact that you are a lesbian in our culture makes your life story interesting,’” said Barb Kucharczyk, an air force veteran and OLOHP interviewer who served more than two decades in the military, including under the discriminatory “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.

Interviews are conducted loosely and conversationally. Not every question relates to a woman’s sexuality. There are a few standard questions: where were you born? what did your family look like? What did your folks do for a living? But the point is mostly to make women feel comfortable and open up.

“We’ve tried to make it as gentle of an experience as we can for the women,” said Kucharczyk, who is 76 and lives in Sumter, South Carolina. “It becomes a chronological discussion of their life story. At some point in time, they will talk about being a lesbian. But we don’t walk into the door with 47 questions about how they found out they were, or how they were treated. We want the woman to tell her own story, and if the details about her lesbian lifestyle are slim, that’s OK.”

Still, the project is a raw and revealing look at what life was like for lesbians in the 20th century. Women who came of age before Stonewall and the sexual revolution describe what Kucharczyk calls “hidden lifestyles” that they kept secret, living in fear for their safety. There are harrowing descriptions of conversion therapy, ostracism and physical attacks.

(If clicking the link above doesn't work, here's the direct link to the documentary: https://www.theguardian.com/world/ng-interactive/2024/may/22/old-lesbians-reclaiming-old-age-and-queerness-through-storytelling)

Ethyl “Ricci Cortez” Bronson, an exotic dancer and member of the Burlesque Hall of Fame, who later opened the first “gay girls’ bar” in Houston, told Eversmeyer during an interview that took place shortly before Bronson’s death in 2008 that her club was regularly raided by cops. “A lot of the girls in slacks and pants had been hauled off to jail in the raids,” she said. “They even put me in handcuffs and carried me out to the police car. In my own bar! This is what we went through to get open bars, open gay bars.”

Some of the women interviewed for the project asked to speak anonymously, or on certain conditions, like that their name only be revealed after they died. This did not affect their candor when speaking on the record. “Women were open with us as long as they knew that this was not going to be published,” said Edie Daly, an 87-year-old retired intensive care nurse who splits her time between Florida and Massachusetts. “Some of these stories are still closed, because even though they have passed, they were in fear of outing themselves or someone else.”

Daly said some women were able to break through their hesitancy because they wanted to leave a record of what had happened to them. “We talk about how we would love to know what the suffragists’ individual stories were, and we don’t have that, because a lot of women’s stories are lost,” she said. “Women have been erased from history, and so this is our attempt to rectify that in some small way.”

Edie Daly holds up a blue t-shirt with the words 'THIS is what an OLD LESBIAN looks like!' at home in Northampton, Massachusetts. Photograph: Meghan McDonough

Lillian Faderman, an award-winning scholar of lesbian history and professor emeritus at Fresno State in California, sat for her own interview with Eversmeyer. When she came out in 1950s Los Angeles, she used fake IDs to get into what were then called “gay girls’ bars”.

“As a young lesbian, my feeling was that what happened when you reach 30 or older was that you probably died,” Faderman said. “There were simply no role models, and I don’t think it’s quite as bad today because of social media, but for the most part, I think that young lesbians still have no notion that we don’t disappear after 30. I think it’s important for them to understand that they have a future outside of youth.”

Faderman hopes that the interviews “send a message to the people in our community for posterity, that we are here and flourishing”.

“We’ve always been here,” Daly added. “But now we have visibility, and a voice. And it’s not just visibility of old lesbians, it’s the visibility of all strong women.”

This June, another Pride month unfurls over the backdrop of attacks on LGBTQ+ Americans. The FBI has warned that celebrations could be targeted by terrorists, and Target rolled back its Pride merchandise after last year saw conservative backlash that in some instances led to angry shoppers confronting workers. That’s partly why Kucharczyk believes it’s more important than ever to look toward the past.

“Does history repeat itself? Absolutely,” Kucharczyk said. “You’re watching it happen right here, right now. I hope the message that young folks take away is to be aware

of this history, because if you’re aware, you can see the tidal wave that’s coming up.”

[armoralor]

Queer Coding Pt 1 | "Stop making everyone gay!!!" | Important Note: The LGBTQIA+ community is not a monolith; opinions on labels, language, and interpretations are always evolving. Queerness can take many shapes, and no one can truly quantify what it means to be authentically yourself besides you. You do not have to look or act a certain way to be queer enough. While "Queer Coding" can border on "Queerbating," and the stereotypes both draw on can be harmful, many queer folks have reclaimed and embraced the tropes that were historically weaponized against them. Additional resources and sources below. T*RFs fuck off.

Transcript: 1. HISTORY: The Motion Picture Production Code (enforced in Hollywood for decades) prohibited “perverse” subjects such as homosexuality. This led to the portrayal of "queer coded" characters that were never allowed to be explicitly queer. The subtextual way identities were previously forced to be portrayed has bled into modern interpretations of queer characters.

2. DESCRIPTION: What exactly is "queer coding" and what does it look like? "Coding" refers to the choices made when creating a character's unique set of mannerisms, traits, and external qualities. Non-Exhaustive list of characteristics that can be "queer coded:" clothing, style, family, hair, jewellery, speech patterns, behaviour, media consumption, profession, and interpersonal relationships.

3. EXAMPLES: While none of the characteristics historically associated with queerness are exclusive to the LGBTQIA+ community, when compounded and given context, they can act as recognizable markers for queer creators and audiences to find themselves represented in media. It's important to note that many of these characteristics were originally portrayed and seen as negative. Villains were commonly "queer coded" to let audiences know said characters were evil. a) Bright hair cut at untraditional lengths or styled in uncommon ways. b) Strong found family, fresh starts with a new identity, and/or choosing your own name. c) Behavioral traits like extreme empathy or aggressive assertiveness, when displayed in opposition to idealized Western gender roles, and paired with characters being othered by their surroundings, is another common "queer coded" allegory.

