the mother called her babies just for me ;;;

Blessed.

the most blessed, pure thing…

This is adorable! <3 

Since joining Tumblr, I’ve met a lot of young queer people. Look, I’m a bisexual man in a gay relationship, and I’m approaching 30. I was still a kid when Matthew Shepard’s story was being covered on the news. I remember thinking, “I better keep my mouth shut about these feelings I’m having.”

And then I met Dominic when I was 12, and people could see how in love we were. And we got the shit beat out of us. The year I met him, some kids in the grade above me held me down against the bleachers in our gym and stomped on my hand until my fingers broke. Instead of sending me to the nurse, the teacher sent me to the assistant principal to explain the situation. She asked why the kids had beat me up. I said, “They were calling me gay.”

Her response was, “Well, are you?”

My, “I don’t know,” earned a call to my parents, and I was outed. Efforts were made to keep me from seeing Dom. Throughout high school, Dom’s stepmother intensified these efforts. He slept in the basement of the house. Although he was an incredibly talented student, he was prohibited from participating in any extracurriculars. He suffered a lot of physical abuse during those years.

The day he turned 18, he packed up everything he had and walked to my house, and we’ve lived together ever since. Things are better, but they’re not perfect. I’ve had trucks pull up next to me at stoplights and, seeing the pride sticker on my car, through old drinks and garbage into my window. I no longer speak to my dad’s side of the family. I haven’t been to see them for Christmas or Thanksgiving in years. One of my uncles had cornered me at Thanksgiving when I was 17 and said, “I’m not going to judge you, but I’d be happy to break your neck so God can do the judging a little sooner.”

I joined a support group for trans and intersex people. When I joined, 40 people attended regularly. Within the year, the group was half the size it had been. Some couldn’t make it anymore, because they were staying at the shelter, where their stay hinged on them agreeing to instead to attend homophobic sermons. Some were put in correctional therapy. Five of them died. Three of those, I didn’t know, but I knew Alex, the 19 year old who was fag-dragged in Kentucky and died a day later in the hospital, and I knew Stephanie, who went home to Alabama to care for her mom in hospice and was beaten to death with a baseball bat by her mom’s boyfriend.

Tumblr is not reality. The dynamic here does not reflect the dynamic out there. Here’s the part where I finally make a point, and it might be extremely unpopular - but guys, value your allies. Value each other. We are met with enough hate in our daily lives to enter an online safe-space and meet more hate from our own, over petty things. Don’t go after one another over every little thing you find problematic.

Learn to see nuance. Maybe the word “queer” bothers you, and you see a gay man using it as an umbrella term. Maybe someone called a trans man a trans woman because they’re confused about terminology, but the post where they did it was voicing support for the trans community. Maybe someone is just asking a question, wanting to learn more. Stop. Attacking. These. People.

Allies are being driven away. Members of our own community are being ostracized. Others are feeling nervous and estranged, and it’s largely because of places like Tumblr, where the social justice movement is quickly becoming violent and radical. I am begging you, stop nitpicking “problematic” things and start directing your efforts to create real change. When it comes to comes to your allies, forget the “social justice warrior” mentality and put down your torch. Educate calmly. Be respectful. Be understanding. Be forgiving. And I’m certainly not saying that your anger doesn’t have a good place - when you are met with bigots on the street, congress members who want to pass hateful laws, violent protesters, abusive parents, prejudiced teachers, that is when you need to be a warrior. That’s when it counts. In the real world. When you have the opportunity to protect people from real harm. Attacking your would-be allies via anonymous asks is just going to lose us ground in the long run. And we don’t have time for that, not when trans women of color are being murdered every day, not when states are still fighting against marriage equality, not when there are politicians in office who believe that trans people are possessed by demons, not when we’ve just lost 50 brothers and sisters to one gunman, not when the media won’t even admit that the attack was homophobic.

