LULZ someone slept in on the day they covered "gender is a construct" →

What the helling fucking fuck is this, really.

I meant to post the final draft of that letter for my Queer(y)ing Religion class, so here it is:

I was raised Jewish by my mother, who enrolled me in Hebrew School at a conservative synagogue when I was six. For her, it’s about culture and heritage, and she takes the Jewish faith very seriously, though she makes it clear that she doesn’t believe in an actual God. My father doesn’t make religion any of his business. He used to tell me it was “the opiate of the masses,” but he doesn’t have a problem with the idea – it’s just not for him. I never really fit in at synagogue and thought of religion as a ritualistic, exclusive club, and I thought theistic beliefs equaled ignorance and intolerance. By the time I was in middle school, I’d quit going to Hebrew School and was a serious atheist, and my parents supported this. I became a Christian on my own (and by accident) when I was about sixteen, which made them pretty angry. I now identify as a non-denominational progressive Christian.

As a person of faith, I bring religious assumptions to everything, including sexuality. I believe that God is a God of freedom, love, and joy. I believe that God deals with us as beings, not bodies; so issues of sex and gender and bodies are relatively unimportant in matters of faith. I believe that God is infinitely inclusive and much bigger than bodies or cultural concepts. I believe that God has no gender and doesn’t much care about ours. I do believe in sexual sin, though, in the sense that sex and sexuality can be sinful. I believe that God desires health, peace and joy for all people, so anything that threatens those is a sin. Sex without explicit consent, sex that isn’t pleasure- and partner-focused, sex tinged with shame, sex without proper protection, and sex without healthy communication are all “against God’s purpose.” I believe that there is plenty of sinful heteronormative sex and plenty of queer sex that glorifies God. I also identify as genderqueer and polyamorous, which also deeply informs the assumptions I bring to the topic of sexuality.

As soon as I saw this class offered in the course list, I knew I had to take it. I’ve talked about queer issues in terms of religion probably hundreds of times in informal settings, and I’m really excited to engage in a structured, academic investigation into this relationship and better inform future discussions. I’m in this class looking not only for intellectual understanding but also for reconciliation.This issue, for me, isn’t confined to the academic sphere. I deal with the questions about religion and sexuality every day of my life. This class seemed to offer what I’ve been looking for: a discussion founded on the premise that the two topics can be discussed in a way that is not inherently antagonistic and that seeks deeper understanding rather than moral victory.

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crustyriotqueer:

iambickilometer:

notaiden:

fluorescentgreenapples:

notaiden:

silverfuck:

hectorrashbaum:

radicalqueerbrownboy:

The best Transgender Umbrella I’ve seen yet.

Cool, cool, I love when cis people think that stepping outside of strict gender roles gives them license to claim an oppression they don’t suffer.

^ And this is what I was trying to say with the last point of my last post.

There needs to be a little asterisk on a couple of them that say “if desired” because I’m sorry, but you can’t just co-opt people who would never consider themselves trans.  Effeminate men and masculine women, for instance.  Some of each group consider themselves trans.  Others don’t.  Others would be offended that they’re being put in a non-cis category against their will.  I know that I don’t consider myself trans because I’m effeminate.

Intersex is another one like that.  Many people with intersex conditions are incredibly offended when trans people co-opt their medical histories to further their personal politics.  Not all of them, there are also people with intersex conditions who consider themselves part of the trans* movement, some who both have intersex conditions and are transsexual (see: people who are raised as one gender and transition to another), and a variety of other shades of grey.  However, you have to ask before you just lump everyone together.  Some of these groups have expressed a clear desire not to be included.  That has to be respected.

^yeah this.

I’ve heard that transsexual fits into transgender, which I used to be okay with but now not really. It’s like, there’s overlap but not a clear-cut rectangles-and-squares thing.

plus, if we’re including butch women in “masculine women” - Dirt, anybody? And there are cross-dressers who aren’t transgender. Lots of them. They wouldn’t consider themselves transgender, so they’re not.

Yeah.  I’m not thrilled with transsexual being under the transgender umbrella either.  I didn’t transition because of gender.  Hell, the first time I transitioned I didn’t have a clear concept of what gender is.  I transitioned because I am a guy and I always have been.  I just need a bit of medical help to get the physical parts right.

Yeah, this seems terribly presumptive. Also, how are we defining “feminine” and “masculine” here, anyway? And I have a problem with a lot of these categories being lumped in here without specification. It should be “can encompass” and end with “and identifies with the transgender label”, and I STILL would have a problem with “feminine men” and “masculine women” being included. And I’m side-eyeing “Drag” and the unclarified “androgynous persons”. 

bolded emphasis mine. all comments above are excellent. 

HOW ABOUT EVERYONE CAN JUST BE WHAT THEY WANT AND WE STOP NITPICKING ABOUT LANGUAGE AMONGST OURSELVES AND GO OUT AND END OPPRESSION SO IT DOESN’T FUCKING MATTER SO MUCH WHO IS WHAT WORD.

Seriously. I hate the sheer amount of infighting that goes on within radical communities. Because once we step out of that bubble where this discussion even has meaning, we find that the people who want our rights taken away don’t give a fuck whether we’re genderqueer or genderfluid or transgender or transsexual or transgenderfluidsexual, even though it’s all very important to us.

I recognize that this is a really important issue for a lot of people, and yes this is very much worth talking about, but there comes a point at which bickering over who gets to use what word for what gets to be counterproductive. If we’re going to “smash norms” and open a world where anyone can identify with the nuanced truth of their identity, we might want to start by just leaving things like this alone and letting definitions be personal and internal instead of massive community debates.