Sources: Hitchcock and the Censors by John Billheimer (2019); Everything but Named: Queer-Coded Characters in 19th-Century Literature by Marie Harra (2023); Queers in American Popular Culture by Jo Johnson (2010); Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Content on Television: A Quantitative Analysis Across Two Seasons by Deborah A. Fisher PhD et all (2007); Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence by Adrienne Cecile Rich (1980); Unrequited: The Queer History of Hollywood by James Somerton (2023); Lesbians Being Anti-Trans Is a Lesbophobic Trope by Amy Ashenden (2023); Stop Using Lesbians Like Me To Justify Your Transphobia by Sadhbh O'Sullivan (2022); Trans Day of Visibility by Just Like Us (2023); Why Queerbaiting in Marketing and Media Is Harmful and How You Can Help Stop It by Colleen Murphy (2023)

[lesbiansovereverything]

2024 Lesbian Visibility Day Call for Submissions

Every year on Lesbian Visibility Day, LesbiansOverEverything.Com puts out a list of “real life lesbian adults who are living their best lives.”

The women we feature usually write 1-2 paragraphs about their careers or passions and submit a picture of themselves to go along with that. The point of doing this is to promote positive representation of lesbians and to highlight lesbian achievements. 

Submissions for this year are open until Friday, April 12th. If interested, please send a pic and 1-2 relevant paragraphs to editor.lesbiansovereverything@gmail.com

Visibility Day articles from previous years: 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020

[badgalazzie]

tomorrow’s show in tampa at the eras tour is:

on april 13th

the first eras show that is on thursday

the first show after a quick break

the first show after toe breakup

a rumored show performed in the rain

about 10 days before lesbian visibility week

exactly 4 years after she announced ME! as a single

one week before april 20th which is a solar eclipse ☀️ (idk if this is significant but i see signs everywhere)

jack also used a phrase „speak soon” in his last tweet (speak now tv truthers rise)

EXACTLY 174 DAYS AFTER OCTOBER 21 2022 AKA MIDNIGHTS RELEASE DATE

[shoujoboy-restart]

16-year-old non-binary student Nex Benedict was beaten to death at Owasso High School in Oklahoma.

Self-described stochastic terrorist and January 6th Capitol rioter Chaya Raichik, owner of the social media account Libs of TikTok, has become infamous for her viral harassment and moral panic campaigns targeting minorities— with an emphasis on vilifying LGBTQ+ existence. Since 2021, Raichik’s posts targeting advocates for and members of the LGBTQ+ community have been followed with a deluge of violent death threats (including lynching threats against the Los Angeles Unified School District). Nowhere has Raichik’s influence been more visible than Oklahoma, where her anti-LGBTQ+ exploits earned her an official position on the Oklahoma Department of Education’s Library Media Advisory Committee by controversial far-right Superintendent Ryan Walters. Under Walters’ leadership, Oklahoma has been aggressively working to ban books and education on LGBTQ+ issues in schools across the state, with Oklahoma’s Attorney General Gentner Drummond stating that proposed rules to ban LGBTQ+ books and content were “unconstitutional and cannot be enforced.” It’s been confirmed that Raichik’s posts have fueled multiple bomb threats against schools specifically in Oklahoma. Officials from Oklahoma told NBC News that they believe Chaya Raichik’s anti-LGBTQ+ culture warring “sparked threats in their localities with her posts on social media that digitally heckle people such as drag performers, LGBTQ teachers and doctors who treat transgender patients.”   One of these instances was at the Owasso School District (just outside of Tulsa, Oklahoma). In 2022, Chaya Raichik targeted an Owasso teacher for speaking out in support of LGBTQ+ students who lacked acceptance from their parents. Raichik’s post was shared thousands of times on social media and resulted in the teacher getting condemned and harassed until they resigned. The posts Raichik made about the teacher were later deleted, but have been archived. It’s unclear what prompted the deletion of the posts by Raichik. We know Raichik’s Libs of TikTok posts have contributed to a culture of intolerance against LGBTQ+ youth in schools, and now this hate may be manifesting beyond mere threats. This month, a non-binary 16-year-old student at Owasso High School was brutally murdered in the girl’s restroom. According to local news outlets and family, Nex Benedict was beaten by three older female students. The mother of Benedict’s best friend told KJRH News that "one of the girls was pretty much repeatedly beating [Benedict’s] head across the floor.” Reports say Benedict was unable to take themselves to the nurse’s office after a teacher finally intervened in the brutal assault. For reasons that remain unclear, Owasso High School refused to call an ambulance for 16-year-old Nex Benedict, who died from their injuries in the hospital the next day. A motive for this killing has not been shared by law enforcement, but we know that schools in Oklahoma have been specifically pushing violent eliminationist rhetoric against transgender and non-binary youth— a fact exemplified by the state’s hiring of Chaya Raichik following her incitements of terror against the state’s schools over LGBTQ+ rights.  “This is the inevitable result of the anti trans moral panic,” said civil rights attorney Alejandra Caraballo, who shared an article about Benedict’s death published by the Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents Blog. “This is horrifying, and comes as lawmakers are increasingly spreading fear over trans people in bathrooms,” wrote LGBTQ+ journalist and advocate Erin Reed regarding this murder.

[msclaritea]

you are a truly disgusting individual. your anti queer rhetoric is sending the world so far backward, you are pushing hate towards a community who already experiences so much shit from others like you. drag is not dangerous, it is art. being trans is not a cult. queer people are not inherently evil as you so clearly think. you are a sick fuck and I hope you have a terrible day <3

Scotland's Hate Crime Act comes into effect today. Women gain no additional protections, of course, but well-known trans activist Beth Douglas, darling of prominent Scottish politicians, falls within a protected category. Phew! 1/11

Lovely Scottish lass and convicted double rapist Isla Bryson found her true authentic female self shortly before she was due to be sentenced. Misgendering is hate, so respect Isla’s pronouns, please. Love the leggings! 2/11

Fragile flower Katie Dolatowski, 6'5", was rightly sent to a women's prison in Scotland after conviction. This ensured she was protected from violent, predatory men (unlike the 10-year-old girl Katie sexually assaulted in a women's public bathroom.) 3/11

Samantha Norris was cleared of exposing her penis to two 11-year-old girls. Hooray! Unfortunately she was then convicted for possession of 16,000 images of children being raped and sexually assaulted. Be that as it may, Sam’s still a lady to me! 4/11

Scottish woman and butcher Amy George abducted an 11-year-old girl while dressed in female clothing. No idea why this was mentioned in court – of course she was wearing women’s clothing, she's a woman! Amy took the girl home and sexually abused her over a 27-hour period. 5/11

