#non-binary Muslim positivity

[etz-ashashiyot]

About Me/FAQs

You can call me Avital. I am a non-binary traditional egalitarian Jew living in the US. Any pronouns except they/them are fine. (!היא/את בעברית, בבקשה. תודה)

I really appreciate human interaction. That being the case, if you follow me and I don't already follow you, please send me a DM with the following:

What you want me to call you (internet name, username, nickname, whatever)

What brought you here and made you want to follow me

Something random about you that you feel comfortable sharing (pet pics are always welcome too <3)

I had a whole lot of other rules on my previous blog to weed out the faint of heart, but I genuinely don't know how well that worked, so instead I will simply put roughly the same information below as resources and recommended reading. Fair warning: I will operate from a baseline assumption that you've done the reading and therefore will not be explaining anything in them.

I also had a listing of my firm opinions and other miscellaneous information. That got long and unwieldy, but a lot of people seemed to appreciate it, so I will post roughly the same list under the cut.

The current username refers to my current symbol of a tree of lanterns in the starlight. This is related to my desire to create self-symbolism, old school style (like I really want to create a family crest, a flag, a seal, and other heraldic nonsense. Why? Because it delights me, of course.)

This page is under construction and subject to change at any time.

B'vracha,

Avital

Recommend Reading

For followers who are Christian, were Christian, are non-Jews who grew up in a Christian culture and/or have only learned about Judaism through Christianity, these links are very helpful in unpacking some of the antisemitism you were taught:

Better Parables (specifically the article about Pharisees, but read the rest of the site too, it's great)

Antisemitic readings of the Temple table-flipping incident in the New Testament

The current Israel-Hamas war and just המצב discourse in general require a lot of background knowledge to discuss intelligently, and not just propaganda. There is a LOT of antisemitism in the public around this topic and it is having serious real-world consequences for Jews all over the world. The mis- and disinformation is causing problems for everyone involved. Islamophobia in the West has increased as well. If you're going to engage in this discussion, I am respectfully but forcefully asking you to read the following sources. They are useful regardless of where you fall on that political scale.

There Is No Magic Peace Fairy

Ways to help: [1], [2], [3]

Muslim organizations advocating for peace, education, positive interfaith relations, and fighting antisemitism

This is perhaps my best summary of my own feelings on the whole thing

Is your pro-Palestine activism hurting innocent people? Here's how to avoid that

Please learn what Kahanism is, because it actually is what people think Zionism is. Zionism is simply a desire for Jewish self-determination in our ancestral homeland of eretz Yisrael. Kahanism is a type of racism that cloaks itself in Zionism but is fundamentally bigoted.

A non-exhaustive list of antisemitic incidents, attacks, and pogroms during [OP's] lifetime

An exceptionally long and thorough explanation of antisemitism and antisemitic violence throughout history

Why The Most Educated People in America Fall for Antisemitic Lies by Dara Horn (tumblr link in case the article link gets broken)

This explanation of the atrocities endured by Soviet Jews and how the legacy of Soviet antisemitism undergirds western "antizionism-not-antisemitism." If you call yourself an anti-Zionist, this is required reading.

An excellent overview of the basics

This is nowhere near complete information, but it's an important start. I will very likely continue to add resources as they become available and would love to create a primer on this topic more generally.

If you don't believe that October 7th happened or wasn't that bad, or really any atrocity denial please read this article from a reporter who was shown the actual footage, as well as this article documenting its effects on him.

If you are still in denial about the pattern of gender based violence, sexualized torture, and widespread rape as a war tactic committed by Hamas on 10/7, you are legally required to read this article.

About the blog:

I’m going to try my best to keep this blog to primarily Judaism, comparative religion and theology, with the occasional side sprinkling of queer & trans stuff, BUT it is absolutely a personal blog at the end of the day.

I talked about Israel and המצב stuff a lot on my previous blog and will likely continue a bit over here too. I welcome a broad swath of opinions, so long as they objectively treat all parties involved as human and deserving of safety, stability, freedom, dignity, and peace. That is apparently a large ask these days, and a not-small part of why I keep talking about this issue. Please be part of the voices that give me hope for the future, okay?

Minors can follow and interact but please keep in mind that I’m probably closer to your parents' age than yours if you do want to interact with me directly.

Interactions:

Rude asks will be deleted. Harassing blogs will be blocked and probably reported.

I consider anything even remotely in the vicinity of trying to proselytize to me to be “harassing,” or at a minimum, rude. Just FYI.

Otherwise, nice interactions are welcomed.

Banter is encouraged; trolling will be ignored

If you are a goy and want to argue with me about Jewish theology, you have to match my perfect score on this popquiz, no cheating by looking things up during the quiz. I learned Judaism as an adult mostly through self-study so you have no excuse. If you're invested enough to argue with me you're invested enough to do the reading homework. (To clarify: I'm happy to explain Jewish stuff to anyone who is sincerely asking or just have a friendly comparative theology discussion or whatever. But I have zero patience for those who want to argue with me about basic shit claiming they know more than me, especially if what they're claiming they "know" is not only wrong but antisemitic and wrong.)

If I don't respond to your interaction, there's a strong chance that I (a) have no idea what to say and am thinking about it, (2) totally meant to respond and just forgot after the notif disappeared, and/or (3) got incredibly busy. It's not personal! Please don't be shy about following up with me if you like. I promise that if we have a problem that is fixable, you'll know. If we have a problem that is not fixable, you'll be blocked.

I am currently learning Ivrit and am delighted to have interactions in Hebrew. Please feel free to message me, reply to posts or reblog, submit asks, etc. in Hebrew and I will do my best to read and respond to it. (Responses will be slower, but not for lack of appreciation of your thoughts!)

Anything else, just ask.

Hard stances:

You're not going to change my mind on these things; I've looked at the evidence, my personal experiences, and thought about them long and hard, and I am not going to be swayed by an internet rando. I can (often, but not always) co-exist just fine with people who I disagree with, but if seeing my posts about this is going to upset you, just do us both a favor and block me now please.

I am deeply distressed at how many people are choosing to live in a "post-factual society" where the truth is based on truthiness vibes and the politics are based on the quippiest of slogans. I don't care who's doing it, misinfo, disinfo, propaganda, atrocity denial, and gaslighting are BAD. There is no nuance here; these are bad things. They are bad if they go against your cause and they are bad if they "support" your cause. No cause is better than the truth.

If we cannot have a discussion where we are operating from the same baseline reality of verifiable facts, we cannot have a productive conversation and I will not engage with you. We can agree or disagree on a lot and that is fine, but facts matter.

If you cannot be reasoned with in accepting verifiable facts as reality, you need help. I'm serious. That is cult behavior. Get off tumblr and get help.

I don't know how to tell you that you should care about other people. If you don't see the inherent worth in other human beings' lives, I can't fix that. Go take that struggle to G-d and heal your soul.

I support the right of the Jewish people to self-determination in our ancestral homeland of Israel, the same way that I support other indigenous groups' right to self-determination in their ancestral homelands. If you don't, I'm going to need you to examine why Jews should be singled out of every other group to be denied this right or denied support in seeking it. That said, I definitely do not agree with many of the decisions made by the Israeli government, especially (but far from exclusively) regarding their treatment of Palestinians. I think both Jews and Palestinians deserve to live in peace, safety, freedom, dignity, and self-determination for both. No one is going anywhere; any real solution must recognize that. I tend to favor this proposal by A Land for All as an ideal (and given the grassroots nature of this idea, I think it could work pragmatically too, if the political will exists on both sides.)

