LGBTQ+
- 5/20: Phone Zap for Trans Woman in Solitary Confinement at Wabash Valley CF!www.idocwatch.org 5/20: Phone Zap for Trans Woman in Solitary Confinement at Wabash Valley CF! — IDOC Watch
IDOC Watch comrade Nike L. Haynie #295060, a transwoman incarcerated in a men’s prison, has been placed in solitary confinement, 23 and 1 isolation, for reporting an assault at Wabash Valley CF to IDOC Watch. We are calling on our allies and devoted and concerned comrades to call Wabash Valley and
- US warns of possible Pride Month attacks worldwidewww.bbc.com US warns of possible Pride Month attacks worldwide
The warning comes one week after a similar alert from the FBI and Department of Homeland Security.
- Sign European Citizens' Initiative to ban "conversion" practices in the EU
If you're a registered citizen of the EU country make sure to sign this initiative!
> > > We call on the European Commission to propose a binding legal ban on conversion practices targeting LGBTQ+ citizens in the European Union: > >
> > > Conversion Practices are interventions aimed at changing, repressing or suppressing the sexual orientation, gender identity and/or gender expression of LGBTQ+ persons. > >
> > > Such practices, due to their discriminatory, degrading, harmful and fraudulent nature have been qualified as torture by the United Nations, and are currently being banned in a growing number of States. > >
- Trump-linked dark-money group spent $90m on racist and transphobic ads in 2022, records showwww.theguardian.com Trump-linked dark-money group spent $90m on racist and transphobic ads in 2022, records show
Revealed: Citizens for Sanity was one of top political spenders last election cycle and is back for 2024 with more extreme messaging
> Revealed: Citizens for Sanity was one of top political spenders last election cycle and is back for 2024 with more extreme messaging
- 2024 Rainbow Map
> ILGA-Europe’s Rainbow Map annually ranks 49 European countries on a scale between 0% (gross violations of human rights, discrimination) and 100% (respect of human rights, full equality) on the basis of laws and policies that have a direct impact on LGBTI people’s human rights.
- 🏳️⚧️ trans girl in southeast Louisiana looking to make friends
Hi, I'm Emma (she/her).
So, long story short:
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I am lonely
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I wanna befriend some local LGBTQ+ people here in southeast Louisiana
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I can't send/receive direct messages to/from Lemmy users with this Mbin account, but I have a Lemmy account I can use if necessary
About me:
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I'm a 90s kid
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I'm a trans girl
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I began transition, including HRT, January of 2023
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I suffer from OCD
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I'm a Linux nerd, kinda
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I use PureOS on my Librem 5
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I use QubesOS on my Librem 14
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I use pfSense on my firewall/router
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I'd like to think that I'm somewhat good at writing
I'd love to meet some LGBTQ+ people, but I don't know how. The only support group I've found is exclusively online via Zoom, and only Facebook users are allowed. As a privacy and security obsessed person, I'm totally excluded, and I just feel so trapped right now. I want to meet people offline, and I just don't know how.
And I'm really sad right now thinking about how much I love the friends I've made online in the past few months and how I feel so isolated from them.
It hurts to post this, but I feel that I must. I don't expect to find anyone, but I have to try.
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- LGBTQ+ Pride Month events could be targets of foreign terrorists, security officials warnwww.advocate.com LGBTQ+ Pride Month events could be targets of foreign terrorists, security officials warn
Federal law enforcement officials say that organizations like ISIS may be considering attacks on June’s Pride events.
- I'm scared I won't find a job or/and housing anymore.
I used to perform masculinity more but it was psychologically killing me to a point it was affecting me physically. Even then people would pick up on my speech pattern and body language, notice I am queer and act upon it. At best I'd get mockery, but I had people trying to physically harm me or directly leading to me losing housing if I didn't want the harm to escalate.
I fear now that I no longer even perform masculinity I won't find a job and/or housing. The norms for people perceived as male when it comes to clothing are extremely strict and I adhere to none. My hair's long, I wear leggings and so on. I cannot even afford to buy the clothes to appease people who expect me to perform, but I don't think I can do it again. But I've no family and I've no clue what to do.
