What a lovely idea! I love going to prides, sadly ours happened a few weekends ago already - I was able to go there, but it always feels like it's much too short :/

A tight snuggle for all the people of Origin, their diversity & their acceptance. I love you guys, thanks for the safe place <3

Anyway! My name is Lisa & I'm a 19 years old, gay, gender-identity struggling kinda person.
I identified as female (cis) for 19 years, but have been throwing glances at genderqueer people (& the label) for a while. It's not that I dislike the label "female" for myself, but there's more than just that. Sometimes I have days where I feel disconnected from gender all-together (not to the point of having to cover up that I was born female, but where I just see myself differently and clothe more "masculine/neutral"), but most days I'm happily accepting the gender-label given to me at birth.
Which leads me to struggling with gender labels, since I don't feel non-binary most of the time, but there are days like that.

I know we don't need labels - I'm a big defender of the right to not need to label yourself, but I like labels for myself. They help me to see who I am, which is why not having a label for my gender that fits me makes me feel weird.

For now I'm going with demigirl, since that fits my identity best, but you can also refer to me as female or non-binary c:

Much love to all lgbtq+ people and allies.

Also something important: Asexuals and Aromantics are valid members of the lgbtq+ community, bisexuals who are in a heterosexual relationship are still bisexual & if you identify as gay and fall for someone of another gender, you still have all the rights in the world to identify as gay - as my 8th grade mathbook said: exceptions make the rule! (I'm not kidding you on this. It's also the only thing I remember about 8th grade math)

(May 27 2016, 10:47 AM)Ares Wrote: Also something important: Asexuals and Aromantics are valid members of the lgbtq+ community, bisexuals who are in a heterosexual relationship are still bisexual & if you identify as gay and fall for someone of another gender, you still have all the rights in the world to identify as gay - as my 8th grade mathbook said: exceptions make the rule! (I'm not kidding you on this. It's also the only thing I remember about 8th grade math)

Yep! Ace and bisexual people have a rough time with some of the community, it hurts. ._. It's like, a trans person is still trans even if they don't """look""" trans or present how you think they should, y'know???

As someone apart of the greyspectrum, I'll fight and scream and yell at any lgbatq+ folk who are like "heteroromantic asexuals aren't queer, they're taking up space and resources, aces can get their own movement" like... the A doesn't stand for Ally, man. If a person isn't heterosexual, heteroromantic, or cis, they aren't the norm...


tldr;; gatekeeping makes me mad

lgbatq

lesbians
gays
b...utter....
apples
trains
quaran
+ more

but no i 100% agree, your relationship doesn't define your sexuality

Oh my gosh! It's so amazing to see all the supportive, amazing people and the sheer diversity we have here! ^w^

Me and ZAZ are planning to take a buttload of photos at the pride parade, so we can show you guys how it went!

Also, on a note of questions/advice, do any of the trans guys here have any advice on binding? Thus far, I've used some sports bras but within less than half an hour I can't breathe, and I was wondering if anyone has any ideas for alternatives?

(May 27 2016, 10:47 AM)Ares Wrote: What a lovely idea! I love going to prides, sadly ours happened a few weekends ago already - I was able to go there, but it always feels like it's much too short :/

A tight snuggle for all the people of Origin, their diversity & their acceptance. I love you guys, thanks for the safe place <3

Anyway! My name is Lisa & I'm a 19 years old, gay, gender-identity struggling kinda person.
I identified as female (cis) for 19 years, but have been throwing glances at genderqueer people (& the label) for a while. It's not that I dislike the label "female" for myself, but there's more than just that. Sometimes I have days where I feel disconnected from gender all-together (not to the point of having to cover up that I was born female, but where I just see myself differently and clothe more "masculine/neutral"), but most days I'm happily accepting the gender-label given to me at birth.
Which leads me to struggling with gender labels, since I don't feel non-binary most of the time, but there are days like that.

I know we don't need labels - I'm a big defender of the right to not need to label yourself, but I like labels for myself. They help me to see who I am, which is why not having a label for my gender that fits me makes me feel weird.

For now I'm going with demigirl, since that fits my identity best, but you can also refer to me as female or non-binary c:

Much love to all lgbtq+ people and allies.

Also something important: Asexuals and Aromantics are valid members of the lgbtq+ community, bisexuals who are in a heterosexual relationship are still bisexual & if you identify as gay and fall for someone of another gender, you still have all the rights in the world to identify as gay - as my 8th grade mathbook said: exceptions make the rule! (I'm not kidding you on this. It's also the only thing I remember about 8th grade math)

I can't agree enough, omg!
There was a time in my life my mum knew that I was bisexual, and in the end I told my BF that I was bi as well. (At the time, I didn't identify as trans) and because I told him my mum flipped out, saying that because I was in a relationship with him, I wasn't allowed to be bi anymore???
There's a lot of stigma surrounding 'exceptions' and variation to supposed 'rules' that seem to be imposed and I think that's another issue which needs to be addressed more to directly combat the stigma surrounding the community as a whole.

Honestly, I would order from a responsible binder company online - other methods could damage your ribs or spine, which is Bad News (and binders feel the best anyway). <3 High-quality ones I've seen range from $30-60 usually?

Also YES THANK YOU FOR THIS THREAD b/c I have ace friends, and it's so nasty to gatekeep ace people from the LGBT community when the A stands for... Asexual... like, please,

Also also: I'm sorry you had to experience that kind of biphobia, Dream. D: My mom is bi, and she didn't suddenly become straight by marrying my dad, lmao.

So it was the parade yesterday, and we made sure to take plenty of photos. I finally came out as trans to my parents and later on, the world. Needless to say, it's been a bit of an emotional rollercoaster...
In the images, I'm the one with brown hair, and ZAZ is the blonde one. ^^







(More coming soon when I can get them uploaded!)

Overall, over 5,000 people attended. Plans were announced and funds gathered to open a pride cafe in our town where people can go to get help, meet likeminded folks and be a part of a welcoming community if they feel isolated.

Nice!! Man I wish there was a pride parade near where I live, it'd be so cool to go to one.

what cuties