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[image description: photo of a famous poem called "The Tiger" by Nael, age 6, from "They're Singing a Song in Their Rocket," about a tiger destroying its cage and escaping, but with new words pasted over it so it now says: "The food He is almost here Yes YES The food is here"]

me watching the doordash guy come closer

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I'm sorry, I just can't... just a few more!

This one is not #ownvoices:

Ace books:

Aro books: j/k they don't have any yet

Polyamory:

«At the Internet Archive, this is how we digitize a book. We never destroy a book by cutting off its binding. Instead, we digitize it the hard way—one page at a time. We use the Scribe, a book scanner our engineers invented, along with the software that it runs. Our scanning centers are located in universities and libraries around the world, from Boston Public Library to the University of Toronto to the Wellcome Library and beyond. Eliza is one of our fastest and most accurate scanners. Next she will execute quality control checks and fix any errors. Then she ships the book back to our Physical Archive for long-term preservation. Now imagine this: scanners like Eliza have done this 2,000,000 times. That’s what it takes to provide you with a free digital library.» – Plus Internet Archive’s Modern Book Collection Now Tops 2 Million Volumes, by Chris Freeland, February 3, 2021

♥

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Not even done: here are lots more trans books!

«At the Internet Archive, this is how we digitize a book. We never destroy a book by cutting off its binding. Instead, we digitize it the hard way—one page at a time. We use the Scribe, a book scanner our engineers invented, along with the software that it runs. Our scanning centers are located in universities and libraries around the world, from Boston Public Library to the University of Toronto to the Wellcome Library and beyond. Eliza is one of our fastest and most accurate scanners. Next she will execute quality control checks and fix any errors. Then she ships the book back to our Physical Archive for long-term preservation. Now imagine this: scanners like Eliza have done this 2,000,000 times. That’s what it takes to provide you with a free digital library.» – Plus Internet Archive’s Modern Book Collection Now Tops 2 Million Volumes, by Chris Freeland, February 3, 2021

♥

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They also use this to provide openlibrary.org, where you can check out so many amazing books!

«At the Internet Archive, this is how we digitize a book. We never destroy a book by cutting off its binding. Instead, we digitize it the hard way—one page at a time. We use the Scribe, a book scanner our engineers invented, along with the software that it runs. Our scanning centers are located in universities and libraries around the world, from Boston Public Library to the University of Toronto to the Wellcome Library and beyond. Eliza is one of our fastest and most accurate scanners. Next she will execute quality control checks and fix any errors. Then she ships the book back to our Physical Archive for long-term preservation. Now imagine this: scanners like Eliza have done this 2,000,000 times. That’s what it takes to provide you with a free digital library.» – Plus Internet Archive’s Modern Book Collection Now Tops 2 Million Volumes, by Chris Freeland, February 3, 2021

♥

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«At the Internet Archive, this is how we digitize a book. We never destroy a book by cutting off its binding. Instead, we digitize it the hard way—one page at a time. We use the Scribe, a book scanner our engineers invented, along with the software that it runs. Our scanning centers are located in universities and libraries around the world, from Boston Public Library to the University of Toronto to the Wellcome Library and beyond. Eliza is one of our fastest and most accurate scanners. Next she will execute quality control checks and fix any errors. Then she ships the book back to our Physical Archive for long-term preservation. Now imagine this: scanners like Eliza have done this 2,000,000 times. That’s what it takes to provide you with a free digital library.» – Plus Internet Archive’s Modern Book Collection Now Tops 2 Million Volumes, by Chris Freeland, February 3, 2021

♥

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Hanging out talking about body positivity and body image with Hanna and Maja on the A4R podcast!

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Can I suggest 'flame is love' by the presidents of the united states of america for aro tunes Thursday? It might be a cover? But that's the version I heard and it's good

I hate to sing another song about loveThe flame is something that you should be aware ofI’m probably not the first one to claimLove is a dangerous flame

Added!

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Aro culture is being called the hulk, remembering that the hulk is green and wanting to continue being called the hulk

.

