A Blog Of Thoughts

Hi I'm Jojo, I'm 22 and genderfluid. She/her or He/him pronouns please. I like pole vaulting, chemistry and sunny days. My other tumblr is jojosjourney.

[bottleoftonic-blog]

Most bang-for-buck things every intern should know before starting inpatient wards

Source. A collection of Meddit resources and advice on what bread-and-butter topics interns would most benefit from brushing up on/memorizing prior to the beginning of their internship. 1) Fluids. How and when to use them, dosage, timing and other pearls.

Review of fluids (not how to use them per se) by Dr. Strong /u/ericstrong

Maintenance Intravenous Fluids in Acutely Ill Patients - NEJM.

Pretty thorough review of fluid management on openanesthesia.org

2) Nausea. When to treat, how to treat and at what dose.

3) Standard pn orders: pain killers, sleep aids and antiemetics aka how to reduce nighttime calls from nurses by 25%

4) “Reflex” antibiotic choice for routine inpatient infections.

http://www.bpac.org.nz/Supplement/2013/July/antibiotics-guide.aspx /u/ChristianM and /u/ive_been_up_allnight

5) Initial work-up and treatment of dyspnea. (more realistic to approach by symptoms as, unfortunately, you first have to diagnose whats wrong. E.g. heart failure, pulmonary edema, embolism, COPD, pneumonia).

6) Initial work-up and treatment of oliguria/anuria.

7) A sensible initial approach to suspected ileus.

8) Blood. When, how, why to replace.

9) Pain. Optimal management without inducing narcosis.

Managing cancer pain: Frequently asked questions: CCJM

10) Potassium. When, why and how to shift or replace.

A review on both potassium and sodium disorders by Dr. Strong /u/ericstrong (Not reposted in 12) hyponatremia but applies there as well) https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYojB5NEEakXVIAapcSEleP4doUdHVtld

11) Hyponatremia. Most common electrolyte disturbance, commonly mismanaged.

12) Resuscitation aka commit the ACLS algorithms to memory.

Current ACLS guidelines. https://www.acls.net/aclsalg.htm

Would love a video series, interactive cases etc.

13) Basic EKG interpretation.

Whole EKG video courses

A whole free youtube EKG video review course by meddit’s own u/ericstrong

An alternative EKG course that takes you through all the basics. This however has no free version and costs 96$ a year. The quality is amazing. Here are 6 basic sample videos on youtube. The paid course is available on http://www.ecgteacher.com/

I have to admit I haven’t used this course personally but his free youtube videos are on-point and he seems like a good teacher. Also behind paywall. Free youtube samples are here. The full course can be found here https://www.ecgacademy.com.

EKG video cases

Amazing case-of-the-week emergency medicine EKG videos on youtube by Dr. Amal Mattu

– If you like Dr. Mattu’s cases (and you most certainly will) he is still posting every single week on his new site https://ecgweekly.com. It costs 4 starbucks coffees a year and is going to save someones life.

Practice EKGs with answers

Watching videos isn’t enough, you still have to grind out EKGs to keep your game strong. Visit http://ecgmadesimple.com and http://ecg.bidmc.harvard.edu/maven/mavenmain.asp for this.

EKG blogs

I recommend signing up for some kind of RSS feed (e.g. https://feedly.com/) and subscribing to the following EKG blogs:

http://hqmeded-ecg.blogspot.is (Dr. Smiths ECG blog)

http://www.ems12lead.com

http://ecg-interpretation.blogspot.is

http://jhcedecg.blogspot.is

EKG resource libraries

Life in the fastlane has a nice resource to look up a specific EKG finding, criteria or concept.

http://www.practicalclinicalskills.com/ekg.aspx /u/collidge

14) Know when to order ABGs and how to interpret them.

Almost too detailed video lecture series on ABGs and how to interpret them by Dr. Eric Strong (/u/ericstrong)

Practice makes perfect. ABG interpretation generator. https://abg.ninja/abg

Bonus 15) Basic CXR interpretation

CXR video lecture course

Again, Dr. Eric Strong has an excellent video course for free on youtube

Step-by-step guides to basic CXR interpretation

The Radiology Assistant: Chest X-ray - Basic interpretation

Radiology Masterclass step-by-step basic CXR

University of Virginia’s step-by-step basic CXR

All inclusive resources

The art and science of thoracic imaging All inclusive resource for all things thoracic! Jokes aside amazing resource.

