Two-spirit - Tumblr Posts
If this gets 1000 notes in the next 6 hours I will hand it in as the final part of my advocacy assignment!!!1!1!!
And while I have your attention, here’s some information that I will also be including on the poster (please note that all of this information is Canada-specific):
- 25-40% of homeless youth identify as LGBTQ2S+ (more research is needed to get a more solid stat, so while we’re asking for resources, let’s get some research going too!!)
- In 2015 (the most recent data I could get), about 3% of the population identified as gay, lesbian, or bisexual (https://www.statcan.gc.ca/eng/dai/smr08/2015/smr08_203_2015#a3). It should be noted that this statistic is about people aged 18-59, while ‘youth’ is often defined as younger than 20 or 25, so it’s not especially representative in that respect, but it’s the only stat I could find. Also, although this number doesn’t include all the identities in the LGBTQ2S+ community, it’s still drastically lower than the amount of LGBTQ2S+ youth living on the streets, so it’s clear that LGBTQ2S+ people are way over-represented in the homeless population.
- Many LGBTQ2S+ youth face discrimination in shelters, and would often rather sleep on the streets than put themselves at risk by going to a shelter where they don’t know if they’ll be accepted. Shelters should provide training to their staff so that LGBTQ2S+ youth don’t have to be afraid to go to shelters.
- While there are some shelters that claim to be supportive of LGBTQ2S+ youth, I am only aware of 2 in all of Canada that are specifically for LGBTQ2S+ youth (Egale Center: https://www.egalecentre.ca/updates , and YMCA Sprott House: https://ymcagta.org/news/ymca-sprott-house-announces-lgbtq2sa-youth-housing-services ; this article mentions that there are ‘a handful of other’ programs like these in Canada, but I haven’t found these programs anywhere else in my research. Please add them if you know more). Both of these are located in Toronto.
- Creating LGBTQ2s+ youth shelters is definitely necessary to help all the LGBTQ2s+ youth who are homeless right now, but it is only a band-aid solution. One of the main reasons they are homeless is because of rejection from their families. Long-term, we should also be continuing to educate people on LGBTQ2S+ identities and how to be caring, accepting people so that LGBTQ2S+ youth can feel safe in their homes!
Feel free to add more information!
Two Spirits are transcendent Indigenous lesbians are lovely Indigenous gay people are glorious Indigenous bisexual people are breathtaking Indigenous transgender people are terrific Indigenous nonbinary people are incredible Indigenous intersex people are perfect Indigenous pan people are astonishing Indigenous ace people are amazing Indigenous LGBT+ people are important members in the community
Happy Pride month to all LGBT+ Indigenous people, from a 2S nonbinary bi woman! ❤🧡💛💚💙💜
Being LGBT+ and Indigenous at the same time can feel very lonely and isolating at times, people tend to forget we are here and when we’re remembered it’s often as an afterthought. It can be difficult to find more people you can relate to, especially because the community can sometimes feel unsafe or unwelcoming due to racism
As lonely as it can be and as unwelcoming the community can feel, you are, and always will be, important and loved and appreciated members in the community ♥
idk what shit-eating truscum needs to hear this, but your rhetoric directly harms people with culturally-specific genders. i’m native and two-spirit, that label describes my gender and my attraction. i use they/them pronouns and your “nonbinaries and cringey stargender trenders aren’t valid” bullshit is getting old. our languages were demonized and erased, our gender and attraction labels along with them. my experiences with dysphoria exist because of colonialist ideas of gender. we have been forced into arbitrary ‘male’ and ‘female’ categories by colonizers for centuries and truscum rhetoric perpetuates racist colonialist violence against natives.
your experiences are not universal, you’re not forwarding justice for trans people, and you’re definitely not an ally to natives or other people of color. you’re just a fucking colonizer.
Happy pride babes!!
I want to wish everyone an amazing pride month, even if you aren’t out. Even if you are celebrating by yourself in the closet. Even if you wish you could post on your main accounts to show how proud you are but can’t.
The closet does not dampen your pride. It’s okay to not be out. It’s okay to not want to be out. No matter how you celebrate pride month, you are valid, whether decked out in rainbows or flying your flags in your head.
So happy pride everyone! Celebrate in your own way!