But most women aren’t axe-toters or sex offenders, so let’s talk role models! Guilia Valentino (in red) wanted to play on the women's team 'because of sisterhood, validation and political visibility'. Naturally, she was given some boring cis girl’s place. Yay for inclusion! 6/11

Mridul Wadhwa, head of a Scottish rape crisis centre, says, ‘sexual violence happens to bigoted people as well.’ She has no gender recognition certificate, but was still appointed to a job advertised for women only. Time to be ‘challenged on your prejudices’, rape victims! 7/11

Munroe Bergdorf isn’t just a pretty face! Public campaigner for a children’s charity until safeguarding concerns were raised, she was appointed UN Women’s first ever UK champion. ‘What makes a woman “a woman” has no definitive answer,’ says Munroe. Great choice, UN Women! 8/11

Katie Neeves has been appointed as the UN Women UK delegate. She switched from straight man to lesbian at the age of 48 and, in a leaked 2022 webinar, described how she used to enjoy stealing and wearing her sister’s underwear. A truly relatable representative! 9/11

Image

Last, but least, TV’s India Willoughby proves we women can call a black broadcaster a ‘nasty bitch’ who ‘wouldn’t be anywhere without woke’, dub lesbians men, insult the looks of a female Olympic swimmer, ‘joke’ about kidnapping feminists, and STILL get airtime! What a gal! 10/11

🎉🌼🌸April Fools! 🌸🌼🎉

Only kidding. Obviously, the people mentioned in the above tweets aren't women at all, but men, every last one of them.

In passing the Scottish Hate Crime Act, Scottish lawmakers seem to have placed higher value on the feelings of men performing their idea of femaleness, however misogynistically or opportunistically, than on the rights and freedoms of actual women and girls. The new legislation is wide open to abuse by activists who wish to silence those of us speaking out about the dangers of eliminating women's and girls’ single-sex spaces, the nonsense made of crime data if violent and sexual assaults committed by men are recorded as female crimes, the grotesque unfairness of allowing males to compete in female sports, the injustice of women’s jobs, honours and opportunities being taken by trans-identified men, and the reality and immutability of biological sex.

For several years now, Scottish women have been pressured by their government and members of the police force to deny the evidence of their eyes and ears, repudiate biological facts and embrace a neo-religious concept of gender that is unprovable and untestable. The re-definition of 'woman' to include every man who declares himself one has already had serious consequences for women's and girls’ rights and safety in Scotland, with the strongest impact felt, as ever, by the most vulnerable, including female prisoners and rape survivors.

It is impossible to accurately describe or tackle the reality of violence and sexual violence committed against women and girls, or address the current assault on women’s and girls’ rights, unless we are allowed to call a man a man. Freedom of speech and belief are at an end in Scotland if the accurate description of biological sex is deemed criminal.

I'm currently out of the country, but if what I've written here qualifies as an offence under the terms of the new act, I look forward to being arrested when I return to

the birthplace of the Scottish Enlightenment.

"It was only in Scotland that the Templars endured no persecution.." Albert G. Mackey

Knights Templars gave birth to the Freemasons.

The Templars practiced Dark Arts and Paganism.

The Templars infiltrated churches including the Church of England.

Reverend is a Masonic title.

Worship of the Pagan Adam Kadmon is worship of Divine Androgyne and Intersex.

The current Transgender Rights For Men and Drag, like the Gender Ideology in Weimer during WWII comes from Pagan worship, very sick elite fetish and Pedophiles. It steps on actual people suffering Body Dysphoria and physical disabilities, involving their organs.

Bottom line: Your 'Art' is FOUL and Fraudulent, meant only to please wealthy perverts and mock real women. Oh! And to allow access to children, for the perverts, you know damn well exist in your community.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Judd Legum at Popular Information:

In 2020, Bari Weiss quit her job as an editor and writer at the New York Times editorial page in a huff. In her public resignation letter, Weiss argued that she was forced out because the paper had become "illiberal" and her more conservative beliefs made her "the subject of constant bullying by colleagues." 

In January 2021, Weiss launched a newsletter, Common Sense, with her partner, Nellie Bowles. Weiss billed Common Sense as the antidote to "cancel culture," which she argued was the practice by progressives of seeking to punish and ostracize anyone who diverged from their ideological orthodoxy. "The fact that cancellation tales have become an everyday feature of American life should do nothing to diminish how shocking they are, and how damaging they are to a free society," Weiss wrote in October 2021. "Everyone… of conscience needs to start saying no to the mob." Whether or not Weiss' core critique is true, it is lucrative. In 2022, Common Sense rebranded itself as The Free Press to reflect its growing ambitions. It now reportedly employs about 30 people and generates millions in revenue annually. The rebranded publication continues to rail against "cancel culture." Bowles recently published an excerpt from her new book in The Free Press in which she describes the "pleasure" she used to get from helping "cancel people" — before she saw the light and embraced intellectual freedom.

Ironically, as Weiss cashes in on her critique of "cancel culture," The Free Press has become a central part of a sophisticated right-wing ecosystem that seeks to tear down anything and anyone who diverges too far from their ideology.  The latest effort began on April 9, 2024, when NPR editor Uri Berliner wrote in The Free Press that his employer had "lost America's trust." Using a formula that is typical for The Free Press, Berliner describes himself as fitting the liberal mold — admitting that he was "raised by a lesbian peace activist mother" and "eagerly voted against Trump twice." But Berliner says that NPR has gone too far. NPR, according to Berliner, has abandoned its "open-minded spirit" and is too focused on catering to the left. 

One of the core pieces of evidence Berliner cited was NPR's coverage of allegations that the "Trump campaign colluded with Russia." Berliner said NPR "hitched our wagon to Trump’s most visible antagonist, Representative Adam Schiff." He complained that Schiff was interviewed 25 times and, during those interviews, "alluded to purported evidence of collusion." But an NPR spokesperson told Washington Post media critic Erik Wemple that between January 2017 and December 2019, NPR conducted 900 interviews with congressional lawmakers, including stalwart conservatives like Jim Jordan (R-OH) and Paul Ryan (R-WI). In other words, Schiff did not dominate the coverage. Overall, Wemple describes Berliner's critique of NPR's Russia coverage as a "lazy… feelings-based critique of the sort that passes for media reporting these days."