UPenns CXR learning website

Loyola Universities excellent CXR Atlas Most outdated look but amazing content.

Checklist approach to CXR

Bonus 16) Overnight o-shit-what’s-that Head CT interpretation

Midnight radiology: Emergency CT of the head

University of Virginia’s guide to the Head CT

[sothisisnursingschool]

Hey, self: review before NCLEX. Xo, me.

[md-admissions]

Oh hell yes

[populationpensive]

For future reference.

[doctorkintsugi]

Must. Study.

[modernathenamd]

Scheduled to post right before intern year starts. Gulp.

[aspiringdoctors-blog]

Reblog to save a life. You got this, bbs.

[medicinasanguis]

we need it all

[pharmdup]

As far as nausea goes, can we just wipe IV promethazine from everyone’s brain as an option? It has such shitty evidence for efficacy yet for a lot of people the nausea treatment PRNs seem to go ondansetron—>promethazine—>??? At the very least you should read this ISMP article before ordering it. The article even includes a plea from a sweet bb intern about how badly it injured someone under their care. It’s even illegal to administer promethazine via peripheral IV in some locations.

Other antihistamines can treat nausea. So can benzos, some antipsychotics, and sniffing a pad of isopropyl alcohol. All evidence-based options. Pinky-swear that we’re done with IV promethazine, ok? There, interns, you’ve got this. And talk to your pharmacist if you need help from someone who isn’t gonna grade you. <3

[untitled39803]

Free MCAT Study Materials!

Here’s master post of some great MCAT study materials and resources. Click on the bold titles to open links to folders containing the files listed below. Good luck!!!

2015 KAPLAN MCAT REVIEW BOOKS (pdf links listed below)

Behavioral Sciences Review

Biochemistry Review

Biology Review

Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills Review

General Chemistry Review

Organic Chemistry Review

Physics and Math Review

BIOLOGY

Molecular Biology; Cellular Respiration

Genes

Microbiology

The Eukaryotic Cell; The Nervous System

The Endocrine System

The Digestive and Excretory Systems

The Cardiovascular System; The Respiratory System

Muscle, Bone and Skin

Populations

The Berkeley MCAT Review - Biology Part 1 (2011)

The Berkeley MCAT Review - Biology Part 2 (2011)

BIOCHEMISTRY

Lab Techniques

GENERAL CHEMISTRY

Atoms, Molecules and Quantum Mechanics

Gases, Kinetics, and Chemical Equilibrium

Thermodynamics

Solutions

Heat Capacity/Phase Change/Colligative Properties

Acids & Bases

Electrochemistry

Intro to Chemistry

Electrostatics

Gases

Thermodynamics and Thermochemistry

The Berkeley MCAT Review - General Chemistry Part 1 (2011)

ORGANIC CHEMISTRY

Molecular Structure

Hydrocarbons, Alcohols, Substitutions

Carbonyls and Amines

PHYSICS

MCAT Physics Book (2015)

Translation Motion

Force

Equilibrium, Torque and Energy

Momentum, Machines, and Radioactive Decay

Fluids and Solids

Waves

Electricity and Magnetism

Light & Optics

Linear Momentum

PSYCHOLOGY / SOCIOLOGY

SCIENCE

MCAT PRACTICE TESTS / QUESTIONS

Practice Tests

Solutions

OTHER MCAT STUDY MATERIALS

Examkrackers Complete MCAT Study Set (2007)

These materials will help build your knowledge and test taking skills, they may not fit the current MCAT exam criteria but it will definitely build your knowledge of the subjects being tested.

[trans-parenting]

“I remind myself that the gift I was given in being trans is a simple one; extended geography. I can look back on my history and see my past self as a geography that I feel honored to have had access to. Being conditioned as a woman let me in on experiences I could never have truly understood as a cis man. Although I experience great pain and confusion around this truth, I know the discomfort coexists with my accepting that it has brought me a bounty of self-knowledge. I honor my own path and I’m learning to really love it. Transness is profound. I find it to be very spiritual. Transness challenges us to validate our inner truth over people’s ideas of who we are “supposed” to be.”

— Avery Tucker, How I Learned to Hold My Shame By Releasing Songs Made Pre-Transition

[thedarkperidot]

Feelings you may not know the name of

Onism

The awareness of how little of the world you’ll experience, or how small your home is.

