national trans* day of remembrance

today is the day.

all this past weekend, i've been holding and comforting him. he's so young, and still, everyone looks to him for guidance. he doesn't want it, but obligation weighs too heavily. he hoists the worries, agitation and fears of the entire group onto his tiny shoulders, facilitating discussions he doesn't want to have, offering advice to those years further along in their journeys. i see the strength and wisdom within his large, dark eyes and understand why they turn to him. the man is barely two decades old, and yet so firm in who he is! he's a bridge for those younger and older, face of a child and voice of an adult ~ universally relatable. for all his efforts he's still lost, confined in a form that's not his own.





he comes to me worn and exhausted, silent except to say that he's tired. there's a world of meaning behind those few words. he gently places his cheek on my lap. i stroke his head and down his back, feel the binding that constricts his skin, and cannot wait 'til he is able to live in a skin that is truly his. it's true that the ones most deserving of justice often receive the least. so i do my best to help, and hope that he knows i'm here. i can't pretend to understand what he's going through, but there's a part of me that wants him to just let me share a bit of that burden. when he smiles, it melts me.




for all those mourning, today and everyday, please know that you're not alone. someone wants to care for you, people will listen. or, if you're too defeated to speak, can offer a hand, a shoulder, or maybe a good joke or two.




youth that need someone to just listen for a while, and help, can call:


Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender (GLBT) Youth Support Line
800-850-8078


if you witness or experience a trans* hate crime :
Gay & Transgender Hate Crime Hotline
1-800-616-HATE



both of these numbers are toll-free in the us. and for all those we have lost, RIP. transgendered day of remembrance is a day we celebrate the lives of our friends, lovers, peers, both known and unknown to us. but it of course shouldn't be simply confined to one day. every day we keep those souls in our thoughts and hearts. a single day is hardly enough to hold all those victim to hate and bigotry. but it's a start.

Blog for the MOTHERS act day!

today is the official blogHers day of action re: postpartum depression and the MOTHERS act.

depression in general has a reputation of being an invented or maudlin, self-serving disease. i cannot reiterate enough that DEPRESSION IS VERY REAL. the 'pull yourself up by your bootstraps and just get over it' mentality that so many people adopt is not applicable. that is not to say that individuals can't do anything at all to help themselves; of course they can. but when you have a child, all of those overwhelming thoughts feelings, the anxiety, pressure, and alienated feeling that surface can be symptomatic of a DISEASE, and help is available. when one out of every 10 new mothers experience this, it's serious, and can be deadly.

katie corcoran has been missing since september 5th as a result of post-partum psychosis. she was seeking help when somehow she was sent away from the hospital in a cab. her family hasn't seen her since.


take action and inform your representatives on the MOTHERS Act here. the act would help by expanding research on PPD to better diagnose, treat and uproot causes of the disease, which is currently unknown. it would also increase education and provide two grants to healthcare professionals in order to help them recognize and treat PPD. if you're a new mother, or know a new mother that seems to be/are feeling any or all of these symptoms:

• Sluggishness
• Fatigue
• Exhaustion
• Feelings of hopelessness or depression
• Disturbances with appetite and sleep
• Confusion
• Uncontrollable crying
• Lack of interest in the baby
• Fear of harming the baby or oneself
• Mood swings – highs and lows

please get help! PSI has an 800 number to call for confidential advice and assistance. these symptoms can occur immediately after your baby's birth or even a year later, and vary greatly in spectrum. we have to do something to remove the embarrassing stigma attached to post-partum mood disorders. therapy, medicine, or a combination of both can be used to help keep you and your loves safe, happy, and healthy.

so NOW who's joining dumbledore's army?

this story has me so excited today i can barely concentrate on my work (geekdom, thou hast won!) jk dropped this knowledge on a stunned audience at carnegie hall on sunday: albus dumbledore is gay.

