Δαφνη Ευτυχια Αρθουρος

From "Pride merch won’t save trans youth" by Katelyn Burns (transscribe), 2021-06-25, Vox:

While companies like Walmart profit off of rainbow merchandise and branding, this recent wave of anti-trans legislation has largely been met with corporate silence. It's not that corporations have historically stayed apolitical; in the recent past, many have shown up when it matters, influencing lawmakers on LGBTQ equality and having significant impact.

[...]

"We are really grateful to corporations that have stepped up to support LGBTQ folks in the past," Viv Topping, director of advocacy and civic engagement at the Equality Federation, told Vox. "But this year we saw a noticeable lack of engagement from corporations as the anti-trans bills have been further introduced across the country."

"there are qwo types of people in the world: those with the self-control to go to bed at a responsible hour, and those who, upon bedtime, suddenly need to know the etymology of the word blimp, differences between blimps & zeppelins, and stories of the Hindenburg disaster survivors" -- jane c. hu (jane_c_hu), 2021-06-21

"An overwhelming majority [87%] of bisexuals said that they did not see their sexual orientation represented in the media while growing up.

"Only 44% of bisexuals said they could be their authentic selves at work, which was less than gay, lesbian, and even queer respondents.

"Bisexuals were also the least out group within the LGBTQIA+ identity in their workplace." [graphic: "25% of bisexuals are not out at work. (16% average for the LGBTQIA+ community)"]

-- SurveyMonkey (SurveyMonkey), 2021-06-22 (Very long th read started 2021-06-16 and mentions a total sample size of 3000 LGBTQIA+ respondents. Skimming the bi section, I didn't spot a number for the bisexual subset of that sample. I'm looking at this as a small-sample, likely self-selected(?) survey, so interesting but of uncertain utility. It at least suggests some issues that warrant further study, and is likely meaningful wrt broad strokes if not in precise numbers. Note also, however, that I'm guessing a lot here wrt their methodology.)

"Every single word for us is a reclaimed slur. All of them. There is only a fight about queer because 1) it's slightly more recent (30ish years) and 2) many people who are anti-trans hate it as it allows us identity without disclosure." -- Racheline Maltese (racheline_m), 2021-06-23

[ My own reply to the tweet racheline_m was responding to is a bit longer (11 tweets, while they managed to make their point in three) and comes at it from a different angle. But what I quoted is at least as important as anything I wrote.]

"The Exclusion Principle is laid down purely for the benefit of the electrons themselves, who might be corrupted (and become dragons or demons) if allowed to associate too freely." -- Alan Turing (b. 1912-06-23, d. 1954-06-07)

"If you automate a mess, you get an automated mess." -- Rod Michael

"And I'm going to wear whatever I want, whenever I want to, because gender is in fact performative, and I'm nonbinary." -- Alexander (Sascz) Herrmann (lothie), 2020-08-07

[Every so often some fool demands that nonbinary people look a certain way, usually genderless or androgynous, and folks have to remind them that nonbinary people don't owe anyone any particular presentation to be nonbinary.]

From "The Good Farmer and the Bad Farmer, A Story of Woodchuck" by Ted Pelton

:

L ucinda spoke instead.

Woodchuck she said.

I knew one day you would return to my bidding.

I see you have already met your children.

Children introduce yourselves she said to the two who bore the likeness of their father.

I am Woodchuck said the boy.

I am Woodchuck said the girl.

I named them both after you said Lucinda.

[Happy Summer Solstice (23:31 EDT -- so early tomorrow in European time zones) to everyone who observes it, happy Father's Day to everyone celebrating that, and blessed Pentecost to everyone celebrating it on the Orthodox calendar!]

"its kinda amazing: juneteenth is gonna be a federal holiday for reasons teachers won't be allowed to explain to their students out of fear critical race theory backlash" -- Astead (AsteadWesley), 2021-06-16

"The spirit that emerged outside a Mafia-run bar in 1969 became the pulse of the gay community and inspired not just an annual parade but ways to express gay pride in individual lives.

"Stonewall happens every day."

-- Ann Bausum, Stonewall: Breaking Out in the Fight for Gay Rights, 2015

"When love awakens in your life, in the night of your heart, it is like the dawn breaking within you. Where before there was anonymity, now there is intimacy; where before there was fear, now there is courage; where before in your life there was awkwardness, now there is a rhythm of grace and gracefulness; where before you used to be jagged, now you are elegant and in rhythm with your self. When love awakens in your life, it is like a rebirth, a new beginning." -- John O'Donohue, Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom

"cw suicide Lets talk about sport for a second, as a trans person. Around this time when I was 12 turning 13 I luckily failed a suicide attempt (this is also why this birthday matters so much to me as I never thought I would live another 10 years) Rowing saved my life the following year. I never had a supportive or positive space before. Rowing was the first place I felt welcome and safe. A lot of this was because of my coach, who I am still close with and was the first person I called after releasing my coming out video. If I had been able to come out when I was younger, and was then barred from competing in sport, it would have destroyed me. Preventing trans kids from playing is an active act of violence against our community. It is horrid and cruel. Sport definitely has problems, but it can be life saving. It certainly was for me. These laws are an attempt to legislate us out of existence and as a coach and former athlete, they both anger me and genuinely hurt my heart." -- Aranock, 4 of Ravens (Aranock1), 2021-06-15 (four tweets)