I reject the Zionist/anti-Zionist dichotomy altogether for a number of reasons: 1) It impedes conversation because too many people agree but will never know it because they refuse to talk about what they actually mean by those labels and instead make assumptions about the other group. 2) It inherently puts the validity of an existing state up for debate rather than looking at real solutions for the future. You cannot unmake the state of Israel without widespread atrocities, but you can figure out options for everyone to live together in peace and heal from the collective trauma. 3) It also makes it way too easy to play Good Jew/Bad Jew and "Zionist" has basically become the slur de jour for "Jew." It sucks that people took a Jewish word for an important Jewish concept and made it synonymous with "bloodthirsty racist," but personally I don't think arguing over that at this exact juncture in time is helpful.

Bottom line: I'm a humanitarian and a pragmatist, and I care about all the people who call that part of the world home.

Update: for real, if you have trouble seeing Israelis and Palestinians both as human and deserving of safety, dignity, freedom, and inherent worth as living human beings, I don't want to know you. I don't want to talk to you. Go fix yourself.

🌻 I stand with Ukraine 🇺🇦

Free Iran from the Islamic Republic // Women Life Freedom

Abortion is a human right and should be safe, legal, available on demand, and shameless. It's a necessary medical procedure and it's completely barbaric that we're still talking about it as anything else.

Birth control, abortion, and no-fault divorce are actively positive parts of society and building healthy families.

Transition care is healthcare and also a human right. Allowing people to transition prevents self-harm and suicide, and has an extremely high efficacy rate with an exceptionally low level of risk or regret. We now have well over a century of data on this.

That said, detransitioners who are still supportive of trans people/aren't transphobic are more than welcome here, as any exploratory process deserves the right to say, "Interesting! But nope!"

Transunity, ace/aro positivity, and just inclusionism in general, 100%. Fuck off with anything else.

Queer might be a slur in the mouths of some people, but my identity isn't. Don't reblog my posts if you're going to tag it with "q slur" or "q word" or censored in some way. I'm not Gay as in "I prioritize cis men over the entire rest of the community" but Queer as in "my personal labels are none of your business but my political stance on queer liberation sure as fuck will be."

If you don't vaccinate yourself and your kids for any reason other than medical necessity, and especially if you promote anti-vaxxer views and the associated pseudoscience, you are actively harming the most vulnerable members of society for entirely selfish reasons and that makes you a bad person. I hope your kids bypass you to get vaccinated.

Wear a mask 😷

[bangladeshiqueermuslims]

#QueerIslamicHistory Project presents–

"Queering the Garden of Eden"

In Islam, the Garden of Eden, or Jannāt Adn either refers to heaven or a city in Heaven. Quranic exegetes believe that the Eden or Adn is superior to other gardens of the Heaven. The gardens are replete with streams, houris and gender non-conforming malaikas. Here, Adam and Eve (Hawwa) were created by Allah. Through a queer lens, we can offer a new reading of the Garden of Eden and reimagine its primordial space as a site of fluidity, resistance, and liberation from heteronormativity, patriarchy, and gender binarism.

Pre-gender unity and fluidity in Eden:

In Islam, Adam was the first human-being. Allah molded Adam using clay gathered from various parts of the earth, reflecting the diverse complexions and physical characteristics of human-being (Sahih Tirmidhi 2955). Then Allah created his companion Eve or Hawwa. The Quran describes Adam and Hawwa's creation from a single soul, "nafs wāḥidah" (Quran 4:1), existing in Eden/Adn as companions (Quran 7:19) before their earthly separation. We can interpret this as symbolizing a prelapsarian state of genderless unity, where Adam & Hawwa share a single soul, transcending binaries. Their bond was rooted in spiritual kinship, not sexual difference.

Sufi mystics like Ibn Arabi describe Adam as embodying all divine attributes (ṣifāt), including masculine and feminine attributes. According to some Abrahamic traditions, Adam embodied androgyny in their primordial form. Eden or Adn can be viewed as a space of divine gender fluidity, resisting later social impositions of gender roles. The absence of sexual reproductive logic in Eden—no childbirth, no death—subverts heteronormative notions. Existence here is non-procreative, reflecting queer critiques of compulsory heterosexual procreative sex within muslim and christian communities.

Queering Relationships of Adam, Hawwa, and Iblis:

In Islamic tradition, djinns were created before Adam and Hawwa. They are shape-shifting and supernatural creatures. Iblis was a well-respected djinn who once held a high position in the celestial hierarchy. Non-binary or genderqueer angels (malaika) were his followers. The Quran states that Iblis refused to bow to Adam due to his pride and superiority (Quran 7:11–18), leading to his exile. This can be seen as disruption of hierarchy and power structures within the celestial realm.

Traditional blame on Eve for the "fall" is present in Christian and Jewish traditions but is absent in Qur'anic texts. Adam and Hawwa share equal culpability (Quran 7:22–23). We can view their partnership as "collaborative resistance" to divine authority over bodies, reclaiming agency through mutual desire within queer and intersectional lens.

The Fall:

The tree in Eden or Adn symbolizes forbidden knowledge or shajarat al-khuld (Quran 20:120), which Adam and Hawwa are warned against. Within a queer lens– the tree's allure, it mirrors desire as transgressive curiosity, challenging authoritarian control over bodies.

Sufi poets like Rumi reinterpret the fall as a necessary journey toward divine reunion— a metaphor for queer longing for authenticity. The fruit's symbolism (often linked to grapevine, wheat, or olive in Islamic exegesis) can be reclaimed as a queer erotic emblem, celebrating pleasure and knowledge outside reproductive mandates.

Expulsion as Queer Liberation:

Adam and Hawwa's exile from Eden (7:24–25) is typically framed as punishment, but a queer reading reframes it as the birth into multiplicity:

Earthly life introduces gender, labor, and mortality—social constructs that enforce binaries. Yet, this exile also allows for "embodied diversity," where difference flourishes. Eden's homogeneity is replaced by a world of fluid identities.

Adam and Hawwa's post-expulsion relationship is grounded in tranquility (Quran 7:189) and mutual care. This models queer kinship—partnerships built on solidarity, not hierarchy.

Their earthly struggles (e.g., farming, parenting) parallel queer resilience in hostile worlds, forging meaning through collective survival.

Eden as a Queer Metaphor: Liminality and Longing:

In Islam, the Garden of Eden or Adn is in Barzakh. Eden or Adn exists between the divine & human, unity and separation. Queer theory thrives in such thresholds, celebrating identities that defy categorization.Sufis yearn for Eden as a metaphor for divine union. Queer muslims might reinterpret this longing as a desire for "utopian belonging"—a world free of cis–heteronormativity. The Garden's memory lingers in Islamic ethics (e.g., social justice, equality). Queer readings reclaim this legacy, advocating for a world where all bodies and desires are sacred.

Queering the Garden of Eden transforms it from a myth of fallenness to a parable of liberation. By centering non-binary origins, radical solidarity, and the sacredness of transgressive desire, Eden becomes a mirror for LGBTQ+ Muslims seeking spiritual affirmation. This reading does not erase tradition but expands it, revealing how sacred narratives can hold space for fluidity, resistance, and hope. In the words of Sufi poet Rabia al-Basri: "The Garden is not the prize; the Beloved is." Queer Eden invites us all closer to that Beloved—beyond binaries, beyond shame.

[tieflingkisser]

University Professors Are Losing Their Jobs Over “New McCarthyism” on Gaza

As brutal police repression sweeps campus encampments, schools have been cutting ties with pro-Palestine faculty members without tenure.