More about Nex
“Nex did not see themselves as male or female,” Ms Benedict said. “Nex saw themselves right down the middle. I was still learning about it, Nex was teaching me that.”
This is a gut punch to read. I've seen "old folks" go through that journey of gaining understanding. Ideally it wouldn't need to be a whole journey but there's something loving in people willing to grow.
But not knowing just how at risk they might be ... from this kind of violence.
what could have been.
Nex was a really good student apparently. Had strait As. So a nerd. Another gut punch. They just remind me of more than one person I know and care deeply about.
These FUCKERS destroy everything beautiful.
I don't feel safe living in Oklahoma anymore.
I knew it wasn't the most positive place for queer individuals, but jeez this is effing messed up.
Absolutely evil beyond words. When asked about the murder of Nex Benedict here is how the state's senator responds, calling them filth that needs to be kept out of the state, while audience member's cheer.
These monsters not only don't care that a child was murdered because of their hatred, they outright celebrate it. Christian's are soulless monsters, when are we gonna get the chance to vote to strip their right to exist away from them, like they do to us? Why do we allow these hate filled cultists to have power in the government and spread their murderous hatred.
This is why the school never called an ambulance for Nex instead just suspending them, this is why the coroner and police are currently trying to cover up the murder, because the whole goddamn system is working exactly as they intended, accomplishing their goals of murdering us and getting away with it.
I try to not see too much information about the murders cause it's incredibly triggering, but I just wanted to say smth before I block the tag
Nex was practically a child. Brianna was practically a child. Both of them were teenagers, barely older than myself. The adults in their lives were supposed to protect them. The school was supposed to do something, someone was supposed to call an ambulance, somebody was supposed to do something. I'm a trans kid, a bit younger than them. I live in Florida. I never really felt safe, and especially not with all the recent legal developments, but this is the last straw.
People are dying. Teenagers are dying. Not just dying, they were murdered. And even for those people who try and shift the blame off of their murderers by claiming it was suicide, that's not any fucking better.
I'm just a kid. I shouldn't have to fear for my life, and doubly should not have to spend my days terrified that my life is in danger by the people and systems that are supposed to keep me safe - that I'm supposed to be able to trust
If anybody legitimately thinks that any of this is to "protect the kids", go fuck yourself. I am one of those kids you claim to worry so much about, and I can tell you firsthand that you are only making things worse.
.
You really think that being trans is a “choice”?
Then tell me why Nex endured over a year of abuse before being murdered by their own peers in a fucking bathroom. Tell me why Nex never “decided” to “stop being trans” to avoid the abuse. Tell me why anyone would “choose” to keep taking all the hatred thrown their way. Tell me how that makes any sense.
Unless that’s who they are. Unless living as anything else would be living a lie. Tell me how being forced to live a lie until something inside you breaks is somehow better than spending life comfortably as who you truly are. And tell me how it’s fair that someone saw that life and decided that it didn’t deserve to be here at all.
okay ive been seeing this a lot and its been kind of getting on my nerves
nex benedict, pobrecite, was hatecrimed- murdered- because of a law that REQUIRED them to use the girls' bathroom.
but what is truly annoying me, is the usage of the word nonbinary. nex is choctaw and lived on a cherokee rez. nex was not nonbinary, they were two-spirit
keep speaking about them. dont let their name be forgotten. and dont let their culture be forgotten either.
inshallah, their sould will rest in peace. they deserve to be in peace.
; since it's the last day of pride ( for me at least ) I figured I'd make at least a lil post !!
; firstly I'd like to say being a part of the LGBTQIA+ community is one of the best things in my life. Sure it has it's flaws, it's discourse and it's hate but it's also freeing, and strong and beautiful in so many ways. There's been people in my life who I truly can't thank enough for being there, and we met because of this community. It's the one community that, even if some days I feel like a total outcast, I've felt truly at home in. At peace even.
; from the flags to the people it's js so breathtakingly stunning and creative and a symbol of resilience honestly. Being queer is a part of so many peoples lives, including the people no longer with us. Truly it's such a huge part of my life and ik it's silly to say but I wouldn't be here without this community and the people in it.
; there's been days when everything has felt hopeless and purposeless and that maybe it never has an end to all the suffering. But then I see a post of two queer kids attending pride for the first time or an old queer couple finally getting married legally and their smiles and the warmth is truly heartwarming. And the jokes and the humour and the community is so inviting and stupid I love it.