...

can you believe it? dumbledore's gay?!? no wonder his grindelwald disdain was so tainted with hurt and emotion. he threw his genius heart to the only person with the potential to match him, only to realize that the object of his affection had such an evil side. how bittersweet and tortuous to have to fight and defeat his love. could there have ever been a more suitable match for albus? suddenly, his self-ostracism, sacrifice, and the way in which he threw himself into his work makes so much more sense. holing himself up in hogwart's, turning down the ministry of magic position, delving exclusively into his work: confusion and eventually acceptance of his sexuality would've been preying on his mind throughout everything he did.


so i can't WAIT for the evangelical christian backlash on this one. they already condemn potter and the entire series for the wicked, wicked use of witchcraft, potions, spells and the like. i mean, i wasn't allowed to watch the smurfs as a child because the church said the spell casting was evil! so can you imagine adding the evils of HOMOSEXUALITY to their profuse hatred of all things rowling? i can't wait... and i tip my pink hat to albus dumbledore.

and to add to that one...

the DA has dropped all charges and decided not to prosecute the SRLP, where last night members were celebrating their 5th anniversary. cops violently arrested two people without provocation and pepper sprayed others. welcome home ileana and reggie.

...and in the about effing time category...

Mychal Bell was finally released on bail today. finally. it's unfortunate that it took a media frenzy to make the racist f-wads actually get shamed into doing something right. so a big woo hoo is not perfect, but will suffice maintentant. he's out on $45,000 bail.

now if we can only drum up the same sort of media attention for the new jersey 4
read up. get involved. please.

could i heart david bowie any more??

this morning, i smiled as i read this article from msnbc. let's hope others will follow suit! as for me, my obsession with ziggy stardust rages on...

Someday they wont let you, now you must agree
The times they are a-telling, and the changing isnt free
Youve read it in the tea leaves, and the tracks are on tv
Beware the savage jaw
Of 1984

1984

if you haven't already...

i'm just gonna assume that you already know about this case, and that it would be redundant to rehash all of its painful details. click on the picture to sign a petition urging a fair and detailed civil rights investigation into the case.

whatever happened to julie ruin?

lately i've been feeling nostalgic for the riot grrls of yesteryear.

queercore is practically mainstream nowadays, and it kinda takes the fun and subversive nature out of gay punk/indie music. queer punk is suffering from the same downfall of original punk music... with notoriety and publicity comes a sort of grudging recognition and acceptance. which is exactly what punk tries NOT to achieve. rebelling ceases to exist when it's done en masse. don't get me wrong, i'm not saying it's a bad thing that queer rock has made its mark, it's fantastic! that's a central goal (among others, of course) of the marginalized, right? to get your voice heard, make some changes, stir up issues, shift the current ways of thinking? it makes me smile to turn on a radio station and hear, say, tegan & sara.

BUT I WANT MORE.

it's queer-lite nowadays, if you will. what next? where has the spark gone? issues haven't quelled, but the diy spirit kinda has. sure, there are some great groups out there today, such as scream club, boyskout, girl in a coma and the dead betties. but they don't come around here. hiding in the safeland of the west coast and vancouver, if they tour, they skip right over detroit and hide away in nyc.

NOT VERY SUBVERSIVE OF YOU.

those little 80s/90s homocore pioneers traveled all over and would play wherever to just get heard. groups today have it much easier and seem to only be playing where it's comfortable. how un-punk.

and how unfair to these groups that fought for you to even get gigs. i want some riotous, angry, fun, tongue-in-cheek, black eye-inducing, laugh-out-loud, fuck your mother, 'recruit them all' queer kind of music! and i know i'm not alone. where are the pansy divisions, bikini kills, hedwigs, team dresches, and vaginal creme davises of today? staying away from the midwest, for sure... my little homo heart is aching for some REVOLUTION! and if you're one of these groups scared of big, bad michigan ~ you can all crash at my place, i'll book you and show you it's not so bad.

let me end this short little rant with the lyrics from classic bikini kill song by ms julie ruin herself, kathleen hanna. this track is called 'i like fucking':

Hey! do you believe there's anything

Beyond troll guy reality?

I do, I do, I do

It gets so hard

Just to be okay

Sometimes being happy baby

Is what I'm most afraid of

Baby, you know,

It gets so hard for me to fight

I don't know how

I guess I never did

Why don't you show me how

How to lose control?

She's so very, 'I don't care'

Just cuz my world, sweet sister

Is so fucking goddamn full of rape

Does that mean my body must always be

a source of pain?

No, no, no

She's so very 'I don't care.'

Just cuz I named it right here sweet Chickadee

Don't mean for a minute you should think

I'm opposite of anything

But if you wanna know for sure I'll tell you

We're not gonna prove nothing nothing

Sittin around watching each other starve

What we need is action/strategy

I want, I want, I want

I want it now

I believe in the radical possibilities of pleasure, babe

I do, I do, I do