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Review - James Baldwin: A Biography by David Leeming

’

Was James Baldwin REALLY bisexual?   

I can’t count how many times I’ve seen author, civil rights activist, journalist, essayist, and all-around lion of literature James Baldwin called gay.   Gay gay gay.  Always gay.   You know, except for all the women he loved, slept with, or almost married that you never hear about *eyeroll*  

So I picked up his official biography, James Baldwin: A Biography, written by his longtime friend David Leeming to get to the truth.   And the truth is that James Baldwin was a VERY complicated man.  

There is no doubt his writing was genius.  He was smart, passionate, and had a way of writing that could inspire the reader.  He was bold and wrote about topics that no one else wanted to touch, even when they alienated the white publishing industry or respectable black leaders.  

But Baldwin also struggled with depression, was terrible with money, often drank way too much, and could throw melodramatic temper tantrums that oten alienated friends and fellow artists.  He attempted suicide several times early in his life and died of complications from esophageal cancer which he’d tried to burn out by drinking lots of whisky.  It says on the first page of his biography “He preferred to use the fact of his illegitimacy, as he did his minority status and his homosexuality, as supporting material for a mythic or representative persona”, which makes it hard to pin down the line between the myth and the man.  

So was James Baldwin gay or bisexual?

The answer I came to is yes, he was what we would now call bisexual.  Throughout the book it’s clear that Baldwin loved many men and women.  He slept with many men and women.   While most of his relationships were with men - both long term and short flings - he there were two women who so captured his heart over the years that towards the end of his life he regretted not marrying them.   

Moreover, Leeming makes very clear that all of Baldwin’s fictional characters were autobiographical to a degree, and several of those characters were bisexual.  Leeming even uses the word bisexual to describe them.   Most of his works deal with homosexuality but few do so in a way that excludes characters who identify as having homosexual feelings from also sleeping with women, much like the man himself.  

BUT

AND I WANT TO EMPHASIZE THIS

BUT

James Baldwin was not a man who enjoyed labels.  He did not have much interest in what we would call identity politics or the gay rights movement of his time.  He didn’t understand transgender people, and was frankly cruel and transphobic when a friend told him she would transition.  And he took a lot of care to keep his relationships out of the public eye (though some might say he stuffed his lovers in the closet).   He valued discretion so much that Leeming often obfuscates if some of the people in Baldwin’s life were lovers or just friends.   For example, he never comes out and says Baldwin has a sexual relationship with Lucien, ostensibly the love of his life.   In fact, he says that Lucien’s straightness and subsequent marriages to women were hindrances to Baldwin’s love of the man.  It isn’t until Baldwin painfully breaks up with Lucien after years of togetherness that the reader realizes they were TOGETHER TOGETHER.  

So anyone looking to Baldwin to be a perfect bisexual role model won’t find what they are looking for.   

Baldwin is a complex and sometimes contradictory man.  He was deeply invested in the American the civil rights struggle, though he lived most of his life in France and Turkey – away from the Harlem homeland where he set most of his novels.   He claimed to have no shame about his homosexuality, but he rarely took his male lovers to public events.   He was admittedly very lonely and longed for love, but he also preferred to hook up with emotionally volatile men much younger than himself, pursuing almost parental dynamics rather than look for a relationship of equals.  His writing sparkles with a depth and dynamism that challenged both white and black people to examine their inner selves, but he often failed to live his own advice.  

- Sarah

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run faster then bitch

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Saw this via @atribecalledqueer and it really resonated for me. I'm sure I'm not the only one who needs to hear this today! https://www.instagram.com/p/CPTXZesLWRh/?utm_medium=tumblr