; but also how strong the community is, how strong the people in said community are. All of us. The Black Trans Women who started the pride we celebrate today and continue to support, the Indigenous Two Spirits who fight to be recognized and to fight for their people who've been erased, the Disabled queers who are loud and caring and support the community even when they're shunned for it, and every single person in the community who's existence is a fight and a protest and js. All stunning and powerful individuals, no matter who or what they are they're all truly inspirational and deserve the warmest of days and the biggest of hugs / whatever istg.
; from the ' common ' to the ' obscure ' the community is ridiculed and hated, but we're still here and we're still strong. We've always been here and always will. And to the queers living in countries like Palestine and Russia and places where they can't celebrate themselves and their pride, we do stand with you and we will do our best to support you in every way we can. There is no freedom till we are all free, I know one day you'll be safe and be free and be proud to be who you are. I and everyone else who can will make sure of it.
; we are so so diverse and real and wow. Simply wow. So to the Lesbians, the Gays, Bisexuals, Transgenders, Queers, Intersexuals, Aromantics, Asexuals and Aroaces and all on that spectrum, to the Multigenders and the Multisexuals, the Non-binary people and the Two-Spirits and the Xenogenders and the Agenders and the Apathetics, the Repulsed and the Favourable, and to each and every single person in the queerest community out there. I wish you a happy fucking pride month and a wonderful rest of the year. Hold on for us ok ??
; whether you celebrated Pride Month or not, your existence yesterday, today and forever more is worth celebrating every damn day <3
I am literally fucking BEGGING you all to also acknowledge the racism behind the terms "non-man" and "non-woman" and how they're used in queer definitions.
Black and Indigenous queer people have literally been talking about this since the definition was COINED but there's literally NO acknowledgement of this when pointing out why "non-men loving non-men" and "non-women loving non-women" are shitty fucking definitions to force on a whole community.
"Nonman" and "nonwoman" are terms that have been historically used to describe the degendering of black people in society. And words can obviously be used to mean different things- we don't have to stop using these terms altogether. But forcing these terms on a whole community of queer people is really fucking antiblack.
Not to mention that it blatantly degenders a lot of 2S lesbians and gays as well. It basically tells them that they can't be 2S and as a lesbian or gay at the same time, because then they would be "contradictory." I seriously hope I don't have to explain how racist it is to exclude a large portion of Two-Spirit people from your queer label because they don't fit into your neat little white gender binary.
Like these definitions aren't bad to use for yourself personally- but stop forcing them on all lesbians/gays. And if you're advocating for why these shouldn't be used as the most prominent definition, PLEASE acknowledge the racism aspect of it.
Thor’s Favourite Celebration
Another Thorbruce oneshot that i originally wrote for pride but forgot to post here!
Summary: Thor and Bruce go to pride. They need to hold hands or they'll get lost!!
Word count: 2485
Warnings: I think a little bit of Bruce’s anxiety in crowds, getting lost. Also pizza costs an outrageous amount (if that scares you??)
read it on Ao3:
https://archiveofourown.org/works/31781182
{gif not mine}
HAPPY PRIDE YOU SILLY LITTLE 2SLGBTQIA+ CUTIES!!!!
Transphobia, cisnormativity and gender binary: The racism behind the anti-transness, specially nonbinary transness.
If you think for a second, the idea of the cisnormative gender binary are completely eurocentric: Not only because of the many amerindigenous communities who have Two-Spirits as a third gender, because there are many non white/non european ethnic groups who have, not only three, but more than three gender identities. Ethnic groups that existed for centuries, if not for millennias!
This means that gender binary, transphobia and cisnormativity are completely eurocentric. Oh, wait! Even better yet: transphobia, cisnormativity and gender binary are completely racist.
Observe how transphobes commonly mock and demonize trans people. How do you think these mfs would react to cultures and ethnic groups who don't have, nor accept the cisnormative gender binary? It's obvious that they'd react just like their colonizer ancestors; by demonizing and demoralizing these cultures to a whole.
Gender binary and cisnormativity have an important role on treating non white cultures as inferior. Rejecting gender as a social phenomenon = rejecting gender as a cultural phenomenon.
