LGBTQ* News We Are Following Right Now

Move On Petition for Damien

KNOWhomo Moderator Personal Post:

Cael’s First (Performance in a) Drag King Show

Something I have always wanted to do got crossed off my list not long ago: participating in a drag show. I mean, who doesn’t want to be a Warbler for a night? Being rather shy with a dislike of stages (until I get on them at least) had led me away from this particular goal, but when my best friend said, “Hey, we should do this,” I jumped at the chance. We asked another friend to help us out and spent a Sunday evening entertaining our significant others while coming up with choreography basic enough even I could get it.

After missing the Wednesday dress rehearsal, I ended up outside the venue with some of the kings as they smoked before leaving, still made up from practicing their performances. They had Tupperware containers of hair and hairspray in hand, hair still on their cheeks and chins. I sat on the steps and listened to their conversations as they talked to my friends and significant other. I heard a random snippet about being excited about a packer coming in the mail, and then the focus turned to binding. One remarked on how much it hurt, another how their nipples were so close to their armpits, one more how they were so thankful they wouldn’t have to be made up much longer and could get out of that discomfort. The conversation curved again, and I stopped paying attention until my best friend turned to me before going inside and tossed back a reminder, “Is it still cool if I borrow that binder Friday?” something we had previously agreed upon. One of the kings, someone I have met and hung out with several times walked up quickly and asked, “Could I borrow one too?”

This whole situation struck me strangely, and still in a way I don’t quite fully understand. Listening to the kings talk about binding and how painful and uncomfortable it is when that is my everyday life was bizarre. I don’t have the luxury of not binding. It just is. It is an integral part of my life which I hate but can’t avoid. And to hear that conversation when I don’t have that same freedom brought up a bitterness in me which I don’t normally possess—or at least, acknowledge. I tend to live my life on the brink of not knowing what is going to happen and enjoying that sensation. I do not often look past the now, and I am very good at ignoring the things which break into my bubble of exploration and art and beauty and literature. I have never before in a group of cis women felt so displaced and dysphoric. My jealousy and bitterness (when I do acknowledge it) centers around cis men, specifically in any setting where they can go shirtless.

I don’t quite know how to put into words the entirety of my feelings around this conversation, but having someone I only vaguely know ask to borrow a binder from me made me even more uncomfortable. It felt like a disrespect of my identity, another almost-slap after the binding talk. Do you know how much binders cost? Do you know what it feels like in the summer to have to wear layers of compression shirts so you can move around without having your binder rub you raw? Do you know what it’s like never to be able to wear a tank top to escape the heat? Never to be able just to get out of bed in the morning and get dressed but to always be anchored to this one article of clothing simply so you can be? This one restrictive device which holds your nipples up by your armpits and constricts your ribcage so you can have the presentation of a male chest?

I just—I am not a person easily offended. I talk openly about everything regarding my own transition, my feelings, all generally trans* knowledge which people may or may not know, but in this, I am always aware of the people around me. I am always aware of dynamics and feelings and privacy. Binding is such a constant thing in my life, something I want to go away. I want to be able to take off the binder and be, but I can’t. It is necessary to complete this person, and I felt like for those few minutes my incompleteness was this flippant thing everyone could talk about while enjoying their cigarettes. I’m not a doll who gets dressed up everyday. I’m a man who needs this one thing to have the world look at me and see me as such. It’s one thing for a person I see as a sister to borrow a binder, someone who still sometimes looks at me after a long night and asks me how long I have had my binder on, a simple reminder for my own safety (my own safety, think about that). But it’s a completely different thing for someone I don’t know well, in front of a group of people, to ask the same. 

-Cael

LGBTQ* Musicians On Our Radar Right Now!

“Ryan Cassata…is a seasoned performer who has toured the country, appeared on television, written for film, and has done dozens of other amazing things as an advocate of equal rights who speaks publicly (and courageously) about transgender issues. When Ryan belts out a song, every note is infused with bravery and conviction.” - LI Pulse Magazine, June 2nd, 2011 

Ryan Cassata is a transgender singer-songwriter from Long Island, NY who - all by the age of 19 - successfully cut five records, booked and went on several tours, played many of the world’s biggest gay music festivals, and appeared on National & International TV several times on shows such as the Larry King Live Show & The Tyra Banks Show. Ryan now lives in San Francisco, CA.

And now he could be the first openly trans* performer to play Warped Tour. Check out his music and vote.

