(((Digimon Is Forever)))

[image description: tweet by Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg (@TheRaDR) from 12/2/18, 9:44 AM saying ‘We need diverse representation not only so every kid can see themselves as the hero of the story, but so every kid can understand that *other* kinds of kids are *also* the heroes of the story.’ id end] 

anyway the idea that the #queer discourse is all about “uwu sweatie we don’t care if you call yourself queer, we just don’t want you calling other people that without their permission :)” is a straight up lie

i’ve literally seen multiple posts explicitly telling queer people we need to stop id'ing as queer, vilifying us for id'ing as queer, accusing us of being “actually cishet” for id'ing as queer, oh so helpfully providing us with lists of things we can call ourselves instead of queer (“why not call yourself gay or just say ‘not straight’ instead?”), and even posts telling queer people that id'ing as queer is homophobic

i’ve seen multiple queer people get anons in their ask box saying all of these things to them and attacking them for id'ing as queer and telling them they need to stop

i’ve seen multiple posts demonizing the word queer itself, mocking it, calling it stupid and worthless and any number of other negative things (and calling people who id as queer those things by association)

i’ve seen multiple posts denying the history of the word queer and denying that it has ever been used as an identitifer (“you can’t id as queer, it’s not a real identity, it just means strange and weird and why would you want to id as THAT?!” and “it’s always been a slur and has never been anything but a slur!”)

i’ve seen multiple posts made by queer people talking about their queerness hijacked by people yelling at them to not use queer for people without their permission even though they were not doing that at all in the post

and this is not even getting started on all the posts out there trying to shame queer people into censoring our own identities every time we type out queer in a post, something that is not expected of anyone else who has reclaimed any other lgbtqia+ slur

all of this having…absolutely nothing to do with calling people queer without their permission and everything to do with deriding the very concept of being queer and attacking queer people.

and i’m not saying that there aren’t people involved in this discourse who genuinely just don’t think queer shouldn’t be used for people who don’t id as it because i know y'all exist but these examples i’m listing? they are not in the minority. these are not just a few isolated incidences. this kind of shit is pervasive in this discourse and it’s only queer people who are bringing it up while mostly everyone else denies it’s happening.

there is ABSOLUTELY a movement right not specifically attacking queer people for id'ing as queer themselves, there are ABSOLUTELY people involved in this discourse who are pushing for queer to stop being used as an identifier entirely and not just for people who don’t want to have it used for them, and when you reply to queer people talking about this—about the queerphobia we’re experiencing and the way our identity is being targeted and the way we’ve been explicitly told to stop using our word for ourselves—and tell us that “um no one is telling you you can’t be queer. :)” and denying that any of this is happening and this discourse is ONLY about using queer as an umbrella term?

you are 100% complicit in this queerphobia and i don’t trust a goddamn thing about what you’re saying or your motivations behind it.

In which one of the best accounts on Twitter, the Merriam-Webster dictionary, writes you a nice limerick defending the singular “their.” 

[IMAGE: A screenshot of a tweet by Merriam-Webster. The text reads: 

If you’re a stickler for grammar, prepare to be irked by the singular ‘their’ Tho it seems a mistake The position we take Is if the word is in use we don’t care

It is accompanied by a link to the Merriam-Webster website, to a page titled “We Made You a Bunch of Usage Limericks.”] 

listen… i’m a lesbian and i know full well what oppression based on love is like… but i wish white gay folks wouldn’t act like sexuality is the only reason anyone’s ever felt that

there are people in my family who’ve been disowned because they married someone of a different colour to them… i’m mixed race and the very concept of my existence would’ve been illegal in the us when my parents were born. the supreme court only ruled against discrimination of mixed-race marriages in 1967! that’s barely 50 years ago. homophobia is an awful thing to experience and i know that from first hand experience but i’m begging you to remember that gay people aren’t the only ones being killed for who they love. please remember the struggles faced by Black and brown people when you talk about oppression. please have some solidarity with your nonwhite friends (especially your nonwhite gay friends!) when you talk about dismantling the systems that keep us alone and isolated. please remember the horrible history that is anti-miscegenation laws when you talk about equal marriage rights, because they aren’t just for white gay people.

this is okay for white people to reblog

Mixed-race marriages were still being denied in 2009. This is not ancient history. Just because it’s law, doesn’t mean bigots give up their preferences. In communities that shelter and protect bigotry, it takes a long, long time for oppressed people to get the same rights everyone else has.

