It felt like another bombing hit my life when my Tumblr account was removed. In one second, I lost every friend who stood by me through the cold, the hunger, and the hospital nights. Losing my voice here felt like losing the only warm corner I had left in this world.
I don’t want donations this time… I just want my friends back. Please follow me again, share my new posts, and help me rebuild the small community that kept me alive. I don’t want to disappear from your hearts too.
My wonderful friend Aboud is here now!!! Please, send a kind word his way! Reblog so he can find his friends, or go ahead and become his friend too! And while you're at it, donate to his verified chuffed fundraiser or his p@yp@l!
What do you think of when you hear the word psychopath? Maybe you think of a horror movie villain like Norman Bates or Hannibal Lecter. Or maybe you think of real life serial killers like Ted Bundy or Jeffrey Dahmer. You probably don't picture Bert Chapman who was arrested for engaging in consensual sex with John Bates in the privacy of his own home. It was ruled that Chapman was a "criminal sexual psychopathic person" and was court ordered to be confined to a psychiatric institution until he "shall have fully and permanently recovered from such psychopathy." Bert Chapman was diagnosed as a psychopath because homosexuality was considered to be a sub-type of psychopathy. (see People v. Chapman, Supreme Court of Michigan, 18 May 1942)
The German Invention of Psychopathy
In 1888 German psychiatrist Julius Ludwig August Koch first introduced his theory of psychopathic inferiorities (psychopathische Minderwertigkeiten) in Kurzgefaßter Leitfaden der Psychiatrie. In the 1890s he published a 3 volume series on psychopathic inferiorities Die psychopathischen Minderwertigkeiten. As Koch conceptualised it psychopathic inferiority was a moral infirmity:
Their moral sense stands at a lower level, moral principles are poorer, narrower, less vigorous, and less durable for them, and they find it difficult to resist immoral urges.
In 1896 Emil Kraepelin framed psychopathic states as a broad category that included neurasthenia, impulsive insanity, homosexuality, and obsessive-compulsive neuroses. In 1914 Karl Birnbaum published a book on psychopathic criminals in which he argued that emotional defects played a critical role in criminality. And in 1923 Kurt Schneider defined psychopathic personalities as "those abnormal personalities whose abnormality makes either themselves or their society suffer.” In 1934 Paul Schröder described psychopathy as "a catch-all term for something very diverse”. (see A Drifting Concept for an Unruly Menace: A History of Psychopathy in Germany by Greg Eghigian)
While the concept of psychopathy within psychiatry was rather board and somewhat confused, in the minds of the German public psychopathy was increasingly linked to criminals and delinquents. This was especially true under the Nazi regime. Psychopathy was increasingly becoming sociological and political rather than psychological. In 1938 Kurt Schneider criticised the politicisation of psychopathy:
When one simply calls the asocial, the disruptive, the criminal, anyone who makes society suffer a psychopath, one slips into a sociological, indeed a political, concept of the psychopath, which in any case has nothing to do with mine anymore. (Eghigian, p296)
However it wasn't just violent criminals who were diagnosed with psychopathy. A psychopath was understood as anyone who "makes society suffer" and under Nazi ideology that was applied broadly.
In 1938, Walter Brucker, a 13-year-old Jewish boy was admitted to the Heilpädagogik ward at the Vienna University Children’s Clinic. His record reports that "during Hitler's speech, he put his head into his hands on the table and stared into a void. He was very agitated; when a child broke out in cheers he opened his eyes wide and turned pale." Walter's normal reaction to the rise of antisemitism was pathologised, he was diagnosed with "severe psychopathy, with a particular sensitivity and paranoid irritability." (Hans Asperger, National Socialism, and “race hygiene” in Nazi-era Vienna by Herwig Czech, p11)
It was in this political climate that Has Asperger developed his theory of autistic psychopathy. His postdoctoral thesis 'Autistischen Psychopathen’ im Kindesalter was required to pass political vetting by the Nationalsozialistischer Deutscher Dozentenbund who ensured his work was based "both on science and the ideology of National Socialism". (Czech, p11)
Asperger conceptualised autism as a form of psychopathy, as he understood it "the fundamental disorder of autistic individuals is the limitation of their social relationships". ('Autistic Psychopathy' in Childhood by Hans Asperger, translated by Uta Frith, p77) He explains:
An old definition of psychopathy is that psychopaths are people who suffer from themselves, and from whom the environment suffers in turn. The latter part of the saying certainly applies to autistic individuals but it is hard to know whether they suffer from themselves. (Asperger p87)
Asperger understood autistic psychopathy as a spectrum:
The range encompasses all levels of ability from the highly original genius, through the weird eccentric who lives in a world of his own and achieves very little, down to the most severe contact-disturbed, automaton-like mentally retarded individual. (Asperger p74)
While Asperger argued that some autistic psychopaths were highly intelligent and thus of use to the community those who he classified as "mentally retarded" did not receive the same favorable treatment.
