LGBTQ+

Hey all,

I'm on the last few months of my contract, in higher ed. While I try to find work that's more permanent, I do count myself lucky to be in a better position to offer help with little worry of reprucussions. In brief, I am trying to do whatever I can to support my LGBTQ+ students who are terrified. I'm a tough person, like I've seen some shit (war) but its breaking my soul feeling powerless here in the States.

Any suggestions, organizations, or other ideas I could have at the ready if a student needs help? I just want to be the best ally and empathetic human I can from my position, while I can.

I'm also being cautious since its getting harder to know who and what to trust, but ideas on exercising greater caution when offering help are welcome too. Sad I have to even convey that...

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.blahaj.zone/post/21384758

A great video about how fandom really doesn't know how to handle asexual characters in media and likes to sexualise them regardless. There is nothing wrong with this in the sense of exploring identity etc in fan fiction inherently as long as they don't pretend that it's ever going to happen in canon or shout down asexuals who would like some characters that are canonically like them for once.

Since November 2023, when Russia’s Supreme Court designated the non-existent “international LGBT social movement” as an “extremist organization,” police departments across the country have executed a full-scale crackdown on the queer community. Officers have raided clubs and parties and placed LGBTQ+ people under surveillance while bigots harass queer community members and try to expose them to employers and parents. Wherever the authorities go, they collect evidence that facilitates monitoring, from video footage and business records to fingerprints and even mouth swabs. Meduza special correspondent Lilia Yapparova has learned that Russian officials are also discussing overhauling the country’s data-collection practices to create a single electronic registry for monitoring LGBTQ+ individuals — a database that would make blackmailing and persecuting queer people vastly easier.

Just preliminary reports, but after efforts to rush it through before any reaction were delayed, legal backlash may have forced inmates to be returned to the right gen pop.

No guarantee it holds, be ready and organized to move if you live in a few hours drive from Fort Worth, legal funds are still going to need help, etc… but for now they might be safe.

In October 2023, following the Hamas attacks and Israel’s retaliatory violence against Palestinians, some queer organizers felt a call to action. Hundreds of nightlife workers formed DJs Against Apartheid. The group’s mission statement points out that queer nightlife was founded “with the clear intention to uplift the marginalized.”

As of July 2024, they’d raised $34,000 in support of Palestinians, as well as NYC-based Fund the Inside, which provides commissary relief to incarcerated QTBIPOC. For many, overlapping advocacy for Palestinians and trans people is instinctive.

To lift the vibes — connecting a desire for community, shrinking communal spaces, and a thirst to get involved – organizers host everything from thrift swaps for Gaza to Queer Comedy for Gaza to techno nights. It’s not always an easy stand to take publicly – some party organizers declined The Emancipator’s interview request for fear of exposure. But others are loud: Body Hack requests partygoers donate $20 per person at the door, more if you’re White or cisgendered. In the traditional nonprofit world, most funds are raised through expensive galas, auctions, tables and celebrity guests, but the mutual aid playbook is different. Two nights before their December party, the Body Hack Instagram posted: “I don’t care how cold it is … Imma need you to shake that ass for mutual aid.” Someone dutifully comments, “Shaking my ass for mutual aid with my drains in,” meaning that he will show up even recovering from his top surgery, no questions asked.

The mind boggles with the sheer absurdity of this administration, and it's not poised to improve. Be safe, y'all!

GLITS remains a lasting success, continuing to provide safe housing for LGBTQ2S+ people, including trans sex workers. Building on this foundation, they are now launching a program to support LGBTQ2S+ inmates transitioning out of Rikers Island, New York City’s largest jail.

Their housing program offers an empowering and replicable model for addressing housing insecurity among marginalized groups, particularly LGBTQ2S+ sex workers. While organizations like Maggie’s Toronto and WISH in Vancouver provide critical services such as harm reduction, advocacy and/or temporary shelter, the demand for these resources often far exceeds the capacity of their funding and staffing. GLITS expands on these efforts by creating long-term, community-centred housing, addressing not just immediate needs but the root causes of housing instability for sex workers. By offering permanent and inclusive spaces free from restrictive or punitive rules, GLITS creates a stable foundation for residents. This model demonstrates what is possible when housing solutions prioritize safety, community and autonomy.

The constant anti-trans rhetoric in the United States had exhausted and demoralized me. Immediately after the election, I began exploring the logistics of leaving the United States. It’s not just me. Transgender people have been advised to move from red states to blue if they want to and can, or even to leave the country.