!!!!!!!!

‘Uwu wlnb/mlnb is fetishising bc I PERSONALLY id more as a man/woman and i wanna be treated that way instead’

Okay: have you considered these terms are aimed at non-binaries who don’t use binary alignment terminology (male aligned/female aligned) and see no positivity of themselves, no posts getting cute women and men supporting them, supporting relationships with them, talking about their attraction & crushes on someone who is nb, or their partners, who deserve to feel gushed over, and have positivity too?

Have you considered never seeing any content aimed at us makes us feel unattractive and unlovable? Have you considered few want to misgender themselves into a binary category just to receive this? Have you considered binary trans men and women can also be attracted to us when you go on about fetishizing trans people?

Have you considered calling yourself attracted to a nb person doesn’t mean you’re saying you’d be interested in Literally Every NB Person or that nb is one gender? Have you considered most if not all wlnb/mlnb posts i’ve seen so far were made by nbs themselves, OR their partners directed at their nb partner.

Have you considered if it doesn’t apply to you don’t use it? Have you considered, maybe, this wasn’t really intended for you? Have you considered letting nonbinary people who don’t align to the binary have this One Thing for once?

a person who is questioning their gender identity is allowed to say that they’re not comfortable with their birth name or that they don’t like certain pronouns. a person who is questioning is allowed to try new names and pronouns and ways of presentation. just because they are questioning does not mean that it’s okay for you to treat them disrespectfully and call them things they’ve said they’re uncomfortable with.

“you don’t know what you are yet so why does it matter if i keep calling you by that name?” isn’t a good excuse.

“you don’t know if that’s how you’re going to dress from now on so i can say how much i hate it all i want” is a shit thing to do.

a person questioning their gender identity does not make them someone who it’s okay to be an ass to. respect people who are questioning their gender identity the same as you would anyone else.

Fact: No one has the right to tell you that you aren’t really bisexual. Not other LGBTQIAP+ people, not your friends, not your parents, not your partner. The only person in charge of labeling your orientation is you.

to all my POC don’t let anyone, not even POC of your own race tell you how legit of a POC you are. if you claim it and are proud of it, don’t let aaaannnnyyyyooonnnneeee tell you that you’re whitewashed or not ‘really *insert race*. it’s bollocks and detrimental to anything and everything.

Holly Quinn in Episode 22A of Fansplaining (via fansplaining)

You deserve to have your labels respected.

[Image description]

Leonard Pollard

My mom was having trouble using they/them prnouns with some friends for a while. One day she said “I think the problem is that I haven’t changed the way I view their gender outside of their pronouncs which adds several extra steps in converting binary pronouns to they/them then conjugating it. So I need to shift how I see them as a gendered person entirely to make using their pronouns easier.” And since then she hardly ever messes up.

[End image description]

A lot of the cis people in my life need this

This is literally why people mess up pronouns and why it’s a problem.

Like the reason you’re not calling me “they” is because you still think of me as gendered the way you initially assumed. It’s not just the pronouns I want you to change, they only serve as an acknowledgement of the gender I want you to adjust your perspective to. If you did that, you wouldn’t struggle with it.

Things with no gay/queer rep can be progressive and groundbreaking actually and need to be part of the discussion of representation in media

Like,,,,

A show about an interracial disabled couple (that’s written well) is just as progressive as a show about two gay characters

A show with multiple well written POC characters, especially in leading roles, is progressive and should be part of the discussion

Representation has never only meant queer rep.

And I hate that so many of POC and disabled people see that shows and books that represent them, not get included or acknowledge in the discussion about representation.

Just because something doesn’t represent you, doesn’t mean it’s not representing someone else.

Yes queer rep is good, of course it is (I’m neither cis nor het) but I can not begin to understand how so many of you will just,,,ignore shows that represent POC and/or disabled people in a well written and positive way because it’s not what you are. Or tell us that when we mention them as good examples of rep that it’s not really representation.

The world exist outside of you and your experience.