Mal de Coucou

A phenomenon in which you have an active social life but very few close friends-people who you can trust, who you can be yourself with.

Sonder

The realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own—populated with their own ambitions, friends, routines, worries and thoughts.

Chrysalism

The amniotic tranquility of being indoors during a thunderstorm, listening to waves of rain pattering against the roof or window.

Altschmerz

Boredom with the same old issues that you’ve always had—the same flaws and anxieties you’ve had for years.

Ambedo

A kind of melancholic trance in which you become completely absorbed in vivid sensory details—raindrops skittering down a window, tall trees rustling in the wind, the blades on a fan.

Kairosclerosis

The moment in which you realize that you’re currently happy—consciously trying to savor the feeling.

Vellichor

The aroma of old bookstores, filled with thousands of ancient books, each of which is itself locked in its own era, bound and dated.

Nighthawk

A thought that only seems to strike you late at night—an overdue task, a nagging guilt that won’t go away.

Pâro

The feeling that no matter what you do is always somehow wrong.

Silience

The unnoticed excellence that carries on around you every day, hidden talents that go on ignored.

Fitzcarraldo

An image that sticks in your brain, and you have no idea how it got there.

Anecdoche

A conversation in which everyone is talking but nobody is listening, words are layered upon each other like papers.

Anemoia

Nostalgia for a time you’ve never known. Wishing to be living in another era.

Kenopsia

The atmosphere of a place that’s usually bustling with people but is now abandoned and quiet—a school hallway in the evening, an unlit office on a weekend, vacant fairgrounds, the afterimage.

Jouska

A hypothetical conversation that you compulsively play out in your head, a debate, a conversation, something where you can connect more deeply with people than in reality.

Lachesism

The desire to be struck by disaster – to survive a plane crash, or to lose everything in a fire

Exulansis

The tendency to give up trying to talk about an experience because people are unable to relate to it.

Rubatosis

The unsettling awareness of your own heartbeat.

Mauerbauertraurigkeit

The inexplicable urge to push people away, even close friends who you really like

[isoxys]

Warning to trans girls: Bicalutamide contains lactose

After two miserable weeks of feeding myself what to my body is basically a low dose of poison, I finally found out today after digging through fine print on side effects that bicalutamide actually contains more lactose than it does its active ingredient. If you’re one of the lucky 30% of humans that mutated to be able to drink milk after you stopped, you know, breastfeeding, then maybe this is a great option for your HRT. If you belong to the other 70%, please approach this shit with caution. It may be a very small amount of lactose and maybe even most of you can handle it, but just please be aware that despite it’s growing reputation as a godsent replacement for spironolactone, a quick glance at the possible side effects of bicalutamide should make it clear that it’s anything but some kind of side-effect free miracle drug. Please reblog this to save a stomach!

[pin-apple-ey]

Lactose and gluten are two of the common tablet/capsule fillers in medications!!!!

Not all brands of medications use the same fillers!

If you cannot take lactose or gluten, talk to your pharmacist or dispensary assistant about other brand options. (In Australia at least, unfortunately i’m not sure how pharmacies work in other countires). Very rarely have i not been able to find a brand that isnt gluten or lactose (or both) free for a customer. If the fillers are not listed on the packaging we have ways of looking it up for you.

If we CANNOT find an alternative brand, depending on the medication we will refer you back to your doctor (in cases of meds which will require further discussion with your doctor) or we will call the doctor about alternatives (antiobiotics for example, normally its a quick 10 minute phone call and the drs are happy for pharmacists dispense an alternative without a brand new script).

The last thing we want is for someone to not take or stop taking their meds because of a filler when another brand is more appropriate for them!!

[bixbiboom]

Laura: “You want any more of this? [bursts into a vibrant rendition of Maureen’s verse of Take Me or Leave Me from Rent] Oh, we dropped some!”

[being-jo]

Adorable.

[elierlick]

If you’re worried about asking pronouns outing trans students, here’s a simple solution:

[elierlick]

Update: there’s now an expanded version of this sheet available for printing at www.transreads.org/cards.

[thesesummersonspoet]

Do NOT Support ‘Adam’ When The Film Comes Out

I’ve talked about this before on this blog but this is the most disgustingly transphobic and lesbophobic narrative I’ve ever come across. 

CWs: transphobia, homophobia, lesbophobia, corrective rape, voyeurism

The book Adam by Ariel Schrag is being turned into a movie which has been named as one of the most exciting LGBTQ films of the year. You should know before watching that the book is about a cis boy who pretends to be a trans man in order to persuade lesbians to sleep with him.