For example when Asperger assessed 2-year-old Gerald St. in 1941 he described him as “autistic” with “intellectual retardation” and a “disturbed personality”. Asperger concluded that the boy was an “unbearable burden” and recommended him to Spiegelgrund a Nazi facility that "euthanised" disabled children*. Luckily for Gerald the doctors a Spiegelgrund had a much more optimistic view of his abilities and he was released into the care of his grandparents. (Czech, p26)
*There is some debate as to whether or not Asperger was aware of Spiegelgrund's euthanasia program. Herwig Czech make a compelling case that he was aware in his article Hans Asperger, National Socialism, and “race hygiene” in Nazi-era Vienna.
The American Psychological Association
By the turn of the century the German concept of psychopathy had made its way to the United States of America.
In 1918 the American Medico-Psychological Association (AMPA) published the 1st edition of the Statistical Manual for the Use of Institutions of the Insane. The aim of the Statistical Manual was to standardise the diagnosis of mental disorders.
The 1st edition included two types of psychopathy "psychoses with constitutional psychopathic inferiority" and "constitutional psychopathic inferiority without psychosis". The later is classified under the heading "not insane". While the Statistical Manual doesn't specifically mention homosexuality it notes that psychopathic inferiority my include "criminal traits, moral deficiency, tramp life, sexual perversions and various temperamental peculiarities."
By the 10th edition published in 1942* the Statistical Manual had been renamed Statistical Manual for the Use of Hospitals of Mental Diseases and the AMPA had become the American Psychological Association (APA).
Much like the 1st edition the 10th edition included both "psychoses with psychopathic personality" and "psychopathic personality" without "mental disorder" (i.e. without psychosis). Psychopathic personality included 3 sub-types: pathologic sexuality, pathologic emotionality, and asocial or amoral trends as well as a 4th classification for mixed types. Each sub-type included further sub-types. Pathologic sexuality included 4 sub-types: homosexuality, erotomania, sexual perversion and sexual immaturity.
*Unfortunately I could not find the full text for every edition of the Statistical Manual. It should be noted that homosexuality is classified under psychopathic personality in the 1935 edition of the Standard Classified Nomenclature of Disease.
Sexual Psychopath Laws
Increased publicity of sex crimes, especially those involving child victims, led to a sex crime panic during the 1930s-1950s. In spite of much of publicity being focused on violent sexual crimes against women and children, much of the increased policing focused on consensual sodomy between adult men.
"I suppose you read about the kidnapping and killing of the little girl in Chicago—I noticed tonight that they 'thought' (in their damn self righteous way) that perhaps a pervert had done it" wrote one gay man to another in 1946, "they blame us for everything and incidentally it is more and more in the limelight everyday—why they don't round us all up and kill us I don't know." ("Uncontrolled Desires": The Response to the Sexual Psychopath, 1920--1960 by Estelle B. Freedman, p94)
This increased vigilance against consensual adult sodomy was justified by the theories of early 20th century American psychiatrists and criminologists who claimed that homosexuals were more likely to commit sexual crimes against children. Historian Marie-Amélie George explains:
For psychoanalysts, homosexuality was a stage of psycho-sexual development that preceded adolescence, and homosexuals were individuals who were frozen at that stage. As a result of their emotional and sexual immaturity, homosexuals could relate to children and therefore sought children as sexual objects. (The Harmless Psychopath: Legal Debates Promoting the Decriminalization of Sodomy in the United States, p232)
It was also argued that homosexuals sought sexual relationships with children as a means of recruiting them. In his 1949 book The Sexual Criminal Dr. J Paul de River wrote:
All too often we lose sight of the fact that the homosexual is an inveterate seducer of the young of both sexes, and that he presents a social problem because he is not content with being degenerate himself; he must have degenerate companions and is ever seeking for younger victims.
