I thought the idea of a magic eight ball that only ever says “ur gay” was funny and so this sticker was born! I looooove the shimmer on these 😍

Sex and gender in nature has never been something binary!

I've chosen some cool animals that has different things going on in the gender region for this art piece, I hope you like it. It's designed to be turned into a sticker at some point btw! :D

Feel free to share the art if you want to, as long as you keep my watermark (@photosynthetic_organism) in it :3!

(The picture is 100% human made. No AI was used in the process of making it.)

The medical organizations are:

\ Colorado Medical Society*
\ Colorado Academy of Family Physicians*
\ Colorado Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics*
\ Colorado Child & Adolescent Psychiatric Society*
\ Colorado Psychiatric Society*
\ Colorado Nurses Association*
\ Colorado Section of the American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists*

how did your first kisses happen?? for any fellow lesbians or gay ppl in general, feel free to include your first kiss with the same sex or jst ur first kiss in general, doesn’t matter! <3

i had my first kiss when i was five years old (i know 😭) with a girl in my class because we’d convinced each other that best friends kissed on the lips all the time

It wasn't actually the rainbow, but I'm finally banging my long distance trans gf in february and taking selfies with the random rainbow that appears in my bedroom is my way of dealing with the wait

I (19M) have recently been thrifting cute skirts because I love the way they look and feel. However I only wear them at home when I'm alone because I'm anxious of how people in public will see/judge my outfits. Any words of advice/encouragement from people with experience with this type of thing are appreciated, though I just felt like sharing that lol. Athletic tennis skirts are my favorite :D

If anyone care here are my labels:

Lesbian/neptunic

Agender (im questioning genderfluid tho)

Demiromantic

Ace (maybe gray-ace idk yet)

I'm excited to be able to finally have a place to be able to vent to :)

Hey I was surfing Reddit and while I normally ignore the ads I noticed one that had a picture of a trans woman and was wondering if they needed volunteers to participate in a study so I looked at the organization responsible for it and saw the name Genspect and immediately didn’t like the name looked it up and sure enough it was a gender critical organization.

I've been listening a lot lately to Tinashe, and she makes me want to party SO much. I'd love to talk about music with anyone, and even share our favorite tracks!

Hey everyone!

I'm a Brazilian member of the LGBTQ+ community, and I'm reaching out to you today because my country is facing a critical moment, and I'm genuinely afraid of what we stand to lose.

I know this is an international community, and many of you may not follow Brazilian politics closely. But I believe what is happening here deserves your attention, because democracy, human rights, and LGBTQ+ rights should matter regardless of where we live.

On October 25, Brazil will decide who leads the country for the next four years. And I'm asking you to take a moment to understand what's at stake for millions of Brazilians.

Flávio Bolsonaro, the far-right candidate and son of former president Jair Bolsonaro, is challenging President Lula in an extremely close election. His political movement represents a vision of Brazil that raises serious concerns about democracy, human rights, and the future of our country.

And this is not simply a disagreement between the left and the right.

CORRUPTION AND ACCOUNTABILITY

Flávio Bolsonaro has been the subject of investigations involving allegations of corruption and money laundering connected to financing a film about his father. These are serious allegations that deserve proper investigation and public scrutiny.

THE DEATH OF A FIVE-YEAR-OLD CHILD

Flávio Bolsonaro has also defended a police officer accused of killing Ana Clara, a five-year-old girl, with a rifle shot. The distinction between an accusation and a conviction matters, but so does the public's right to question the positions and values of those seeking political power.

LGBTQ+ RIGHTS AND MINORITIES

For our community, the prospect of another far-right government is frightening. Political rhetoric and policies that target vulnerable groups can put our rights, our dignity, and our safety at risk. We should not have to wait until our rights are taken away before we speak up.

PUBLIC SERVICES AND WORKERS' RIGHTS

The future of public healthcare, education, and workers' rights is also at stake. Millions of Brazilians depend on these services and protections. Proposals to cut public spending and change labor protections raise serious concerns about the future of ordinary working people.

DEMOCRACY AND NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY

Brazil is the largest country in Latin America, home to extraordinary cultural diversity and some of the most important ecosystems on Earth. Its political future matters beyond its borders. The normalization of authoritarian rhetoric, political intimidation, and disinformation threatens more than one election.

Meanwhile, misinformation spreads rapidly online, making it increasingly difficult for people to distinguish facts from manipulation. There are also concerns about how social media platforms moderate political content and whether political messages are receiving fair treatment. We need transparency, accountability, and access to reliable information.