I am really down about it because I am at the brink of going jobless and homeless.
I will deeply appreciate no nosiness, no rude comments and generally taking into account that I'm not ready to take blows when opening up.
I am open to any recommendations regarding easy to get jobs where your looks don't matter, but I am not fully able bodied so I probably won't be able to perform them and from my own research jobs where your looks don't matter simply provide an extremely uncomfortable uniform, so the looks do matter after all. :(
- 2024 Statement from Marius Mason – June 11th
From Wikipedia:
> Marius Mason (born Marie Mason on January 26, 1962) is an American anarchist who in 2009 was sentenced to 22 years in prison after admitting 13 counts of arson and property damage amounting to US$4 million. Mason, a member of the Earth Liberation Front, was prosecuted for a 1999 attack on a building at Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, that caused more than US$1 million in damage, undertaken as a protest against research into genetically modified crops. A further US$3 million in damage included attacks on homes under construction, and on boats owned by a mink farmer. > > Supporters claim that this case represents a form of political persecution, as part of the Green Scare phenomenon, when an overlong sentence is given to an individual who committed crimes against property. > > Around July 2014, Marius came out as a transgender man.
- Target will only sell Pride Month collection in some stores after backlash in 2023abcnews.go.com Target will only sell Pride Month collection in some stores after backlash in 2023
Target has announced that it will only sell their Pride Month collection in select stores after suffering a backlash and boycott last year during the 2023 Pride season.
- Milton Diamond, Sexologist and Advocate for Intersex Babies, Dies at 90 [CW: Descriptions of medical abuse]www.nytimes.com Milton Diamond, Sexologist and Advocate for Intersex Babies, Dies at 90
He pushed back against doctors who recommended surgery on infants born with ambiguous genitalia, arguing for acceptance of diversity.
- Young LGBTQ+ People's Mental Health Is Suffering, But They Can't Access Helpwww.teenvogue.com Young LGBTQ+ People's Mental Health Is Suffering, But They Can't Access Help
A new report shows that half of LGBTQ youth who want mental health help can't get it.
- Utah Launches "Snitch Line" To Report Trans People In Bathrooms; Memes Flood Inwww.erininthemorning.com Utah Launches "Snitch Line" To Report Trans People In Bathrooms; Memes Flood In
The move is the latest in a series of states that have tried to launch ways to report transgender issues to authorities; such attempts in other states have not been successful.
- Fascists want to turn every citizen into an informanthachyderm.io Thomas 🔭✨ (@thomasfuchs@hachyderm.io)
(Copied from https://bsky.app/profile/nobodysholm.bsky.social/post/3krk4pbvuas25) So Utah, having passed a transphobic bathroom bill, has launched an online form for people to snitch on folks they think are in the "wrong" bathroom or locker room. Be a real shame if people on the Internet flooded ...
- Narcissus wasn’t an abuser, he was queermedium.com Narcissus wasn’t an abuser, he was queer
Alright, let’s get something out of the way: the ancient Greeks were aphobic. Their society had no room for someone who could not…
- Dr. Cass Backpedals From Review: HRT, Blockers Should Be Made Availablewww.erininthemorning.com Dr. Cass Backpedals From Review: HRT, Blockers Should Be Made Available
Dr. Cass's latest statements are likely to cast more doubt on the validity of the study, which has come under fire for disregarding substantial evidence on trans care.
- Texas Gov. Abbott: "We Want To End" Trans And Gender Nonconforming Teacherswww.erininthemorning.com Gov. Abbott: "We Want To End" Trans And Gender Nonconforming Teachers
Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced in a keynote speech to the Young Conservatives of Texas an intention to "end" trans and GNC teachers being able to teach.
- Feminine men role models
Hey all!
I (29/m) am exploring a more feminine appearance, but I find it hard to see the possibilities to combine masculinity and femininity. Having role models would really help with this. I'm thinking of e.g. Nils Kuiper Verberne. My personal style is more punk/grunge inspired. Does anyone know of people?