As the field of forensic psychiatry took off in the early 20th century there was a sharp increase of criminals being diagnosed as psychopaths. Between 1919-1926 the number of inmates classified as psychopaths at a reformatory in New York rose from 11.6% to 50.8%. (Freedman, p88)
From the late 30s to early 60s twenty-nine states and the District of Columbia enacted sexual psychopath laws. These laws allowed courts to send those convicted of sex crimes to psychiatric facilities rather than prisons. Sexual psychopaths could be held indefinitely until they were "cured". These laws did not distinguish between consensual and nonconsensual sex crimes. Treatments for sexual psychopaths varied including group therapy, metrazol, insulin shock, electro-shock, hormonal injections, castration, and lobotomy. (Freedman p95-99, George p225, 246 & 255)
Bert Chapman
On the 26 of August 1940 Bert Chapman engaged in consensual sex with with John Bates in the privacy of his own home. In September he was charged with an "act of gross indecency". Before trial the attorney for the prosecution filed a petition to determine whether Chapman was a "criminal sexual psychopathic person."
The circuit court appointed two psychiatrists to examine Chapman. Their report indicates the "defendant's long indulgence in perverted sex behavior" and diagnosed him with "psychosexual deviation, homosexual (sexual psychopath)".
In spite of there being no indication that Chapman engaged in or wished to engage in sexual acts with children the psychiatrists warned that Chapman could be a risk to children:
The prognosis of the near future appears to be unfavorable. He must be considered a distinct sexual menace and a source of serious concern in a free community not only because of his homosexual practices but also his psychosexual deviation is very likely to assume a much more ominous manifestation, that of pedophilia (the use of children as sexual objects). Although denying any advances toward children, that possibility must be gravely considered. There is little likelihood that his desire for sexual gratification by abnormal methods can be overcome soon and further activity of a similar nature may be expected if he is allowed freedom of access in a free community. Segregation in an appropriate institution for the treatment of disorders appears to be definitely indicated.
The court found Chapman to be a "criminal sexual psychopathic person" and ordered for him "to be confined in an appropriate institution under the jurisdiction of either the State hospital commission or the department of corrections until such person shall have fully and permanently recovered from such psychopathy." (see People v. Chapman, Supreme Court of Michigan, 18 May 1942)
Review of Sexual Psychopath Laws
Throughout the 40s and 50s several states established commissions to study the sexual psychopath legislation. These commissions included or consulted psychiatrists, criminologists, social workers, lawyers and judges. Many of the commissions ended up questioning the inclusion of consensual acts under the sexual psychopath laws. Particularly the inclusion of private consensual adult sodomy.
Out of the 11 state commissions 8 advised for the removal of consensual sodomy from sexual psychopath laws. 3 states New York, New Jersey and Illinois adopted these recommendations while 5 states Massachusetts, California, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Minnesota did not. (see The Harmless Psychopath: Legal Debates Promoting the Decriminalization of Sodomy in the United States by Marie-Amélie George)
In 1948, as part of the review of the sexual psychopath statute, the New York Legislature charged Dr. David Abrahamsen to conduct a study on sexual psychopathy. He spent the next 2 years studying 102 sex offenders at Sing Sing prison. Of the 102 prisoners 15 had been convicted for homosexual acts. While most of the men studied had been diagnosed with psychopathy Dr. Abrahamsen found only 2 that he considered to be "genuine psychopaths".
