Im Old Enough To Find The Vilification Of Queer Bewildering. It Took ALL OF US To Get As Far As We Have.

I’m old enough to find the vilification of “queer” bewildering.  It took ALL OF US to get as far as we have.  Dividing ALL OF US just lets the real enemy conquer us more easily.

queer is a slur, grow up

‘Queer’ was reclaimed as an umbrella term for people identifying as not-heterosexual and/or not-cisgender in the early 1980s, but being queer is more than just being non-straight/non-cis; it’s a political and ideological statement, a label asserting an identity distinct from gay and/or traditional gender identities.People identifying as queer are typically not cis gays or cis lesbians, but bi, pan, ace, trans, nonbinary, intersex, etc.: we’re the silent/ced letters. We’re the marginalised majority within the LGBTQIA+ community, and‘queer’ is our rallying cry.

And that’s equally pissing off and terrifying terfs and cis LGs.

There’s absolutely no historical or sociolinguistic reason why ‘queer’ should be a worse slur than ‘gay.’ Remember how we had all those campaigns to make people stop using ‘gay’ as a synonym for ‘bad’?

Yet nobody is suggesting we should abolish ‘gay’ as a label. We accept that even though ‘gay’ sometimes is and historically frequently was used in a derogatory manner, mlm individuals have the right to use that word. We have ad campaigns, twitter hashtags, and viral Facebook posts defending ‘gay’ as an identity label and asking people to stop using it as a slur.

Whereas ‘queer’ is treated exactly opposite: a small but vocal group of people within feminist and LGBTQIA+ circles insists that it’s a slur and demands that others to stop using it as a personal, self-chosen identity label.

Why?

Because “queer is a slur” was invented by terfs specifically to exclude trans, nonbinary, and intersex people from feminist and non-heterosexual discourse, and was subsequently adopted by cis gays and cis lesbians to exclude bi/pan and ace people.

It’s classic divide-and-conquer tactics: when our umbrella term is redefined as a slur and we’re harassed into silence for using it, we no longer have a word for what we are allowing us to organise for social/political/economic support; we are denied the opportunity to influence or shape the spaces we inhabit; we can’t challenge existing community power structures; we’re erased from our own history.

I’m not kidding. Cis LGs have literally taken historical evidence of queer people’s involvement in the LGBT rights struggle and photoshopped it to erase us:

Pro tip: when you alter historical evidence to deny a marginalised group empowerment, you’re one of the bad guys.

“Queer is a slur” is used by terfs and cis gays/lesbians to silence the voices of trans/nonbinary/intersex/bi/pan/ace people in society and even within our own communities, to isolate us and shame us for existing.

“Queer is a slur” is saying “I am offended by people who do not conform to traditional gender or sexual identities because they are not sexually available to me or validate my personal identity.”

“Queer is a slur” is defending heteronormativity.

“Queer is a slur” is frankly embarrassing. It’s an admission of ignorance and prejudice. It’s an insidious discriminatory discourse parroted uncritically in support of a divisive us-vs-them mentality targeting the most vulnerable members of the LGBTQIA+ community for lack of courage to confront the white cis straight men who pose an actual danger to us as individuals and as a community.

Tl;dr:

I’m here, I’m queer, and I’m too old for this shit.

I noticed Tony looked skinnier in this trailer. When he first mentioned not having food, I thought, “Oh gawd, it has to be more than just four days.” Because Tony’s smart enough to know he has to portion his food and water, even if he had hope of rescue at first. So our poor IronSpaceBoy has been slowly starving himself for who knows how long. At least long enough to drop some pounds. He might have even tried rationing his oxygen as well, although I’m not sure how successful that would work. Someone rescue him fast!

Avengers 4 tony is a skinny legend

So the only all-bird rehab center in North Texas is about to shut down

I can’t even put into words how upset I am about this. Rogers Wildlife Rehabilitation has been open for almost twenty years, and is the only place in North Texas that takes in literally any type of bird if it’s been injured, orphaned, or otherwise incapacitated. They’re finally out of funds, and if they can’t come up with anything by April 2nd, they’re going to be forced to close their doors.

They’ve never turned away birds. Not when it’s a surprise 200 baby cattle egrets that’ve been orphaned because city planners thought they could cut down their homes and no one would notice. Not when it’s raptors with one good eye and in need of seven different antibiotics. Not even when it’s ducks that irresponsible parents won’t let their kids keep after easter. This is where anyone let me first get up close to birds. I mean, I’ve known I wanted to work with birds and wildlife since I was seven- I’m twenty four now, and halfway through an environmental science master’s and it’s a big reason I kept going.

I’ve been going to this place on and off for ten years, I was THIRTEEN when I started volunteering and seeing all the terrible things that happen to the birds that come in. Not just…hit by trucks, or caught in a hailstorm but parrots that have been left in foreclosed houses for weeks, and roosters that have come out of cock fighting rings and would otherwise be put down because the SPCA and humane societies don’t think they’re salvageable. There’s an emu that was raised there as a baby because no one wanted her. Her name’s Riley and I can’t even begin to comprehend what shutting the doors to the center would mean?

They don’t get government aid. They’ve been funded by the public donating and Kathy, the lady who owns the place, going through her retirement funds and savings and her social security to keep it running. She’s finally run out of money. Please,  just reblog? Even if you can’t donate anything- and I know it’s a lot to ask for poor teenage/college kids to donate money that they don’t have, or struggling artists I know but maybe someone who can spare something will see it eventually? They need $200,000 to keep open for a year to continue to help 4000 birds a year.  

Just, thanks for reading, guys. Here’s the gofundme link: http://www.gofundme.com/l8aj7k

Their facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Rogers-Wildlife-Rehabilitation-Center/398035120217303

Here’s their website: http://www.rogerswildlife.org/about.html

Possibly a strange connection, but whenever I see this scene I think of the quote from RDJ about his time in prison and how more than once he “woke up in a puddle of [his] own blood”.  I image him waking up/going to the prison hospital, and this just gets even more difficult to watch.

Tony Stark + breaking my heart, also known as is it just me or is this too hard to watch?

Tumblr has BTE (big thanos energy) cause they just killed half the userbase and didnt solve any problems at all

POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT?

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The thing on the back of the armor in the first pic?  The site refers to it as a “Nano Lightning Refocuser”.  I wonder what that speaks to its function, and how that’ll play out in Endgame’s battles/boss fight.  I keep thinking back to the first Avengers movie, when the suit took Thor’s lightning blast and threw back a beam 400% stronger.  Can the Mark 85 handle Thor’s powers now, and what would it throw back??  Stormbringer’s power was formidable against Thanos in Infinity War...

mark 85 raw me challenge