"I find it odd when people tell me I'm brave... I'm just trying to be myself and I'm terrified every step of the way." -- Daniela A. Wolfe (Daniela_A_Wolfe), 2021-06-10

"The best response: 'Help make it a world where we don't have to be brave to exist.'" -- Penny Sterling (sterling_penny), 2021-06-11

From "Thousands Rally in Brooklyn to Protest ‘State of Emergency’ for Trans Youth" by Michael Gold, 2021-06-13, NYT:

"We're Black and trans, and I would've liked more protecting as a child," said Wes Garlington, 25, of Brownsville, Brooklyn, who attended the rally with their partner. "So we came out to show support."

In state legislatures across the country, Republican lawmakers have introduced bills to limit the participation of transgender children in sports and hinder their access to gender-affirming or transition-related medical care. At least 10 have been signed into law this year.

Schuyler Bailar, who competed on a Division I college swim team as an openly transgender man, said that the flurry of legislation was exhausting and disheartening.

"Trans youth absolutely deserve to play sports just like I did, just like I do," said Mr. Bailar, who described himself as a queer Korean American transgender man of color. "Trans kids deserve that space."

"Up until the time I came out as trans, I increasingly performed femininity. I figured it's what I was, so I became more and more 'inyerface' about the fact that I was a woman, almost always wearing dresses and using a lot of makeup. I became almost a caricature of a woman with my shoes and my clothes and my eyeliner and my hair. I even began buying wigs, because my hair was never going to be long and luxurious Real Goddess hair. I was basically a drag queen in a cis woman's body.

"And then, one day, I realized that I was, in fact, performing something that I was not and never had been. [...]"

-- Alexander (Sascz) Herrmann (lothie), 2020-08-07 [it's short but there's more -- go have a quick read]

"Loki is a prince of Asgard
 Loki is also genderfluid
 And since Marvel is now owned by Disney
 That makes Loki a Disney princess"
  -- Alice Jane (actuallyalice), 2021-06-11

"Framing legislation that seeks to exclude trans people from having equal rights as a culture war reduces the trans community to a political football in an abstract policy debate. No longer is this an issue about access to life-saving health care; legislation that focuses on trans Americans is a 'wedge issue' that reflects America's polarization.

"Relegating legislation preventing trans people from being able to take part in the public sphere to a culture war issue is just one way the media downplays what's happening through a cisgender lens.

"Many outlets don't even include trans voices in pieces about the rights of trans people. [...]"

-- Sydney Bauer (femme_thoughts), "Why 'culture war' narratives ignore real impact of anti-trans bills", 2021-06-10

From "Landlords Squeeze Stonewall Just in Time for Pride" by Scott Bixby, 2021-06-09:

Talks for securing a long-term lease for the space included state and local officials, architects, historians, community leaders, and the National Park Service, and looked like they were nearing a successful conclusion. But the one-week ticking clock-a not-uncommon tactic in the bloodsport that is New York commercial real estate-could permanently thwart plans to recognize the Stonewall Inn's pivotal role in queer history.

"During the economic crisis caused by the pandemic, we learned how precarious the history of our movement is," said philanthropist Tim Gill, whose eponymous foundation has granted more than half a billion dollars to LGBT causes. During the Obama administration, Gill worked with the Department of the Interior to identify key locations in LGBT history in America, an effort that culminated with the creation of the Stonewall National Monument in 2016.

[...]

"It's problematic that our movement doesn't own these key pieces that mark our brave activism and social agitation, and that we continue to be subjected to the whims and winds of the New York real estate market," Gill said. "It shows how easily we can be exploited to protect our own story."

[From when conservatives argued more about gay rights than trans rights (not that long ago) ...]

"Still the question remains: How does a Christian population implicated in militarism, usury, sweatshop labor, and environmental rape find a way to sleep at night? Apparently, by making a very big deal out of not sleeping with Gene Robinson. Or, on the flip side, by making approval of Gene Robinson the litmus test of progressive integrity, a stance that I have good reason to believe would impress no one so little as Gene Robinson himself." -- Garret Keizer, "Turning away from Jesus: Gay rights and the war for the Episcopal Church", Harper's Magazine, June 2008

"If gender diversity is new to you, there is one point I would like you to remember: Each person is the undisputed expert on their own gender. Nothing else supersedes a person's knowledge and declaration of themselves: not the form of their body, not hormones, not chromosomes, not what they wear, not official identification, not the presence or absence of hair, not health, not acceptance, not access to protection under the law. Each person is the expert on their own gender." -- Rev. Lyn Cox, "Symphony of Gender"

[This is not the deepest part of the sermon, andfar from the most beautiful -- it's just the bit that was easiest to concisely excerpt on its own. The whole thing is beautiful and amazing, and I adore the poetry and metaphor they built into it. Set aside some time to read the whole thing at a relaxed pace, and dive into the musical analogy. (Happy birthday, Lyn!)]