Dr. Abrahamsen criticised the overboard way the diagnosis was applied. He found that in a large percentage of cases "only one examination was given and very often there was no psychological tests nor a prolonged study of the particular inmate." Due to it's overboard usage he suggested that the term "sexual psychopath" be abolished. (see Study of 102 Sex Offenders at Sing Sing by Dr. David Abrahamsen, Federal Probation vol. 14 no. 3)
Sociopathy
Since the coining of the diagnosis in 1888 psychopathy has been repeatedly criticised for being a vague catch-all diagnosis. The term sociopathy was popularised by American psychologist George E. Partridge as an alternative to the confused category of psychopathy.
In his 1930 article Current Conceptions of Psychopathic Personality Partridge explained that "views of psychopathic personality show wide disparity, not to say some degree of confusion, about the proper constituency of the classes of psychopathic persons variously described and named."
Sociopathy (socio (social) + pathy (disease)) was defined by Partridge as "anything deviated or pathological in social relations". This is of course still a rather broad category that was applied to a diverse group of people.
The DSM-I
When the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-I) was published in 1952 the APA decided to excluded the diagnosis of psychopathy instead opting for the newer term sociopathy. Individuals diagnosed with "sociopathic personality disturbance" were understood to be "ill primarily in terms of society and of conformity with the prevailing cultural milieu".
The DSM-I included 4 sub-types of sociopathic personality disturbance; antisocial, dyssocial, sexual and addiction. Addiction included 2 further sub-types alcoholism and drug addiction. In the case of the sexual sub-type the DSM-I instructs that the "diagnosis will specify the type of the pathologic behavior" and lists the following examples; "homosexuality, transvestism, pedophilia, fetishism and sexual sadism (including rape, sexual assault, mutilation)."
The DSM-II, III, IV, & 5
The DSM-II published in 1968 made significant changes to the categorisation of diagnoses. Sociopathy like psychopathy before it was excluded completely and the sub-types split into different classifications. The antisocial sub-type became "antisocial personality" and was classified as a personality disorder. The dyssocial sub-type became "dyssocial behavior" and was classified under "conditions without manifest psychiatric disorder and non-specific conditions". Alcoholism and drug addiction (now drug dependence) were separated into their own categories.
The sexual sub-type became its own category "sexual deviations" which included the following sub-types; homosexuality, fetishism, pedophilia, transvestitism, exhibitionism, voyeurism, sadism, masochism, other sexual deviation, and unspecified sexual deviation.
Due to lobbying by activists homosexuality was removed from the 1974 edition of the DSM-II and replaced with “sexual orientation disturbance”. Which was then renamed "ego-dystonic homosexuality" in the DSM-III (1980). This new category stressed that the individual must be distressed by their homosexual desires and wish to become heterosexual.
Diagnostic criteria for Ego-dystonic Homosexuality
A. The individual complains that heterosexual arousal is persistently absent or weak and significantly interferes with initiating or maintaining wanted heterosexual relationships,
B. There is a sustained pattern of homosexual arousal that the individual explicitly states has been unwanted and a persistent source of distress
The treatment advice noted that "many individuals with this
disorder give up the yearning to become heterosexual and accept themselves as homosexuals" and that this "is apparently facilitated by the presence of a supportive homosexual subculture." And that there is "a general consensus that spontaneous development of a satisfactory heterosexual adjustment in individuals who previously had a sustained pattern of exclusively homosexual arousal is rare." However this presence of ego-dystonic homosexuality in the DSM continued to be used by many to justify conversion therapy.
The DSM-III-R (1987) removed "ego-dystonic homosexuality". However the DSM-IV (1994) and DSM-IV-TR (2000) included the category of “sexual disorder not otherwise specified” which included individuals with a "persistent and marked distress about sexual orientation". This was later removed from the DSM-5 (2013).
While homosexuality was removed from the category of "sexual deviations" in 1974 the category continued to include interest in other consensual sexual behaviour. In the DSM-III "sexual deviations" was renamed "paraphilias". To this day "paraphlic disorders" include interest in both nonconsentual sexual behaviour such as "pedophilic disorder" as well as consensual sexual behaviour such as "transvestic disorder". So while the DSM may have depathologised homosexuality it still continues to pathologise other consensual sexual behavior. The DSM also has a long history of pathologising transgender people however that is a whole post in and of itself. (see Pathologizing Sexual Deviance: A History by Andreas De Block and Pieter R. Adriaens)
DSM-5-TR and the PCL-R
Perhaps the final vestige of the Statistical Manual's "psychopathic personality" and the DSM-I's "sociopathic personality disturbance" is antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) which is still included in the the DSM-5-TR (2022). While it's clinically no longer considered a form of psychopathy or sociopathy it's still culturally conflated with these historical diagnoses.
