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“India’s Supreme Court on Tuesday started hearing a challenge to one of the world’s oldest laws criminalizing consensual gay sex, a debate that has raised broader questions about how far to extend equal rights in the country.

India’s Supreme Court will review Section 377’s constitutionality, creating a surge of hope for lawyers and activists who have been campaigning against the law for years. But hope is tempered by years of disappointment. Even now, it is an act of calculated risk to identify publicly as being gay in India, or to advocate for change.

In interviews conducted over three months, gay and transgender Indians from across the country described the cost of living in a country that has forced them to be outlaws: shunning by parents, social isolation, few protections in the workplace, and a frightening vulnerability to both police abuse and sexual assault with limited legal recourse.

Victims of blackmail or sexual assault often hesitate to approach police for just that reason, fearing they will be arrested — or worse. “The rich ones, they will extort money from; the poor ones, they will use for sexual favors,” said Mohnish Malhotra, a gay-rights activist in New Delhi.

But India was once at ease with depictions of same-sex love and gender fluidity. In Hinduism, gods transform into goddesses and men bear children. Rekhti, a genre of poetry that flourished in India from the late 1700s, describes erotic encounters between women.

When British colonizers arrived in India, that acceptance of homosexuality eroded. In the 1860s, the British introduced Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code. The law imposed a fine, 10 years’ imprisonment or a life sentence on “whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature.” Section 377 is generally applied to sex between men, but it officially extends to anybody engaged in anal or oral sex.

Even if the Supreme Court excludes consensual sex from the law, lawyers said its archaic language means a legislative amendment is needed to protect people who are gay.”

The Elite Engineers Leading a Challenge to India’s Homosexuality Ban

Gay Sex Not an Aberration, Indian Judge Says Ahead of Ruling on Homosexuality Ban

India’s Battle for Same-Sex Love

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anyway here’s your reminder that lgbt muslims exist and islamophobia shouldnt be tolerated within lgbt communities!

shout out to lgbt muslims living in places where our identities are still criminalised. 

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Happy Pride Month Eleanor Roosevelt was queer, the Little Mermaid is a gay love story, James Dean liked men, Emily Dickinson was a lesbian, Nikola Tesla was asexual, Freddie Mercury was bisexual & British Indian, and black trans women pioneered the gay rights movement.

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Why are the Greeks white in art then?

For a few reasons. Firstly, the ‘white’ Greek marble statues that fill up our museums were actually originally painted different colours. The paint didn’t survive the test of time: the marble did.

The second reason? That’s much more interesting: it’s the same reason that can explain why Jesus tends to be a European in Western people’s minds, and why Cleopatra has been played by Elizabeth Taylor and Achilles by Brad Pitt.

“People tend to like the past to look like a mirror image of themselves,” says Whitmarsh. “Since the 18th and 19th century onwards there has been a ‘whitening’ of the Greeks and Romans – an appropriation by European powers. For instance, the Germans in the 1800s were adamant that the Greeks were actually Germans who had wandered down the peninsula.”

As for British and American audiences, “The transatlantic slave trade made it so black and white are the categories in which we see people,” argues Whitmarsh. “The Greeks had a concept of people being different skin colours, but they wouldn’t put black people on one side and white people on another.”

The slave trade drew a line between slavers and slaves, black and white. And to make sure they were on the ‘right’ side of this dividing line, Europeans began to see themselves as ‘whiter’. This also meant depicting the Greeks – perceived as the ancestors of modern European civilisation – as white too.

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anyway here’s your reminder that lgbt muslims exist and islamophobia shouldnt be tolerated within lgbt communities!

shout out to lgbt muslims living in places where our identities are still criminalised. 

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This Pride month & anniversary of Pulse, please consider donating to orgs that serve LGBTQ people of color and immigrants, and Miss Major’s retirement fund!

Miss Major’s Retirement Fund

Sylvia Rivera Law Project

FIERCE NYC

QDEP

Audre Lorde Project

CUAV

CAVP

BreakOUT!