There’s no official tally of the number of academic workers who have lost jobs or faced suspension over support for Palestine, not least because higher education in this country is disarticulated, often privatized, and reliant on short-term contract labor. By and large, professors facing job loss and suspensions over Palestine have brought these allegations into public view by speaking out themselves. Scores of academics across the country are likely under investigation, and many stand to have their contracts quietly expire without renewals. The Intercept spoke with more than a dozen professors, both adjuncts and those with tenure, whose employment has been imperiled by their pro-Palestine speech. Of the professors I talked to, all were at one point under investigation since October 7; some of the probes closed without findings of wrongdoing. Several faced varying degrees of suspensions, and four of the professors lost their jobs or expect to lose them next week when the semester ends without the renewal of their contracts. The interviews, including those with campus labor activists and academic associations, revealed a pattern of politically motivated repression where campaigns by pro-Israel advocates can mar the careers of academics because of comments that express outrage at Israel’s ongoing occupation and its war in Gaza. “The bulk of our inquiries, even our cases, have to do with violations of due process related to non-reappointment, to dismissal, to tenure award, et cetera,” said Anita Levy, senior program officer with the American Association of University Professors. Levy told me that the nonprofit organization, which advocates for faculty rights and academic freedom, currently has opened five cases in recent months related to pro-Palestinian speech. “When we get five or six of these cases in a two-month period, where there are suspensions related to social media posts over a current event, shall we say, the war in Gaza, that is unusual,” she said. “Of the cases that we’ve opened, none of them have been related to pro-Israel speech. All of them have been in support of the Palestinian cause.” We are at the dawn of a “new McCarthyism,” Levy said. “This may be the tip of the iceberg.” Institutions are well positioned to eliminate political dissenters from their payrolls under the misleading banner of protecting Jewish people, primed by heightened Republican attacks on higher education. “This is beyond the new McCarthyism. This has to deal fundamentally with Islamophobia, anti-Muslim racism, anti-Arab racism, anti-Palestinian racism,” said Mohamed Abdou, who is a visiting professor in Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African studies at Columbia University — that is, until this semester ends. Columbia President Minouche Shafik announced that the university was cutting ties with Abdou during a congressional hearing last month about antisemitism on campus. Abdou was one of five professors named by the school administrator but the only one without the relative protection of tenure. His one-year contract ends this month. “What she effectively did was blacklist me globally,” Abdou told me of Shafik’s testimony. (Columbia did not respond to a request for comment.) Abdou said he was smeared for words in a Facebook post on October 11 that were taken dramatically out of context. The activist-scholar was framed in Congress and in the right-wing media as an antisemite and Hamas supporter. His lengthy post asks readers to think about a future for Palestine, and support for resistance, beyond the binary of a secularized, Eurocentric state formation, or “Hamas and Islamic Jihad’s neoconservative idea of Sharia.”

[keep reading]

[dragoneyes613]

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about stupidity.

Its nexus with hatred, that is.

The connection was amusingly evident last month, when when a 34-year-old woman named Ruba Almaghtheh, shouting “Free Palestine,” plowed her Chevy Impala into a building in Indianapolis associated with the “Israelite School of Universal Practical Knowledge,” a black supremacist sect whose ideology is based on animosity toward white people and, in particular, Jews.

Ms. Almaghtheh, a Muslim native of Jordan, told officers at the scene that she had been watching coverage of the war in Gaza before driving into the “Israel school” and, according to the arrest affidavit, she “decided to [crash] into the building on purpose because she observed a symbol [a star resembling a Jewish one]… on the residence…”

Nice going, Ruba!

Another contender of the Dumbest Hater prize, heretofore the “Ruba,” is Benjamin Burton Brower Jr., 30, who faces felony charges of his own after surveillance cameras at the Salvation Army church and soup kitchen in Altoona, Pennsylvania, recorded him in broad daylight taping razor blades to the hand railing at the building’s entrance.

He was fingered because, according to the Altoona Police Department, he was “shirtless during the incident and identified by a large red swastika tattoo on his chest.”

Not the brightest wolf in the lair.

Then, of course, we have the utter ignorance displayed by college students whose minds somehow permanently deleted the events of October 7 and absorbed a mindless “pro-Hamas” mush in the guise of supporting Palestinian aspirations.

Chant along with me: “From the classrooms to the quad, minds have turned to sod.”

Comedian/commentator Bill Maher well expressed the student mind-muddle at some Ivy League universities with a memorable metaphor: “If ignorance is a disease, Harvard Yard is the Wuhan wet market.”

He went on to note “how higher education has become indoctrination into a stew of bad ideas, among them the simplistic notion that the world is a binary place where everyone is either an oppressor or oppressed—in the case of Israel, oppressors being babies and bubbes.”

None of which, of course, is to say that all anti-Semites or all anti-Israel “activists” are stupid. There are plenty of high-IQ haters. But, when one notes their justifications for their prejudiced positions—wild notions and conspiracy theories, especially about Jews—and their ready acceptance of demonstrable lies as facts (and, concomitantly, their total ignoring of actual facts), the inescapable conclusion is that, stupid or not, what they spew is stupidity.

And what they often reveal is simple ignorance.

A recent survey of college students who sympathize with Palestinians showed that less than half of the students who embrace the “from the river to the sea…” slogan, which Hamas used in its 2017 “revised” charter, were able to name the river and the sea they were shouting about. (Some 10% of those surveyed, moreover, identified Yasser Arafat as the first prime minister of Israel.)

And then there is the ignorance of the definitions of the words “genocide,” “apartheid” and “terrorism.”

Genocide, as defined in 1948 by the United Nations Genocide Convention, refers to “acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.” Considering that, from 1990 to 2022, the Palestinian population increased from 1.98 million to 5.04 million people, Israel is sure doing an uncharacteristically bad job of genocide.

There’s only one genocidal actor in the current war, and it isn��t Israel.

Apartheid was South Africa’s racist system of institutionalized segregation from 1948 to the early 1990s. The government forbade blacks from marrying non-blacks. Hospitals and beaches were segregated. Education opportunities for blacks were restricted.

Israeli law mandates, and its independent courts ensure, the equal treatment of all the country’s citizens, Arab and Jew alike. Israeli Arab citizens serve as ambassadors, legislators, journalists and academics. Not to mention that the Knesset includes an Islamist Arab political party, or that Arab citizens of Israel have been elected to every Knesset since the state’s founding.

And terrorism refers to violent actions intended to, well, instill terror, rather than to achieve a military objective. The Oklahoma City bombing in 1995 was terrorism. The al-Qaeda attacks on New York and Washington on September 11, 2001, were terrorism. The October 7 Hamas pogrom was terrorism. Israel’s current war is an attempt to prevent terrorism.

So much stupidity and ignorance. It will be hard to decide who wins the Ruba.

[magpiejay1234]

Anyway, some thoughts on the recent USA elections:

**Rust Belt is probably gone away from Democrats' grasp for good this time, the transition to full GOP majority will take time like Ohio/Florida, but the trend is clear. The only reason they trended left compared to the national average was due to intense campaigning, this will not be repeated in the future.

**In contrast, Georgia, and North Carolina are shifting blue faster than people think.

**In general, sheer collapse of the Hispanic vote beyond some key national communities means the recent decade-long push for Hispanic identity politics is over. Emphasis of Democrats (and by proxy most of European centre-left) will shift to dominant ethnic group's sexual minorities (ie. white ones in the context of USA, Poles in Poland etc.), especially in the context of the recent transphobic wave.

***Since this is pretty much a repeat of Bush Jr. Part 2, we can expect a similar antipathy toward non-binary people once heteronormative trans folk get acceptance again.

**Collapse of the Muslim vote back to the pre-2000s standard of being pro-Republican probably also means post-Iraq War hypersensivity for Muslim migrants is over. As Evangelicalism retracts, this likealy means anti-Islamic attidutes among the left will take hold.