Leaving the country requires a valid passport, and I feared the new administration would change the requirements. During his candidacy, President Trump advocated an end to “the left-wing gender insanity,” including a promise to ask Congress to pass a bill establishing that the only genders recognized by the U.S. government are male and female, as assigned at birth.

In response, transgender people were advised to update their legal documents to reflect their gender identity while they still could. (Some transgender persons never updated a passport because it was obtained only after transitioning.) At the time, the choices of gender markers on passports were “M”, “F” or “X.” Unfortunately, even updated documents may not provide permanent protection, and may even have unintended, dark consequences.

Trans activists representing the activist group Alianza Mexicana de Trabajadoras Sexuales — translated as the Mexican Alliance of Sex Workers — stormed two judicial buildings in Mexico City on Thursday, January 16, to protest the potential release of a man who stabbed trans rights activist Natalia Lane in 2022, according to Mexican newspaper La Prensa. During the protest, the activists broke doors, smashed glass windows, and spray-painted the building.

Haven't read through it in the entirety but found it on another site I trust. Figured it may be of use to others here.

According to the Colorado Name Change Project, the US State Department has stopped processing of all gender marker correction applications. This is confirmed by Notus.org, which adds that the policy change affects passport renewals as well.

At this time, there are rumors that the Minnesota Passport Agency is confiscating documents when denying a gender marker change. These rumors are unconfirmed as of the time of this post, but the situation is still developing.

https://www.namechangeproject.org/gender-marker/

https://m.facebook.com/ColoradoNameChangeProject/

https://www.notus.org/whitehouse/trump-gender-sex-order-passports

The ACLU has a form open for any affected by this policy: https://www.aclu.org/transpassports2025

Update: Marco Rubio has confirmed that the state department has suspended all applications including a gender change or an X gender marker, including applications which were already in progress. Official word on the status of existing passports "will come via other channels." https://theintercept.com/2025/01/23/marco-rubio-state-department-passports-gender-trans-nonbinary/

cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/53392091

cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/53392082

A great video about both getting hormones and blockers and how to safely use them if you want or have to do it DIY.

Produce harm reduction kits with supplies for trans people taking injection-based gender affirming hormone therapy!

Each kit includes a 1 year supply of necessary medical equipment, worth approximately $65 when purchased at retail value (see below for kit makeup). They will be delivered to local frontline organizations embedded in the communities they serve, and will be distributed for free to trans people in need. Our initial focus will be on the Southeast US, with plans to grow the program nationally over the course of 2025.

Distribute Aid already has medical aid donors, supply-chain infrastructure, kit assembly capacity, and initial frontline grassroots distribution partners in place. We expect to produce up to 24,000 kits in 2025, which is enough to support 2% of all trans people taking HRT in the US or 10% of trans people taking DIY-HRT. Funds will be used to source / ship / store bulk supplies, assemble the kits, and support cost-of-living volunteer stipends for an aid sourcing coordinator and a field coordinator.

Access to gender affirming hormone therapy saves lives. [1][2] Unfortunately 25 states already have laws restricting or banning gender affirming care [3], including every state in the Southeast region. Lack of access is compounded by the fact that many trans people are economically precarious. [4] Upcoming court decisions [5] and proposed Trump administration policies [6] will pave the way to further errode access to hormone therapy.

Trans people will access gender affirming healthcare anyways. Do-It-Yourself hormone replacement therapy (DIY HRT) is already being produced and distributed in response to difficulties accessing affordable official care, due to cost, gatekeeping by healthcare practitioners, or discriminatory laws preventing legal access. [7]

We need to keep trans people safe. These kits reduce the financial burden of taking inject-based gender affirming hormone therapy, and the 1-year supply prevents disruption of care due to lack of funds / supply access. By providing safe, clean injection supplies, they also reduce needle reuse / sharing. Finally, our local-first approach to mutual aid supply-chains protects the privacy of recipients while strengthening local trans support networks.

Kit makeup:

• Luer-Lock Syringe
• Draw Needles (various sizes available)
• Injection Needles (various sizes available)
• Alcohol Wipes
• Bandaids
• Sharps Disposal Container

I hope you are doing well, wish you all best in the next years. Love you all 🫂you are strong, you are beautiful, you can endure anything that life brings you. Love you all! 🫂🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈🩷💜💙 This community brings me joy and acceptance I love you all. If someone hates you just know I love you more! My love is stronger than their hate!

Some slight good news in an ocean of shit