Another central component of Berliner's critique is this statistic: "In D.C., where NPR is headquartered and many of us live, I found 87 registered Democrats working in editorial positions and zero Republicans. None." There are a few problems with this. First, Berliner doesn't disclose that there are 662 employees at NPR producing content. It's unclear how or why he selected a subset of just 87 people. Second, in DC, voters have the option of registering as independents. That's how Berliner and other NPR employees who live in DC, like host Steve Inskeep, have registered. Finally, many NPR employees live in places like Virginia, which does not have voter registration by party. 

[...]

That is when the effort to punish NPR and Maher intensified. Chris Rufo, a right-wing operative, has been featured in The Free Press as a contributor and a podcast guest. Rufo began examining Maher's 29,400 tweets and highlighting examples that "exposed" her as liberal. (He later summarized his findings in a piece published by City Journal.) Rufo objects to tweets in which Maher discusses "structural privilege," "non-binary people," and "toxic masculinity." He also highlights that Maher's daily routine included "yoga, iced coffee, back-to-back meetings, and Zoom-based psychotherapy." In another tweet, Maher calls Trump — who rose to political prominence by falsely claiming that the nation's first Black president was illegitimate because he was born in Africa — a "deranged racist psychopath." For Rufo, Maher is but one example of a growing problem: a "rising cohort of affluent, left-wing, female managers."

For Rufo, expressing liberal views at any point in your life is a fireable offense. “If NPR wants to truly be National Public Radio, it can’t pander to the furthest-left elements in the United States,” Rufo told the New York Times. “To do so, NPR should part ways with Katherine Maher.” NPR, however, stuck by Maher. The organization noted that the tweets in question were written while Maher "was not working in journalism… and was exercising her First Amendment right to express herself like any other American citizen." NPR further noted that Maher, as CEO, was not involved in the editorial process. 

[...]

The incoherence of the argument underscores the reality of the political moment. There is a relentless right-wing operation seeking to inflict pain on their ideological adversaries. Some, like Rufo, are the political equivalent of street brawlers, willing to say or do anything to achieve their objective. Others, like Weiss and The Free Press, give the movement a more journalistic and professional sheen. But no one involved is a supporter of free expression or an opponent of cancel culture. Rather, they are the cultural force aggressively pursuing cancellation.

This Popular Information piece goes hard on the right-wing’s BS obsession with “cancel culture.” In reality, right-wing polemicists such as Bari Weiss and Christopher Rufo are the ones who got to where they are by practicing cancel culture on ideas that don’t align with their worldview.

[pussyluvr2000]

sort of smacking this here (my internet mind palace) in the hopes that i will be able to update at some point looking much buffer... I used to lift and track macros religiously and made very good progress from January 2022-September 2023, but after that I fell off really hard with...pretty much every healthy habit i ever had due to demands at work and school and a little depressive episode 🤪 but I'm trying to be So Back because I am mentally fantastic rn and i want to be the Visibly Strong Lesbian archetype. I also want to age in a less painful way. My shoulder press was actually 10 lbs heavier with normal set today which felt like an accomplishment. The thing that did not feel so dope was failing an RDL rep at a lower-than-previous weight, although i attribute this to the fact that I was using dumbbells when I usually use a straight bar for that exercise. When I'm back at my normal good student gym I'll have better equipment and may get back into powerlifting (a previous endeavor from when my life was very different). But ultimately i need to stop skipping leg day and cardio 🚨 because that's the demons at work....

[dragon-appreciator-fray]

Irene Fray's Wordthings 2023 (And 2022)

I started writing Ruinous Hearts in early 2022 with the promise to leave everything I write available for free somewhere on the internet. (Currently that home is Scribblehub under the username IreneFray)

After seeing another beloved story of mine report on their word count for the year, I wanted to take a step back and see what my output was.

I ended up gushing, so I'll keep the details below the page break for those of you into having a trans girl hyperfixate to you about her passion. <3

2022: 56,437 words for Ruinous Hearts.

2023: 143,413 between Weight of Broken Promise and Deluded Hearts: Inheritance.

It's been a hard year, but I'm really fucking proud of those numbers. So many of those days in 2023 after I burnt out were 50-100 word writing days. (Those are valid and they add up!)

2022

Ruinous Hearts hit a total published word count of 58,667 words, with only the last 2,230 word chapter coming out on January of 2023.

56,437 words in my first year of writing feels pretty good. I still remember how good it felt to put those emotions into words and discover so much more about myself than just exploring my gender.

2023

2,230 words of RH's 19th Chapter - Something that can never Be.

This... chapter released with a feeling that I no longer knew how to tell my own truth and by extension, was letting Verity down.

Weight of Broken Promises by extension had so many false starts.

But on April of 2023 Royal Road, the site I was reading a lot of fiction on, namely Thundamoo's Vigor Mortis and Siilver Lining's Edge Cases, (both of which you should absolutely read.) announced a Writathon.

So I started a clean slate. And for the next grueling month I managed to almost effortlessly keep pace with the daily word count needed to hit the goal of 55,555 words (Almost the entirety of Ruinous Hearts!!!) within one month.

Our plurality's agreed pen/username on Royal Road is ArtoriaFray if you'd like to check the 2023 April Writathon participants list

Needless to say I felt fucking invincible there for a while.

But that kind of writing takes a toll.

Weight of Broken Promises hit a word count of 88,920 before I burnt out. But I never stopped working a full time job, even if I have slowly reigned in how much overtime I've worked. That it is as good as it is still feels like a miracle given the span of time that it was written within.

For the last six months I let myself write as much or as little as I felt like. This time focusing on the parts of Ruinous Hearts that never stopped living rent free in my head.

So while I have kept Deluded Hearts: Inheritance close to my chest with intent to only release completed books, I can only give you Google Drive's word count.

It is currently at 52,263 words. (Even if a lot of this is notes, outlines, and rather raw. That I still wrote all of this in the latter half of this year is wild to me.)

Adding my 2nd and 3rd stories with that last chapter of Ruinous Hearts published in January all together?

143,413 words is so much more than I thought I would ever be capable of despite working a full time job that is causing a visible drain on me.

I'm still not making more than spare change off this passion of mine despite how much it means to me. But that has come secondary to really exploring myself and connecting with new friends + girlthings whom I love and adore and cherish and occasionally nibble on.

And I'm not even counting a little collab project that started earlier this year and my headmates pushing out full chapters of writing projects I haven't committed to.