- Kansas governor passes law requiring ID to view acts of 'homosexuality' online, vetoes anti-LGBTQ+ billwww.advocate.com Kansas governor passes law requiring ID to view acts of 'homosexuality' online, vetoes anti-LGBTQ+ bill
Kansas will require state-issued ID to view "acts of homosexuality" beginning July 1, which is considered "harmful to minors" under state law.
> The governor of Kansas vetoed an anti-LGBTQ+ bill while simultaneously letting a law pass requiring ID to view "acts of homosexuality."
> Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly issued vetoes Friday against a ban on gender-affirming care for minors as well as two anti-abortion measures. She also let pass without her signature a law requiring age-verification to view content "harmful to minors."
> Under Kansas criminal law, material "harmful to minors" includes nudity and "sexual content," which is defined in part as "acts of masturbation, homosexuality, or sexual intercourse."
> The law, which will go into effect on July 1, requires users to share their government-issued identification in order to view adult content. Websites can be fined up to $10,000 for each instance a minor accesses their content, and parents are allowed to sue for damages of at least $50,000.
> This could theoretically apply to family-friendly media with queer characters, LGBTQ+ charities and community resources, or even medical websites that include information on gender and sexuality. Such websites could soon be forced to block access to young users — cutting off their access to vital resources and information — or face hefty fines.
> Kelly did not comment on the age-verification bill, but gave justification for each of her vetoes. She said that a ban on gender-affirming care for minors “tramples parental rights” and targets “a small group.” She vetoed a similar bill last year, and the legislature did not have the votes to override it.
> “If the Legislature paid this much attention to the other 99.8% of students, we’d have the best schools on earth,” she wrote.
> Lawmakers were able to override Kelly's veto on an anti-transgender school sports bill last year. Her veto of a bill ending the state’s legal recognition of changes in gender identity was also overridden, meaning that transgender people can no longer change their sex on their driver’s licenses or birth certificates in the state.
> The minority leader of the Kansas Senate, Democrat Dinah Sykes of Topeka, told The Advocate earlier this month that she's concerned Republicans will have the votes to override Kelly's vetoes this time around. She said that the laws are "just filled with hate and really just an ignorance toward what this community goes through."
> “It makes these children feel so different and feel like outcasts, and that’s just so cruel," Sykes said. “I worry that these kids and their parents won’t feel safe in Kansas and that they will move to other states, and it's a loss for our state. Unfortunately, we're going to lose some wonderful Kansans because of this bill.”
- Conservative Ad Makes Case for Transgender Rightswww.metroweekly.com Conservative Ad Makes Case for Transgender Rights
GRACE's sixty-second commercial features a South Carolina military vet who talks about supporting his transgender son.
This is the sort of messaging I would love to see more of. We aren't going to convince actual Nazis to change their minds but this is the sort of thing that should remind old-school Republicans that anti-trans legislation is anti-freedom legislation.
https://www.grace-now.org/
- [CW: Transphobic legislation] Take steps to protect yourself and mask your online identitywww.erininthemorning.com Tennessee Senate Passes Bill Making "Recruiting" For Trans Youth Care A Felony
The bill could have far ranging impacts in Tennessee and outside of the state, and could be broadly used to target health care professionals across state lines.
> Tennessee has recently passed a bill, effective July 1st 2024, declaring it a class-C felony to "recruit, harbor, or transport an unemancipated minor within this state" for transgender healthcare procedures, carrying a sentence of 3-15 years in prison. This applies over state lines and states that do not have anti-extradition laws relating to trans rights can extradite you to Tennessee.
> Notably: the bill is vague. This means: telling stories of your own transition, describing your healthcare experiences to an open group chat, describing your trans experiences on a public website, creating trans health guides online, describing how you have gotten DIY HRT, describing anything to do with trans healthcare, even as a cis person, can result in a class-C felony conviction.
> Given that being arrested in any capacity for transgender people can be an incredibly dangerous experience (CW: SV), I strongly suggest you begin caring about opsec, stop referring to where you live, use VPNs, stop using apps like Discord, and stop using social media sites that track your IP or user agent fingerprint while unprotected. Remember that for a bill like this to be challenged in court, you have to be arrested first.
Post body originally posted by kristina@hexbear.net.