While clinical psychology has moved away from the language of psychopathy and sociopathy forensic psychology still uses the diagnosis of psychopathy. In the 1970s Canadian psychologist Robert D. Hare developed the Psychopathy Checklist (PCL). The Psychopathy Checklist—revised (PCL-R) is still used within the field of forensic psychology.
Ableism and Racial Bias
While this post focuses on the history of how the diagnoses of psychopathy and sociopathy were used to oppress queer people I did want to acknowledge the way these diagnoses have effected other marginalised groups. I mentioned briefly Hans Asperger and his theory of autistic psychopathy. Including his recommendation of Gerald St. to Spiegelgrund. I highly recommend reading Hans Asperger, National Socialism, and “race hygiene” in Nazi-era Vienna by Herwig Czech for more information of how Asperger used the diagnosis of psychopathy in general as well as autistic psychopathy specifically.
I also talked briefly about Walter Brucker and how antisemitism could influence a diagnosis of psychopathy. (see Czech)
It's also important to consider how racial bias still impacts the diagnoses of psychopathy, ASPD and conduct disorders in childhood. When it comes to differential diagnosis racial bias can play a significant role. A 2024 study found that in the US black children were 61% more likely than white children to be diagnosed with a conduct disorder. While white children were more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD. (see Large-scale analysis reveals racial disparities in the prevalence of ADHD and conduct disorders by Noha Shalaby, Sourav Sengupta & Jamal B. Williams)
While neither autism nor homosexuality are currently classified as types of psychopathy or sociopathy it's important to consider how the history of these diagnoses have influenced the way they are understood today. How do these ideas influence the way psychopathy is still used within the criminal justice system? How does the history inform the way psychopathy and sociopathy are portrayed in pop culture? Next time someone talks about psychopaths will you remember Gerald St., Walter Brucker and Bert Chapman?
Thinking about all that really sharpens why I get so annoyed by settlers basically begging Native people to reassure them that of cooooourse landback won’t involve disturbing any private property ownership!!!1!1!1!1
I think everyone should have a home, that is a human right. But it is not a human right to hold land as exclusive private property, particularly when that private property was originally created via genocide and forced removal and is now maintained and upheld by forcibly excluding the people whose families lived on it.
This is maybe why racist marxist settlers seem to think landback will mean exclusive property rights to land for Native people. When in my opinion at least, it would mean the abolition of land as private property. It would mean everyone can have a home, but no one can weaponize it as exclusionary. It would mean Native people and other non-settlers with ties to the land like Black Americans have the ability to live on the land as they desired, and that no major decisions affecting their way of living on the land would be taken without their say-so. It would involve actual collective decision making, unlike the steamrollering of Native and Black lands that happens in the Americas today.
I’m not saying it would be easy to achieve this or that it would always work perfectly but I don’t think it’s completely unreasonable. It’s also not my job to like, solve every single point of conflict where territorial claims intersect. I’m just a random Native person with a blog and some opinions.
Hey‼️I've just donated $100 AUD to Adel Al-Areer's campaign. I know it's a lot but can anyone match me or even just contribute to matching or at the UTMOST least reblog this addition/distribute to someone who could possibly match⁉️
[Hey‼️I've just donated $100 AUD to Adel Al-Areer's campaign. I know it's a lot but can anyone match me or even just contribute to matching or at the UTMOST least reblog this addition/distribute to someone who could possibly match⁉️]
I'm in massive debt. I'm applying for jobs every day. My wife and I barely got enough donations to afford groceries last month, let alone pay rent. It feels like the clock is constantly ticking toward disaster, and I don't know what else to do except beg for help. I'm sorry.