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A Bi+ History Month reminder on Pan Visibility Day: Bi has always been an umbrella term, covering a vast range of labels and experiences. That INCLUDES not relating to labels; making up new ones; relating to more than one; not feeling "bi enough;" and feeling disconnected from "bi." To be clear: Pan and bi each have several subtly different definitions. They are both different and the same. Bi culture is about both/and, not either/or. Being attracted to multiple genders involves nuance. Contradiction. Inclusion. Pushing ourselves to understand others. Bi+ culture does NOT involve BEING SHITTY TO EACH OTHER JUST BECAUSE IT'S EASIER TO BLAME OPPRESSED PEOPLE IN YOUR OWN COMMUNITY THAN FIGHT TOGETHER AGAINST THE BIGOTS OPPRESSING BOTH OF YOU. Bi+ culture has always been open to whoever needs it, regardless of labels. As Heron Greensmith has said: "If we throw out pansexual people because of a myth about bisexuality, we are throwing out our own community." Or @verilybitchie: "We need to stick together. Because we need to fight for justice, and we can make justice happen as long as we stick together." Bi culture has always been multifarious: full of a great variety of different terms/experiences. Bi culture has always been unbounded: it defies categories and limits and rules. You don't have to like someone's label. You just have to treat them with respect.

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Me: “I want to bring up time travel. I know! I’ll find a good TARDIS gif.” Tumblr’s GIF search: “I GOT THIS”

(image is from @johannesviii​. the original, with image description, is right over here -- along with a lot of other great work!)

get in, loser user, we’re going shopping time traveling

come visit amazing historical bi+ spaces! guaranteed absolutely zero alien attacks! 

first, we land in Mexico City, 1947, where bisexual, polyamorous, socialist/Communist, disabled, Indigenous, brilliant artist Frida Kahlo is painting in her garden. Enjoy the sounds of brushstrokes, birdsong, the occasional organ-grinder, and eventually, some record albums playing in the background. 

Then we pop just a quarter-century ahead, to New York City, 1971. 

Five years before, bi activist Stephen Donaldson started the world’s first gay student organization: the Student Homophile League, at Columbia University. Last year, it became “Gay People at Columbia-Barnard.” And now it’s taken over this unused utility closet, in the basement of Furnald Hall, to create its very own lounge.

Kick back with a few of your fellow students to read, work, or just soak up the space. You’ll hear them turning pages, writing, flipping through books and papers, and at one point, eating a bag of chips. Later, someone comes in and turns on the college radio station, WCKR, which is playing some free jazz, followed by a live interview with Abbie Hoffman.

tumblr has ruined me

Hey, Justin, when’s b–

[image is a screenshot of nsync’s “it’s gonna be me” video, captioned “bi+ history month? it’s gonna be may”]

ok but seriously, why did I never know that the original video for this song has some serious bi lighting?? 

Anyway, there are now 15, count ‘em, FIFTEEN different resources for learning bi+ history, at https://www.bihistorymonth.org/where-to-learn-about-bisexual-history/. It’s an absolute feast of inspiration. 

[A square image in overlapping shades of the pink, purple, and blue of the bi flag, with a joyful Black woman centered on it, arms outstretched and face upraised. Text reads: “Prepare your posts. Spread the word. May 2021 is the second annual Bi+ History Month.”]

[Image transcription: Be part of Bi+ History! None of it is common knowledge. We’re all learning and sharing together. Check bihistorymonth.org for resources. Share your discoveries: A zine. A song. A person. An idea. A moment. A memory. If you like, add your own thoughts; make a video; create art. Tag it with #BiHistoryMonth. Share what others tag.]

Pass it on! 💙💜💖

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I miss when everyone on my dash listened to Welcome to Night Vale so there’s be a good chance that on any ole day someone would reblog a quote that would grab me by the throat and forcibly ascend me to a higher plane where I understood myself and the universe better and with more kindness but also a little spook

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Bisexual lesbian

by

Dajenya

I am not just bisexual

I am a lesbian

I am not just a lesbian

I am a bisexual lesbian

Some say this is a contradiction

and I’m just trying to confuse terms

Yes, these are confusing terms

but no more confusing

than trying to hide half the truth.

Some say I’m trying

to make lesbians less visible.

Not so.

I’m trying to make myself

more visible.

I am a lesbian.

I love women.

I love womankind.

I am woman-identified.