- Anti-trans Missouri A.G. can now access trans people’s medical recordsnewrepublic.com Anti-Trans Missouri A.G. Can Now Access Trans People’s Medical Records
A judge ordered Planned Parenthood to hand records of transgender care over to Andrew Bailey.
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/14278091
> A judge ordered Planned Parenthood to hand records of transgender care over to Andrew Bailey. > > A St. Louis judge has ruled that Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey is entitled to Planned Parenthood’s transgender care records, ordering the nonprofit to turn over some of its most sensitive files to the man who has built his unelected political career on restricting health care access for trans people. > > In his Thursday decision, Circuit Judge Michael Stelzer wrote that Bailey can collect documents under Missouri’s consumer protection statute that aren’t protected under federal mandate, namely the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, better known as HIPAA. > > “It is clear from the statute that the Defendant has the broad investigative powers when the consumer is in possible need of protection and there is no dispute in this matter,” wrote Stelzer. “Therefore, the Defendant is entitled to some of the requested documents within his [Civil Investigative Demand].” > > Bailey, who last year attempted to implement a ban on gender-affirming care for people of all ages, was quick to celebrate the decision, calling it a “big day” for the state.
- World’s oldest living conjoined twins die in Pennsylvania, aged 62www.theguardian.com World’s oldest living conjoined twins die in Pennsylvania, aged 62
Lori and George Schappell were joined at the skull with separate bodies and lived on their own since the age of 24
Lori and George Schappell were joined at the skull with separate bodies and lived on their own since the age of 24
The world’s oldest living conjoined twins have died at the age of 62 in their native Pennsylvania.
Lori and George Schappell died on 7 April at the hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, according to an obituary. A cause of death was not disclosed.
The Schappell twins were born on 18 September 1961 in Reading, in southern Pennsylvania. They were joined at the skull with separate bodies, sharing 30% of their brain and essential blood vessels.
George had spina bifida and used a mobility device. Lori pushed and steered George’s wheeled stool so the two could move around.
The twins represented the rarest form of conjoined twinning, which affects only 2% to 6% of conjoined twins, NBC Today reported.
George transitioned in 2007, with the Schappells becoming the first same-sex conjoined twins to identify as different genders, Guinness World Records reported.
George discussed his decision to come out with the Sun newspaper in 2011 when the siblings visited London to celebrate their 50th birthday and vowed to “continue living life to the full”.
He said: “I have known from a very young age that I should have been a boy.”
He added: “It was so tough, but I was getting older and I simply didn’t want to live a lie. I knew I had to live my life the way I wanted.”
The Schappells graduated from the Hiram G Andrews Center, a technical institute in Elim, Pennsylvania. They both worked for Reading hospital for a number of years.
The Schappells had distinct hobbies and interests.
George performed as a country music singer, traveling to several countries including Germany and Japan, according to Guinness World Records. Meanwhile, Lori was a lauded tenpin bowler.
The siblings lived on their own since the age of 24. They previously lived in an institution for people with intellectual impairments, despite not being mentally disabled, following a court order, New York Magazine reported.
Later, the two shared a two-bedroom apartment. Each sibling had their own room, alternating which room they would sleep in each night.
The Schappells said that, despite being conjoined, they were able to have privacy in the shared apartment.
“Just because we cannot get up and walk away from each other, doesn’t mean we cannot have solitude from other people or ourselves,” Lori said in a 1997 documentary.
For example, when George needed to rehearse his country music, the pair would go to his room, where Lori would remain quiet and allow George to practice.
While some conjoined twins have opted to be separated via surgery, such procedures weren’t available when the Schappells were born.
The twins also rejected the idea of separation.
“Would we be separated? Absolutely not,” George said in a 1997 documentary. “My theory is: why fix what is not broken?”
“I don’t believe in separation,” Lori said to the Los Angeles Times in a 2002 interview.
- Would you like to help a girl in need?
I am not affiliated with this person. I have spoken to her in passing and she is a great gal in a tough spot.
If I could donate I would, but I am hoping maybe someone more well off might be able to help. I don't think she's even expecting to get any donations, but maybe a surprise would turn things around for her.
https://gofund.me/c2152e1d
Thank you all for your consideration.
