#queer ancestors

[flamingkorybante]

My friend worked with the People With AIDS Coalition in 1990 and found this while cleaning out some old folders. I can't stop thinking about it.

[demimondefemme]

i often think about how our queer lesbian ancestors would cruise

how coded, yet consistent they would be in pursuing those they desired

how protective they were of the spaces they created for themselves and the people in it

and then i think about online spaces now and how freely we can express desire to and with one another, particularly the butchfemme and studfemme communities on tumblr

now i know things were not perfect in the times of yesteryear - terfs/radfems excluding our trans family, black, brown and indigenous communities not being included or welcomed in queer spaces and led to create our own, among other offenses, some of which still plague our communities - but i often wonder how our ancestors would react to seeing us continuing to try, to seeing more spaces we can gather irl and online, to seeing us talk about the identities they molded be honored and held, to seeing us elders pass down the knowledge to those coming up after them, to seeing queer and trans folks be successful in so many industries, make homes for ourselves, to see the posts of butchfemme and studfemme desire, queer desire, lesbian desire, dyke desire, trans desire.

how corrections and necessary call in/call outs are shared.

how our community made it through the HIV crisis and cared for one another when the world left us to die and blamed us for it

again, it’s not perfect. violence still meets us way more than it should. but we’re still here.

i hope that where ever they are in the next lifetime(s), they can find rest, joy and happiness in we are still finding ways to survive, to live, and to flourish

[lokisspanana]

You are not the first queer person in your family tree

I remember a lot of people feel reluctant to do ancestral veneration due to rejection and abuse by current family and Queerphobia etc

It helps to think the ancestors you reach out to are the ones better than that. That often they understand what you’re going through more than anyone. That you’re also not the first queer person in your family tree but maybe the first out the closet. They want to look out for you and see you thrive more than anyone.

You’re not connecting to a bigoted parent or grandparent but connecting to the person in your family whose better than them. Or can fill the hole made by the living.

[void-of-course]

please share and give if u can

[blessedarethebinarybreakers]

Wednesday, 4/1 — Hebrews 12:1-3

So then, with endurance, let’s also run the race that is laid out in front of us, since we have such a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us… - v. 1

I adore the notion of a “great cloud of witnesses.” Do you know how many queer folks and queer ancestors are in your great cloud of witnesses?! So many! 

Queerness demands connection. It teaches us to be a collective. Part of that collective includes the ancestors who have come before us, and another part includes those who cheer us on from the sidelines.

Make a list of your cloud of witnesses. How have they encouraged your queerness to be ever sweeter? How have they cheered you on in the race toward self acceptance and love of others? Who is at the finish line waiting with a bottle of water and a hug to collapse your tired body into? 

Hold the list in your hand. Give thanks for it. Now make a list of who you might be a witness to.

- Addie Domske

[wytchwyse]

Before pride month is over, I need us all to understand and agree that all the iterations of the pride flag are valid. From the OG flag made by Gilbert Baker in 78' All the way to the modern progress Pride flags with the chevrons. Hearing young queers vilify the early Pride flags just feels like a slap in the face to our queer ancestors. I just so happen to really like the progress Pride flag with the chevrons , so that's what I hang up in my window. But in the end they all mean the same thing whether it's implied or not.

[belalubroski]

It's not just that we as queer people have always been here, it's that we always will be. There will be queer people hundreds of years after us. They will think of us too.

[trans-rite]

While Sylvester is best known for his chart-topping collaborations with producer Patrick Cowley, such as “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real),” this release reveals his passion for the sounds of the 30s and 40s. In 1970 a 22-year-old Sylvester had moved to San Francisco and found himself involved with the Cockettes, the infamous psychedelic performance art troupe. Among this milieu was Peter Mintun, a pianist and record collector living in a commune devoted to retro culture. [...] Mintun and Sylvester bonded over their love of Black singers of yore and were allotted a slot during Cockettes performances reviving the music of the Prohibition Era. One afternoon, Sylvester and Mintun recorded a number of their shared favorites using a high-end microphone a friend had acquired. Private Recordings features 9 songs from this session, including standards like “Stormy Weather,” “Happy Days Are Here Again,” and “God Bless the Child.” Sylvester’s unmistakable falsetto brings depth and a dash of camp to these familiar tunes.

[source]