Tag: transgender

snap, solutions not punishment, trans women, trans lives matter, black trans women, atlanta, georgia

SNaP: MARCH 4 The Gurlz

Sage Nenyue

Yesterday I conducted a short interview with the awesome ladies of Solutions Not Punishment Coalition (SNaP Co) in Atlanta, Georgia about the upcoming “March 4 the Gurlz” march and rally. Starting on Sunday, March 26 at North Avenue MARTA Station in Atlanta, the march will start at 3pm and will give way to the rally that starts at 4:30pm. [pullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]March: NORTH AVE. @ 3pm | Rally: 4:30pm[/pullquote]

We all know that Black trans women are among the most marginalized demographics in the population, and  SNaP Co got started some years ago through an initiative to address that in Atlanta. As Kamau Walton, SNaP’s media director, describes it: the goal of SNaP is to discover and rally for actual solutions to problems facing Black and Brown trans women without punishment and criminalization. Another leader of the organization, Jamie Freya, said about the goals of the march and rally: “it’s gonna be a space to heal, to be celebrated, to be affirmed, to be uplifted. That’s what it’s really gonna give immediately.”

It’s extremely important to put your money where your mouth is and walk the talk. We need to stand by our Black trans sisters and listen to their concerns and proposed solutions. If we’re going to be a whole inclusive community, we can’t be dismissive of our most vulnerable. With as much as they contribute to–hell, jumpstart–the life of our queer culture (and mainstream culture if we’re being honest–“slay” being a word your grandma uses?) we must protect them at all costs. Not just because of the cultural and emotional labor they provide, but because we love them and care about them.

If you plan on attending the march and rally, check out SNaP’s Facebook page. If you can’t make it, go donate to their initiatives and work!

laverne cox nude photoshoot

CQ Weekly Review (April 19-24)

Sage Nenyue

So, how has this week been for the Contemporary Queer?

 

For Real HRC? For Real, For Real?

trans support marriage equality hrc

So yeah… Found this on Twitter.

Really, HRC? #LoveCantWait but trans people can take a number? Y’all just gonna… But I had thought…. But y’all had said… I thought we was gonna… Here’s why this is a slap in the face to trans people. Again. Or is it a constant slap that never really ended despite promising to do better?

 

Youth Empowerment Conference (Boston/NE)

The Hispanic-Black Gay Coalition is getting ready for it’s annual Youth Empowerment Conference and is inviting you to present in what it calls “currently the largest conference gathering of LGBTQ youth of color and their allies in New England”. So if you plan to be around, why don’t you share your knowledge and skills with these awesome and deserving kids? Here’s the signup sheet!

 

Perspective on Black Gay Privilege

Tabias Wilson complicated Black Gay Male “Privilege” in Gawker this week, breaking down a piece published earlier by John Fitzgerald Gates about the same topic. In his piece, Tabias went in on what that the “privilege” entailed and offered us a glimpse into his life to demonstrate the high price black queer men paid for the so-called “privilege”:

Walking into the office felt like I was on the auction block. I was clothed and free-ish—but my socioeconomic future depended on the presentation of my blackness, the (imagined) invitation of my queerness, and her unfettered, unregulated, and unencumbered access to it. This was the price I paid in order to work on an issue vital to the survival of my people, black people, BlaQueer people. In order to pitch policies, garner grants, and direct funding to black HIV survivors and those at-risk for acquisition, I had to mortgage my body and use the proceeds as license to work on a leash. …Read More>>

 

 American Vogue’s First Openly Trans Model

https://instagram.com/p/1Bwd8mMNvl/?taken-by=andrejapejic

Finally! 23 year old model Andreja Pejic is the first transgender model to be featured in American Vogue.

“If at the beginning of my career in the modelling industry or half way through it or even this time last year you told me that I would end up having a 4 page feature in American Vogue I would have probably told you ‘oh I dunno about that…  So you can only imagine what I’m feeling right now,” wrote the 23-year-old transgender model on an Instagram post to announce her breakthrough appearance on the magazine. …Read More>>

 

 Laverne Cox Subverts the Gaze

Actress and activist Laverne Cox slayed in her empowering nude photoshoot with Allure Magazine! In Laverne’s own words:

“But I’m a black transgender woman. I felt this could be really powerful for the communities that I represent. Black women are not often told that we’re beautiful unless we align with certain standards. Trans women certainly are not told we’re beautiful. Seeing a black transgender woman embracing and loving everything about herself might be inspiring to some other folks. There’s beauty in the things we think are imperfect. That sounds very cliché, but it’s true. …Read More>>

 

Your Take

So what’s your take in the news presented this week? Good news? Bad news? Got something we missed? Let us know in the comments below!

Got any news you wanna see here next week? Tweet us at @ConQueerMag (use our sidebar too!)

8 Undeniable Signs Your Child is Queer or Trans

Sage Nenyue

Is there something not quite straight about your kid that you can’t put your finger on?

Do they seem to be more interested in playing with toys not arbitrarily marked as belonging to the gender they belong to with splashes of color that, only 100 years ago, had a different signification?

Do they question why when it comes to the obvious and meticulously thought-out reasons that some people only wear pants and some people only wear skirts and dresses? (Unless they’re Jaden Smith or Kanye West or preserving Scottish heritage?)

But you don’t wanna slam down any accusations of queer or lesbian or gay or transgender prematurely, do you?

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Science is finding ways to improve our methodology as we speak.

 

This post is for parents and parental figures who want to know for certain that the signs are 100% correct with no ambiguity whatsoever. In order to activate, you simply begin to listen to your kid when….

1. They tell you in the living room.

2. They tell you in the car.

3. They write you a letter telling you so.

4. They email you telling you so.

5. They text you telling you so.

6. They do an interpretive dance act and ask you to interpret the dance and upon your multiple failed attempts they sigh and finally tell you but not before asking you to go to take a class.

7. They sit in silence after calling you over and then say nevermind and then call you back and blurt it out quickly and you ask them to repeat and they tell you.

8. They make a riddle based on words and the revelation is the answer and you confirm to make sure “I’m Gary” wasn’t the answer and they’re not telling you about a secret double life.

And these are only the tip of the iceberg.

Fun fact: There’s no “way” to know. Sexuality and gender are very subjective experiences that are shaped and molded by the individual and their environment. No matter how “your sister always knows” and you caw-caw and kiki about how you knew so-and-so was such-and-such, the winning bet is creating a comfortable and inviting space and waiting for them to tell you. If they so choose.

Share your thoughts and feelings in the comments below telling us how you create open and inviting space for others to be able to share. Or tell us about someone who made it extremely easy for you to come out or just be yourself without having to say anything.