(Source)

LGBTQ* People In History (of Great Importance)

The “Einstein of Sex”: Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld

14 May 1868 – 14 May 1935

Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld was a scholar, physician, sexologist, and arguably the first outspoken gay and transgender activist in modern history. 

Why he rocks?

Hirschfeld’s Accomplishments:

1. Jewish gay* identified doctor, fought to end Paragraph 175 in Germany ( a law that made homosexuality punishable by law)

2. Founding member of Wissenschaftlich-humanitäres Komitee(WhK) ( English: The Scientific-Humanitarian Committee), which acted advocacy group to many underrepresented individuals (including the queer* population).

3. Led the FIRST congress for sexual reform

4. Co-wrote and acted in the 1919 film Anders als die Andem  (“Different From the Others”)

5. Created a way of cataloging identities, 64 of them, outside of “gay/lesbian,” including many ways to identify oneself outside of cisgender identification. Hirschfeld is one of the earliest scholars and advocates for the transgender community in Western culture. 

6. Created the Institute for Sexual Research, which became a safe haven for queer* individuals in Berlin

7. Joined the Bund für Mutterschutz (League for the Protection of Mothers), fighting for women’s equality and the decriminalization of abortions

8. Lost his entire library and most of his life work to the Nazi party but was able to flee and save his life (and rumored to have saved a few others). Nazi soldiers burned the entire institution’s contents on May 6, 1933 (80 years ago this month).

Imagine what the world might be if we still had all of his notes and the stories of hundreds of queer* identified and trans* identified individuals.

1. (Photo Source:Magnus Hirschfeld)
2. (Photo Source 2/3: International Sexological Congresses)
3. (Photo Source: Institute for Sexology)
4. (Photo Source: Nazis burning Hirschfeld’s Institute’s contents)

LGBTQ* History You Might Have Missed

Trans* Religious History 101

(Catharina Margaretha) Linck - FTM Transgender Person, executed for sodomy in Prussia in 1721

Above Graphics from Words Without Borders

A selection of art from the biography of Catharina Margaretha Linck

by Elke R. Steiner 
Translated by Edna McCown

*Note:

At this time the KNOWhomo team is digging deeper into the story of Linck. There have been too many opposing stories to share any accurate information at this time. We wanted to share the graphics above and start a conversation about how we research and compile information for our posts. If you have more information on Linck, please pass it our way. 

Keep On, Keeping On!

-Rebecca

KNOWhomo Repost:

Flags of Our Family

With flags being flown across the country, accompanied by dedicated voices, strength, and compassion, we provide a helpful history of some of the colors waving above our heads.

(for more information, check out #Flag)

knowhomo:

LGBTQ* Pride Flags You Should Know

#1: LGBTQ* Pride (**first flag in 1978 with 8 colors represented Lesbian/Gay culture)

#2: Bisexual Pride

#3: Pansexual Pride

#4: Asexual/Ace Pride

#5: Genderqueer Pride (click HERE for more information)

#6: Intersex Pride

#7: Trans* Pride

#8: Lipstick Lesbian Pride

#9: Bear Pride (click HERE for more information)

#10: Leather Pride

KNOWhomo Repost:

Flags of Our Family

With flags being flown across the country, accompanied by dedicated voices, strength, and compassion, we provide a helpful history of some of the colors waving above our heads.

(for more information, check out #Flag)

knowhomo:

LBGTQ* Flag History

Transgender Flag

Left Photograph: (most widely recognized) Transgender Flag created by Monica Helms (1999).

*baby blue and pink to represent assigned gender colors; white to represent intersex and gender variant; pattern allows flag to be flown any way and remain the same (versatile to symbolize any path is the correct path)

Right Photograph: (alternative flag) Transgender Flag created by Jennifer Pellinen (2002).

* blue and pink to represent assigned genders; purple, lavender, and lilac to symbolize genders outside of male/female binary

smith-q-and-a:

Some great shots from yesterday!  Submit yr own

LGBTQ* Tumblrs We’re Watching: smith-q-and-a

Q: Trans women at Smith?

A: Trans women at Smith. 

Note from Ruth Elizabeth:

I’ve been looking for a way to articulate my feelings regarding this post from Calliope Wong regarding the dismissal of her application to Smith after the school noted that her gender marker was male on her FAFSA. As a student at Hollins University (a women’s institution with a rather problematic trans* policy we’ve been trying the modify for years), I am thrilled to see such solidarity and support for trans* women from our family at Smith.