EDIT: I think I should clarify as well, she did not even share this gofundme with me, nor her Twitter, but I noticed a Twitter link on her profile, and within in I found a post linking the gofundme. It doesn't seem like she has tried to push anyone to give her money, it seems to me like a quiet call for help, especially since the post didn't have any activity so far. I only spoke to her throughout one night, and she did not ask me for anything but conversation the whole time. I do believe anyone who met her would agree she is someone who could really benefit.
- ‘My cast and crew’s safety kept me up at night’: why a queer Ghanaian film may never be screenedwww.theguardian.com ‘My cast and crew’s safety kept me up at night’: why a queer Ghanaian film may never be screened
Joewackle J Kusi was finishing his film Nyame Mma when an anti-LGBTQ+ bill was passed, bringing the threat of prosecution for those ‘promoting’ queer stories
Joewackle J Kusi was finishing his film Nyame Mma when an anti-LGBTQ+ bill was passed, bringing the threat of prosecution for those ‘promoting’ queer stories
Arare Ghanian film featuring a queer main character could not have been released at a worse time for its director and cast. Joewackle J Kusi was making finishing touches to his short film, Nyame Mma (Children of God), and arranging screenings in the capital, Accra, when a piece of legislation passed through Ghana’s parliament, targeting LGBTQ+ content.
According to the bill approved in late February, those involved in the “wilful promotion, sponsorship or support of LGBTQ+ activities” will face jail sentences of up to five years. The legislation, awaiting presidential endorsement before it becomes law, also stipulates a prison sentence of between six months and three years for those found guilty of identifying as LGBTQ+.
Kusi says the bill’s passing forced him to cut the schedule short, to just one private screening for prominent art and film figures. It was shown on 6 March, Ghana’s independence day, at a venue in Accra, but Kusi has no idea if it will ever reach a wider audience.
“I was nervous, I was anxious because of the bill,” Kusi says. “The safety of my cast and crew kept me up at night.
“We considered that it was safer to just have one night. We didn’t go big because it didn’t feel safe to screen a film with a queer character in Ghana around the time this bill was passed.”
Nyame Mma tells the story of Kwamena (played by Kobina Amissah-Sam), who moves away from home to live in Bolgatanga, a town in northern Ghana, because of family friction over his sexuality. After the sudden death of his father, the 30-year-old queer man returns home to Sekondi, in the country’s south-west.
There, he meets his estranged lover, Maroof (played by Papa Osei A Adjei), who, under intense societal pressures, is about to marry a woman. Kwamena is left grieving not just for his father, but also the loss of Maroof.
In a touch of magical realism, Kwamena, in a dream sequence, meets his father in the afterlife. The film also alludes to Sekondi’s annual masquerade – the Ankos festival – with spirits featuring in surreal episodes.
“Some of the stories we are going to tell are going to be heavily impacted by the bill. It’s stifling to creativity,” Kusi says.
“When this film goes out there at the right time I could spend four to five years in prison because I made a film that acknowledges and highlights marginalised and queer stories.”
The bill, he says, is in contrast with Ghana positioning itself as a tourist destination, particularly after its 2019 Year of Return initiative, designed to encourage the diaspora to come back to the country.
Based in Accra, Kusi, 31, studied broadcast journalism and mass communications at the Ghana Institute of Journalism. He worked as a writer and producer at a local television network before losing his job during the pandemic which led him to focus on film-making.
One of his first major productions was a well-received audio drama called Goodbye, Gold Coast, telling the love story of a Ghanian schoolteacher and her European lover on the eve of Ghana’s independence in 1957..
Finding actors willing to play queer characters was a major challenge during Nyame Mma’s production. Kusi choose straight actors because “if I had to cast queer actors then they would have to go in hiding”.
“People read the script and said beautiful things about it but said they can’t act the role,” he says.
“Growing up, every single time I have seen a queer representation in a Ghanian film it’s been in negative light. You’ll see them at the end of the film giving their life to Christ, or they’re probably on the bed dying from some STDs. I felt that shouldn’t be the only real representation, so I tried to create positive characters.”
