tbh queer romance is held to a much higher standard than het romance like a man can cry over another man, be close to another man, protect another man repeatedly, give up everything for another man, and there will still be people saying that a romantic interpretation is “completely baseless” and “it’s great that platonic love can be so strong” and “don’t erase friendship, i’d do all that for my friends!”
but then a man and a woman share a pencil and suddenly romance is alive
Louder for the people in the back
relevant again for fucking Sesame Street.
Who’d have thought those would go hand in hand but here we fucking are.
Reblog if you are a greedy gay hoarding refracted light all for your greedy gay self
I totally am, but also: I have a story. The time: 1995. The place: a small liberal arts college. We decided to participate in “denim day” which was a widespread event wherein on National Coming Out Day, you would wear denim to indicate SUPPORT FOR the LGBT community. Our support group made posters that were very, very clear about this. Wearing denim did not mean that you were coming out, it meant you supported anyone around you who might.
I have never seen so many suits and khakis IN MY LIFE. People who accidentally wore jeans went home and changed.
The community took it as a rebuke. We drew in closer to eachother, and felt unwelcome everywhere we thought we had friends before.
And I had people later tell me “You know I support you, just… I didn’t want anyone to think I was.” First off, I DON’T know you support me. Not if you refuse to, for one day, change nothing about your life to show it. Second off… why is that such a terrifying thought to you?
I remember before rainbows were a “gay thing”. They were everywhere. Church walls next to arks. School walls next to sunshine faces. People have VOLUNTARILY abandoned every other use. I have HEARD PEOPLE SAY they just couldn’t use rainbows anymore because people would think of “gay stuff.”
So I know this is a joke, and a stolen one at that, but you’ve done this to yourselves. If someone is so terrified of being perceived as queer that they will INSTANTLY abandon something they like if it has queer germs on it now or something, then they don’t deserve refracted light.
Maybe help us change the world into a place where being mistaken for queer would be just a thing to chuckle about and you can have refracted light back.
The LGBTQ+ community didn’t steal the rainbow. The straights abandoned it.
it isn’t said on tv. orange is the new black, for example, features a bisexual protagonist who points out the biphobia at one point in assuming she can’t be attracted to multiple genders, but no one Ever says the word and she is ignored and referred to as a straight girl or a lesbian depending on the situation
other bisexual characters later turn out to have been Really Monosexual All Along. or are attractive, promiscuous women with commitment issues
this isn’t a coincidence.
people who are attracted to multiple genders, when asked about it, often describe themselves as “Fluid”. “I’d rather not label it.” “I don’t need to define it.” “It’s just whatever.” as if people are afraid of even implying the b word
this isn’t a coincidence.
the word ‘bisexual’ gets you different reactions in different places. straight people think you’re either faking for attention or a deviant. straight men are afraid of bi men and think bi women are just particularly promiscuous straight girls who want to have threesomes with them
gay men accuse bi men of being in the closet. lesbians accuse bi women of being straight girls going through a phase. and the ones who don’t do either of these things still often assume bisexuals are promiscuous, indecisive, and can’t settle down.
the theme throughout is that bisexually is illegitimate, deceptive, and always a front for something else.
this isn’t a coincidence
people are constantly encouraged to ‘settle down’, to ‘just pick one’, to ‘not be greedy’. abandon bisexuality. you’re really gay. you’re really straight. you’re too young. how can you know you’re bisexual at 16? 18? 20? 25?
this isn’t a coincidence
the word ‘bisexuality’ is constantly, persistently manipulated, by people who aren’t bisexual at all. the meaning twisted on shallow rationale. accused of being transphobic, or of being exclusionary. this has been happening for over 20 years now despite the existence of outspoken trans and/or non-binary bisexuals. whatever they can do to make you not say the word. pick a different one.
this isn’t a coincidence
bisexual people – whether implied or literally, deliberately saying they are bisexual using the word – are constantly rewritten as gay or as straight. gay icon. he was never interested in men. bi actor comes out? headlines say ‘came out as gay’, or articles outright ignore it
it’s never, ever a coincidence. bi erasure is a constant, ongoing thing.
I never thought this was a thing, but it totally is.
When I told my best friend (who is gay) that I’m bi it was like I had to prove myself to him as not simply gay and too afraid to admit it.
I mean, can’t you just take my word for it???
this is why i feel the scene in brooklin nine-nine where rosa says “im bisexual” and his dad says “there is not such a thing as bisexual” is important because she answers with this:
believe it or not, like the show or not, it was a sincere moment and one that all bisexuals go trought at some point
we all talk about representation, but we need more of it, in all fronts, bisexuals exist, we are alive and we dont have to explain ourselves to everyone
nobody ever talks about how saying non-binary genders don’t exist is racist as fuck
How?
many many many indigenous cultures have historically included more than two genders and to say that those genders do not exist is to say that those cultural traditions are invalid, and that only the imperialist gender binary is correct. which is racism.