Or that time one of my newest partners recommended I record a journal of my time with Fear and Hunger 2 Termina, which I treated as a Death Game Diary in order to justify the looping of the game and growing my knowledge of how to play. This is frankly one of the small side projects I am MOST PROUD OF but I'm waiting for a new update and another playthrough on the rumored harder difficulty before I share the Let's Journal.

I want to share the picture proof of that Let's Journal, but it has serious spoilers. So! This is where I sign off.

Thank you for reading any amount of this little recap of mine. (Or making the leap to reading either of my stories!) I just wanted record somewhere that this all happened.

I never expected it to become all that it has.

But I'm so glad it has. Writing is how I found the people that mean the world to me. I literally come alive and out of funks in order to write.

Edit: I forgot the Termina screenshot and tags

[female-buckets]

It’s Oct. 8, 2021, and the Phoenix Mercury are one possession away from an improbable return to the WNBA Finals. The Las Vegas Aces get the ball to A’ja Wilson going toward the hoop, and the reigning MVP is met by the long arms of Brittney Griner, who rejects the shot attempt and secures her team’s victory.

Five days later, Griner is on a roll to start Game 2 of the finals. She has scored six straight points, and then two more come in spectacular fashion with the first dunk in WNBA Finals history. It’s the 24th dunk of her career, but she’s always proud of any that come in the playoffs. As she would tell members of the Mercury, “If I still have the legs at the end of the season, watch out.”

Phoenix would go on to lose the finals, but Griner cemented her return as one of the league’s greats. A year after having to leave the WNBA bubble to address her mental health, Griner was a starter on the Olympic gold-medal team and an all-WNBA first-team selection — and as bouncy as ever. Turning 30 didn’t mean that Griner was past her prime, not in the slightest.

Griner has not returned to WNBA action since. She has been detained in Russia for 293 days — a detention the U.S. has deemed wrongful — and she’s currently working in a penal colony almost a year since being arrested on drug charges after Russian customs agents found hashish oil in her luggage in February. Still, no player mattered more to the WNBA in 2022 than she did. Griner’s absence was the biggest story of the year, making her The Athletic’s WNBA Person of the Year.

The exceptional outcry from the women’s basketball community on her behalf speaks to who Griner is as a person. The WNBA is a league of minorities, and Griner has proudly embodied several of those identities since she was drafted in 2013. A one-of-a-kind individual and player, it was easy for many to see parts of themselves in her and take pride in that representation.

“BG’s lived experience of being different and sounding different and looking different didn’t harden her. It made her more accessible. It made her more empathetic,” Mercury president Vince Kozar told The Athletic. “It made her more of all of the things that people respond to when they meet her or think about her. And so she came to understand herself as someone who provided this visibility and representation for other people that was so important to other people.

“Whether it was meeting people in person and having them tell her that, or so much of the fan mail she received or we received on her behalf, or the outpouring that she always felt on social media, where she was active, she came to understand that, like, just being herself, whether that was being 6-(foot-)8, whether that was presenting fairly androgynously, whether that was being an out and proud lesbian who not only wanted to speak out on behalf of LGBT rights and causes but also just live out loud with her wife. I think all of those things people responded to, and I think she did that and lived like that because that’s just who she is, but I think also she came to understand, like I said, that it was really important to so many people.”

Griner’s fate could have befallen any number of WNBA players. The majority of the league heads overseas during the offseason to supplement their income and have an opportunity to play year-round. Griner earns a supermax salary from Phoenix but has played in Russia for UMMC Ekaterinburg since 2014 for a contract rumored to be at least four times that number. That team specifically recruited her and her skill set to win EuroLeague titles and establish dominance as the best club in the world.

Her detention is a reflection of the worldwide nature of basketball, as well as the specific geopolitical circumstances of 2022. Her arrest took place as Russia was preparing to invade Ukraine, which has received billions of dollars in aid from the U.S. since that invasion began. Yet, while citizens of Russia faced punishment for speaking out against the government, Griner’s teammates and general manager advocated for her as character witnesses during her trial.

“The ironic thing that I tell people all the time is that she loves Russia. She loved going over there; she loved that and not being away,” Kozar said. “It has an expiration date, right? Because it’s a hard lifestyle being away from family. But that situation, that team, those accommodations, that salary, which demonstrates how much they value not only women athletes but her in particular … that team from this small, little oil city in the middle of Russia multiple times won EuroLeague.

“That organization, that city, those teammates love her, and she had a great deal of pride in, as her wife had said, when her career started playing overseas, the goal was to be one of those players who a Russian team wanted, right? And this Russian team wanted her. She not only became that player for herself, she became that player for that team.”

In June, Tina Charles requested a contract divorce from the Mercury. Phoenix attempted to construct a superteam in the offseason, reuniting the frontcourt of Charles and Griner, Olympic teammates for three gold medals. Instead, the team had a year from hell, falling to the No. 8 seed, and Charles asking for a buyout midway through the season. There was no reason to stay without the person she came to Phoenix to play with.

“At the very beginning of this, I was super hesitant to talk about BG in terms of basketball at all, because of the humanity of it and what she’s enduring. Basketball is, like, the very last thing on the list that matters,” Kozar said. “But the more time has passed, and frankly, the more letters I’ve gotten from her, I’ve been reminded she’s had a lot of things taken away from her — family, freedom, friends, all of that — but she’s had basketball taken away from her.

In July, Chicago played host to the 2022 All-Star Game. Griner, an eight-time All-Star who had been selected to the game every year of her career, was instead an honoree. The players wore her jersey number during the second half — and all Griner could do from Russia was later hold a photograph of the No. 42 All-Stars at a pre-trial hearing while in a cage.

Three months later, the U.S. defeated China in the championship of the 2022 FIBA World Cup. Griner had represented the United States at every major international competition from the moment she turned pro. In a letter she wrote to President Joe Biden on July 4, she said that her family traditionally spent the holiday honoring those who served the country to protect their freedom. Her opportunity to serve her country came in the form of USA Basketball, and this was her first absence from the national team.

Kelsey Plum, who was on Team USA in 2018 with Griner, said that Griner built community within that group when she and her wife Cherelle led card games with the American players and their families. Plum’s best memories of Griner come from playing Phase 10 and Uno those nights in Tenerife.