I study our hidden past.

I struggle in the present.

I work hard for our future.

I have had love for a woman

deeper than for any man.

I desire for a woman

to be my partner in life.

I love women.

I am a lesbian.

I am bisexual.

I was born this way.

I have loved girls and boys.

I have loved women and men.

I have sought love

where it offered itself.

I have paid the price

of both lifestyles.

I have been bashed

for loving women

and isolated

for loving men.

You speak of privilege–

let me tell you:

the isolation was worse

than the bashing.

Now I make choices.

Am I finding myself

or has society beaten me down?

Today I choose to choose a woman.

I won’t be shut out from my own community that I’ve worked with

ever since Stonewall.

I won’t be told that I don’t belong

in the only world I’ve ever belonged in.

I love women

and I am a lesbian.

and too

I am bisexual

in my history

in my capacities

in my fantasies

in my abilities

in my love for beautiful people

regardless of gender.

I have the right

to claim my lesbianism

And my bisexuality

even if it confuses you.

I am a lesbian.

I am bisexual.

I am a bisexual lesbian.

Deal with it.

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So last night was Green Mountain College’s performance of The Vagina Monologues.  Because GMC kids are totally badass though, they added other monologues.  My sister, who performed “My Vagina was my Village,” called me a month or so ago and asked if she could also read something I had written a year or two back about asexuality.  I said yes.  It’s something I wrote for my college health class, and it’s about the slow process of figuring out I’m ace.  This is what my sister read last night:

           Age thirteen.  I am sitting snuggled closely with my four best friends on one of their beds.  In that cool, dusty basement bedroom, we are reading passages of a romance novel aloud, passing the book to the next girl when the reader collapses into giggles.  I giggle, not understanding.  It’s funny, I suppose, though it seems kind of gross.  I suppose I will understand when I am older.

            Age fifteen.  I am sitting at my kitchen table, reading Dear Abby in the newspaper, a break from school before I begin my homework.  A girl my age has written in, saying she feels left behind by her friends, by their incomprehensible interest in boyfriends and sex.  I read ahead eagerly to Abby’s response – perhaps she has the answer to what’s different about me.  Abby says not to worry, that we are only “late bloomers.”  I am disappointed.  I suppose I will understand when I am older.

            Age seventeen.  I am sitting on the couch in my family room with my three closest friends.  It is the last summer of us; we all leave for college in the fall.  I am listening to all their stories about the boys they’ve dated, the boys they’ve fooled around with, the boys they’ve slept with.  I am the only virgin left in the group.  They reassure me, telling me my time will come.  I do not tell them that I never want it to come, because that feeling bothers me.  I am beginning to seriously worry now that something has gone terribly wrong with me; that I am somehow broken inside.  Suppose I do not understand when I am older?

            Age nineteen.  I am sitting on my bed in my college dorm room, left alone by my now ex-boyfriend.  Although the break-up itself went better than I expected, I am still deeply disturbed, worried for myself.  It was the idea of sex that killed this short-lived relationship.  My hatred of his touch had seeped into every interaction I had with him.  Something must be seriously wrong with me.  How can it be that something that comes so naturally to everyone else is so repulsive to me, only to me?  Suppose I still do not understand, though now I am older?

            Age nineteen.  I am sitting on the worn couch in the common room, on the phone with my friend who transferred, trying to explain to her why I had to break up with the boy she was so eager for me to date.  She asks if I have ever considered that I might be asexual.  I tell her, I’ve joked with that word for ages, it doesn’t mean anything.  She tells me, it does.  She tells me, Google it.  I hang up, and I do just that.  Suppose I may never have to understand when I am older?

            Age nineteen.  I am sitting on the common room couch still, hungrily reading the entire content of a website called AVEN: Asexuality Visibility and Education Network.  I suddenly suppose that I will never understand, no matter how old I get.

            Age nineteen.  I am sitting tall, resting a new confidence on a new identity.  Asexuality.  I suppose I understand myself, now that I am older.

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How To Sing (advice for trans guys)