**Since South Carolina is one of the few Southern states overall that trended right (compared to the national average), this means Jim Clyburn's decision to make the state the Democratic kingmaker ensures there will be no major Democratic candidate that is left of the national average, which basically means conservative Dem supremacy for presidential elections going forward. It's unclear whay this means electorally, but more neoconservatification of Democrats is likely.

**For all intents and purposes, though, Democrats got what they wanted for years. The white college educated middle class is now their base, they succeeded in ethnic dealignment, and made immigrants feel finally as a part of America. It just so happened to be against them, because they couldn't deflate the prices, and provide housing.

**Left and far right entryism for Democrats/Republicans will continue unabated, but this is largely due to lack of support for centrism, as it is clear neither side can actually take over their respective parties to establish a coherent political platform, not due to a lack of numbers, but due to ideological heterogeneity.

**Unrelated to the US politics, but Trump's reelection probably means some sort of deal between Kosovo-Serbia may be reached.

***

Other heuristics:

**Industrial policy, and direct climate action are probably gone for good as open policies. They will still continue as strategic policies, but they don't win elections, so there is no reason to promote them.

**Immigration issue, much like with the European centre left, has been lost for Democrats. Until significant housing reform occurs (which is anathema for the majority of Democrats, who are landlords, despite the rise of YIMBY sentiment), pro immigration sentiment won't return for generations.

**Since inflation was the big economic issue, the Democrats will likely run on a more open free trade platform again, effectively returning to Clintonism. New friendshoring agreements will have to be negotiated to make geoeconomic trade wars sustainable, which means more trade with ASEAN, and Africa, to replace China.

Democrats will likely break with the agricultural lobby now at national level, and significant deregulation will likely occur.

**Though the Democrats will shift right like the rest of the country, it is unlikely that left punching will be successful, or actually occur. Again, there is no passion for centrism, but more heterodox though. So while a left presidency will not win, Democrats will have to elect people who are actually moderate in many issues, rather than those who triangulate for those positions, while focusing heavily left of issues that are actually popular, and coherent.

Don't be for everything, be for one very big thing, that can be achieved.

**Trans rights movement will have to find an actual coherent single issue, much like marriage equality did for the gay-lesbian rights movement, that will protect their rights, and make them socially acceptable, rather than seeking safe spaces, and permanent government protection.

In the context of USA, arguing from a civil liberties context is clearly the winning strategy, so gender ID laws might be that single issue.

**In general, Democrats will need to push for civil liberties in a coherent manner, while adressing conservative concerns caused by them. Want to protect legal marijuana? Adress the drug abuse issue. Want to protect abortion? Help, and promote child birth against declining demographics by aiding parents.

Don't play defense, play offense in civil liberties, but hold both goals.

**After the midterms, there likely won't be any moderate Republicans left to take into the Democrats, largely due to Trump shifting to a neoconservative position rather than an outsider one. Buyer's remorse will cause a big, but temporary shift to blue. Democrats will need to energize their new coalition of upper income highly educated white population, now they finally got them after decades long of struggle.

Democrats will never again be the party of poorly educated, un-unionised working class, but they can be the party of rapidly unionizing professionals, regardless of education level.

**Democrats will also need to push for a coherent, easy future vision, rather than something abstract. This will likely require some sort of neoconservative vision of imperialism, as Democrats cannot really showcase a vision of future domestic life, but there needs to be something to keep people's expectations that is easily achievable, not promises for ten years later, or extremely abstract like autocracies vs. democracies.

[dynastithestugoprimosfan]

Theatre Club Kids

My newest OCs who start a theatre club in high school! They love acting and theatre and their founder is a drama teacher.

Yamini Patel: The Indian-American treasurer of the club who is calm and easygoing.

Brooke Seong: The Korean-American secretary of the club who is egotistical, snooty and vain.

Samuel Donnelly: The gay vice president of the club who loves fashion.

Natasha Connors: The stage manager of the theatre club who had vitiligo. She is very laidback.

Delilah Samson: The body positive president of the theatre club who is overweight and had a passion for musicals and acting.

Logan Kang: Samuel's boyfriend and stage assistant. He is shy and kind.

Pandora Barrett: The pansexual stage designer.

Cameron Radcliffe: The non-binary and pansexual makeup artist of the club who is Pandora's enbyfriend.

Zaria Bakir: The Muslim lightning technician of the club.

Made with:

[coochiequeens]

This dude really thinks he can teach women and Muslims to be more "modern". And a man agrueing that fucked up hormone levels are enough to compete against women.

A 72-year-old trans-identifying biological male from Germany has been allowed to change the sex on their birth certificate to female, with the government agency that handles such documents recognizing them as having been "born a woman."

Manuela Donner, a former school teacher with seven children who also identifies as a liberal Muslim feminist, began transitioning after retirement and only started practicing Islam last year.

"I was always a woman, but I didn't live it openly," Donner explained during an interview with northern German outlet NWZ, adding that they underwent a full medical transition as a senior.

While Donner claimed that outside of their family, the reaction has been positive, but noted that their children expressed a range of emotions. Some were accepting, while others flat-out rejected that their papa had decided to become a mama.

According to NWZ, it was during a trip to Morocco that the East Frisia resident first fell in love with Islam, and though Donner visited every year since then, it wasn't until 2023, at the age of 71, that they ditched their Christian heritage and converted.

A 72-year-old trans-identifying biological male from Germany has been allowed to change the sex on their birth certificate to female, with the government agency that handles such documents recognizing them as having been "born a woman."

Manuela Donner, a former school teacher with seven children who also identifies as a liberal Muslim feminist, began transitioning after retirement and only started practicing Islam last year.

Now, Donner is committed to living life as a Muslim woman, even going so far as to wear a hijab while out in public and refrain from consuming pork and alcohol. Per Islamic doctrine, however, they take it off inside their home.

"They are often stuck in the seventh century," Donner said of Muslims, adding that "Islam is still a male-dominated society today." They went on to cite a variety of examples, such as separate prayer rooms for each gender in mosques.

Donner said they want to change society's perception of the religion by showing that it can accommodate those with more liberal, feminist attitudes.

Germany is among the few countries in the world where, thanks to a recently passed law, residents can change their sex to match their gender identity on official documents.

By Reduxx Team April 6, 2024

A trans-identified male in Germany has become the first to be approved by the Bavarian Football Association (BFA) to play in a women’s football league. Laura Hannah Holstein, 25, was the subject of a glowing profile in the Main-Post after joining the Effeltrich/Hetzles Football Syndicate.

According to the article, Holstein, who is a Master’s Student at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, was given the ability to participate after Grit Labahn, the head of policy at the Munich BFA headquarters, personally vouched for him.

“I can’t tell people who have a different, non-binary gender identity and want to play football: You were unlucky,” Labahn said. Though there are only male and female categories in German football, the BFA has a “case-by-case” inclusion policy, so Labahn explains she had to argue for Holstein’s right to participate in the women’s league.

Labahn said that an opening had emerged in the club after a trans-identified female had decided to opt out due to the fact that testosterone was making her too strong to participate with the other women. Labahn then “turned the tables,” arguing that estrogen had caused Holstein to “lose” muscle mass and would have stripped him of a competitive advantage.

Labahn then compiled additional information, using the cases of South African runner Caster Semenya and New Zealand powerlifter Laurel Hubbard to bolster her case.

“It was clear to me that we can justify a case-by-case decision by means of the hormone levels,” Labahn said, excitedly noting that allowing Holstein to compete with the women has created a type of “blueprint” they can use for future cases.

“We will certainly not revise our decision even if hostilities come. On the contrary: I can only encourage trans people to dare to go public and play football,” Labahn explained.