The existing colonial-era gay sex law in Ghana, which carries a prison sentence of three years, has recently led to arrests. In 2021, a group of 16 women and five men were arrested in southeastern Ghana after attending a meeting for LGBTQ+ advocates, in a case that attracted global attention – however a few months later they were acquitted.
“The [new] bill is targeting and criminalising all aspects of nonconformity,” Kusi says.
Human rights groups have been urging the president, Nana Akufo-Addo, not to sign the bill into law. One, Outright International, says it would “lead to a surge in violence and human rights violations against LGBTQ persons in Ghana”, including “an increased risk of mob attacks, physical and sexual violence, arbitrary arrests, blackmail, online harassment, forced evictions, homelessness, and employment discrimination”.
But Kusi points out it is election year in Ghana, and the season for populist policies.
“The only thing that unites Ghanians, no matter what political party, or religion, is homophobia,” Kusi says.
“Homophobia makes it really hard for people to think clearly. It obstructs your reasoning.”
- Cass report: What gender treatments are currently available to children?news.sky.com Cass report: What gender treatments are currently available to children?
Recent changes have seen the closure of the Tavistock clinic and an end to the prescription of puberty blockers for youngsters.
- Right-wingers pledge to boycott The North Face because it supports LGBTQ+ youthwww.lgbtqnation.com Right-wingers pledge to boycott The North Face because it supports LGBTQ+ youth
The outdoor apparel company sponsors an LGBTQ+ summer camp. Conservatives are outraged kids have fun there.
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/14104598
- What are the most important qualities you'd want in a counselor? How could counseling best serve you?
Hey everyone.
I am working on my masters in clinical mental health counseling, and I want to be multiculturally sensitive, including regarding the LGBTQ+ community.
I am a straight, cisgender male, and I have only had a handful of gay and trans friends/acquaintances. Multicultural awareness is certainly part of my education, but I don't believe it is close to enough. I want to hear from communities themselves, not just textbooks.
If you feel comfortable, I would really appreciate your feedback to make me a more effective counselor working with people in your demographic.
How can I best serve you?
What have you wished a past counselor could have understood?
What really pissed you off in a therapy session?
What is the most important thing for me to try to understand?
I hope this is received well. I genuinely want to be able to effectively serve all people.
- [Book review] Sorry, Bro, by Taleen Voskuni
publication croisée depuis : https://jlai.lu/post/5591085
> # Synopsis > > When Nar’s non-Armenian boyfriend gets down on one knee and proposes to her in front of a room full of drunk San Francisco tech boys, she realizes it’s time to find someone who shares her idea of romance. > Enter her mother: armed with plenty of mom-guilt and a spreadsheet of Facebook-stalked Armenian men, she convinces Nar to attend Explore Armenia, a month-long series of events in the city. But it’s not the mom-approved playboy doctor or wealthy engineer who catches her eye—it’s Erebuni, a woman as equally immersed in the witchy arts as she is in preserving Armenian identity. Suddenly, with Erebuni as her wingwoman, the events feel like far less of a chore, and much more of an adventure. Who knew cooking up kuftes together could be so . . . sexy? > Erebuni helps Nar see the beauty of their shared culture and makes her feel understood in a way she never has before. But there’s one teeny problem: Nar’s not exactly out as bisexual. The clock is ticking on Nar’s double life—the closing event banquet is coming up, and her entire extended family will be there, along with Erebuni. Her worlds will inevitably collide, but Nar is determined to be brave, determined to claim her happiness: proudly Armenian, proudly bisexual, and proudly herself for the first time in her life. > > # My review > > Bisexual romance!! > > Bisexual romance is special. There’s your good old straight romance, also known as romance with no adjective in front of it. There’s your gay and lesbian romance, sometimes including a painful coming out, with recent examples including Rana Joon and the One and Only Now and The lesbiana’s guide to Catholic school. But bisexual romance? How do you make a character bisexual in the first place if they’re only going to have one romance, huh? > > Easy − remind us that they’re bisexual. Remind us that they’re looking to date and don’t really care about the identity of who they’re dating. Make them break up with someone and make up with someone of another gender. Tell us. It’s fine, you know − showing bisexuality can be hard. Telling us « hey by the way, I’m dating you but I also like guys! » is great. And very well done in this novel, too − although there are painful outing and coming out stories because, well, it’s 2024 and queer novels still don’t allow their characters to just be happy. > > And speaking of painful coming out stories: this one is based on identity. Like in the two books I quoted above, our narrator, Nar, is a second-generation American. Her Armenian identity is incredibly important in the novel: after breaking up with her very very white boyfriend, Nar allows her mother and auntie to rope her into Armenian-Armenian dating life and commits to trying to find the perfect boyfriend (or girlfriend, she adds silently) at one of the cultural events. Except, of course, 90% of the cultural events are about the genocide, which doesn’t make for great date material. > > Nar’s first thought of « I’m so tired of everything being about the genocide » gets revisited several times throughout the novel, with our girl getting closer to her own culture and understanding that history doesn’t have to only be about grief. I love the way she reconciles with her heritage and starts feeling like a real part of « the community», and every single one of the sometimes complicated and painful steps that lead to that. > > Also, the book is actually really good − I’m not just impressed with the theme, the romance was really nice and the characters were lovable or hateable or, in some cases, very much both.
