pale blossoms called innocence

I know folks have been sharing this link on other posts, but &udm=14 works well:

You can add it as an extension to Firefox now: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/udm14/reviews/

Holy shit

The thing is... Israel admitted to this from the very beginning.

They said the confessions were obtained through 'interrogation' in the Shin Bet aka torture (Shin Bet is where they like to torture Palestinian prisoners for intel) so every country that cut funding to the UNRWA knew from the beginning that Israel was using false forced statements.

The famine in Gaza is partly due to this. Never forget that.

Figurative sketches of trans-masc people I did a couple days ago

Valentine’s day is just around the corner, so I decided to continue last year’s tradition and make a trans valentines card! Cards are all lino printed by hand and available in my shop rejka.bigcartel. com ❤️

“Wear It On Your Sleeve”, Hand embroidery on cotton, Kim Craig, October 2022

“Gay people invented safe sex. We knew that the alternatives— monogamy and abstinence— were unsafe, unsafe in the latter case because most people do not abstain from sex, and if you only tell them “just say no,” they will have unsafe sex. We were able to invent safe sex because we have always known that sex is not, in an epidemic or not, limited to penetrative sex. Our promiscuity taught us many things, not only about the pleasures of sex, but about the great multiplicity of those pleasures. It is that psychic preparation, that experimentation, that conscious work on our own sexualities that has allowed many of us to change our sexual behaviors— something that brutal “behavioral therapies” tried unsuccessfully for over a century to force us to do— very quickly and very dramatically.

(…)

All those who contend that gay male promiscuity is merely sexual compulsion resulting from fear of intimacy are now faced with very strong evidence against their prejudices. For if compulsion were so easily overcome or redirected, it would hardly deserve the name. Gay male promiscuity should be seen instead as a positive model of how sexual pleasures might be pursued by and granted to everyone if those pleasures were not confined within the narrow limits of institutionalized sexuality. Indeed, it is the lack of promiscuity and its lessons that suggests that many straight people will have a much harder time learning “how to have sex in an epidemic’’ than we did. This assumption follows from the fact that risk reduction information directed at heterosexuals, even when not clearly anti-sex or based on false morality, is still predicated on the prevailing myths about sexuality in our society. First among these, of course, is the myth that monogamous relationships are not only the norm but ultimately everyone’s deepest desire. Thus the message is often not about safe sex at all, but about how to find a safe partner”

Douglas Crimp, How to Have Promiscuity in an Epidemic

honestly don’t get people who say “this is all because you didn’t vote in 2016″ cause like. people did vote. trump did lose the popular vote. that’s a p significant thing that happened, like people did go out to vote. it’s just that as it turns out, in this country, voting does jack shit

not to mention, obama did say in 2009 that he would codify roe v wade, and he was president for 8 full years. biden said that he would codify roe v wade, and he’s the president right now. and of course, roe v wade never got codified in all this time. so maybe this isn’t the fault of people not voting, and the fault of politicians who fundamentally do not give a shit about us, and simply use our rights as bargaining chips to get into power

With the overturning of Roe v. Wade, I need to let people know how dangerous the healthcare privacy climate is now. As someone that works with PHI (protected health information) I want to stress that HIPAA (the law that prevents your health data from being shared) does not apply to healthcare apps. These are incredibly dangerous to use, not only because law enforcement can procure a subpoena to access this information, but because these apps can sell your health data to any third party—potentially anti-abortion activists. Anyone with a uterus should delete not only period trackers, but mental health apps, because if you have a miscarriage or seek an abortion in a state that outlaws it, your mental health history can be used against you.

I would also discourage people from using online therapy apps like BetterHelp and Talkspace. Though BetterHelp says they are HIPAA compliant, that is a lie. They have shared data with Facebook. Their most recent privacy policy update says “We may share your information in connection with an asset sale, merger, bankruptcy, or other business transaction.” Any data breach could put your information at risk. Any health app could suddenly decide to change their privacy policies without notice.

Most responsible clinicians put your health data under (many times literally) lock and key. PHI software like Epic or Cerner have numerous failsafes to prevent data leaks. This is not the case for apps. BetterHelp and healthcare apps in general do not care about this. They only care about money. Do not trust any app or healthcare provider that operates strictly online. And for your own sake, use a VPN if you’re searching for abortion providers or advice.

They actually made a formal set of guidelines for practice practice aboard ISS when the first Malaysian astronaut got to go to space!

I hate being a customer I hate doing that to someone

Pride is almost here so I think it is good to remember pride isn't here thanks to world wide companies who "dress in rainbow" just for a month. Pride is here because trans women, butch lesbians, gay men, queer people of color and every other memeber of the LGBTQ+ community fought in the past and still fighting today. There are still a lot of things to fight for. So keep fighting until we are sure each one of us is safe and happy. Have a great pride month.

Also trans men. Because posts like this always mention trans women but not trans men. It is possible to support transfeminine people without perpetuating the myth that trans men have never been involved in our own history. Thanks.

Jamison Green, born in 1948. He was a pioneer for trans men after Lou Sullivan's death. He's still alive.

Carter Brown, a victim of workplace transphobia, and the founder of Black Transmen Inc.

Robert Eads, 1945-1999. Pictured with his trans female partner, Lola. I recommend watching Southern Comfort, which follows him throughout his final year of life. His story is a beautiful one, but also a tragic example of medical transphobia.

Loren Cameron, born in 1959. A photographer and artist, who curated exceptional and groundbreaking collections of trans photography.

Willmer Broadnax, 1916-1992. A black gospel singer who never medically transitioned, but lived his entire life as a male, in public.

Lucas Silveira, born in 1979. He is the first openly transgender man to have signed with a major record label. He is still alive.

Billy Tipton, 1914-1989. He did not undergo a medical transition, but raised multiple children, and had a successful musical career.

Jim McHarris, a black trans man born in 1954, who you can read more about here.

Reed Erickson, 1917-1992. You can read about his insanely important contribution to LGBT+ progress here.

Stop erasing trans male stories by leaving us out of Pride Month posts.

Trans men are not a footnote in history.

Trans men are not an afterthought.

We have always been around.

Erasure of trans men, and transmasculine people more generally, perpetuates the myth that queerness is inherently feminine. Butch lesbians, male impersonators, and trans men have always been central to LGBT+ progress and pride. I'm tired of people defaulting to anti-FTM mindsets, or at the very least, erasing trans men as their first instinct. I'm sick of the invisibility that we suffer. I'm sick of masculine lesbians, like Stormé DeLarverie, being treated as irrelevant. I feel so much solidarity with butches and lesbians who have been cut out of history, because the same thing is happening to trans men.

This Pride Month, when you see a post claiming trans women are the only ones who ever contributed to progress, remember to critically think. Remember all the work that trans men have done. Remember the masculine people, and men, who died so that we could live. Who stood alongside drag queens and trans women.

i dont know how people handle the world without looking at pictures of little tiny mice sitting on wheat

powerful…

Ring, 1905-09, France.

Beautiful #Ramadan tradition in the old city of #jerusalem. The callers who go from house to house in the early hours of the morning waking up each family by name for Qiyam and s7oor. They do so in a poetic form. Imagine being woken up daily in this beautiful way. This tradition has continued from generation to generation. Bless them #palestine

i reblog this every year, but this time i need to stress that this tradition, like many others in palestine, is now under threat. these callers are currently facing harassment, fines and detainment by israeli police who say the callers are no longer allowed to practice this tradition because “settlers living in the neighbourhood had complained about the noise”, even though these callers operate in predominantly palestinian muslim neighbourhoods.