Yeah… you read that right.

Book plot summary: 

boy spies on his lesbian sister having sex

boy decides to pretend to be a trans man (gross)

i.e. pretends to have a vagina because he thinks lesbians will want him then (he literally wants to fuck lesbians because he watched his lesbian sister have sex wtf)

he does get a lesbian to sleep with him, he straps his penis down using ace bandages and uses a strap on.

all the actual trans dudes we meet identify as lesbians this basically implies that trans men are not real men (lesbians i.e. women)  

another time they have sex again only he uses his actual penis but tells her its a strap on. that’s literally rape, she didn’t consent to an actual penis.

he confesses that he’s been lying to her this whole time but she doesn’t break up with him. she even says its okay cause she fantasised about him being “a real boy"

that’s a direct quote. massive transphobia. huge. not to mention this is now the “lesbian is cured by dick trope” which is disgusting and that trope leads to real lesbians and bi women being raped to “fix” them. 

he leaves new york, they’re long distance. they get in an argument and he calls her a slut and a whore among other things and then she dumps him

eventually they get back in touch and she has a new cis boyfriend so yep, she’s been “cured” woo she’s actually straight and he helped her realise that yay (massive sarcasm)

It is deeply deeply transphobic. To imply that our identities are just costumes for other people to put on erases who we are as people. More than that, to imply it is done to trick people into sex is a dangerous lie that literally gets us killed.

It is also deeply lesbophobic. To fuel this narrative that lesbians can be “fixed” by having sex with a man leads to real corrective rapes happening. 

Here is a review of the book by a trans man. I have yet to find one by a lesbian but will edit this if I do.

This book gives out incredibly harmful notions about trans men and lesbians that are used to hurt them in real life. It’s so entrenched in the narrative that I don’t see how the film can possibly be any better.

I do not say any of this lightly. it’s very very rare for me to call out a piece of fiction or for me to decide that a story is unfixable. But this… there’s no excuse for the bigotry in this. 

I’d like to tell people to boycott it but I can’t tell you what to do. So instead I’m going to ask that you share this because it being named as an exciting new LGBTQ film is going to make LGBTQ teens want to see it. And they should know beforehand how hurtful it could be. They should be able to arm themselves with that knowledge.

Don’t make queer kids see this film believing it will represent them only to be exposed to this hatred of their identities. 

Please reblog.

[lesbiantiope]

Shout out to intersex aces. To aces who face double the invalidation because they are told their sexuality is just a symptom. To aces who feel like they’re bad aces because they got their hormones checked. To aces who aren’t sure whether being intersex ‘caused’ their asexuality. You are just as ace as anyone else. You are real. You are valid.

[imafuckingdoctor]

How I studied Anatomy & Physiology

Anatomy:

I’ve said it before & I’ll say it again, Netter is one of a kind guys. It has helped me so much.

There’s also an app I used to have on my iphone, I think it was called essential skeleton. Any app/program would do, I especially love the virtual dissection tool because it helped me understand different layers so much better.

It can get a little overwhelming with the details but there’s usually a “clinical anatomy” or “applied anatomy” part in the end of every chapter, I prioritized that over everything else because of its clinical relevance and this has not only helped me in my rotations this year but also MCQs in academic usually target this area so .. you’re welcome hahah.

The lab is your best friend here, take advantage of every minute you have in there. Understanding is key so for example if I didn’t fully understand the action of a muscle, I’d pull the tendon & see what it does with my own eyes, what I’m saying is I never left the lab without understanding everything because anatomy isn’t one of those things you can just memorize.

If your school provides a pre lab learning guide use that, if it doesn’t make your own. Just don’t go into the lab not knowing anything because you will struggle, whereas if you go prepared it’s gonna help you out a ton, you’ll consolidate everything you know & basically be good to go.

So here’s what I did to learn an anatomy lecture: Before the class I’d read what we’re studying from Snell’s, then I’d take notes, attend the lecture, go home, go over everything from Netter & my apps (I considered that my pre lab work) and then the next day I’d go into the lab & sort of explain whatever we’re learning either to myself or to my partner. Et voilà, we’re done.

Physiology

This wasn’t really my forte, but here goes nothing.

As for physiology I found that textbooks don’t do it for me.