- New government spending bill bans U.S. embassies from flying Pride flagwww.cbsnews.com New government spending bill bans U.S. embassies from flying Pride flag
The prohibition was one of many side issues included in the mammoth $1.2 trillion package to fund the government through September.
> The prohibition was one of many side issues included in the mammoth $1.2 trillion package to fund the government through September.
- No charges to be filed in school fight involving Nex Benedict: DAabcnews.go.com No charges to be filed in school fight involving Nex Benedict: DA
No charges will be filed in connection with a fight that Oklahoma teen Nex Benedict was involved in a day before they died, the Tulsa County district attorney said.
- Becoming Monstrous: Yurikuma Arashi and transmisogyny in the school systemwww.animefeminist.com Becoming Monstrous: Yurikuma Arashi and transmisogyny in the school system - Anime Feminist
Everything in Yurikuma Arashi is more symbol than literal representation, and I have often mulled over its meaning as I’ve navigated entering the teaching profession as a nonbinary Chinese person. Like the bears, I’ve often asked myself: what do I sacrifice to be allowed to exist within the school?
- Over 20 Anti-LGBTQ+ Bills Die In West Virginia, As Activists Celebrate Major Victorieswww.erininthemorning.com Over 20 Anti-LGBTQ+ Bills Die In West Virginia, As Activists Celebrate Major Victories
West Virginia saw dozens of anti-trans bills proposed in 2024, including a bill to close an exception allow some trans youth to obtain care. Now, virtually all of those bills are dead.
- Justice for Nex!
YouTube Video
Click to view this content.
Also the declaration that they where not murdered is a bit premature considering the whole autopsy report hasn't been made public & the medical examiner definitely has an agenda.
- Children to stop getting puberty blockers at gender identity clinics, says NHS Englandwww.theguardian.com Children to stop getting puberty blockers at gender identity clinics, says NHS England
Confirmation comes after public consultation and decision to close Gender Identity Development Service in London
Confirmation comes after public consultation and decision to close Gender Identity Development Service in London
Children who have gender dysphoria will no longer be given puberty blockers, NHS England has said, ahead of a radical change in how it cares for them.
There is not enough evidence about either how safe they are to take or whether they are clinically effective to justify prescribing them to children and young people who are transitioning, it added.
The government welcomed NHS England’s “landmark decision”, which it said was “in the best interests of children”.
NHS England made the announcement in response to the results of a public consultation on the ban, which it first proposed last June, and a review of available evidence by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice).
A spokesperson said: “NHS England has carefully considered the evidence review conducted by NICE and further published evidence available to date.
“We have concluded that there is not enough evidence to support the safety or clinical effectiveness of puberty suppressing hormones to make the treatment routinely available at this time.”
Puberty blockers arrest the physical changes in a child’s body that puberty brings, such as the development of breasts or facial hair. The NHS’s decision means that the new regional services caring for under-18s with gender dysphoria, which open next month, will not use them as part of the treatment.