Holstein reportedly began identifying as a woman after watching The Danish Girl in 2015. The film is based on the life story of Lili Elbe, a trans-identified male who died of complications after his body rejected a uterus implanted into him in 1931. Following the movie, Holstein says he was “touched extremely internally. I questioned what I really feel deep inside.” He then says he “discovered the woman” within himself.

In 2020, Holstein began hormone replacement therapy and laser hair removal. He is set to legally change his sex to “female” in September of this year.

In his profile by Main-Post, Holstein is described as “discreetly masculine at first glance,” something the author attributes to his “high forehead.” The author also describes Holstein’s “breast gently emerging under [his] jersey.”

Holstein is apparently unconcerned about his appearance, questioning “what is so hard to understand about it: I’m just a woman who looks different. Why should I flaunt excessive femininity?”

While Holstein won’t officially begin playing against opposing women’s teams until the August season, he has begun participating in training sessions, and is sharing the female locker room with the women and girls on the Effeltrich/Hetzles Football Syndicate.

As some players are underage, concerns were raised about Holstein exposing his penis during shower times — an issue the coach attempted to address by providing Holstein a shower schedule.

The coach, Christian Wagner, is also preempting “transphobic” remarks from other players or spectators, and says that anyone who is discriminatory towards Holstein will be immediately banned from the arena.

Wagner has also admitted that there are certain “anatomical advantages” Holstein has that he expects him to use to the team’s advantage as a goalkeeper, and boasted: “If I were a woman, I wouldn’t want to play against Laura!”

Concerns surrounding trans-identified males participating in women’s football have been raised by women’s rights advocates over the past two years, with multiple instances of women being injured while competing against men emerging.

As previously reported by Reduxx, 24 women recently dropped out of a football league in Australia after a team with five trans-identified males began dominating the women’s league. Some female athletes had also been left severely injured by competing against the men, including one woman who had her leg broken in two places after being tackled by a male player.

In 2022, an “LGBTQ+ Inclusive” football team in Ireland similarly came under fire after beating out the female competition in the Junior J Shield Final, claiming a significant margin of victory that many attributed to the participation of an adult male. Giulia Valentino, 39, later went on to win an LGBTQ+ Sports Award.

[morganalove196]

My butt holes hurts because the lack of being plowed by BBC poc and Jewish life

My great great great step non binary gay retarded queer cannabal kink positive sex object African witch doctor gay heart love evolutionary

Communist feminist girl boss Chinese spy

Fought to have this done, but the cishet scum took it away,

BLM is my father!!

Family is a slur be kind, we fuck have kids and

Racism is bad for Africans china took my money and gave to God, the church doesn't love me

They show me how to get robbed and be happy

God wants me to marry him but he said I'ma happy headed hoe and gay and Chinese and bougie and Chinese and Muslim, and he hates Africans just because! Kkk African Barbara is in love with ni**ers but took their waffle tits to dark skin dogs and my dog is LIVESTREAMING HIS TWERKING AT A DISNEYLAND HELP ME I'M QUEER IM BLACK AND BALD AND THEIRS WEED INFESTATION IN MY BUTTHOLE CALL THE POLICE TO PUT A BLACK MONSTER DILDO IN MY BUTTHOLE NIGGAS SHANNON

Shalom good night goy, blks queens and Chinese butthole good night 💤

[queerplatonicpositivity]

Aroallo trans boy/enby??

“When all the humans are ghosts, and all the ghosts... are human.”

Chris ended his poem in a strong, clear voice, pausing just before the last two words to imbue the phrase with extra meaning.

The room erupted, some people cheering, some clapping, and some giving old-school finger snaps.  Farhana was one of the people cheering, faer manicured hands cupped around faer mouth to amplify the sound.

Returning to sit next to faer, Chris took a deep, shaky breath and let it out in something like a giggle.  “I am so glad that’s over.  Going last is terrible!”

“You did great,” Farhana reassured him.  “You can really hear the difference in your voice, too, from the beginning of the semester to now.”

After Professor Berkowitz’s brief “thank you all for coming” comment, the attendees had started milling around the room once more, some congregating in ones and twos, many seeking out the professor.  He stood at the back of the room near the food table where the ravaged veggie plate held a handful of limp, unwanted cauliflower.  Farhana rose, stretched, and nodded toward the knot of people.

“You should go introduce me,” fae suggested, faer brown, kohl-lined eyes sparkling with amusement.

“Ah, yes, I will do just that.  ‘Oh, Professor Berkowitz, this is Farhana, my fuck buddy,’” Chris murmured, quiet enough that the couple near them didn’t seem to hear.  He turned to Farhana with mock concern: “Or would you prefer ‘friends with benefits?’“

“Not if you want any ‘benefits’ later,” fae teased.

“Okay, okay.  I’ll just say, ‘This is Farhana.  Fae showed up to support me because this poetry event was fucking terrifying and I never would’ve signed up for your class if I knew I had to perform my poems in public.’“

“Maybe leave that last part out,” Farhana suggested, quirking faer mouth in a half-smile.  “But ‘fae,’ really?  Is your prof someone who’s cool with that?  Or am I going to have to spend the next 10 minutes explaining why I’m not actually one of the fair folk?”

���Nah, he’s cool.  I actually came out to him on the first day of class because this piece of shit school still has my dead name on all my records.  I took a chance, and he handled it really well.”

“Well, then, what are we waiting for?”  Farhana placed faer hand on faer hip and gave Chris faer best seductive grin.

[orquidia]

✡️ jewish and muslim girlfriends ☪️

(alternative text is added!)

[belovedarise]

Hello Beloved! As the election continues to be decided and brings stress to the nation, here is some positive election news:

Ritchie Torres (NY) (he/him) became the first Afro-Latinx LGBTQ+ person to be elected to Congress. Mondaire Jones (NY) (he/him) will also become the first LGBTQ+ person of color, alongside Torres, to be elected to Congress. Sarah McBride (DE) (she/her) became the first openly transgender person to be a state senator. Stephanie Byers (KS) (she/her) became the first openly transgender person to have a seat in Kansas’s state legislature and became the first Native American transgender person to be elected to any state legislature. Mauree Turner (OK) (she/they) has become the first non-binary person elected to any state legislature. They are also the first Muslim to be elected to the Oklahoma state legislature.  Taylor Small (VT) (she/her) became the first openly transgender person to have a seat in Vermont’s state legislature. Shevrin Jones (FL) (he/him) became the first openly LGBTQ+ person to have a seat in Florida’s state legislature. Jabari Brisport (NY) (he/him) became the first openly LGBTQ+ person of color to have a seat in New York’s state legislature. Kim Jackson (GA) (she/her) became the first openly LGBTQ+ person to have a seat in Georgia’s state senate and one of only 3 LGBTQ+ women of color to have a seat in any state senate. David Ortiz (CO) (he/him) became the first openly bi person to have a seat in Colorado’s state legislature. He also became the first wheelchair user in Colorado’s state legislature. Sharice Davids (KS) (she/her) has been re-elected. Davids is the first Native American LGBTQ+ woman to serve in Congress

No matter what happens with the presidency, change is coming, Beloved. Be hopeful and continue fighting

[celiabowens]

Adult SFF edition

High/Epic Fantasy

The Lies of Locke Lamora: heist fantasy following a band of misfits! It has morally gray characters, fun banter but heartwrenching moments and a pretty complex plot. It’s a classic to say “if you liked Six of Crows and want to try adult SFF try this” and it’s probably true. 

Kushiel’s Dart: a political fantasy tome loosely inspired by Europe in the Renaissance. Pretty heavy on romance and erotica (with BDSM elements) as it follows a courtesan navigating the political scene. It has an amazing female villain.