Southerners On New Ground

El/La Paras TransLatinas

BAYC Youth

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listen… i’m a lesbian and i know full well what oppression based on love is like… but i wish white gay folks wouldn’t act like sexuality is the only reason anyone’s ever felt that

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MUSLIMS ARE GETTING PUT IN CONCENTRATION CAMPS IN CHINA

MUSLIMS ARE GETTING PUT IN CONCENTRATION CAMPS IN CHINA

MUSLIMS ARE GETTING PUT IN CONCENTRATION CAMPS IN CHINA

MUSLIMS ARE GETTING PUT IN CONCENTRATION CAMPS IN CHINA

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#TransDayofVisibility

[ mestizx mexicanx/native american, xe/him, nb ]

I was really afraid to post anything and I just found out that nonbinary identities were included as well. Yay! (;u;)

Shout outs to all my trans and nonbinary brothers, sisters and siblings!!! I love you and always remember to be strong! Don’t feel rushed to transition because your safety comes first! Here are some helpful links in case you’re feeling down my bbys!

lifeline looking for trans poc speakers: [lifeline]

Latinx trans organization: [El-La]

tumblr about Latinx sexuality: [latinosexuality]

Spanish resource for Latin families with trans kids: [kidshealth.org]

Latinx LGBT+ Group: [De Ambiente]

Suicidal Hotline for Trans ppl: [chat room/texting] [1-866-488-7386]

Trans Law Center: [TLC]

Black Trans outreach/advocation organization: [BTW]

QTPOC Summer Program: [GET FREE!]

2 Spirit Native American Resource Centers: [NativeOut] [NYSHN] [TwoSpirit PDF]

Filipino LGBT Rescource Center in LA: [barangayla]

Asian LGBT Male Resource: [GAPA]

Asian Pacific Islander support network: [GAPSN]

Trans friendly job list: [masstpc]

some QTPOC tumblr blogs: [for2spirits] [fyqueerlatinxs] [nbcutiesofcolor] [fuckyeahqueerpeopleofcolor] [fuckyeahlgbtqcubans] [qtpocselfies] [fuckyeahblacklesbians] [fuckyeahlgbtqasians] [fuckyeahlgbtqblackpeople]

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Asian and Pacific Islander LGBTQ+ Resources

May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month! Before we get on with the post, it’s important to note that these are two groups of diverse people who are very unique in many ways! However, in light of the month, (and mainly due to the fact that a lot of the resources available online are for both groups), here is a compilation of resources for Asian and Pacific Islander LGBTQ+ people! Other masterposts can be found here (and don’t hesitate to add anything if you have resources to contribute)!

GLSEN Pages:

An article about supporting LGBTQ+ Asian and Pacific Islander Students 

PDF with a timeline of important moments in history for LGBTQ+ Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders 

7 Events in LGBT History to Recognize This Month

“Why Educators Should Recognize Queer, Asian Identities in School Curriculum,” an article by Becca Mui

Other organizations:

APIQWTC (Asian & Pacific Islander Queer Women and Transgender Coalition), which provides opportunities for Asian & Pacific Islander queer women and transgender people to socialize, network, build community, engage in inter-generational organizing, and increase community visibility

NQAPIA (National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance), a network of Asian, South Asian, Southeast Asian, and Pacific Islander LGBTQ organizations 

Asian Pacific Islander Resource Kit by GLAAD (also links to other resources)

Historical information from the US National Park Service:

Full study

(Chapter 9) Sexual and Gender Diversity in Native America and the Pacific Islands

(Chapter 11) Breathing Fire: Remembering Asian Pacific American Activism in Queer History

(Chapter 18) LGBTQ Civil Rights in America

Index

Some LGBTQ+ Asian/Pacific Islander Creators:

Jean Melesaine (queer, Sāmoan, artist, documentary photographer, and one of the founding members of One Love Oceania)

Ingrid Nilsen (half-Thai, lesbian, beauty vlogger and internet personality)

Kit Yan (trans/queer, Chinese-Hawaiian, playwright, poet, performer, and lyricist)

Chrysanthemum Tran (trans/queer, Vietnamese American poet, performer and teaching artist)

Chella Man (deaf, Jewish-Chinese, genderqueer, artist)

Patrick G. Lee (queer, Korean-American, journalist and filmmaker)