the way cishet people talk about sex is so fucking depressing. anal sex is kinky. oral is foreplay. i think if you told them sex doesn’t have to involve genitals at all they’d explode
i’m not sure if i’d be able to find it bc i don’t think i saved it but i saw a tiktok a few weeks ago of a trans woman talking about her experience of having sex with trans men, and she brought up that specifically she refuses to see it as ‘penetration’ or ‘penis in vagina’ because she doesn’t feel that way, she doesn’t understand why the penis takes the dominant role. Instead, for her, it’s more like being engulfed, swallowed, surrounded. And i’ve been like. thinking about that constantly ever since. I don’t think that referring to it as penetration is bad, but i think that theres an assumed importance of that certain aspect of sex, that the most important factor to whether something ‘counts’ is the dominance assumed by the role of penetration, with fingers, a toy, etc. In a lot of ways, as a trans man, i’ve learned to distance myself from my body. I am able to feel through peices of plastic better than my actual nerve endings. I feel that the act of transitioning sometimes upsets this hierarchy of sex. The idea that someone may use their body in a way seen as traditional sex but not view it through a traditional lens can be just as terrifying to people as someone not having traditional sex at all. It’s really difficult to articulate. Sex can be a lot of things to a lot of people, and i find it so frustrating when people limit the ways they are able to describe and connect with their bodies because of assumptions that something is not ‘real sex’ because it doesnt involve a certain act, or that penetration is inheritly more accurate or important than alternate views, such as the one i described before.
There's actually now a neologism for the obverse of penetration: circlusion!
"I wish to propose to you a new term, one that has been missing for a long time: “circlusion,” or, if you prefer a purer latinate, “circumclusion.” It denotes the antonym of penetration. It refers to the same physical process, but from the opposite perspective. Penetration means pushing something––a shaft or a nipple––into something else––a ring or a tube. Circlusion means pushing something––a ring or a tube––onto something else––a nipple or a shaft. The ring and the tube are rendered active. That’s all there is to it.
This word, circlusion, allows us to speak differently about certain forms of sex. We need it because penetration still rules supreme over the heteronormative imaginary and its arbitrary division of bodies into “active” and “passive.” The verb to penetrate evokes a non-reciprocal or at least unequally distributed process. The one who is penetrated is implied to be passive. More than that, being penetrated, like being screwed, is automatically imagined as disempowerment." — Bini Adamczak, as translated by Sophie Lewis in The New Inquiry
ok the mechsuits of mammoth skeletons and natural fibers and meteorites is so indigenous-coded to meeeee
a long time ago I had a short story I was working on set in a weird althistory where the US and Canada still existed as settler states but they were ENEMIES and they built giant mechs to traverse the border and police each other / the Anishinaabe people who lived there
but also now I'm like. ancient anishinaabe mechsuit made of mammoth skeletons and wiigob twine and copper??? and then they fight windigos maybe?????
ETA: WAIT this but it's PLAINS anishinaabe and cree and metis people and we use bison skeletons..........
imagine if in the late 1800s the US and Canadian military are attacking Indigenous people on the plains and then all of a sudden we come out with fucking bison mechs.........yes I like this idea
Also, if you haven't watched the film P.S. Burn This Letter Please - you absolutely should go do so right now. It's on Tubi for free. There is also a book version!
P.S. Burn This Letter Please is a documentary about a friend group of drag queens who lived in 1950s New York City, whose stories came to light after the discovery of a collection of letters that they wrote to a friend who moved away from the city. The documentary and book include many samples of the letters themselves, plus interviews with some of the surviving queens who they were able to track down.
Particularly of interest to fans of the show Pose is the story of how several of the queens broke into the Metropolitan Opera House in 1958 and stole 33 expensive wigs. The police never figured out how they got in but one of the masterminds of the heist finally reveals their secret in the doc!