A Darker Shade of Magic: probably the easiest way to approach adult fantasy. It has multiple Londons and a pretty unique magic system and concept, plus a crossdressing thief, knives and great banter. 

The Poppy War: grimdark fantasy (TW: abuse, self harm, rape, drug abuse), inspired by Chinese history. It’s adult, but follows younger MCs and the unique blend of different historical periods/inspirations makes it extremely interesting. The characters are extremely fucked up in the best possible way, plus the use of shamanism is awesome.

The Sword of Kaigen: if you liked The Poppy War you could like this one. The Sword of Kaigen is an Asian-inspired militaristic fantasy, with elemental magic, a badass housewife dealing with her past and hiding a sword in her kitchen’s floor. It has interesting and nuanced family dynamics and a great reflection on propaganda and the use of narratives.

The Priory of the Orange Tree: high fantasy, featuring dragons, a F/F romance and pretty complex world building. The author reuses typical fantasy tropes and roles in a fresh way. Very readable in spite of its length.

Empire of Sand: inspired by Mughal India, this one focuses on culture and religion and has great slow burn romance (TW: abuse, slavery). It’s pretty slow paced, but the payoff is great. Also a good "YA crossover”.

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms: first book in a companion novel trilogy, following a young woman who finds herself at the center of a vicious political struggle, as she’s suddenly become the heir to the throne. 

Black Sun: first book in a new series by Rebecca Roanhorse, inspired by pre-Columbian societies and cultures. It mainly focuses on religious and political conflicts. TW for abuse, mild body horror and suicide (not very graphic). Nice inclusion of lgbt rep across the whole cast + one of the main characters is blind. Great world building!

Historical Fantasy

The Night Circus: perfect transition from YA to Adult for a reader, The Night Circus is a gorgeous historical fantasy romance. The author’s writing is amazing, the descriptions and the subtlety of the main characters’ relationship are to die for.

The City of Brass: political/historical fantasy tome featuring Middle Eastern mythology. It follows younger MCs (honestly another series that could be a good way to approach adult SFF) and has great character growth throughout the series. The first book has some more trope-y elements, but the payoff is worth it. 

The Golem and The Djinni: historical fantasy (if you loved The Night Circus you could like this one), following two mythical creatures as they navigate New York in 1899. Slow burn romance, rich descriptions, fascinating combination of Jewish and Syrian folklore.

Gods of Jade and Shadow: a fantasy bildungsroman set in Mexico during the Jazz age. Another great way to approach adult SFF as it follows a young girl on a life changing adventure. It features Mayan mythology and a god slowly becoming human.

The Ghost Bride: set in Malaya in 1893, it follows the daughter of a ruined man as she receives the proposal to become a ghost bride. Lovely setting, rich in culture and extremely atmospheric.

The Bear and The Nightingale: a coming of age story inspired by Russian folklore. Another great way to start reading adult SFF: it’s very atmospheric and fairy tale-like. Also frost demons are better than men.

Queen of the Conquered: first book in a fantasy duology(?) set in an alternate version of the Caribbean at the time of Scandinavian colonisation. It follows Sigourney, a biracial woman (her mother was a slave, freed by her father) and the only islander who is allowed to own and use kraft and therefore has a position of privilege, which she constantly abuses, while telling herself she’s doing it for the islanders’ benefit. The book is hard to read, because the MC is no hero and her POV can be quite challenging to get through, but if you’re up for it I’d totally recommend this. (TW: slavery, abuse, death).

The Lions of Al-Rassan: this one has minimal fantasy elements, much like other Kay books, as it reads more like an alternate history. Using Moorish Spain as a template, it deals with the conflict between Jews, Muslims and Christians. Much like Under Heaven and most of his historical fantasy it shows common people being swept up in dramatic events. 

Urban Fantasy

The Divine Cities trilogy: starting with City of Stairs, it follows a female diplomat and spymaster(!!). The whole trilogy features an interesting discussion about godhood, religion, fanatism, politics, without ever being boring or preachy. It has complex and rich world building and a pretty compelling mystery.

Foundryside: heist fantasy following a thief as she’s hired to steal a powerful artifact that may change magical technology as she knows it. Also, slow burn F/F romance.

Jade City:  a wuxia inspired, gangster urban fantasy. Great family dynamics, very interesting political and economical subplots. 

One for My Enemy: sort of a modern Romeo and Juliet, but set in New York, starring two magical gangster families. The female characters are to die for.  

Trail of Lightning: inspired by Native mythology and the idea of subsequent worlds. It has a kickass MC and a good mix of original elements and typical UF tropes. You could like this if you liked the Kate Daniels series.

American Gods: a classic of the genre, pretty much brilliant in how it reuses old mythology in a modern setting.

Retellings

Spinning Silver: a very loose retelling of Rumpelstiltskin, with a gorgeous atmosphere. It mainly follows female characters from different social and economical backgrounds and reuses the original tale to challenge the antisemitic ideas around the role of the moneylander.

The Queens of Innis Lear: fantasy retelling of King Lear, very atmospheric and gorgeously written. Slow paced, but very satisfying build up, lots of backstabbing and miscommunication. (heads up though, one of the MCs is coded as aroace and I found the rep pretty bad on that. The book does feature casual bisexual rep though, which was great)

Lady Hotspur: genderbent retelling of Henry IV, set in the same world as The Queens of Innis Lear. Lesbian and bisexual rep. Heavy on political subplots, features ambitious women growing into their roles.

Deathless: sort of a retelling of Koschei the Deathless set in the first half of the 20th century. Brilliant reuse of Russian folklore to weave together politics and history. It does have pretty brutal descriptions of war, morally gray characters, unhealthy relationships and overall a lot of mindfuckery.

Space Opera

A Memory Called Empire: space opera inspired by the Mexica and middle period Byzantium. It focuses on topics like colonialism and the power of narratives and language. It has one of the best descriptions of what it’s like to live in between spaces I’ve ever read. Also very interesting political intrigue and has a slow burn F/F romance (and a poly relationship recalled through flashbacks).

Ninefox Gambit: a Korean-inspired space opera with a magic system based on math. It’s honestly quite convoluted and difficult to follow, but it also features some of the best political intrigue I’ve ever read. Plenty of lying, backstabbing and mind games. It also features lesbian and bisexual rep and an aroace side character (TW: mass shooting, sexual assault).

The Light Brigade: militaristic space opera set in a not-so-defined future in which corporations rule Earth and space in general. The book follows a newly enlisted soldier as they go through gruelling training and experience the side effects of being broken down into atoms to travel at the speed of light. It’s a heavy book, featuring raw descriptions of war, and quite difficult to follow (non-linear timelines...) but it’s also an amazing critique of capitalism and political propaganda (TW: death, mass shooting).

Gideon the Ninth: pretty much lesbian necromancers in space. Very loose world building, but a fun mystery full of banter. Can be quite confusing in the beginning, but a relatively easy and fun way to approach science fiction.

The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet: character driven space opera featuring a found family journeying through space. A fun read, that also deals with topics such as sexuality and race. Quite easy to go through, as the world building and plot aren’t particularly complex themselves. Also features a F/F romance. 

Science Fiction-Fantasy that I can’t fit anywhere else

Vicious: college roommates put themselves through near-death experiences to obtain super powers, only everything goes wrong. Follows a great band of misfits (and pretty much everyone is morally gray).

Middlegame: a brilliant and complex tapestry of alternate timelines, following telepathically connected twins trying to escape the alchemist that wants to use them to obtain godhood (TW: attempted suicide).

Piranesi: the long awaited return of Susanna Clarke, Piranesi is an odd, mysterious book set in a house with infinite rooms and endless corridors, apparently inhabited by only two people. 