If you think that trans people are mentally ill, delusional or disgusting, you are obviously going to think these cultures are inferior for having more than 2 genders.
That is the reason why being anti-trans and a person of colour at the same time is such a shot on your own feet. You are a descendant of these people, in the end, you are going to get demonized altogether. So don't try to assimilate to think you are accepted.
Long story short: Accepting the gender binary, cisnormativity and/or being a transphobe in general is racism. Because you're not only demonizing random people, you are going to be demonizing cultures also.
Erm, also, isn't calling transness, specially nonbinariety, a mental illness racist? Because, you know, gender binarism is eurocentric and colonialist? And because many non european cultures had, and have to this day, genders outside of the binary?
Like, don't say they were separate, isolated cases, or this kind of bullshit, because even judaism (the religion many of you evangelical christians, who are also transphobic, appropriate constantly, btw. I know what y'all doing christian zionists.) has 6 genders and a 3th gender was recently discovered in ancient Egypt culture. Are Jews mentally ill? Were the Ancient Egyptians mentally ill? Transphobes probably think that, tbh, since the majority of them are white people and/or conservative.
Anti-transness is racist and colonialist and that is the reason trans people of colour are so even more shoved under the light, but y'all ain't ready for this conversation.
This is disgusting.
Opinions are opinions. But the fact that simple people in this world don’t understand social construct. To compare genders like Transgender, agender, pangender, and so on, to be mental illnesses is absolutely absurd. I literally was reading Quora this morning and stumbled upon so many damn people believing so.
And those people say they are ‘not transphobes’ and are just ‘stating facts’ and ALSO ‘not living in their fantasy land.’
Well, I have some bad news for those who think they aren’t ’transphobes.’
It’s a social construct. Sorry not sorry. BIOLOGICALLY it’s male, Female, and Intersex. Also known as Hermaphrodite. GENDER PRESENTATION is WOMEN, MEN, AND MORE. You can’t change my mind. Nor will you ever change my mind. Sadly, we can’t change dumb people with simple closed mindsets. 🤷🏾
To those who think it’s a mental illness, simply because we as trans people (me being genderfluid in addition for it being under the trans umbrella) is weird, and transphobic itself. We exist and then POOF! Y’all wanna shoot, beat, and criticize us for being different. I should be questioning those who wanna do these things to different genders and ask if they have a mental problem 💀 cause….???
I felt different. I knew I was going to be different. I’m neurodivergent (more specifically having a communication impairment and problems with learning). I’m genderfluid (identifying genders in every hour, day, week, and so on). I deal with depressed thoughts. I deal with body dysfunction because I hate how I look.
YES. WE EXIST.
But oh the alpha male sigma skibidi boppity boos and women who think their womanhood is being taken wanna be like “nOoOoOoOo ThIs Is WrOnG 🗿🍷” “omg WE ARE ALL GONNA BE USED AS USELESS OBJECT BECAUSE ‘MEN’ WANNA PLAY DRESS UP’ 😱😨😥😰😭😤
Womp womp. You done yet?
Anyways Good Morning. Just had to give off a rant because it’s tiring to see transphobic people ‘setting a point and thinking the point isn’t transphobic but really it’s covering their true colors’ :)
ALSO PLS WHAT?!?! AT THIS POINT HUH?! WHAT IS THIS DOWN HERE- 💀💀💀💀
YOU JUST CONFUSED YOURSELF HONEY 💀 THATS SEX.
LGBTQ+ History! We'Wha
Continuing on from my last post, let's look at another gender-non-conforming historic figure in celebration of Trans Awareness Month!
We'wha was a Zuni Native American from the 19th century who gained notoriety and fame for their prolific work as a cultural ambassador and educator on Zuni culture. We'wha was lhamana, which is someone, who takes on both female and male orientated roles within their tribe as well as dressing in male and female clothing.
"The Zuni lhamana, like other Indigenous social, cultural and ceremonial roles, exist in an Indigenous matrix...[lhamana] cannot be reduced to a conventional set of gender roles or even modern transgender or genderqueer ones" - quote from Wikipedia page 'Lhamana'
It's important we celebrate other gnc identities throughout history as it helps once again, reiterate the statement that queer has always been here! Plus it's fun to learn!
Image & text descriptions in ALT