I made this a while back, but today is as good a day as any to post it.This is queerbaiting simplified. It’s showing one thing, multiple things, just enough to plant the seed of that oh so dangerous thought: “Could this character possibly be just like me?”. Just enough to keep us guessing, just enough to not be enough for everyone to see. Because we are looking, we find what the creators so carefully put there “hidden” in plain sight (don’t you see it? it is there!). Our readings are silently tolerated, swept underneath the rug, shoved into the cupboard under the stairs. It’s all fine, as long as you don’t show your face and raise your voice. (“don’t talk about it, don’t ruin the status-quo, don’t be different”)
More and more people read those characters as queer. More and more LGBTQ+ youth and adults (and even non-LGBTQ+ people) hold unto that tiny sliver of hope that this time, this time it will be our turn. Until that thin rope we were collectively holding unto breaks and we fall. The rope breaks and we fall. Some will walk away barely scathed, just some bruises here and there, but others will break their bones and have to learn to walk all over again. And again. Repeat.
But that rope? It only breaks because someone cut it. Maybe they only frayed one thread, but it was enough. It’s a strong rope, it could have supported us all. We can’t fix it, we don’t have the means. We can only wonder why you would break our piece of rope, when you have a whole assortment of rope ladders to choose from.
So what is queerbaiting really? It’s showing a thing and then blaming people for seeing the thing. If you don’t want us to see the thing, don’t freaking put it there.
I’m pro same-sex marriage because, if the insane slippery slope rhetoric holds true, in a few years I’ll be legally allowed to marry a Chipotle Burrito Bol and nothing would make me happier.
To all the people who feel empowered when they like this picture or who feel super cool for laughing at those who have this on their facebook let me tell you something….
I left my hometown almost 4 years ago with the hopes of never seeing it again. I hated everything in that town because of how scared I was to ever be my true self there. I never wanted to go home and see anybody I had spent 18 years living around because of the very real fear and very real concern for my well-being in that location.
Now that i’m about to graduate college, i’m more comfortable with my identity and who I am than I ever imagined I could be in life. I never believed I could be so truthful with people (including my parents, which took a shit ton of time and a lot of crying to end up where I am now).
Today I decided to change my profile picture on facebook. I have never once said anything or hinted at anything on facebook that led to me admitting i’m gay. Facebook has been my last comfort zone with my hidden identity. I have kept it that way for stupid reasons. I have plenty of friends who are in the same boat as me.
Today, when I changed my profile picture, I made a statement about my personal beliefs that said I support LGBT rights.
Things I didn’t do:
- Think that my profile picture could change anything in the real world.
- Believe that in any capacity that my online actions were relevant to anything off the internet
Now I sit here at the end of the day and see people from back home that I would have never EVER thought would have supported marriage equality have their profile pictures red. DO YOU WANNA KNOW HOW I FELT?
I felt fucking fantastic because for the first time I felt like people were on my side. People I had never been close to or ever had serious conversations with ever in my life, but seeing them show their support for something that absolutely defines how I can be happy in my life made me ecstatic and excited beyond compare.
You wanna know how I feel when I see this picture and people in the LGBT community making fun of those who chose to show their support?
I FEEL LIKE SHIT. You realize that it sucks to see people who you share a common struggle with openly hate you for something as petty as showing support on facebook? Look at your life and look at your choices? You are hurting the spirits of individuals with their identities secret JUST AS MUCH AS THOSE WHO ARE SPEWING HATRED WITH RELIGION!!! Yeah you read that right. YOU LOOK EXACTLY LIKE THOSE HATEFUL PEOPLE WHO ALREADY HATE YOU.
Long post I know, but sit there and look at your life and look at your choices? Don’t pretend to be any better because at the end of the day YOUR FUCKING RIGHT TO BE A FULLY RESPECTED HUMAN BEING IS ON THE LINE BY A GROUP OF PEOPLE SITTING IN A ROOM.
That fucking comment!!!!
March for LGBT rights today in Angouleme, France.
Angouleme is famous for the International Comics festival (FIBD), which starts in less than 2 weeks. So of course, here is the truck used in the march! ^^ In the background it’s the town hall.
+ a close-up on the drawings. Notice the rings on the hands of the characters.
I think the best one is the one with the smurfette, because it mocks the fact that the smurfette is the only female in the smurfs world. She’s not alone anymore. ^^Aaaahhh this makes me all warm and fuzzy, especially ASTERIX AND OBELIX! Aaawww
Tintin and Capt Haddock!
this is my favourite photo on tumblr. it’s perfect.
^ I officially love this gloriously snarky man right here :D
Audrey Hepburn spent many years in Africa helping the helpless. Yet all the pictures on Tumblr show her as a fashion icon. Fashion passes in a wink, compassion lasts forever.
I wish my moderate Republican friends would simply be honest. They all say they’re voting for Romney because of his economic policies (tenuous and ill-formed as they are), and that they disagree with him on gay rights. Fine. Then look me in the eye, speak with a level clear voice, and say, ‘My taxes and take-home pay mean more than your fundamental civil rights, the sanctity of your marriage, your right to visit an ailing spouse in the hospital, your dignity as a citizen of this country, your healthcare, your right to inherit, the mental welfare and emotional well-being of your youth, and your very personhood.’ It’s like voting for George Wallace during the Civil Rights movements, and apologizing for his racism. You’re still complicit. You’re still perpetuating anti-gay legislation and cultural homophobia. You don’t get to walk away clean, because you say you ‘disagree’ with your candidate on these issues.
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| — | Doug Wright (via literaryporn) |
all my OTPs sittin’ in a tree
HO-MO-SEXU-ALITY
first comes love
then comes marriage
thanks obama
you’re welcome.
Gay Pride Events in Uganda
“The importance of this Pride event cannot be understated. The fact that these brave activists could pull this off in this milieu of persecution is a great victory for the community. Visibility like this notes the ongoing legacy of late activist David Kato, it defies the export of American Evangelical hate, and it helps ensure defeat of the Bahati Bill. It shows leadership for all of Africa, and above all it shows that the LGBT people of Uganda simply refuse to give up their right to exist and to live their natural born sexual orientation.”
you can read the full article here
Their bravery is inspirational.