That’s the Griner that people around the WNBA talk about, the one who disarms with her kindness and her humor. She’s always looking out for others, even now, when she would have every reason not to.

“She spends her letters, just like she spent her time in Phoenix, and how she has spent her life, concerned about other people,” Kozar said. “Her letters ask me how I’m doing. Her letters ask me about her teammates. Her letters ask me to make sure we are all taking care of Cherelle. And her letter to President Biden was also about all of the other people in the same situation that she is in around the globe. That’s authentically BG.”

[pinrut]

Since lesbian visibility week has begun, I would like to talk to you about a serious topic.

On December 5, 2022, Russia adopted a law banning 'propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations or preferences, pedophilia, and gender reassignment.' The document applies to media, advertising, books, movies, and streaming services.

The law prohibits the dissemination of information and the commission of public acts aimed at:

1. Forming non-traditional sexual orientations

2. Forming attractiveness of non-traditional sexual relationships and preferences or gender reassignment

3. Creating a distorted view of the social equivalence of traditional and non-traditional sexual relationships or preferences

4. Imposing information about non-traditional sexual relationships and preferences, or gender reassignment that stimulates interest in them

Violations of the order may result in fines, suspension or termination of activities, or other penalties in accordance with Russian law.

On April 17, 2023, an order was registered on the criteria for "propaganda of LGBT, pedophilia, and gender reassignment on the internet". Websites containing information that:

1. Encourages sexual relations with minors

2. Justifies rejection of traditional sexual relationships and preferences in favor of non-traditional ones

3. Creates interest in non-traditional sexual relationships and convinces of their attractiveness

4. Justifies the superiority of non-traditional sexual relationships over traditional ones

5. Promotes a positive attitude towards non-traditional sexual relationships, changing negative attitudes to positive

6. Creates a distorted view of the social equivalence of traditional and non-traditional sexual relationships and preferences

7. Promotes a positive attitude towards gender reassignment and justifies its superiority

will be blocked in Russia. The order on LGBT propaganda criteria will come into effect on September 1, 2023.

I know that many of you don't know about this law, but the situation of LGBTQ+ people in Russia is really bad, and it's only getting worse, so I think it's important to tell you about it.

On Lesbian Visibility Day, I want to be really visible and speak loudly about myself, even if my country is trying to silence us.

[evelhak]

📚

I'm back with talking about my books.

💜Kaapin nurkista♠️

(from the corners of the closet)

Published: 2022 by Nysalor

Genre: Young Adult, LGBT+, Fiction

My second published book, and so far the only realistic one, which was written in 2016. Mostly when I should have been writing my master's thesis. This one was written before Unitytöt, although it was published later. To be perfectly honest, I was not going to publish it, because back when I was first looking for a publisher, everyone's reply was that a book about asexuality won't sell, and as time went on I started to feel like it isn't what it was meant to be when it was written, anymore. So even if I did find a publisher for it, it would no longer be as timely and relevant as it was, because attitudes towards asexuality were changing and therefore the experiences of teenage and 20-something asexuals, whose lives this book is about, would be changing too. However, the publisher who picked up my first book, saw a description of this work on my website and wanted to publish it, so I ended up agreeing in the end. After all, this book would still be relevant to asexuals of my own generation as a retrospective look at the atmosphere of our teenage and early twenties, so if it would be relatable to no one else, at least it would be to us. I reframed it a little, to be set in a specific year (2011) which it wasn't at first, but I felt it was important now, so that people would be able to go into it with slightly more of a historical fiction lens, because it really only makes sense when being looked at from its specific time frame.

This is the story of a 17-year-old high school student Jaro, who was forced out of the closet as early as in middle school, when no one knew what asexuality was. His strongest moral support is his best friend Venla, who is still a closeted lesbian, most of all because of her judgemental girl group. Jaro has been able to live a relatively quiet life in high school apart from one bully, until things escalate and Jaro gets the blame for his own bullying. Venla encourages Jaro to go to an ace meet to find people who could share his experiences, and Jaro makes a new friend who steers both of their lives in new directions. It's a book about the experiences of an invisible minority, loneliness and bullying, as well as the belonging and empowerment of being seen by someone. Some of the book also deals with sexual abuse in a way that might be intense to some, though not graphic.

When I first wrote this book, there were no novels about asexuality in Finnish, and I felt strongly that someone had to write the first one, which is why this is written as an "issue" book. Asexuality is its main subject, instead of including the queer narrative as just another element of the story, which is more popular these days. In fact, it was already going to that direction in 2016, but I felt that asexuals had completely missed the train of books about asexuality. (As well as other less visible queer people.) Aces were only starting to gain visibility when more well known queer identities were already moving from books about queerness to books where queerness is a factor. But asexuality still wasn't well known enough that it would have felt natural for me to skip the "issue book" stage of development, so to speak. The fact that even in 2022, when this book was published, it was still probably the first or the second Finnish book about this subject, kind of speaks for itself, although more books about asexuality did come out that same year, which is amazing! There are also many aro-spec characters in this book, as well as some other queer characters.

In the end, I'm really glad I decided to publish this book. I've had the pleasure to witness that it really was a meaningful story to many asexual people, some that were also much older or younger than me. And some who were not even asexual. I think the craziest thing I've heard said about this books is that "it was better than Loveless". I don't really care about being "better than" because art is subjective, but in that exact context it was one of those moments that made me feel like... "Woah, I'm a real author". Because I love Alice Oseman's work, so to think that someone thought my book was as real as the book of someone famous who I admire, was some moment. The criticism this book has gotten has been a lot more along the lines I was expecting. Because it's a description of what queer life was as a teenager in the early 2010s, the characters get really preachy sometimes. Because that's how it was. I knew some people would not enjoy that aspect of the book. And in general, my books are never the cup of tea of the readers who don't like to focus on relationships and introspection, too. A criticism I was actually really surprised by was that the book is too "othering". At first I felt like that was such an interesting way to look at a book that is largely about the feeling of otherness. But then I realized... this criticism is actually the best comment that I could have possibly heard. Because I only heard this from people younger than me, and if the feeling of otherness is not relatable to young people, then... that's AMAZING. That's the best thing I could ever have hoped to hear from young queer people. That means society really is changing.