Please step back. Look at the big picture. Look at where we are, globally. Don’t just log on to your safe space and attack your allies over small missteps. That’s like washing the dishes in a house that’s on fire, kids. Let’s fight on the battlefield, and when we come home to each other, let’s just focus on bandaging up our wounds so we can go out and win the war.

Signal boost to this unbelievably important message.

I’d reblog this a thousand times if I could.

Stop attacking allies. Educate. Not hate. 

This is incredibly important. Please read!

Educate calmly. Be respectful. Be understanding. Be forgiving.

This is very powerful and thought provoking, a must read.  

im obviously super into social justice culture but over the past year its turned everyone into self righteous dickheads who expect everyone to be perfect angels and like, hey listen, literally no one is. yes definitely call out bigotry and awful systems whenever you can but nitpicking people’s histories and personalities is so malicious and unnecessary and yall do it to feel better about yourselves and thats gross. find healthier ways to be positive in your own life rather than dissecting other people for the thrill of thinking you’re a better person

Oh my god

funniest post I've seen in a while and that's saying something lol 

Seeing other gay people in public is such a therapeutic experience like every time I see two girls or two boys together like holding hands or on a date I get like 5 years added onto my life

REBLOG TO ADD FIVE YEARS TO A LIFE

Ultimate Swing

This photo, taken at the “end of the world” swing in Banos, Ecuador, captures a man on the swing overlooking an erupting Mt. Tungurahua. The eruption took place on February 1, 2014. Minutes after the photo was taken, we had to evacuate the area because of an incoming ash cloud.

Picture: Sean Hacker Teper/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest

Source: The Atlantic In Focus

+

Source 

These dudes are fucking legit.  They don’t just show up one day in court, either, they actually make friends with the kids and let them know they have a support system and that there are people in the world who care about them and will always have their back.  And less important, but also cool, is that the few times a couple of them have come into my cafe, they’ve been super friendly and polite and when I told one of the guys that I noticed his Bikers Against Child Abuse patch and wanted him to know how awesome I thought he was because of it, he got kind of shy and blushed and said, “The kids are the awesome ones, we just let them know they’re allowed to be brave.”

The source is long, but so, so good. These men and women are available in 36 states, 24 hours a day to stand guard at home, in court, at school, even if the child has a nightmare. Many of them are survivors of childhood abuse as well, and know what it’s like to feel scared and alone.

Actual tears.. hnngh

Show me more of people like this, world. I give up on humans too easily.

where do i sign up for this,i want to be in this gang

This is fucking amazing. It may be out of character for me to say this but rock on

Bikers Against Child Abuse was founded in 1995 by a Native American child psychologist whose ride name is Chief, when he came across a young boy who had been subjected to extreme abuse and was too afraid to leave his house. He called the boy to reach out to him, but the only thing that seemed to interest the child was Chief’s bike. Soon, some 20 bikers went to the boy’s neighborhood and were able to draw him out of his house for the first time in weeks.

Chief’s thesis was that a child who has been abused by an adult can benefit psychologically from the presence of even more intimidating adults that they know are on their side. “When we tell a child they don’t have to be afraid, they believe us,” Arizona biker Pipes told azcentral.com. “When we tell them we will be there for them, they believe us.” ( Article)

More about BACA, from their site

My parents are a part of this organization and they are metal af

They go on runs to protect the child if they feel even the slightest threatened no matter where. If the child needs them to go on vacation with them, they do. Bikers come from across the nation to watch over and take shifts for these kids. And the best part is once you’re adopted into this family as a BACA kid, you’re always one. Even when you’re 40 and the perp gets released from jail, they’ll come meet with you and find your best options for avoiding the person and maintaining the life you’ve built for yourself. Once a BACA child, always a BACA child. In Florida, there’s 100% rate for identifying the perp based on the child’s testimony. Why? Because BACA stands with the child and supports the child so they feel comfortable enough to point out their attacker.

What’s better than a badass biker gang being on your side???