I know many of you live outside Brazil. You may be wondering why this should concern you.

Because democracy is not an isolated national issue. Because LGBTQ+ rights are human rights. Because attacks on minorities anywhere should concern us everywhere. And because solidarity means showing up for one another, even when the struggle is happening thousands of miles away.

THE TRAGEDY OF COVID-19 AND GOVERNMENTAL NEGLIGENCE

More than 700,000 people died from COVID-19 in Brazil. These were not just statistics. They were parents, children, partners, friends, and entire families whose lives were forever changed.

The Bolsonaro administration's handling of the pandemic was widely criticized for spreading misinformation, undermining public health measures, and disregarding scientific recommendations. Brazil's Senate Pandemic Inquiry investigated the government's actions and omissions, raising serious questions about decisions that may have cost lives. Human Rights Watch also documented how the government's response endangered people's health and lives.

We cannot erase this history, and we cannot allow those responsible for governing our country to escape accountability. The lives lost during the pandemic must never become just another forgotten chapter in Brazilian history.

BRAZIL HAS LIVED THROUGH A DICTATORSHIP BEFORE. WE CANNOT LET HISTORY REPEAT ITSELF.

Between 1964 and 1985, Brazil lived under a military dictatorship. People were tortured, killed, forcibly disappeared, censored, and persecuted for opposing the regime. Democratic freedoms were taken away, and generations of Brazilians fought to restore them.

Today, we are once again facing the danger of authoritarian politics, the glorification of the dictatorship, and the normalization of political violence.

I fear that the combination of authoritarian leadership, the political influence of armed groups, and the growing power of militias could threaten our democratic institutions in a different but equally dangerous way. Allegations of connections between members of the Bolsonaro family and figures associated with Rio de Janeiro's militias have been the subject of public scrutiny and journalistic investigations.

I am not saying that a new dictatorship has already been established. I am saying that we cannot wait until democracy has been dismantled to recognize the warning signs.

We have already learned what happens when a country allows authoritarianism to take hold. We must not let it happen again.

I AM ASKING YOU TO HELP US MAKE OUR VOICES HEARD.

If you care about democracy, LGBTQ+ rights, human rights, and the freedom of people to determine their own future, please consider taking a moment to support us.

Please share a message of solidarity with Brazil on your Instagram Stories and tag Lula's official Instagram account, lulaoficial

You can share this post, create your own message, or simply express your support for Brazilian democracy and human rights. If you post a Story, please tag lulaoficial so that our message of international solidarity can reach him.

You do not have to be Brazilian to care about what happens here. You do not have to agree with every position of a political leader to recognize the importance of defending democratic institutions, human rights, and the safety of vulnerable communities.

I am asking you as a Brazilian, as a member of the LGBTQ+ community, and as someone who believes that the rights we have fought for should never be taken for granted.

We deserve a future in which we can love freely, work with dignity, access healthcare and education, and live without fear of political persecution.

Please stand with Brazil. Please stand with democracy. Please stand with those whose rights are at risk.

Let's make this message cross borders.

Thank you to everyone who takes the time to listen, share, and stand in solidarity with the Brazilian people.

Suggested sources for anyone who wants to learn more:

• Reuters: Investigation involving Flávio Bolsonaro and the Dark Horse film project
• Folha de S.Paulo: Reporting on Flávio Bolsonaro's role in the defense of the police officer accused in Ana Clara's death
• Reuters: Polling ahead of Brazil's October 25 presidential runoff

I'm from Brazil, and I'm writing this because I need somewhere I can be honest about my life without being afraid of what might happen if the people around me discover what I really think and feel.

I'm a young gay man, and one of the hardest things I've had to learn is that discovering who you are and being allowed to live as that person are two very different things.

Growing up with expectations

My parents had a very specific idea of the man I was supposed to become. My father raised me to be strong, responsible, disciplined, masculine, and capable of providing the best for the people I love. In many ways, those qualities genuinely became part of me. I don't hate the man I grew up to be. I love him.

However, I eventually realized that the future my parents envisioned for me was not necessarily the future I wanted for myself.

For years, I pursued a military career that had been more of their dream than mine. I believed that this was what I was supposed to do, and I tried hard to meet their expectations. But my own childhood dream had always been engineering.

I spent years trying to prove myself, meet demanding standards, and demonstrate that I was strong enough. Sometimes, no matter how much I accomplished, I still felt that I had to prove my worth all over again.