So what I would do before class to prepare is watch as many YouTube videos from different sources about whatever we’re studying. I could link all my favorite YouTube channels if you’re interested?

Then in class I’d pay FULL UNDIVIDED attention (physiology needs more concentration imo)

Then I’d get home and go through the material my school provides, I didn’t even make my own notes in physiology because it was ridiculously time consuming & I needed visual illustrations. Reading it was like passive studying, I couldn’t learn anything no matter how many times I read it.

But the one thing that I found helped me the most in physiology is answering a shit ton of MCQs, that’s the only way I could properly learn.

So my strategy for physiology was basically pay full attention in class & do a lot of practice questions rather than spend hours memorizing everything from a textbook.

For the anon who wanted this that’s pretty much everything I did regarding these two. Hope you found it helpful!

[being-jo]

For next year...

[steampunkpirate131719]

Bill Nye for most of his career: Imma do science for kids. Science without politics. Nice, tame science for the kiddos.

Bill Nye now:

[profeminist]

UPDATE TO TRANSGENDER STYLE GUIDE: AVOIDING INVALIDATING LANGUAGE TRAPS

Full description of the featured image for the post “Update to Transgender Style Guide: Avoiding Invalidating Language Traps” (word bubbles and text that illustrate an update to the style guide):

Title: The Radical Copyeditor’s Style Guide for Writing About Transgender People: 2.8-2.11: Avoiding Invalidating Language Traps

Speech bubbles contrast the following phrases under the headings “Invalidating language” versus “Validating language”: “Women and trans women” versus “Cis and trans women”; “Students who consider themselves ‘non-binary'” versus “Non-binary students”; “Zed, who identifies as agender” versus “Zed is agender”; “her secret was exposed” versus “her history was publicized”; “closeted,” “stealth,” and “passes” versus “private” and “nondisclosure”; and “an out trans man” versus “openly trans” and “public.”

[theomnilegent]

2019 Upcoming YA Fiction With Transgender, Nonbinary and Gender Non-Conforming Characters!

My last list focused on LGBTQA Fiction with female-led characters. There aren’t many of those this year that also happen to have transgender characters, so I’ve decided to put all the novels covering this topic in one list. It’s unfortunate there aren’t as many stories about transgender characters, let alone #ownvoices stories, but we can all hope that in the next year we’ll see even more! There are a few coming out stories, and a couple of romances in this batch of 2019′s LGBT fiction.

Below you’ll find titles, summaries, and goodreads links. Warning for mentions of transphobia and transphobic violence.

The Hand, The Eye & The Heart by Zoe Marriott Zhilan was assigned female at birth; despite an unusual gift for illusions, they know they will live out their life in the perfumed confines of the women’s quarters. But when civil war sets the country aflame, Zhilan is the only one who can save their disabled Father from death on the battlefield. By taking his place. Surviving brutal army training as a male recruit – Zhi – is only the first challenge. Soon Zhi’s unique talents draw them into an even more perilous fight, in the glittering court of the Land of Dragons, where love and betrayal are two sides of the same smile. The fate of an Empire rests on Zhi’s shoulders. But to win, they must first decide where their loyalty, and their heart, truly belongs. 

Zenobia July by Lisa Bunker Zenobia July is starting a new life. She used to live in Arizona with her father; now she’s in Maine with her aunts. She used to spend most of her time behind a computer screen, improving her impressive coding and hacking skills; now she’s coming out of her shell and discovering a community of friends at Monarch Middle School. People used to tell her she was a boy; now she’s able to live openly as the girl she always knew she was. When someone anonymously posts hateful memes on her school’s website, Zenobia knows she’s the one with the abilities to solve the mystery, all while wrestling with the challenges of a new school, a new family, and coming to grips with presenting her true gender for the first time. Timely and touching, Zenobia July is, at its heart, a story about finding home.

In The Silences by Rachel Gold When did life get so dangerous? Kaz Adams just wants to read comic books with her best friend, Aisha Warren. And maybe get up the nerve to ask her out, if Kaz turns out to be a gender that Aisha’s into. Kaz figured she’d be the target of violence for her gender nonconformity, but a fatal police shooting thirty miles from their town opens her eyes to the realities of racism. She watches as pressures at school and in their social group mount against Aisha. Kaz would try to stop a bullet for Aisha if she had to, but she has no idea how to stop the waves of soul-crushing disapproval and judgment. When she talks to the other white students and adults in her area, they don’t seem to understand what she’s talking about. Aisha has helped Kaz find a place in the world, but that was about Kaz’s gender expression. Kaz can’t magically change the world for Aisha, but something has to change in their school system or she’ll lose the girl she loves.