Bonus Novella recs: novellas are amazing and don’t sleep on them!

The Empress of Salt and Fortune: an Asian-inspired fantasy novella, it gives a voice to people usually silenced by history. It follows a cleric (non binary rep) as they chronicle the story of the late empress, retold through objects that she used in her life. It focuses on bonds between women and the power that lies in being unnoticed.  

The Black God’s Drums: an urban fantasy novella, based on Orisha mythology and set in an alternate, sort of steampunk, New Orleans. 

The Haunting of Tram Car 015: alternate steampunk Cairo populated by supernatural entities. It has a compelling mystery, starring a great lead.

This Is How You Lose the Time War: epistolary set during a time-travel war, F/F romance and gorgeous prose. 

The Citadel of Weeping Pearls: a novella set in the Xuya universe (a series of novellas/short stories set in a timeline where Asia became dominant, and where the space age has empires of Vietnamese and Chinese inspiration), but can be read as a standalone. It’s a space opera featuring a disappeared citadel and the complex relationship between the empress and her daughter as war threatens her empire.

To Be Taught, If Fortunate: an incredibly heartwarming and yet meaningful novella about research and the meaning of it. It’s the tale of 4 astronauts on a crowdfunded mission to explore space, to observe and report without conquering. It’s written in lovely prose and is very casual in its lgbt rep.

The Deep: very good novella set in an underwater society built by the descendants of African slave women that were tossed overboard. It’s not an easy read at all, as it deals with trauma, both personal and generational ones. 

Bonus short story collections recs

A Cathedral of Myth and Bone: 16 short stories featuring myth, legend and faith, that mainly focus on women reclaiming their agency. 

The Paper Menageries and Other Stories: features plenty of different fantasy and science fiction subgenres. The Paper Menagerie in particular is an extremely moving tale.

Conservation of Shadows: science fiction-fantasy short stories that focus on topics like colonisation and the role of art and language. 

Graphic Novel

Monstress: series set in an alt 1900s matriarchal Asia, following a teenage girl who survived a war and shares a connection with a monster that’s slowly transforming her. (TW: slavery, death).

[loisroo]

random rec’s for september

currently watching:

reservation dogs

extraordinary attorney woo

resident alien (s2)

roswell new mexico (s4)

fate winx saga

watched:

the sandman-

so this was actually in my top five favorite shows i’ve watched this month. i wasn’t sure if i would like it because i was worried it would feel too dark or maybe turn out to be niche/cult show that i wouldn’t be interested in. honestly it took like four seconds of seeing pathetic dream of the endless and i was sold for the rest of the show. i don’t want to spoil too much because it’s a really good watch but i will say the way dream talks in this is massively soothing at times, it’s wild.

why does dream of the endless have shipping potential with literally every character?? normally i would say my queer brain was just being extra gay while watching this but it turns out my brain is just the normal amount of queer and dream’s got weird chemistry.

also—ALSO lucifer morningstar is fucking magnificent in this because gwendoline christie wrecks this character. the anger, the power, the embarrassment, the defiance…. the LEATHER!!

good omens-

so this was also in my top five favorite shows this month and i’m honestly a little sad it took me this long to watch this. it’s good in such a strange way, like i watched it all the way through the first time and really liked it but was surprised about how often i thought about it after.

honestly the main lead angel and demon character in this are so well done i don’t think i have the ability or understanding to explain it. like… the angel choosing kindness over everything else was the moment i fell in love with the show.

also the romantic music????? the way names are said and the denial of friendship after 6000 years of friendship and more…. it’s like ao3 made a deal with neil gaiman or something.

we are lady parts-

honestly this show is the fucking tits. It’s funny and raw and all women leads and queer rep and muslim rep and the idea of punk is so freaking palpable in everything the shows is….i just can’t rave about this show enough. i don’t even want to make this review very long because it’s only six episodes and so freaking good i don’t want to ruin anything. this is up there with ted lasso for me so it’s probably more accurate to say top five favorite shows ever.

they/them -

so this was lgbtq horror and even though i was a little nervous they would make it stereotypical or fuck up the representation or the message not getting across— i’ve been WAITING for more lgbtq rep in horror that didn’t just involve killing the gay person first or making them the awful monstrous being so i was for sure giving this a try.

and while i think some people have probably been a little confused or think this show didn’t do a good job of being positive lgbtq rep, i wholeheartedly disagree. this was done so freaking well— the fact that a non binary kid is the lead AND just demolishes all expectations for the camp counselors makes sometime inside of me sing. like fuck your binary, the whole point is to be exactly who you want to be and feel truly whole and connected and in love with yourself. that’s why the villain is who it is and why you empathize with them but you don’t condone what’s been done. i will probably start giving away too much if i keep rambling but gosh i really recommend this to anyone who loves horror.

what we do in the shadows (s4)-

this season was the best season so far. i think 8 out of the 10 episodes i kept saying ‘why is this so good, how does this just keep getting better?’ and on the two that i didn’t think that i was like ‘this is episode is necessary and actually great but I’m pissed at a character’

this is an amazingly written vampire comedy that explores the idea of what the fuck 700 year old vampires do in the 21st century. the actors are phenomenal and the characters they play are so messy and chaotic and self serving. this is meant to be dark and silly but with surprising depth to the characters and their feelings and I’m in love with it.

i value humor a lot so i tend to like comedies and a large variety of comedy types but I have never laughed as hard at a show in my life so there’s that too.

chucky: the series-

i didn’t think i would like this all that much, i mainly watched it with my partner because he loves chucky and we are swapping horror shows back and forth atm. i actually dislike dolls because i watched chucky wayyyyy too young but i compromised and we watched it during the day.

so it wasn’t overly scary and it felt more like a cult classic retold, i loved the lgbtq elements and the kids being more competent then the adults sometimes. overall i really enjoyed it!

minato shouji coin laundry-

japanese bl’s are just made so differently, like…you knew there was only like three ways this story could go but the writing was good and the characters felt very relatable and realistic, honestly it really made me want to watch until the end no matter if it was good or bad. i think a lot of Japanese shows are like this but especially the bl’s— they are so emotion based and make you feel like you are apart of the persons thought process and it makes the whole thing more realistic or relatable. i highly recommend watching this, i’m probably gonna rewatch it the same time i rewatch old fashioned cupcake.

girlfriend project day one-

cute cute cute cute cute. i really wish this would be made into at least an 8 episode series with bare minimum 20min episodes— more would be better but the plot and script were good enough that either way it would work out extremely well.

also the smol lead who seems so mellow and quiet turning out to be very outspoken and brave just makes my whole heart melt.

resident alien (s1)-

this isn’t my favorite show i’ve ever seen, some of the humor is a miss with me (which is a little uncommon but it happens) but overall it’s a good show! i wanted to watch a second episode and was happy to find out there was a whole season 2.

i actually really like the alien and the way he ‘navigates earth’ because although i’d like to think aliens are smart enough to blend in with ease, you can be too smart for your own good or too different to comprehend a whole new species well and i like that they wrote it this way. it’s obviously for the laughs but something about it feels 30rock-ish but more mature, dark, and funnier.

inspector koo-

yayyyyy! my adhd watch finally came through and i got to the end!! idk why this happens to shows especially because this was actually really good! It was funny and there was twists and turns and murder and a canon gay couple and a depressed widow and a murder duo who are actually adorable minus the murder.

im also gonna have to be a nerd and say that lee hong nae is a really good actor and this is the second villain/morally ambiguous character he’s played in and just blown me away. and of course it’s the queer character as well. i really hope he keeps getting more roles but not just random silly ones— more complex roles with deep emotions and messy plots.