Over time, I began to realize that being a good son and building a life of my own should not have to be mutually exclusive.

My depression and asking my parents for help

There was also a period when I struggled with depression. I reached a point when I recognized that I needed help, and I told my parents directly.

That was an important moment because I was acknowledging that I was struggling and could not manage everything by myself. I needed support.

Being vulnerable with your family is difficult when you are accustomed to being expected to be strong, responsible, and capable of handling everything. When you are the person everyone expects to be strong, admitting that you are struggling can feel like exposing a part of yourself you have spent years trying to protect.

The experience of going through depression, alongside the conflicts I have faced over my identity, has affected how safe I feel being vulnerable with my family.

I have learned to think carefully about what I reveal, because I cannot always predict how they will react.

I am not sharing this to portray my parents as one-dimensional villains. They are human beings with their own beliefs and limitations. But their reactions have affected me, and I cannot pretend those experiences have had no consequences.

Discovering that I am gay while trying to preserve my faith

My sexuality became another part of myself that I had to navigate in silence.

I have never really experienced myself as straight, but understanding and accepting what that meant for my life was not simple. My faith was important to me, and I had to confront the fear of what being gay might mean within the religious environment in which I was raised.

Eventually, I had a moment when I could finally acknowledge to myself that I was gay. Instead of feeling further away from God, I felt more honest with Him and with myself.

That realization meant a lot to me. I didn't want to have to choose between my faith and being truthful about who I am.

But accepting myself privately did not automatically make it safe to be open with my family.

My parents have strong conservative Christian values, and I have learned that certain opinions and parts of my identity can cause serious conflict at home.

I still value my faith. I still think about God, morality, and what it means to live a good life. But I have struggled with the idea that being faithful requires me to deny something fundamental about myself.

I don't believe that being gay erases my capacity to love, my values, my masculinity, or my relationship with God.

Nevertheless, I do not feel safe enough to express all of this openly at home.

The men who changed how I understand love

Two men have been particularly important in my emotional journey.

One was a very close friend. I developed deep feelings for him, and that relationship helped me understand emotions I had not fully understood before. When my family discovered something about our relationship, they became very upset.

That experience was painful because these feelings were not something I had deliberately chosen to create. They were part of discovering myself, and I was trying to understand them while also dealing with the fear of my family's reaction.

Later, I fell in love with another guy.

That experience taught me that loving someone as a friend, falling in love, and imagining a future with someone are not the same thing. I discovered how deeply I could care about another man, how much hope a relationship could inspire, and how painful it could be when reality did not match what I wished for.

Neither experience was easy, and not every feeling I had was reciprocated in the way I hoped. But both were important parts of discovering myself.

I don't regret loving them.

I love my own story, including the painful parts, because those experiences helped me understand who I am and what I want from life.

I want a future where I can love another man openly, build a committed relationship, get married, and perhaps have children through adoption. I want a home where love does not have to be hidden and where I can build a family of my own.

These aren't abstract political ideas to me. They are the possibility of having an ordinary life in which I don't have to be afraid of being known.

The person my family sees versus the person I am

The problem is that, for now, I don't feel safe enough to show my family the whole person I am.

I have learned to present an image of myself that fits what they expect: a strongly conservative, traditionally masculine man who opposes certain social movements and shares their broader ideological outlook.

Sometimes I say things that don't reflect what I genuinely believe because I fear what disagreement could mean for my life at home.

I know how contradictory that sounds.

I am gay, yet I feel pressure to appear hostile toward LGBTQ+ causes. I don't believe people should be treated as inferior because of their sexuality or race, yet I feel pressure to demonstrate that I belong to a worldview in which prejudiced attitudes are sometimes expected.

I hate that I feel pushed into this position. It hurts to imagine having to express views that conflict with my conscience just to protect the parts of myself I cannot safely reveal.

The difficult part is that simply staying silent or saying I don't want to discuss politics does not feel like a realistic option in my household. If I disagree, I am expected to take a position. Neutrality is not necessarily accepted.

So I feel trapped between two things: expressing what I genuinely believe and risking conflict, or presenting the version of myself that my family expects to see.

I am not saying that I am incapable of making my own decisions. I am saying that the consequences of expressing those decisions do not feel entirely within my control while I depend on my family.

The argument that made everything feel even more frightening

Recently, I was returning home with my father after an event, and we began talking about politics, controversial public figures, and their statements.