From now on, children and young people will only be able to get them if they are taking part in a clinical trial. At least one such trial is due to start later this year, but no details, such as who will be eligible to join it, have been published.
The NHS’s decision reaffirms the position it adopted last year on puberty blockers after Dr Hilary Cass, who is leading an independent review into gender identity services for under-18s, issued interim advice warning against routine prescription of the drugs.
In late 2020 NHS England asked Cass, an ex-president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, to look into gender identity services. At the time they were provided for the whole of England solely by the NHS’s Tavistock and Portman mental health trust in London. Its treatment of under-18s with gender dysphoria, including its use of puberty blockers, had attracted criticism.
Fewer than 100 children and young people are taking puberty blockers.
The trust’s gender identity development service is closing at the end of this month. The first two new centres will open in April at two specialist children’s hospitals: Great Ormond Street in London and Alder Hey children’s hospital in Liverpool. NHS England hopes to ultimately create seven or eight centres.
However, the services they provide will be what NHS sources say will be “fundamentally different from the current service, in line with the Cass recommendations”.
Maria Caulfield, the health minister, said: “We welcome this landmark decision by the NHS to end the routine prescription of puberty blockers and this guidance which recognises that care must be based on evidence, expert clinical opinion and in the best interests of the child.
“The NHS must ensure its Gender Identity Services protect, support and act in the best interests of children and we will continue to work with NHS England to protect children in this area.”
Stonewall voiced its concern about the new policy. “All trans young people deserve access to high quality, timely healthcare”, a spokesperson for the LGBTQ+ rights charity said.
“For some, an important part of this care comes in the form of puberty blockers, a reversible treatment that delays the onset of puberty, prescribed by expert endocrinologists, giving the young person extra time to evaluate their next steps. We are concerned that NHS England will be putting new prescriptions on hold until a research protocol is up and running at the end of 2024.”
Sex Matters, which campaigns on how sex is used in law and other environments, praised NHS England for what it said was a return to evidence-based policymaking in relation to gender identity services.
“This a momentous development in the course correction of NHS England’s approach to treating childhood gender distress,” said Maya Forstater, its executive director.
“The significance of NHS England’s statement that there is not enough evidence to support the safety or clinical effectiveness of puberty blockers cannot be overstated, given the success that activist lobby groups have had in portraying them as a harmless and reversible treatment.”
- Trans youth will no longer be prescribed puberty blockers, NHS England sayswww.thepinknews.com Trans youth will no longer be prescribed puberty blockers, NHS England says
Trans youth will no longer be prescribed puberty blockers at NHS England gender identity clinics in a “blow” to gender-affirming healthcare.
- Groundbreaking Study Shows Extremely Low Detransition Rates With Innovative Methodologywww.erininthemorning.com Groundbreaking Study Shows Extremely Low Detransition Rates With Innovative Methodology
A groundbreaking study out of Perth Children's Hospital using innovative methodology determined only 1% of patients receiving GAC detransitioned/desisted, that does not suffer from loss to follow up.
- Fact Checked: New Problematic "Finnish Study" Actually Shows Trans Care Saves Liveswww.erininthemorning.com Fact Checked: New Problematic "Finnish Study" Actually Shows Trans Care Saves Lives
A new study from Dr. Kaltiala in Finland is being used to claim that trans care is not lifesaving. Experts say this is false, and the study itself shows trans care likely saves lives.
- created a community for harmreduction purposes
Im really sorry for spamming this wonderful community, Please don’t be mad at me for wasting space in your thread 🥺
I just wanted to make people aware that I created a Harmreduction community on this instance(!harmreduction@lemmy.blahaj.zone) because I really think its something we need here, many queer people are turning to drugs, personally, I know more friends who are on “hard drugs” than are not, so I wanted to make a space on this instance for people to safely talk about harmreduction, reddit can be quite toxic and I feel the atmosphere here might be alot better and the people giving advice might be alot more informed already.
If you feel you can advice people, need advice or just occasionally enduldge, please join!
Also I am always there for anybody who needs advice, I am an intravenous polydrug user, amateur chemist, know a decent bit about injecting hormones right and even though I have puppy eyes, I don’t bite :)
Lots of love!, Xea