NATIVE AMERICAN CHILD PSYCHOLOGIST WHO IS A BIKER AND NAMED HIMSELF CHIEF HELL YES I’M HERE FOR THAT AND BIKERS BEING BAD ASS TO PROTECT KIDS. HELL YEAH.

it’s back! I will always reblog BACA

depression symptoms that need to be brought to attention, supported and not demonized:

don’t shame us. we’re having a hard time managing being depressed in general.

It has been 365 days of Pride

It’s June 26, 2016 2:51am EST in the USA. A year ago today love won in the US. It’s officially been 365 days of LGBT+ couples receiving their marriage license. It’s been 365 days of wedding planning. It’s been 365 days of someone’s fairytale coming true. It’s been 365 days of coming out. It’s been 365 days of rejection and acceptance. It’s been 365 days of joy. And of victory. Yet it has been 365 days of protest. It’s 365 of grief. It’s been 365 days of struggle. 365 days of heartbreak. And of fear. But today we celebrate because on June 26, 2015 the LGTB+ community was brought to the front focus. People finally see us! Congratulations LGBT+ community. We are a large group of loving, caring, crazy, accepting, friendly, tolerant, opinionated, and beautiful people. Today we celebrate because we can! Happy Pride & Happy Gay Day!! ❤🌈❤

SHARE TF OUT OF THIS

The idea that the shooter must be gay because he was scoping out his target makes me so fucking angry. I came home last night from the Boston vigil and my mom was saying how it now seems like he was gay because he was at the club, and I’m like no, he was scoping it out. That answer was blatantly obvious to me, but now I know straight people are going to convince themselves he was because the self loathing gay person is a story they would much rather have. “It wasn’t us, it was one of your own” and absolves themselves of the homophobia they are complicit in, of the homophobia that created the atmosphere for this horrible shooting to happen, of the homophobia from straight people that leads some gay people to be in fact self hating and campaign against equal rights. Like even if the shooter was gay, though I do not believe it for a second, he would be a product of the homophobia started and perpetuated by straight people. 

This is a huge problem in battling homophobia. Too often I see straight people mock homophobes as if they must be secretly gay, because being gay is a punishment rather than an identity to take pride in. I see them wish they have a gay child, because punishing a homophobe at the expense of an lgbt child is so awesome! I see straight people claiming that the real homophobes are the closeted gay people, because it helps them absolve themselves of homophobia and it is disgusting. 

Straight people are the culprits here, straight people and their homophobia are to blame. A man doesn’t get enraged at seeing two men kissing because he is secretly gay. And considering how many people he was able to kill on his own, it’s no surprise he scoped out the place before hand. 

The whole “homophobes are all secretly gay" thing seems like a way to say that only gay people really care about being gay. That if someone is making a big deal about gay people they’re either a self-hating closet case, or an out person who is ~excessively in-your-face~ about their sexuality. (I’m thinking of that comment someone made about how their reaction to a person coming out to them was to ask if the gay person was flirting with them, because ~why else would it matter that you’re gay~.)

And then straight people get to say that ~nobody cares if you’re gay anymore~ and pretend homophobia among straight people isn’t a concern. Or they position themselves as tolerant and "not hateful" toward gay people, even if they are openly "against homosexuality.” Because ~of course their stance is just a neutral, dispassionate opinion, it’s not like they would ever ‘get in anyone’s face’ about it.

Is there such a thing as a lesbian voice?

reblog if you are BISEXUAL, SUPPORT BISEXUAL PEOPLE, or REALLY HATE DONALD TRUMP

ALL THREE OF THEM BB

420 years ago, on 4/20, the moon was made of weed.

This is the only day you can reblog this. Do it for Weed Moon.

I don’t know who made this, but it’s genius

A high school student, Brianna asks fellow student Dell, who has special needs to prom. His day was clearly made.

The young woman is holding a cake and balloons that is Star Wars themed, which is his favorite movie. His favorite color is blue which is the color she is wearing. Full video: https://m.facebook.com/becauseofthemwecan/

my heart is full of joy

BEST PARENTS EVER!  

Fashion Inspired By Nature In Diptychs By Liliya Hudyakova

amazing.