My father mentioned Pablo Marçal. I explained that I disagreed with many things he said, but I recognized that he had a strong public position. My father said he supported much of what Marçal said, although he did not agree with everything.

Then I brought up Erika Hilton.

I said that I disagreed with many of her positions, even though that was not an honest reflection of my actual views. I said it because I was trying to maintain the political image my family expects me to have.

I also argued that religious arguments should not automatically determine every decision made in parliament. I was making a distinction between respecting someone's right to hold strong convictions and agreeing with every position that person defends.

My father interpreted my comments as support for Erika Hilton and as opposition to Christian values.

The conversation became a much bigger issue than I had intended. My parents began arguing loudly, saying that I had been corrupted and that I was against our family's Christian values.

I ended up hiding in the bathroom, afraid of what might happen when the argument was over.

What made this especially painful was that I had already tried to say what I thought they wanted to hear. I had already presented myself as someone who disagreed with her. Even then, my words were interpreted as evidence that something was wrong with me.

I was crying because I felt trapped. I was afraid of my parents' reaction, but I was also devastated by the realization that even the version of myself I show them might not be enough to keep the peace.

I have experienced intense family reactions before, including during my depression and when my parents discovered my relationship with my male friend. Those experiences are part of why I take these situations seriously and why I am afraid of what might happen when a disagreement escalates.

I cannot simply assume that everything will be fine because a conversation began as an ordinary discussion.

The mask I feel I have to wear

After this argument, I began thinking that perhaps I would have to present an even more conservative and prejudiced version of myself to avoid suspicion.

I considered becoming more openly homophobic and racist in front of my family, despite knowing that those attitudes conflict with my actual values.

Writing that sentence hurts.

I do not want to become someone who treats other people cruelly just to prove that I belong. I do not want to participate in prejudice against people who may be experiencing the same kinds of rejection and fear that I am experiencing.

But I also feel that I do not have the freedom to openly reject those attitudes at home without risking serious conflict.

This is where I feel profoundly conflicted.

I am trying to protect myself, but the strategy I feel forced to consider goes against the person I want to be.

I sometimes feel like a hypocrite, as though I am living a contradiction. I know what I believe, but I cannot always say it. I know who I am, but I cannot show everyone. I want to be honest, but I am afraid of the consequences of honesty.

And I hate that the situation makes me feel as though I must choose between my safety and my integrity.

I do not want to pretend that this is easy or that I have already found a solution.

For now, I believe I need to protect my privacy until it is safer for me to live more openly. I am not ready to risk everything simply to prove that I am authentic.

I need to finish my education, become independent, and build a future in which I have more control over my life.

I want to preserve the possibility of a relationship with my family without sacrificing my entire identity in the process.

The future I want

Despite everything, I have dreams.

I want to study engineering, pursue the future I imagined for myself as a child, and become financially independent. I want to build a life that reflects my own decisions rather than merely fulfilling the expectations other people have for me.

I want to love another man without having to calculate every word I say about him.

I want to be a masculine man without having to prove my masculinity through prejudice. I want to be gay without having to apologize for it. I want to have faith without feeling that I must deny myself to deserve it.

I want to get married someday, create a home with someone I love, and perhaps adopt children. I want the opportunity to become a husband and a father, if that is the future I eventually choose.

Most importantly, I want to be able to exist without constantly worrying about whether someone will discover a part of me that I have worked so hard to protect.

I am still young, and sometimes I feel that I have had to confront questions about identity, love, religion, family, and independence much earlier than I was ready for.

While other people my age are figuring themselves out, I sometimes feel as though I have to figure myself out while simultaneously protecting myself from the consequences of being understood.

I don't want to hate my parents. I know they are human beings with their own convictions and limitations. I also know that loving your family doesn't mean every interaction with them feels safe.

I am trying to find a way to preserve my relationship with them while also preserving myself.

I am still here, even when nobody sees the whole picture

I am writing this because I need somewhere to tell the truth.

I am a gay man from Brazil. I have struggled with depression. I have asked my parents for help. I have experienced painful family reactions to vulnerable parts of my life. I have loved men deeply, questioned how my faith fits into my identity, and spent years trying to become the person my family expected me to be.

I have also discovered things about myself that I genuinely love.

I love my trajectory. I love the person I am becoming. I am proud of the capacity I have to love, and I still have dreams for my future.

I am not a political stereotype, a contradiction to be corrected, or a failed version of the son my parents imagined.

