LGBTQ+ Rights and America

Good. That means they can survive.

Bad. That means their only motives are financial ones.

In retrospect: History is made by money, so I guess I can live with that.

It has always been the prerogative of children and half-wits to point out that the emperor has no clothes

By being open to gays they have now opened the doors to better oppertunities and partnerships with better organizations and communities than the Mormon church.

"Psssh. Even if you could catch a miracle on a picture any person would probably delete it to make space for more porn." - Aszur

It's also saying that gay people are just like everyone else. I know this might seem obvious to us but that's something a lot of boys in scouting need to hear.

Amen to that.

"Psssh. Even if you could catch a miracle on a picture any person would probably delete it to make space for more porn." - Aszur

I've been considering going back to my black dragon avatar, but I'm going to keep the rainbow dragon up for a while longer yet because of this good news.

My Tumblr. Currently liveblogging Haruhi Suzumiya and revisiting Danganronpa V3.

A candidate for governor of Missouri says he's an "ex-gay".

Never understood the ex-gay movement. Why define yourself by something you are (alledgedly) not?

@Scouting: I was a Boy Scout for a year or two. It was ok. One of my coworkers has kids in Scouting. I'm torn whether I want to hear yet another rant from him on the subject.

Because it fuels your agenda.

"Ex-gay" is a politically loaded term. Just by saying it, it enforces the belief that homosexuality is something that can be cured by embracing God and rejecting your wicked, sinful ways.

It's super popular with religious conservatives.

My Tumblr. Currently liveblogging Haruhi Suzumiya and revisiting Danganronpa V3.

Just today I heard someone talking about the "Transgender Lifestyle". I'm willing to bet 90+% of the time if someone uses phrases like that they're the kind of person that thinks these things are choices.

That an LGBT classification can be misidentified is where a lot of the myth of choice comes from, I think.

I misidentified as transgender when I was a teenager, which is why I'm a bit critical of teens clinging too firmly to labels without experimenting first, especially transgender; whenever I hear complaints about how hard it is to get a sex change, I just remember how incredibly glad I am that I wasn't able to when I was 16.

But the point is, I never stopped being a transwoman. I discovered that I actually wasn't one. That's an important difference that gets missed when people talk about "choosing" your sexual or gender orientation.

edited 28th Jul '15 12:07:26 PM by TobiasDrake

My Tumblr. Currently liveblogging Haruhi Suzumiya and revisiting Danganronpa V3.

Ex-gay people should encourage straight people to become gay for a day, show how easy it is to change gender orientation.

Instead of St. Paul's Day, for one day only the Vatican is to host a very special, very gay Mardi Gras. Old wrinkled penises everywhere for everyone.

Except the ladies. Ewwwwwww.

It has always been the prerogative of children and half-wits to point out that the emperor has no clothes

IMO, I think it is way more important that people are allowed to experiment with labels and identities than preventing people from picking a "wrong one".

Put me in motion, drink the potion, use the lotion, drain the ocean, cause commotion, fake devotion, entertain a notion, be Nova Scotian

Most people probably can't afford multiple sex change surgeries though. If someone thinks they're transgender and wants to go through reassignment surgery it's probably for the best that we make damn sure they're actually transgender.

But not every trans person wants to go through surgery though.

I mean, even if you don't think someone shouldn't be allowed to go through surgery doesn't mean they are'nt "actually transgender."

Put me in motion, drink the potion, use the lotion, drain the ocean, cause commotion, fake devotion, entertain a notion, be Nova Scotian

Considering all the obstacles there are to transitioning, is it really something that can be rushed into at this point? It takes years.

I was only talking about those that wanted to go through surgery. If the ones that don't want to realize they aren't transgender they won't have to feel like they made a bad decision.

Which is where the criticism comes from. I hear a lot of hubbub from trans circles about how it's ridiculous that you can't just walk into a doctor's office, slap money on the table, and get your genitals changed tonight. In fact, there was a time I was among that hubbub.

It's a long process involving a few years of living the role, and ultimately has to be signed off on by a therapist before it can be done. This is specifically to reduce the number of false positives who wind up experiencing trans regret, especially among teenagers like I was, who assume gender dissociation when what they're really undergoing is puberty.

Nobody feels comfortable in their skin when they're 15 years old.

edited 28th Jul '15 1:16:44 PM by TobiasDrake

My Tumblr. Currently liveblogging Haruhi Suzumiya and revisiting Danganronpa V3.

I'm not trans so I can't imagine what it's like but I still think it's a better idea to make people wait on these things. It is a big life decision and if they go through the surgery only to realize they're not trans they'd basically be going through the same problems all over again.

edited 28th Jul '15 1:22:28 PM by Kostya

I have been there with a friend through his reassignment. He is Canadian so I can only explain how it happens there. I think it is a good method actually.

You see a therapist for at least 6 months to confirm not only is this what is best for you, but that you also have a support structure while you transition. First there are the hormones. Then after a time, with psych approval, you have (in his case) the chest surgery). If you have anything that could make surgery more risky like overweight, blood pressure or heart problems, they address that with the hormones.

For male to female you will have your implants and facial surgeries at this time.

Then you have at least a year and you can start building your penis. It takes at least three surgeries to build a penis and make it functional. It is made from skin and muscle taken from your arm. This will take around 2 to 3 years to complete due to healing time and just basic scheduling issues.

From what I understand building a vagina takes between 3 to 4 surgeries depending on the individual.

So that time frame could be longer.

This is a huge deal. I have been by Joey's side for 10 years and he still isn't done. Medical issues with his back and knees made him have to wait longer between operations.

You should have to pass both medical and psych exams to go through all of this. You need to be healthy in all ways in order to survive such a horrific physical ordeal.

It is horrible too. If this is what you need, then great, but your body is being ripped apart in order to rebuild it right. You have to be healthy to survive it.

"Psssh. Even if you could catch a miracle on a picture any person would probably delete it to make space for more porn." - Aszur

They are ... but even the Mormons have started to shift to more neutral rhetoric when it comes to LGBT. I know there was some discussion in the LGBT Religion thread about it. Ranting about gays in scouts, or something else?

That’s the epitome of privilege right there, not considering armed nazis a threat to your life. - Silasw

He seems to be really against gay people scouting for some reason.

Most people against it are probably afraid the gay people will assault the other boys.

They're afraid that proximity to gay boys will contaminate the straight ones and turn them gay. It is a lifestyle choice, after all.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"

The myth of choice is responsible for a lot of homophobic sentiment.

My Tumblr. Currently liveblogging Haruhi Suzumiya and revisiting Danganronpa V3.

Homophobes like calling non-heterosexuality a choice, but when it comes to kids, they tend to treat it like an infectious virus out of a zombie movie. It's very confusing. Am I diseased, or am I pretending to be this way just to get on your nerves? I can't tell.

The idea is that if you don't expose kids to homosexuality they'll never try to convert because they won't know about it. So in a sense it is like a disease but after finding out about it you can decide if you want to be infected or not.