Identity
Lessons on Love from an AroAce
It wasn’t until much later that it all began to make sense. Hindsight is like that, blindingly clear when you look back at all the collected memories through eyes wizened by time. Growing up there’s a knowing, even when you’re little, that you’re different. This is long before you’ll learn about concepts like straight and gay and all the other words that exist in between to cut and bruise and leave shame scarred in the places you hide.
By Tonya Johnson4 years ago in Pride
Growing Pains of Self-Imagery & Gender Dysphoria
As a transgender author and transformative life coach, I'm not going to give you the same meat-and-potato-food-for-thought that many others successfully provide to the internet. This is more like a juice cleanse; the only appetizing part about it is that you know you need it and will feel way better after you do it, and the digestibility of the content is based on your willingness to drink the dang drink or throw it out. Here's the good news, I am happy to provide you with the drink! I'll make it taste as good as it can while making sure you get those much-needed nutrients, and of course, it'll be made with love. So, let's discuss the fun topic of self-imagery and gender dysphoria!
By Vanessa Wilcox4 years ago in Pride
Hermit's Kingdom
If you're new here: This is a blog series giving LGBTQIA+ people's perspectives on the Tarot cards. Tarot is a set of symbols added on to a deck of playing cards, depicting a spiritual journey, to be used for meditation or fortune telling. Catch up with the characters we've met on the journey so far by clicking on these links for The Fool, The Magician, The High Priestess, The Empress, The Emperor, The Hierophant, The Lovers, The Chariot, and Strength. The particular version that's thought of today as the basic traditional Tarot, from which the myriad of decks are influenced and inspired, was drawn by mixed race bisexual lady Pamela "Pixie" Colman Smith, whose insights I'm sure made it into this art commission given her by straight white men, whatever their expectations of her might have been. So I've asked LGBTQIA+ Tarot users in online groups to give me their viewpoints on the cards, and the result is this series of blogs.
By Steph Cole4 years ago in Pride
What's In A Name?
Josey isn't my birth name. Sometimes it confuses people, why did I change it? What's wrong with the name I had? People from my past have a hard time adjusting to the name change and using it for themselves. Sometimes they slip, but for the most part, everyone tries, even if they don't quite understand WHY. I spent most of my life under a different name, and my adult life under a nickname that would become my new first name. I get how it can be a difficult adjustment, but I also try to be open about why when people get critical.
By Josey Pickering4 years ago in Pride
A Gender-neutral Graduation Includes Everyone!. Top Story - June 2022.
I first spied him carrying chairs across the lawn to the area where the tables and food were being set up for the graduation party. He was dressed like a typical Midwestern teenage boy: jeans, t-shirt, Converse Chuck Taylor sneakers, a trucker cap atop his buzz cut, and a loose-fitting tee that didn’t do much to hide the fact that his chest was tightly bound underneath. If I had to guess, I would bet that he was using a combination of ace bandage, plus a smaller, tighter tank beneath his clothing. I shuddered to myself, imagining the physical discomfort, especially on that particularly balmy June afternoon. Not to mention any emotional or psychological discomfort that they experienced as a trans teen in small town, USA. I thought all this to myself, as it was certainly none of my business. Still, I often find myself casually keeping an eye out for queer and BIPOC kids when I’m visiting areas that are traditionally conservative.
By Allison Rice4 years ago in Pride
Let’s Have a Conversation about Gender Identities
Since my childhood, I was being judged and bullied because of my quiet neutral style. Some people thought I was too awkward to be a girl, some others imagined that I was a lesbian, and I did choose my style on purpose.
By Marie Cadette Pierre-Louis4 years ago in Pride
I'm not broken.
For as long as I can remember, I knew I was "different." I didn't feel how everyone else did when it came to people that I liked. I never looked at another person and thought "I want to have sex with you." But I knew that's how others felt, so I acted like I did as well. I didn't want to be different, I wanted to have the same feelings that "normal" people had.
By Hilary Zwiesele4 years ago in Pride
