….it’s 6:44am, i have to get ready for work, no time to recount things for Tumblr so just screencapping, but like. if the news of this ever makes it to the US enough for the US government who is responsible for Japan’s military defense to actually care, just know that i’m okay but just like what the fuck right now and i do not look forward to whatever shit response the Cheeto eventually puts out that just makes things even worse for people on my side of the world.
blaqueer: gaywrites: Yesterday in Philadelphia, LGBTQ activists and city officials gathered to kick off Pride month by raising a new official flag. It’s the traditional rainbow flag we all know, with two additions: a black stripe and a brown stripe. The flag is part of a local initiative to address a history of racism in the city’s LGBTQ neighborhood and community groups. It’s the first time an American city has embraced the flag with brown and black stripes. G Philly covered a leaked video last year that showed a White local club owner repeatedly describing Black patrons as n-words. Backlash to the video, combined with the collective’s ongoing activism, ultimately led to a city council bill that gives the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations the authority to penalize discriminatory businesses. Amber Hikes, a queer Black woman, now heads the Office of LGBT Affairs, and the office’s new commission includes mainly…
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[ … ] There isn’t any classroom, or pre-testosterone counseling session that prepared me for what it means to become America’s boogieman; a black man. What I was first acquainted with as a gender nonconforming dyke and what was further illuminated after engaging in hormone therapy and beginning to “pass” as a man of color, is that without organically derived psychological schemas, black masculinity is suspended in others’ projections, desires / fantasies, or agendas. [ … ] – Parker T Hurley (”Outside the XY: Queer, Black and Brown Masculinity”, a @bklynboihood anthology edited by Morgan Mann Willis) came across this gem (among others) in my reading today. the first highlighted / bolded part (emphasis mine) in particular touches upon something that i’ve been thinking about for years now, but haven’t gotten up the nerve to explicitly talk about for various reasons. the latter highlighted / bolded part is all too…
…i’d seen a post or two come across my dashboard related to what i’m about to go off about, but i never imagined that something like this would target me or my family. oh, how naive of me. anyway, i’m simultaneously pissed off, frustrated and worried and Twitter isn’t enough to contain these feels right now. on my way to work today i random get a message from mom saying “Have you been saying things that you shouldn’t say online? The government is monitoring you.” of course i’m like “whaaaat the fuck you talking about, mom?” my mom is no “conspiracy theorist”, but she did live through shit that you read about in textbooks and given the shit going on in America these days, there is immediate cause for alarm when those words come from her. apparently people claiming to be a ““research group”” (who won’t / haven’t told her an actual…
ifshehadwings: queerascat: in case you missed it: Clarkisha Kent (@IWriteAllDay_) sparked an important conversation on Twitter about how in the aftermath of the 2016 US presidential election, even people who claim to support those of us who are most in danger from a Trump / Pence presidency have been guilty of gaslighting (and scapegoating) us, but we must (and will) persevere regardless. see also: “Donald Trump Is Gaslighting America & I Will Never Be OK With It” ※ image description / transcript below. Keep reading Guys this is a good thread with important things to say but I’ve really got to speak up for my girl Elizabeth Warren. People keep accusing her of this, I assume based on watching or hearing about her speech to the AFLCIO following the election. Here’s the thing though. I actually watched the whole speech and every word of it past the first few minutes is…
…today America decided for me that i can’t “come home” for at least another 4 years. i might not have anyway, but at least the option was there. there’s a lot of talk of people wanting to leave America. i get that. i said the same thing living in America when Bush was elected. if only i’d known that leaving America doesn’t actually mean escaping it. not like i’d thought, anyway. next year will be my 10th year of living abroad. i never imagined i’d ever live abroad at all let alone for as long as i have, but the longer i do the harder it becomes to envision a life back in America again. even so, 4 more years on top of the time i’ve already spent abroad puts me that much closer to having spent half of my life abroad… but perhaps that doesn’t even matter, because after today…
anonymous said: Is it possible to transition to non binary in California? I want to get surgery to at the least remove/flatten my chest… But I’m worried insurance will not cover it. i don’t know a whole lot about California, but i do know that California is one of the few states that prohibits health insurance from denying someone coverage based on their trans status. i also know that Obamacare and Medi-Cal, among many other insurance plans, cover various forms of medical transition. honestly, from what i hear, you’re in one of the best states in America when it comes to trans healthcare, so i wouldn’t be too worried. try Googling your city’s name (or the name of a major city near you) and “transgender” or “transgender healthcare” to find resources that may help you. sadly, searching for trans resources will get you a lot further than looking for non-binary specific resources,…
this is post is the blog version of a vlog that i recently posted to my YouTube channel. the content is essentially the same, but feel free to check out both. as you can probably tell by the title, this is going to be a rant. that said, i hope that something can be learned from it. why have i titled this “Dear White People”? even if white people aren’t solely guilty of what i’m about to talk about, i’m calling out white people specifically because i see white people of various countries doing this far more than anyone else. if you yourself are white and you consider yourself to be an ally to people of color, this post was written specifically for you.
…in one of my classes today we were discussing colors and food. we were in the middle of discussing food that’s yellow and someone’d said banana, so i wrote it on the board under yellow. all of the kids were talking at once shouting colors and foods, but then one kid talks louder to try to get my attention. kid: ne ne! i heard foreigners call Japanese people “yellow”! me: *quickly turns to kid wide-eyed* …what?? kid: yeah, like you know how there’s black people, they call Japanese people “yellow monkeys”. me: *staring at this kid totally wide-eyed and slack-jawed in utter disbelief* *in the seconds of silence while my mind’s thinking a million different things, a few other kids stop talking and stare at me having noted my odd reaction* me: *5 secs that feel like a minute later* that’s hella offensive, where did you hear– never mind, what’s…