still watching because of adhd:

sense8

my name

a league of their own

dropped:

taxi driver- if this were a movie based on the first few episodes then i think i would have loved this so much. i love a revenge plot but after episodes and episodes of revenge very graphically shown towards on top of the victims experiences as well. it’s not a bad show at all. it was just a little too much violence and blood and deceit and not enough of anything else. there is a chance I could pick this up again but who knows

[astralbooks]

Hell Followed with Us - Andrew Joseph White

Read: 1/6/2022 - 2/6/2022

Rating: 5/5

Rep: gay trans boy main character, autistic gay love interest, Black trans girl side character, Latinx non-binary asexual side character who uses xe/xem, Black lesbian side character, sapphic Black hijabi Muslim side character, aromantic side character, various other queer side characters including characters who use they/them and neopronouns CW: parental death, graphic death, body horror, violence, religious abuse, discussions of genocide; instances of homophobia, transphobia, misgendering, and deadnaming

Review:

When I started reading this book, I very quickly knew I didn’t want to stop reading. The only times I managed to take breaks were when my partner messaged me to let me know that the renewal of a TV show I’ve been obsessed with recently had just been announced, and when I was literally falling asleep due to how late it was. I’m usually the kind of person who always arrives early when meeting up with friends, and I wound up running late to a hangout because I had to finish reading this book before I could let myself move. I couldn’t leave the last couple of chapters until later, I had to read them right then and there. The need to continue to read this book overrode my anxiety and that in and of itself is glowing praise.

Benji was such a great main character and I loved watching his development from being a scared runaway to how he is at the end. If you want to read about someone coming to terms with their anger and using that anger to destroy the people who hurt them then this is the book for you. ‘Anger’ doesn’t feel like a strong enough word to describe what’s going on here, to be honest. ‘Wrath’ might be better. I also really liked seeing Benji try to reckon with everything when in positions of relative safety with the ALC, and his growing friendships with (almost) everyone there were really lovely! He also has a directness that I appreciated. He’s not one to let a potentially sticky social situation fester, and I really liked that! This book is not for the faint of heart. The content warnings are not jokes or exaggerations. The descriptions are vivid and graphic, and the strength of these descriptions alone are enough to strongly recommend this book to people who like body horror. White doesn’t pull a single punch and does a truly great job! I loved the ALC so much! Benji himself notes how healing it is for him to be in an environment where he can tell people his name and pronouns knowing that people will use them for him without argument, and especially how important being around other trans people is for him. This book does a good job at emphasising how important community is, and at addressing some of the beliefs that some people within the lgbtq+ community have that do more harm than good. This book is unapologetically queer and a rejection of the idea that there is a right or wrong way to be queer or to exist. I need to give a special shout out to Salvador. Salvador my beloved. A major character who uses xe/xem pronouns? Who isn’t white?? Who casually mentions that xe’s ace??? And whose relationship with Benji is one of the most significant ones in the whole book???? Salvador pretty much takes Benji under xyr wing in the ALC and makes sure to loop him in in all the gossip, which does so much to help Benji feel like he belongs there. I think Salvador would’ve been one of my favourite characters even if xe didn’t use xe/xem, but xe does and that’s so exciting to me!! I’ve read so few books with any characters who use neopronouns, and I’ve never read a book with a character with neopronouns who’s this prominent before!! And all of Salvador’s friends used xyr correct pronouns and didn’t slip up once!!! Getting a little personal here, but a big reason why I use they/them is to make things easier for other people. It means so much to me to see a character who isn’t doing that, is unapologetic about it, and who’s respected by everyone whose opinion matters. And xe’s not even the only character who uses neopronouns in this book, xe’s just the most prominent one!! Xem being ace too is only mentioned once very briefly and is easily missed, but there was no way I was going to miss that. I wasn’t expecting any aspec rep, and I was fine with that, but for Salvador to be ace and Faith to be aro means so much to me as an ace arospec person!! I also really liked the main love interest, Nick, and I especially enjoyed his pov chapters and the greater understanding of both him and everything else that’s going on that this gives the reader. At the beginning, Nick and Benji have totally different priorities and this isn’t something that Benji fully grasps, so seeing Nick’s perspective of things at that point was needed and worked really well. The two of them also share a lot of really sweet moments, and their growing affection for each other was believable! I wish Nick had been a little more present than he was, though. Benji has a lot going on, so obviously his focus is often not on Nick, and then Nick only has three pov chapters in the whole book. We see him at the start when he’s distrustful of Benji, and we see him nearer the end when he regrets that distrust, but we don’t get to see his perspective of him going from A to B, and Benji doesn’t know about any of this while it’s happening. I was left with the feeling that earlier versions of the book had more written from Nick’s pov that have since been cut and I think that’s a shame. I could be totally wrong about that, but that’s the impression I got. I really liked Nick and Benji’s relationship! I just wish that it had a little more space. Nick is such a great character! Interestingly, one of the main antagonists, Theo, also got a single pov chapter, and I have complicated thoughts on that. It felt a little out of place, and I don’t think it was needed. I would’ve preferred another Nick chapter, if just because I need more of him in my life. Ultimately, I had a really great time reading this book, and would strongly recommend it to anyone who wants to read a strong, visceral horror with a queer cast, with the caveat that if any of the content warnings would be an issue for you then to proceed with caution. Thank you to Peachtree Teen and TBR and Beyond Tours for providing me with an e-arc and having me on this tour! You can see the rest of my tour stop here and the full tour schedule here!

[terfslying]

do you think as an Australian you're really qualified to talk about how women from cultures that you aren't a part of need to learn to accept trans people as their identified sex? Idk I feel like some cultures just. Have gender roles. What is so wrong about it as long as there is a gender role everyone can be happy with? Like my muslim friends just have that binary gender system and they seem happy enough, I don't see why we need to separate aex and gender in every culture

Do you seriously think that trans muslims don’t exist? That they historically have never existed?

Mukhannathun (literally translates to ‘feminine ones’, used for male and intersex people who lived in feminine role) existed since the time of Mohammed (pbuh), in Mecca and Medina. The Prophet categorised 2 kinds - mukhannath min kalqin (men with innate feminine traits, who have no guilt, shame or blame for their femininity), and mukhannath bi al-takullaf (men who act like women for personal gain or immoral purposes, who are sinning).

There are also plenty of current trans muslims in and around the world, including in sharia nations, where the vast majority honestly do believe that transgender and gay people “don’t happen here”.

As for “am I qualified as an Australian”: am I qualified to support the voices of trans and gender-non-conforming muslims, as someone who was raised in the Gulf of Arabia under Sharia law until the age of 9? Yeah honestly I think it’s pretty straightforward here. I’m not pushing anything that is against a tenent of Islam - Mohammed (pbuh) made a ruling on mukhannath min kalqin not being a sin. We have centuries of evidence of mukhannath being known musicians in multiple dynasties, including mukhannath that were never described as really intersex in any way. Persecution happened on and off again, but there have always been trans muslims.

The trend since the 80′s has been for conservative Islam to claim that LGBT, divorce, etc. are all western invasions, caused by lack of Islam. That doesn’t mean that’s the One True Muslim Position.

I don’t expect anyone to do more than respect that which they can’t understand. That’s the bare minimum of being a decent human.

[whenqueersfast]

Really interesting to ponder this

There is literally no demographic more interesting than queer religious people. Even if you never had much of a crisis in faith (like me), we are still forced to reconcile what we believe in with our own existence in a way that straight religious people, and nonreligious queer people, will never fully experience. I once spoke to a lesbian minister of a queer-centric nondenominational church who said “the god you believe in is always a reflection of self, which is why queer people see god as so much more loving and forgiving than other people do. Our god is a form of self-love and acceptance” and i will never forget that.