Pati Solomona Tyrell (queer, Sāmoan, artist/photographer based in Tāmaki Makaurau)

Other Helpful/Informational Links:

A collection of links to readings on Asian American gay and lesbian history

Being Asian/Pacific Islander & LGBTQ: An Introduction (an article by the HRC featuring research regarding important issues in the community, as well as links to other resources)

Gender Identity and Sexual Identity in the Pacific and Hawai'i

10 South Asian LGBTQ Books That Changed My Life (an article by Priya Arora)

Wikipedia’s Timeline of Asian and Pacific Islander diasporic LGBT history

Kumu Hina (a documentary about the struggle to maintain Pacific Islander culture/values within modern Hawaiʻi, told through the lens of Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, a Native Hawaiian māhū [someone who embodies both a male and female spirit], and an honored and respected kumu [teacher], cultural practitioner, and community leader)

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Five Short Stories by Trans Women of Color

“The Girls and the Apple.” Jasmine Kabale Moore. The Coalition

“Waiting Room,” Jamie Berrout

Love and Comets, Gillian Ybabez

Coconut, Gabrielle Bellot. Small Axe Journal

Bonus: Watch Ryka Aoki read her story “To the New World”

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s/o to trans and non-binary poc whose gender identity is based around cultural heritage! we often have our identities erased and in most countries, even if it’s our homeland, we’re robbed of the ability to express ourselves and openly be who we are due to a long history of colonialism. binarism has taken a big toll on a lot of us, but we’re still here and we’re still going on strong! 

if you’re a tpoc or a nb poc and your identity and it’s connection to your culture has been erased because of binarism, i just wanted to tell you that i’m extremely proud of you for staying true to your roots and not allowing society to bring you down or take your heritage. stand tall and stand proud of who you are, and never let society define who you truly are.

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Shoutout to bi men of colour

You deserve every happiness and validation

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Please don’t forget that Asian American immigration history exists and is being used as precedent for a lot of gross policies, like directly with Japanese Internment making the Trump Admin think Muslim Internment is an option. Don’t forget that even President Obama erased our immigration history in his farewell address when he compared immigrants of today to the Irish and German and Poles and said nothing of the Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Filipino, South East Asian, Vietnamese, “waves” of immigrants literally imported to work the fields bc they would take a lower wage. Don’t forget about the refugees that fled the Vietnam and Korean and other wars and regime changes that came here to start from nothing and are now our nail salon jokes. Our history is full of disgusting immigration acts created by the US govt and they have the gall to pat us on the head and call us a model minority.

Don’t let them get away with it. History is supposed to teach us not to do bad things again.

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dear white followers

poc isn’t an adjective - i’m not a “people of colour blogger”, i’m a blogger of colour

don’t say poc if you mean a specific group of people. black lives matter isn’t about all poc. it’s about black people

you don’t need to tell us about every instance of racism you see. if someone’s said something racist about us & we weren’t there, sure, we probably do want to know. but if it’s along the lines of “can you believe this person was racist”? yeah. we can. we don’t need you to remind us

if you have a friend of colour, please don’t expect them to give you the rundown on every racialised issue you see. i’m black. that doesn’t mean i’m automatically an expert on how the modern beauty industry is influenced by india’s colonial history. i don’t speak for all poc - ask someone who’s affected by it

remember that talking about race is tiring. wanting to be more aware of it is great, but discussing exactly how white supremacy affects our lives is frankly depressing. please respect that we don’t always want to do that

if you ever say you’ve “got an [ethnicity] friend” so you can’t be racist to try and sidestep being genuinely called out for racism, i’m stealing your friend. you’re tokenising & they deserve better

poc aren’t a monolith & individual ethnicities can trivialise the racism they don’t face. just because you’ve heard a brown person say the n word or a black person be anti-asian doesn’t mean it’s suddenly okay

talking about our relationship with whiteness ≠ “making everything about race” & anyone who says that from now on owes me £150

this is okay to reblog even (especially) if you’re white

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whom else is supporting nonbinary folk of color on this lovely afternoon :-)

[transasians-old]

✨ don’t condemn the government if you don’t care about the people it’s hurting ✨