Anyway, it's just a really incredible look at what life was like for queer and trans people in the 1950s. Some of the slang and camp and sarcasm they use feels incredibly familiar in ways that are shocking and delightful. But to me this documentary is one of the best presentations that I have found that really shows what it was like to be queer/trans in the 50s, at least in one specific friend group. There is a lot of oppression, marginalization, and violence they experienced, but also an incredible amount of fun. The subjects of the film were just...incredibly normal queens, who had parties and boyfriends and intra-community spats and daily struggles and occasional tragedies and everything else you might expect.
hi here is a condensed telling of the Sudanese genocide and the history behind it in video form since a lot of you seem to have no clue what’s going on and have just been saying ‘free sudan’ for a couple years. you can use it as a foundation and expand by researching further from there.
this Twitter thread explains in depth how the uae is directly complicit in Sudanese genocide.
here is a link to a page with gofundme campaigns of Sudanese individuals and families. this Twitter account does the same thing
this fundraiser helps to keep twelve community kitchens in the khartoum state area functional. this one keeps a community kitchen in omdurman functional
this initiative provides displaced people from el fasher who have arrived in tawila with food, clothing, medical supplies, menstrual products, etc. it is also funding a community kitchen in el fasher
you can donate here to help disabled Sudanese people in the nuba mountains
you can donate here to provide menstrual pads to Sudanese in displacement camps. one donation of $5 provides them to one person for an entire year.
this fundraiser is raising money to provide evacuation, healthcare and more for families in the gezira state.
this one is raising money to help families rebuild their homes
and darfur women’s action group is raising money to educated displaced children in Sudan and establish / maintain women’s centers
an estimated 25,000 children have been killed by the uae backed rsf [x]. tens of thousands are missing (kidnapped). hundreds of thousands in el fasher are at risk of starving to death in an engineered famine. Sudanese people are being massacred in hospitals, forced to bury themselves alive, raped, hung, starved, and tortured. the rsf are terrorists, the uae are masterminding the genocide of black people, and the absolute very least you can do is know what’s going on when you say ‘free Sudan’
also. kind of relatedly though I was thinking about it in a separate context. I'm deeply distressed by the state of the average 20yo's knowledge of the 20th century. I kind of feel like I should have just spent all of this semester in Trans Studies doing a deep dive on 20th century trans history. After I finally got into the Criterion Collection (lol) I watched this interview attached to a collection of films from the Hays Code era that the interviewer chose to demonstrate how films dealt with queerness in the time they were literally not allowed to even suggest it existed. And they kept using this phrase in reference to actors and directors "they were as out as you could be in that era," meaning something like, at least some people knew they had partners of the same gender, and maybe they were a lil visibly gnc, but it was never stated out loud in polite company.
I can tell my students don't grasp this and I know even for myself it's been hard to grasp, because when I wanted to write a story about a trans person set in 1950 Chicago, I realized I had no clue how being trans in 1950 worked. I knew there wasn't really a way to change your gender marker ofc. But I had no idea, could you get a job if you passed really good? Could you walk down the street in your preferred clothing if you passed kind of okay? How did people actually live?
And the point that I'm trying to make isn't "wow it was so terrible back then," that's kind of the opposite of what I mean. I mean that we who grew up mostly post-2000 in the US often have much less understanding of how trans and queer people DID find ways to live in that atmosphere. The film PS Burn This Letter Please really helped me with this. If you live in a world where you know you're trans but society hates transness so much that it's illegal and unspeakable, what DO you do to survive, and not just survive but have moments of something beyond "just bearable"?
I think I, at least, have had a tendency to look past expressions of (proto) transness historically when it's like "oh, they seem pretty trans but they didn't actually try to pass, or they didn't ask people to call them different names/pronouns" or whatever. You could say similarly about people probably queer who were married. But to hold people living in those circumstances to the "standards" of transness or queerness today is kind of unfair. Certainly, there were people who gave up everything in order to be as openly queer/trans as they desired, and those people usually ended up at the absolute rock bottom of society, and we should recognize the incredible sacrifices they made to do that. But there were a lot more people who lived in precarious situations that may seem "compromised" to us today but in their time were also pretty brave and important.
idk. this is so historian of me but I'm just tired of people putting 21st expectations onto earlier periods, not in a "let's excuse past prejudices" type of way lol but in a way that causes us to fail to appreciate the ingenuity of queer and trans people who came before us.
Owning physical media in this era is a privilege too. It’s becoming harder to buy DVD players and DVDs, and the same goes for CDs and similar formats. You know what we actually need? We need open-access media...free to archive, free to copy and paste, and free to burn into physical forms if you’re so inclined.