I Wish You All The Best by Mason Deaver When Ben De Backer comes out to their parents as nonbinary, they’re thrown out of their house and forced to move in with their estranged older sister, Hannah, and her husband, Thomas, whom Ben has never even met. Struggling with an anxiety disorder compounded by their parents’ rejection, they come out only to Hannah, Thomas, and their therapist and try to keep a low profile in a new school. But Ben’s attempts to survive the last half of senior year unnoticed are thwarted when Nathan Allan, a funny and charismatic student, decides to take Ben under his wing. As Ben and Nathan’s friendship grows, their feelings for each other begin to change, and what started as a disastrous turn of events looks like it might just be a chance to start a happier new life. 

My Brother’s Name is Jessica by John Boyne Sam Waver’s life has always been pretty quiet. A bit of a loner, he struggles to make friends, and his busy parents often make him feel invisible. Luckily for Sam, his older brother, Jason, has always been there for him. Sam idolises Jason, who seems to have life sorted - he’s kind, popular, amazing at football, and girls are falling over themselves to date him. But then one evening Jason calls his family together to tell them that he’s been struggling with a secret for a long time. A secret which quickly threatens to tear them all apart. His parents don’t want to know and Sam simply doesn’t understand. Because what do you do when your brother says he’s not your brother at all? That he thinks he’s actually… your sister?

Something Like Gravity by Amber Smith Chris and Maia aren’t off to a great start. A near-fatal car accident first brings them together, and their next encounters don’t fare much better. Chris’s good intentions backfire. Maia’s temper gets the best of her. But they’re neighbors, at least for the summer, and despite their best efforts, they just can’t seem to stay away from each other. The path forward isn’t easy. Chris has come out as transgender, but he’s still processing a frightening assault he survived the year before. Maia is grieving the loss of her older sister and trying to find her place in the world without her. Falling in love was the last thing on either of their minds. But would it be so bad if it happened anyway?

Everything Grows by Aimee Herman Fifteen-year-old Eleanor Fromme just chopped off all of her hair. How else should she cope after hearing that her bully, James, has committed suicide? When Eleanor’s English teacher suggests students write a letter to a person who would never read it to get their feelings out, Eleanor chooses James. With each letter she writes, Eleanor discovers more about herself, even while trying to make sense of his death. And, with the help of a unique cast of characters, Eleanor not only learns what it means to be inside a body that does not quite match what she feels on the inside, but also comes to terms with her own mother’s mental illness. Set against a 1993-era backdrop of grunge rock and riot grrl bands, EVERYTHING GROWS depicts Eleanor’s extraordinary journey to solve the mystery within her and feel complete. Along the way, she loses and gains friends, rebuilds relationships with her family, and develops a system of support to help figure out the language of her queer identity.

Kings, Queens, And In-Betweens by Tanya Boteju Perpetually awkward Nima Kumara-Clark is bored with her insular community of Bridgeton, in love with her straight girlfriend, and trying to move past her mother’s unexpected departure. After a bewildering encounter at a local festival, Nima finds herself suddenly immersed in the drag scene on the other side of town. Macho drag kings, magical queens, new love interests, and surprising allies propel Nima both painfully and hilariously closer to a self she never knew she could be—one that can confidently express and accept love. But she’ll have to learn to accept lost love to get there. 

What Makes You Beautiful by Bridget Liang Logan Osborne knows he likes boys, but has not come out to his family or at school, and no one knows that he likes to sometimes wear girls’ clothes and makeup. When he starts at a school for the arts he finds a wider range of gender and orientation being accepted. Logan is attracted to Kyle, who has gay dads. But Kyle is straight. Logan finds he doesn’t like the way gay boys treat him, and a disturbing hookup with a boy who is fetishistic about Logan’s half-Asian background makes Logan even more confused about what he wants and who he is. Encouraged and supported by his friends at school, Logan experiments with nail polish and more feminine clothes in public. Logan begins questioning his gender and decides to use they pronouns while trying to figure things out. Logan meets a classmate’s chosen mother, who is a transgender Chinese woman, and begins to come to terms with their gender identity. Realizing they are not a gay boy, but a transgender girl, Logan asks for people to call them Veronica. As a girl, does Veronica stand a chance with Kyle?