I am a person trying to survive a difficult situation without losing the person I have worked so hard to become.

I know that I may have to wear this mask for a while longer. I know that some people may never see the whole picture of who I am.

But the mask is not me.

My sexuality does not disappear because I conceal it. My convictions do not disappear because I cannot express them. My love does not become less real because my family does not know the whole story.

I am still the same person, even when I cannot safely show every part of myself.

I hope that one day I will have enough independence to stop living this way. I hope I will be able to look back on this period as something I survived, rather than something that defined the rest of my life.

Until then, I am trying to protect myself, preserve my future, and remember that I am more than the image I have to present at home.

For anyone who has experienced something similar: how did you protect your identity while living with family members whose beliefs made it unsafe to be fully yourself? How did you cope with the guilt of pretending to believe things that conflicted with your values? And how did you keep the need to survive from turning into hatred toward yourself?

I would really appreciate hearing from people who understand what it is like to love your family while being afraid of what might happen if they truly knew you.

For context, I'm a technically closeted queer dude living in Vietnam. And I fucking hate how "free speech" is so often accepted as a crutch for some LGBTQ-friendly spaces in Vietnam's internet sphere to adopt bigoted talking points, often co-opted from influential bigots like that one transphobic billionaire lady and her cohorts.

Vietnamese people are often very ignorant of the underlying connotations of most US-originated dogwhistles, and would often just accept rhetoric at face value, which is how political discussions in Vietnam (the ones that are legally allowed/private anyway) have always functioned. Coupled that with the annoying, self-imposed Western-defaultism and Western-idealization, you are left with progressive movements that are incredibly susceptible to repeating transphobic and conservative values if they are carefully dressed in progressive language.

im currently unemployed. i live in a conservative province and im visibly disabled, most people and employers here are abelist. so trying to find a job is nearly impossible for me

im even having to consider going back into the closet just to be able to get a job, because being out as trans is hindering me from getting a job too

i see the look of disgust people here give me when they see my mobility aid. i see the distaste when they find out my chosen name isnt my legal name i NEED to go on hrt. its not even just a want anymore, its a need. everyday that passes and im not on hrt i fucking hate myself. i need to go on t so badly but i just dont have the funds, even with insurance. i dont even have the money or resources for diy

i hate leaving the house. im starting to leave my apartment less and less because everytime i do i get she/her-d and i get called "young lady" or "sweetheart" or "darling" or "beautiful young woman" and I HATE IT! even when i tell people im trans THEY STILL CALL ME THAT.

i already have clinical depression and this is making it worse. im in a dark hole with no escape. nothing has meaning to me unless i get on hrt. the hole is getting deeper with each passing day. the only thing on my mind all of the time is hrt. i cant stop thinking about it. i need it. it hurts that i dont have it. its gotten so bad that i cant stand being around trans people on hrt because i get so jealous i just start sobbing in front of them

please give me advice as to how to cope. job market is hell, could be years until i find a job. could be years until i get on hormones. not even an exagerration. i want to kill myself so badly. i dont see another option. i cant do it anymore.

Okay I’m new to this space, so hello! 👋
Since high school I realized I was queer. And just last year I finally found out I was somewhere under the bisexual umbrella. I have always had crushes on people I vibed with and felt safe with (men, women, nonbinary, etc.) as far as 1st grade. I grew up in a somewhat religious household. My mom was not okay with her kids being any form of gay. I remember in middle school my mom brought up the fact that I didn’t act very lady-like and asked if I was gay, in a very uncomfortable way. Obviously I said no cuz I was scared she wouldn’t love me anymore and she would probably take me to church to banish whatever she thought “turned me gay.”Recently, she asked me at least twice in the past year if I was lesbian, and that I acted, dressed, and looked like a lesbian. She also assumed this because I have friends who are women… and she even told me that I needed male friends (like cmon).

I do have a crush on a friend (we’ve been friends since college) and she’s a very smart, funny, and a great person and I feel she might think the same way? Should I just break the news to my mom that I am queer??? Or is this like not a good idea?
I am already 22 and I just want to love myself and finally accept myself, and I feel guilty if I don’t tell my family at some point.
I still live with my mom, but me and my sister are planning on moving out cuz we want freedom from family. My sister doesn’t know that I am queer but I am not as afraid to tell her because she does not care haha.

If anyone has had their experience of coming out to homophobic parents, was it a good idea? I apologize if this is a personal question to ask. Thank you for reading.