As happy as I am that some people have gotten exactly what they seem to have needed from this book, my own feelings towards it remain complicated. Because it's doing so much better than my fantasy books, which are my long-term passion, not realistic fiction. This is the only one of my books to have been featured on the national news channel's TikTok, and it's also the only one that was selected on a government funded list of small distribution quality literature, which allows libraries to purchase books from that list more easily to diversify their selection. It makes no sense for me to feel disappointed about this at all, but I do a little. As unknown as I am, all exposure matters, and I would rather have it for my fantasy books. (People reading my realistic fiction book evidently doesn't automatically lead them to look for my fantasy books.) This book is something I wanted to do for the asexual community, and as such it has done its job, and of course for that I'm glad that it has a little bit more exposure than my other work. But as an author, my priority is not realistic fiction, so. *shrug*

I still want to write about more asexual characters and contribute to the better understanding of different kinds of experiences, including asexuals. Community and trying to bridge gaps between people is always going to be one of the driving forces behind why I write, but realistic fiction is just not the main way in which I want to do it. I'm a fantasy and/or a speculative fiction author, because that's just my natural style, and writing realistic fiction always feels like shoving rectangular pieces into round holes for me. As much as I love Jaro and Venla and other characters in this book, I sometimes hated writing their story. I have sometimes jokingly said that I would rather invent an entire magic system to make one plot point work, than I would Google if a shop is open at a time my characters need to visit it, or how long it takes to drive from one city to another, but with this book I felt so often that it was literally true!

Still, I love all my books.

[mariacallous]

On September 11th, thousands of people brandishing religious symbols and Russian flags answered a call from the Orthodox Church and took to the streets of Belgrade to protest against EuroPride 2022 being held in the Serbian capital.

EuroPride 2022 was launched the next day: a week of conferences and cultural events, due to end with a pride march through the streets of Belgrade. Citing security reasons, the government's 11th-hour decision to ban the march was met with fury by the participants.

EuroPride is the annual European meeting of the LGBTIQA+ community, and this was its first time in the Balkans and South-East Europe. At the first EuroPride conference, the Serbian Prime Minister, Ana Brnabić, who is openly lesbian, tried to quell the anger.

"I’m doing my best, I increase the visibility. I have given myself no other right than all of you have. And that is not a lot of rights, I admit.”

This message did not go down well. EuroPride organizers, slammed the ban, as a breach to freedom of assembly. 

«If anybody else can march, and the police is always providing sufficient protection,_and we are the only social group that cannot march, then it’s discrimination", stormed EuroPride 2022 coordinator Goran Miletić.

“_Who is threatening us? And why aren’t they banned? Why are we banned? It’s a peaceful protest! It’s a further degradation of rule of law, a further degradation of our human rights, a further degradation of our constitutional rights._It’s exactly why we need to be on the street on the 17th on Saturday. We must stop this!" said Marko Mihailović, director of the event.

All EuroPride venues were under heavy police protection. In defiance of the ban, volunteers mobilized for the event prepared banners for the Pride. Nothing would prevent them from marching. Many foreign LGBTI activists were there to show their support.

“Human rights in general are never granted. And we’ve seen this also in other fields, like reproduction rights or refugees and immigration rights. We have seen a lot of things going back and forth. It does seem like a constant struggle" sighs Annie Papazoglou, from Greece, before adding, in a smile:"But this is our lives, we must live them to the fullest. That's why we are here, and we are queer, and proud!".

A recent poll states that a majority of Serbs would agree to less restrictive legislation toward members of the LGBTIQA+ community, but also that the stigma is still very strong.

Maja Žilić is from the Youth Initiative For Human Rights Serbia. 

“We have a very high rate of suicide among LGBT teenagers. Especially when they come from local communities outside of Belgrade. People are still very homophobic.  They can't express themselves the way they want to. So they come to Belgrade to work, to study. That's why I came here too."

Maja and her team had organized a public awareness session in the city centre.

“_We are here to say that democracy means everyone has the right to protest.__For some people here there is a ban on their right to protest_”, explains Dejana Dexy Stošić to a woman passing by the group of activists.

“If these people are ill, I really cannot support them, and I just feel sorry for them!", exclaims the woman, before scurrying away.

“She said that gay people have mental diseases!" sighs Dejana, taken aback. "We do have pretty strong reactions, but  we also have pretty good ones. A lot of people actually didn't know about certain things.They ask things like: "They really can’t visit their partner in hospital?” and we answer, “No! That's one of the requests of the Pride march. For homosexual couples have the right to visit their partner in hospital, or to have the right to actually inherit from their partner, things like that. J_ust basic human rights!_"

LGBTIQA+ activists are campaigning for the legal recognition of same-sex couples. A draft law, deemed unconstitutional by the Serbian President, has long been delayed. Aleksandra Gavrilović is from the Lesbian Human Rights Organization LABRIS. She is fighting for a reform of the Serbian family law. Aleksandra founded a family with her partner. Five years ago, she gave birth to triplets through artificial insemination. 

“The first problems started when the children were born, since they were born prematurely, they were in an intensive care unit for premature babies. And my partner could not come to visit them because only parents are allowed to do so. And according to the law in Serbia, parents are a father and a mother. It is a constant fear that you are living with, because the law does not protect us, a constant fear of what will happen if something happens to me. Will my partner, since she has no legal status, be able to have custody of the children?" she explains, before concluding:"We need one comprehensive law, that will include everything -inheritance, health insurance, and all the elements that protect us and are related to our life."

European Commissioner for Equality Helena Dalli, several ministers, and many European MPs and ambassadors attended Belgrade’s EuroPride. They called for the Serbian government to reconsider the ban on the march, deemed by the European Council as a violation of the European convention on Human Rights.

Terry Reintke is a Member Of European Parliament (Greens/EFA), and LGBTIQA+ Intergroup Co-President.

“Europride is happening in a context where democracy, rule of law, liberal societies, freedom in our societies are under attack. Not only by authoritarian movements inside of Europe, but also, for example, when we look at the Russian aggression towards Ukraine.

And this makes it even more important that now we say : we have to defend these values, we have to defend these rights. And this is why EuroPride will be a symbol of that. “

Boško Obradović is leader of the Dveri Party and close to the Orthodox church and one of the main figures of the anti-Pride protests. While he tolerates legislative amendments on issues like inheritance or visitation rights in hospitals and prisons for homosexual couples, going any further, for him, is out of the question.

