#southern queer

[kuchipatch1]

yall have got to be more normal about Southern people and I'm not kidding. enough of the Sweet Home Alabama incest jokes, enough of the idea that all Southerners are bigots and rednecks, and enough of the idea that the South has bad food. shut up about "trailer trash" and our accents and our hobbies!

do yall know how fucking nauseating it is to hear people only bring up my state to make jokes about people in poverty and incestuous relationships? how much shame I feel that I wasn't born up north like the Good Queers and Good Leftists with all the Civilised Folk with actual houses instead of small cramped trailers that have paper thin walls that I know won't protect me in a bad enough storm?

do yall know how frustrating it is to be trans in a place that wants to kill you and whenever you bring it up to people they say "well just move out" instead of sympathizing with you or offering help?

do yall understand how alienating it is to see huge masterposts of queer and mental health resources but none of them are in your state because theyre all up north? and nobody seems to want to fix this glaring issue because "they're all hicks anyways"

Southern people deserve better. we deserve to be taken seriously and given a voice in the queer community and the mental health space and leftist talks in general.

[etherealitei]

Trigger Warning: Transphobia and mentions of Nex’s deadname in the donation link before the updated message.

As someone who grew up close to where Nex is from, I am absolutely devastated but am not surprised. I myself am trans and many of my close friends are also trans or two spirit and still live in the region. This type of violence has been ongoing for a while. Myself and my friends have lived with this type of violence for a long time. Almost every single one of my queer friends from Oklahoma has been on the receiving end of micro aggressions, hate crimes, systemic oppression, and/or domestic violence. And yeah, our state doesn’t give a shit about us. I am absolutely horrified but I am also angry. And I am so angry that for many of us the answer isn’t leaving either. Economic struggles are a barrier, but for many like Nex and my Indigenous friends, there is a strong cultural connection rooted in community and the land. I just want to make things better for the people who can’t or don’t want to leave. I want my state and my community to care, and I want to stop seeing my trans siblings suffering and dying. This is a bit of a rant but I am angry, and I am fighting feeling hopeless. As much as I am paralyzed with sadness, I don’t want to stop fighting. Please help in anyway possible. I am attaching links to queer organizations in Oklahoma and to Nex’s funeral fund.

[genderqueerdykes]

bigender boyliker boygirl named cody here. i live in a redneck state. my best friend is a southern-accented mullet-having cowboy boot-wearing hick. i recently came out to him and he just said “I knew something was off about you,” and smiled, and then asked me my name and pronouns. i told him he/she and that my name was the same, and he totally accepted me, and even gave me a hug. he swore not to tell anybody and hasn’t since, and i’m thankful for him every day. i already had a little crush on him but now i’m in love.

just letting any southern queers out there know that there is hope, and people may surprise you. just stay safe <3

oh shit!!!!!!!!!!!! i'm so glad he's there for you!!!!! holy moly that's awesome, and im glad he's willing to not out you too, that's incredible!!

there is hope! i'm actually a country boygirl from a small town in the appalachian mountains, very redneck hunting community. life was scary, but i met a lot of other queers and folks who were chill, sometimes even the most "cishet looking" folks can end up being queer themselves or one hell of an ally! there's hope <33 stay safe y'all! thank you so much for your message, this is so sweet

[bitchwholoveslife]

The thing about being androgynous or gnc in a rural area is that...

You don't want the stares. Not really. But you do want to be the kind of person who gets stared at. So eventually, you come to equate being stared at with doing something right. And maybe it never stops hurting, the way that the locals eye you like you're some kind of spectacle. But it also becomes encouraging in its own way.

[pansyboybloom]

i love you transsexuals i love you transvestites i love you faggots i love you sissies i love you queers i love you taking the slurs the pulpit hurled at me and wearing them like a bolo tie of brilliance and bared teeth i love you taking homophobia and saddle breaking it i love you kissing men i love you phalloplasty i love you forcing transphobia to bend to my will with hard kisses as i rock the preacher boy's world i love you gay sex i love you t4t i love you gay rodeos and queer square dance clubs i love you southern queens i love you south i love you trannies i love you thick accents and rugged towns i love you i love you i love you

[dial-a-dyke]

Found at the Birmingham Public Library Archives via the Invisible Histories Project Sandi Strong collection

[notkitten]

i am currently traveling with my roommate in georgia l and we walked into a Waffle House, where a transfemme she/they employee with a rainbow hat on immediately greeted us with, "hi sweet friends!"

we're friends now and it's very sweet

the world is a better place because transfemmes are here so you better appreciate them today folks

[pumpkinnsoda]

PLEAAAAASEEE do u have outfit pegs on what southern!saltburn characters would wear

Venetia: like a doll. Debutante drop-out who was a better hunter than her brother ever was.

Elspeth: very classy, Sunday best, never going anywhere without a full face and everything styled perfectly. Strings of pearls and neat heels.

Felix: Completely clean jeans and boots that have never seen mud. He talks about his home and family a lot at school, but back home he’d most likely get made fun of for being a poser.

Oliver: actual work-wear. Hand-me-downs and practical clothes. His dirty ass denim jeans make Felix want to bite him and eat him whole. He definitely has a handkerchief or two in his back pocket

Sir James: ignore the twinks in the pics, but very loose wear, neutrals and collared shirts

I’m not sure about Farleigh right now! Trying to decide between him trying to act very traditional and “a good black person” vs. wearing whatever he wants out of spite for his family

[alliswyattonthewesternfront]

nothing like hanging out with other queer/trans hicks. people will think they know what to expect from my buddy with orange hair and a bunch of trans rights buttons on a fanny pack, but when they start talking about how their grandaddy kept snakes in the freezer to eat on, suddenly the normies don't know what to do.

[e-starr]

e-starr

self portrait (Raging Bull 2)

3’ X 2’

Acrylic on Canvas

[huntysdoodles]

queer deer dude who lives in the woods and smells like beer and tractor exhaust 🚜

[sunny-possum-pal]

PROTECT TRANS YOUTH

Prints | Shirts

[sea-critter]

trying to hold it together but… just read about Nex Benedict (may their memory be a blessing) who was a Native non-binary teen murdered in their high school bathroom in Oklahoma.

thinking of Akira Ross, a Black queer woman murdered in Texas, less than an hour from me.

thinking of all the queer & trans young people in the south who die at the hands of bigots.

just feeling really fucking sad and sick to my stomach.

[cupidthewriter]

Something from school that i think is important to share

The first gay pride parade in Alabama was in Birmingham. 1989. I had to watch it for Southern Queer History.

[bitchwholoveslife]

My new neighbor is the coolest fucking person EVER.

She was asking about my haircut, and eventually said "but I couldn't get a haircut like that because I would look like a lesbian--oh no, are you a lesbian?! I didn't mean to offend you if so!" To which I flushed and freaked out a little bc I was there with my dad, our other neighbor neighbor/plug, and his wife.

But after explaining that I'm "bi" (as i put it publicly), and not offended by her lighthearted comment, the conversation recovered well. And she, a 64 year old woman in Alabama, told us about how she is asexual, and even defined it for us! It was such an amazing experience for me, as she was definitely the oldest queer person I've ever met, and I was simply floored by her level of confidence and pride in her asexual identity. It was the highlight of my day :)

[soulofapoet]

Don’t ignore the struggles of queers in the South.

Don’t tell us to just leave, what if we don’t want to?

My childhood store is here, my friends are here, my life is here.

The creek I played in and forest I ran through, it’s all here.

I don’t want to have to leave

I want people to do something