Relatively, the person who made this image is way more “on our side” than people like, say, my brother, or Glenn Beck, or all the thousands of ignorant, bigoted people who just don’t like anyone who identifies with anything on this little purple picture. Look at this, look at the text on the bottom - it’s trying so hard to be inclusive and on the right side in this, and while yes I know “intent is not magic,” really, are people who do queer acceptance wrong the most necessary people to direct our online wrath at right now? I just think this amount of passion and discussion and frustration could be put to better use demanding respect from the mainstream world rather than reblogging an image we find linguistically problematic despite its obvious efforts to support what we stand for.

And yeah, I’ll put my money where my mouth is. We can do this by writing letters to elected officials dealing with legislation that addresses gendered violence, hate crimes, prison rape, sexual assault, etc. And we can donate to organizations that advance the cause. Here are some resources:

Three shelters for homeless LGBTQ youth that could use donations and other help:

The Ali Forney Center

The Ruth Ellis Center

Ozone House

Other ways to help that don’t include giving money but are instead ways to use our voices and our online presence to fight hatred are here. (If you have time to reblog and comment on this image, you have time to write your Congressperson):

National Gay & Lesbian Task Force Action Alerts Page

National Center for Transgender Equality’s “Stay Informed” page with information on how to respond to recent issues, plus their page on how to help support ENDA

Human Rights Campaign’s Take Action page (I know some people have issues with these guys)

Freedom To Marry’s Take Action page (includes a portal to send a letter to Congress)

How to volunteer at a GLAD event

Amplify Your Voice’s Take Action page

(via inmidnightblood)

Deeeeeeeeeeep breaths.

Taking a class called Queer(y)ing Religion this semester, which seems AWESOME and will hopefully give me enough material to jumpstart this blog back into life.

Our first assignment is a one-page letter to be read to the class that addresses our personal relationship with religion, the religious assumptions we bring to the class, why we’re in the class, and other relevant personal information that’s on theme.

I’m freaking out a little. I’m worried I’ll come off as a label-drenched, queerer-than-thou, pretentious college kid with my “genderqueer female-presenting polaymorous” self description. Add that to my “raised Jewish/atheist, became Christian” story and it will sound like I’m trying to one-up everything and just win the class. And then I’ll be That Kid and nobody likes That Kid. How do I tell the truth and not sound like a complete ass?

Also, the whole being-a-Christian thing is often very tough and unpopular at my libarts school, especially in discussions of sexuality, social issues, etc.

GAH. NERVOUS LILY IS NERVOUS.

Study finds that monogamous societies drink more...but why? →

(Source: The New York Times)

neutresex:

Embracing genders and existing in genders is as revolutionary as rejecting/abolishing/destroying/neglecting genders.

We’ve got to be able to recognize that genders can be powerful, beautiful, liberating, and meaningful tools just as we are able to recognize that genders can be destructive, harmful, and restricting.

Reblogged for truth! Kelsa and I were joking extensively* last night about how our “double standards can get flipped” - I had to catch myself when I realized that I was mocking my brother’s girlfriend’s femininity and super-heteronormative gender presentation, but would have no issue with the same amount of makeup and glittery pink nonsense on, say, a queer or trans person. I can find her values nasty and her attitudes irritating, but I oughtn’t judge someone’s gender presentation just because it’s not “radical enough.” Fighting oppression/privilege isn’t the same as flipping & claiming it. (This is why I don’t appreciate jokes about violence against men in the “feminist” discourse.) If we don’t want to be told “be more like us,” we can’t tell other people that. We can ask them to interrogate their preconceptions, but we can’t judge their gender/sexuality/identification/presentation. That’s what really needs to be broken down - the idea that people have the right to comment on or define other people and the idea that certain ways of being are inferior and superior.

*Seriously. We can carry a joke forEVER.

(Source: tranqualizer, via genderqueer)

I got me TWO argyle sweaters today!

One is a men’s small and one is a women’s small and they both make me look pretty androgynous when worn properly. I wanted to get some nice Oxfords to go under them but shopping for men’s clothes with my dad is an adventure and a half (“What’s wrong with the women’s button-ups?” “They have frillies on them, so they don’t layer well under sweaters or ties, which is what I want to wear these with.” “But the men’s smalls don’t fit you!” “I know, Dad, it’s very frustrating.” “What about this one?” “That’s a flannel, dad, not an Oxford.” “But it doesn’t have frillies!”) but anyway, I love my dad, and also I have some neat argyle from Old Navy and maybe I will filch some of my little brother’s Oxfords because he doesn’t wear them ever and I want to be preppy and dapper and androgynous and argyle. Pictures eventually!

When A Cis Woman Dates A Trans Man →

Another couple uses the term “person” like I and my partners use “personfriend!” Here’s hoping it catches on.

Someone tried to insult me the other day by subtly insinuating that I was male.

He referred to me as my brother’s “brother,” and made a comment about a photo of me “in front of a mirror” when it’s really a photo of me standing next to a painting of a man.

I don’t usually enjoy being insulted, but this was pretty heartwarming. I like being read as male, so thanks, jackass on facebook!

HI EVERYBODY!

I have been gone for months. Like, MONTHS. Like, that’s a long time in internet time! I’ve been gone for so long my hair changed colors! It was blue and now it is magenta.

I apologize for that. I got all caught up in schoolwork and managing my life in general, and I also felt like I didn’t have that many interesting gender-related things to say.

But now I am back! I missed blogging here and I missed all you wonderful folks. I’ll have lots more to say in the coming weeks!