“For decades, we have been suffering constant pressure from the EU and NATO. For us to adjust and adapt our value system and our politics to their view of the world. EuroPride is only one part of that agenda that is imposed on us.

That package also includes the obligation to recognize independent Kosovo, impose sanctions on Russia, and also to hold EuroPride in Belgrade. We perceive Europride as part of the occupation agenda that comes to us from the West."

A few hours after meeting the parliamentarian, we hear a very different viewpoint from Aleksandar Savić, alias "Alexis Vandercunt Plastic", hosting Belgrade's monthly Drag party in a reconverted warehouse in the city outskirts.

A drag queen at night, Aleksandar is an activist during the day, with Da Se Zna, an association supporting victims of homophobic violence.

EuroPride, he says, acted as a trigger.

“We had a huge increase of violence in the past month. Four times more than in a year, since the same month of august in 2021." he tells us. "The good thing with EuroPride is that it basically provoked this hate to come out. Because in the past few years everyone was pretending that it doesn't exist, and that everything is going so well. And now it's all out so we can deal with it. And I think that reality check is going to be, I believe, very important for the queer community_to realise that if we don't fight for ourselves, no one is going to fight for us.”

Another 11th-hour decision from the government finally authorised a much shorter version of the march to take place, under the protection of more than 5,000 police. For its participants, the Belgrade event, even restricted, is a landmark moment in history for EuroPride, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. 

The battle is not over, concludes Goran Miletić, the Belgrade EuroPride2022 Coordinator.

“We marched, we showed that we are citizens, that we are here together, that there is solidarity. The fight will continue, this is just one episode. And I think no-one else will ban Pride ever in the future.”

[lesbiansovereverything]

2023 Lesbian Visibility Day Call for Submissions

Every year on Lesbian Visibility Day, LesbiansOverEverything.Com puts out a list of “real life lesbian adults who are living their best lives.” The women we feature usually write 1-2 paragraphs about their careers or passions and submit a picture of themselves to go along with that.

The point of doing this every year is to promote positive representation of lesbians and to highlight lesbian achievements.

Submissions for this year are open until Friday, Apil 21st. If interested, please send a pic and 1-2 relevant paragraphs to editor.lesbiansovereverything@gmail.com

Visibility Day articles from previous years: 2022, 2021, 2020

[altheasthoughts]

Where is the inclusivity?

By: Althea

In 2022, according to Gaytimes’ website, nine queer rep shows were canceled in 2022. Another source says over 40 queer shows were canceled this year alone. Now, 40 shows seem like a tiny amount of shows, but those shows were very celebrated and loved in the queer community.

Let’s take V.E. Schwab’s First Kill as an example. It was watched for over 30.3 million hours in it’s first week, while heartstopper was watched for less than half of that. Guess which one got a double renewal?. Listen, I love the show and I’m not mad that heartstopper got renewed, and I’m not saying that the show didn’t deserve it, I’m just questioning Netflix’s choice.

I am one of the thousands of people that watched and adored First Kill. And I think I speak on behalf of the fans, when I say that the show has touched my heart in so many ways. The show also became a safe haven for many people, including me. Just like many people, I was devastated, when I got the news, that the beloved show got cancelled.

Although, Schwab’s First Kill wasn’t the only inclusive show that got cancelled by Netflix. Shows like Derry Girls, Killing Eve, Grace and Frankie, Babysitters Club and more got cancelled by Netflix this year. I guess Someone was in a homophobic mood.

I’m that kind of person that gets attached to a show when I see myself in the characters. That includes LGBTQ+ representation too. Hell, netflix doesn’t even have a category for inclusive shows. Also, it has come to my attention that Warrior Nun, another wlw show, got cancelled just after the fans found out that it was getting a double renewal. What. The. Fuck. Netflix?

I have to admit that there are other shows on Netflix than the ones I just mentioned. But I’m just angry that netflix is advertising the wrong shows. Now, netflix has advertised shows like Heartstopper, and Young Royals, and the fans are eating it up. They love that the streaming service’s social media account(s) are releasing behind the scenes footage, set tour and cast interviews. But what about shows with wlw leads? When you search “First Kill” in youtube’s search bar, you’d obvously see a few interviews and stuff like that with the First kill cast. But funny enough none of them are by the official Netflix youtube channel.

Let’s not give netflix all the blame though. There are of course other streaming services/broadcasting companies that have canceled their inclusive shows.

I’m talking about the CW.

They canceled their only two LGBTQ+ women led shows, Legends of Tomorrow and Batgirl in the same week. Not only that, they cancelled both shows During Lesbian visibility week. How funny. ‘cause on June 16th 2020, the CW released a statement on their social media, saying:

Words matter. So does action. We can do more. We will do more

The CW appreciates and welcomes enthusiastic and thoughtful commentary about our shows. We are committed to making our social pages a safe place for our fans and talent to engage with each other.

We will not tolerate and will block racist or misogynistic comments as well as any hate towards the LGBTQ+ community.

Ironic, isn’t it?

Most of these Queer rep shows, usualy run for around 1-3 seasons. Five, if you’re lucky.

But the CW decided to let Legends of tomorrow run for seven seasons. The show was, and still is loved by fans around the globe and the cast even going to comic-con on multiple occations, and still continue to, to this day.

Legends of tomorrow is also one of the wlw lead shows that never got a proper ending, along with batgirl, leaving thousands of fans devastated, and the CW can’t even give us a proper expanation, as to why they did what they did. So where the fuck is the support for the LGBTQ+ Community, CW, huh?

Another factor I should bring in to this, is that Legends of Tomorrow had significantly more viewers than shows like Riverdale and Kung fu. Three guesses as to which two got renewed for a new season. Much like Netfix, the CW chose to cancel the shows which have a higher viewership, knowing damn well that viewership typically is a large factor, when deciding to renew a show.

There has also been tooooons of hashtags in protest too. hashtags like: #SaveLegendsOfTomorrow, #RenewFirstKill, #RenewWarriorNun and my personal favorite, #CancelNetflix are all (currently) trending on twitter.

Honestly, I think it’s about time, that I ask my dad to cancel our netflix subscription.

Streaming services like Netflix are trying so hard to be inclusive nowadays. Meanwhile they’re canceling inclusive shows that are actually good. Where the fuck is the inclusivity then?