#lgtbqiap

[androclass]

Don't tell me I need to "fem up" ever again

[femucla]

A study published in 2014 by UCLA’s William Institute found that 46% of trans men and 42% of trans women attempt suicide. These statistics should make society realize that this group needs help. Plenty of support and acceptance should be offered to a person undergoing this life-changing and emotionally painful transformation process; however the statistics show that this rarely happens. It is more likely that individuals undergoing the transformation receive the opposite of support and acceptance . Here are some more staggering statistics from the UCLA study: 57% of transgender people reported that their family refused to speak with them or see them. 50-54% reported being harassed or bullied at school. 50-59% experienced discrimination or harassment at work. 60% reported doctors or health care providers refused to treat them. 64-65% suffered physical or sexual violence at work and 63-78% at school. 69% experienced homelessness. These findings are absolutely terrifying. Our society needs to realize that treating people like this is unacceptable. In her suicide note, Leelah slated her parents, and told them that they can’t control her life and revealed their utter lack of support in her transition. It was Leelah’s dying wish that the transgender community would get more support from support from their friends, families, and schools. We should all strive to honor that wish. It is time we start listening to Leelah’s request to look at these suicide rates and realize that“‘That’s fucked up,’ and fix it.” So let’s fix it.

Supporting the Transgender Community: Are Allies Doing Enough?

[regentrude-sleeping]

Minority Scrabble

So, people who talk to me might have noticed that I use the term QUILTBAG rather than LGTBQIAP or the like. (The U stands for "undecided".) I prefer the former because it makes it harder to be lazy and shorten it to just LGTB, like most people in the queer community and in mainstream still do, and because it's actually ponounceable in face-to-face conversation. Also, I Iike the mental picture I get from it: a patchwork of different-looking things nevertheless all held together in one 'bag'.

I know there are more inclusive abbreviations like GSM (Gender and Sexual Minorities), but that started as a scientific term, not as something created by the community, and therefore always sounds a little like a medical diagnosis to me. Also, it's a lot less obvious to outsiders what is meant, so you always have to write it out anyway. And personally, I think it is necessary to mention the more erased identities like asexual / aromantic or intersex at least by the initial, lest they be forgotten by the reader during whatever discussion you're trying to have.

But the problem with QUILTBAG is that it isn't easily expansible, and doesn't include identities like pansexual. Now, you could say the at the difference between pan and bi (in the traditional definition of "attracted to two or more genders") is negligible. But what about nonbinary gender identities? That's clearly different from "trans", as far as I understand.

So I've played around with the letters a bit today, trying to come up with a pronounceable word instead of LGTBQIAPN... I didn't get a whole word, but I think PAN-QUILTBAG would actually work nicely. I mean, the Greek prefix "pan" translates to "all" or "all-encompassing", so it does fit well with the meaning I was going for. (The second A stands for "agender", not "allies".)

What do you think?

[luminescent-wanderings]

People who think a character can't like people of the same gender because they've been in sexual situations with someone of the opposite gender are so incredibly ignorant like have you never heard of bisexuality, or pansexuality? I've even had canonically gay characters in a heterosexual relationship resulting in children because that's what the time period/culture/situation demanded of them/it was seen as their duty to bear children or marry.

[luminescent-wanderings]

Everyone Knew I Liked Girls Before I Did

An autobiography everyone's read even though I haven't written it yet.

[peacelovehappinessandwriting]

Demisexual Snape Headcanon

My new head canon is that Snape's demisexual. For those who do not know what it means to be demisexual,  a demisexual person is defined by asexuality.org as"a person who does not experience sexual attraction unless they form a strong emotional connection with someone." It is recognized as a form of asexuality, but is considered to be on the gray end of the spectrum.

I created this head canon after reading a ton of posts from people insisting that there's "no way in hell" that Snape could possibly be a virgin because, as a man, "all that pent up sexual frustration would have killed him". Which, personally, if I were a man, I'd probably be a little offended if I read that, since it would imply that due to my genitals I could not function properly as a virgin. 

I'm liking the idea of headcannoning HP characters as LGTBQIAP+ people, since aside from Dumbledore, there are no official LGTBQIAP+ characters in the series, which I think is a shame because including non cis-heterosexual characters would have given the series more diversity and even more depth, and might have made some LGTBQIAP+ kids (and adults for the adults who read Harry Potter) reading the series strongly benefit from some visible reputation for once. 

Obviously, Snape's not gay, but he COULD still be bi, pan, or asexual. (And heterosexual too, of course, but as this is an   LGTBQIAP+  head canon, heterosexuality isn't applicable here.) My problem with bi! or Pan!Snape is that the only person he ever loved romantically or even just had a crush on  in his life was *spoilers* Lily Evans, so I do not know if that head canon could still work and still be considered canon. In addition, he seems too preoccupied with Lily to even be sexually attracted to someone else, which got me to thinking: What if Snape was asexual? 

How awesome would it be if the character with the most powerful romantic love in the series was asexual? People insist that you need to be sexually attracted to or have sex with someone in order to be "truly" in love with them, so wouldn't it be nice to have a character proving them wrong?

Only....I reread that scene in DH where Snape and Lily were talking in the courtyard, and it's really hard to read that scene and NOT interpret there being some sexual tension from Snape's side.  Seriously, his pubescent testosterone levels seem to be skyrocketing into the atmosphere in that scene.  

But then...I learned what demisexuality is, and that even though  many demisexuals do experience sexual attraction, the attraction only forms  after building a strong emotional connection with someone, and demisexuality is ergo recognized as asexuality, albeit on the gray end of the spectrum.  Which would mean that, with this headcanon, Snape can be interpreted as being demisexual, and not only would it  qualify as an  LGTBQIAP+ headcanon, it's something that could feasibly have been accurate in the books. We may never know, of course, and I'm not saying that just because I interpret him as being demisexual that he automatically IS demisexual in the canon, this is  merely  my interpretation  of him. 

In conclusion: I interpret Snape as being demisexual, because I feel that this would serve as positive  LGTBQIAP+ representation, and add more depth to the Harry Potter series as a whole. Thank you. :) 

[androclass]

Today was my last class of marriage and the family and we had a test. One of the questions was "name two things you learned this semester and why they are important". I gave two real reasons but added "bonus: heterosexual couples have a lot of gender differences that complicate the relationship. It helps because i appreciate that im queer."