[transgenderteensurvivalguide]

Kii says:

Image description below “keep reading”. If you’d like to help us out with image descriptions, read this post! We really need a few volunteers who can help us make our blog more accessible!

Keep reading

[yidquotes]

I’m a rabbi, and so I’m particularly saddened whenever religious arguments are brought in to defend social prejudices — as they often are in the discussion about transgender rights. In fact, the Hebrew Bible, when read in its original language, offers a highly elastic view of gender. And I do mean highly elastic: In Genesis 3:12, Eve is referred to as “he.” In Genesis 9:21, after the flood, Noah repairs to “her” tent. Genesis 24:16 refers to Rebecca as a “young man.” And Genesis 1:27 refers to Adam as “them.”

Surprising, I know. And there are many other, even more vivid examples: In Esther 2:7, Mordecai is pictured as nursing his niece Esther. In a similar way, in Isaiah 49:23, the future kings of Israel are prophesied to be “nursing kings.”

Why would the Bible do this? These aren’t typos. In the ancient world, well-expressed gender fluidity was the mark of a civilized person. Such a person was considered more “godlike.” In Ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt, the gods were thought of as gender-fluid, and human beings were considered reflections of the gods. The Israelite ideal of the “nursing king” seems to have been based on a real person: a woman by the name of Hatshepsut who, after the death of her husband, Thutmose II, donned a false beard and ascended the throne to become one of Egypt’s greatest pharaohs.

The Israelites took the transgender trope from their surrounding cultures and wove it into their own sacred scripture. The four-Hebrew-letter name of God, which scholars refer to as the Tetragrammaton, YHWH, was probably not pronounced “Jehovah” or “Yahweh,” as some have guessed. The Israelite priests would have read the letters in reverse as Hu/Hi — in other words, the hidden name of God was Hebrew for “He/She.” Counter to everything we grew up believing, the God of Israel — the God of the three monotheistic, Abrahamic religions to which fully half the people on the planet today belong — was understood by its earliest worshipers to be a dual-gendered deity. - Rabbi Mark Sameth

[depresseddisneyprincess]

the frozen 2 trailer just dropped reblog this if you think disney should give elsa a girlfriend

[thegaylists]

I saw that you helped this other person out, so maybe you help me too. I’m looking for lgbt books

lesbian/bi

a line in the dark by malinda lo - ya crime

ash by malinda lo - ya fairytales

far from you by tess sharpe - ya crime

fingersmith by sarah waters - historical romance (hr)

fun home by alison bechdel - graphic (gn)

huntress by malinda lo - ya fairytales

honor girl by maggie thrash - gn

mangoverse series by shira glassman - f

my lesbian experience with loneliness & my solo exchange diary - nagata kabi -gn

queens of geek by jen wilde - fiction

the brightsiders by jen wilde - ya fiction

the miseducation of cameron post by emily m. danforth - ya f

the paying guests by sarah waters - hr

tipping the velvet by sarah waters - hr

woman world by aminder dhaliwal - gn

gay/bi

almost like being in love by steve kluger

aristotle and dante discover the secrets of the universe- benjamin alire saenz- ya f

boy erased by garrard conley - memoir

been here all along by sandy hall - ya f

carry on by rainbow rowell - ya fantasy

honestly ben by bill konigsberg - ya f

jerk bait by mia siegert - ya f/thriller

less by andrew sean greer - fiction

more happy than not by adam silvera

one man guy by michael barakiva - ya f

openly straight by bill konigsberg - ya f

simon vs the homosapiens agenda by becky albertalli - ya f

they both die at the end by adam silvera

two boys kissing by david leviathan - ya f

what if its us by becky albertalli - ya f

trans/nb

a safe girl to love by casey plett - fiction

beautiful music for ugly children by kirstin cronn-mills - ya f

george by alex gino - childrens novel

gracefully grayson by ami polonsky - f

happy families by tanita s davis - ya f

i am jazz by jessica herthel - childrens nf

if i was your girl by meredith russo - ya f

none of the above by i.w. gregorio - ya f

parrotfish by ellen wittlinger - ya f

rethinking normal: a memoir in transition by katie rain hill - memoir

symptoms of being human by jeff garvin

the art of being normal by lisa williamson

this is how it always is by laurie frankel

[writerswritecompany]