Do you identify with LGBTQ? Do you work or study in STEM? Take a survey and help to make sure the issues of this community are not overlooked!
My road through working and studying in science has been relatively easy (except for the usual academic challenges). But I’m a straight, white male, and I haven’t had to experience the explicit and systemic prejudices that so many people have to deal with every day, even in such a “progressive” field as this. But I’ve met many folks over the years who have had to deal with that, and it’s not easy for some (to make the understatement of the ever). To feel welcome, comfortable, equal and wanted in STEM fields (and in the world at large) … that’s what people deserve, and that’s the environment we should work to create.
That’s why I am so glad to hear that Jeremy Yoder and Allison Mattheis have put together this survey. By finding out how people’s careers and experiences relate to their peers, we can see where work remains to be done. It’s a great model for other groups.
Help spread the word, and if you or someone you know that works or studies in STEM wants to take the survey, visit http://bit.ly/queerSTEM
People being angry about ~dem gays~ on Target’s Facebook.
I just want to give my two cents on this and tell you a story.
A couple weeks ago, I was hired at Target. I have a job at Target. Not a big deal right?
It is a big deal because i’m a transman.
It doesn’t take a genius to conclude that it’s hard for me, my brothers, and sisters to get a job. There are legal restraints regarding the job and if you don’t pass, it’s hard to be taken seriously at a job interview.
Right on the application, it asks what your preferred name is. It also asks if there is anything that target should know. I put the fact that I am a transman, expecting not to get a call because usually when you put that down, people will throw out the application. I got TWO interviews.
At the interview, they asked me about it. I told them I am on hormones and they told me that they didn’t care. Not in the sense that they don’t emotionally care, but that it didn’t matter. I was male and that’s all that mattered. They also told me that they give sex same couples benefits in states that do not recognize them as a married couple.
At my job orientation, I was not misgendered once. Even my supervisors who weren’t sure of my gender avoided pronoun use, which I found only happens when you’ve had pronoun training. They gave me a name tag with my preferred name and didn’t ask questions. I felt safe and respected, which is huge for a trans* person.
TLDR: Target is amazing not just for the LGB, but also the T. Shop there for the rest of your life.
Less crowding at Target for me, then…
;_;
Urge to shop at Target rising.
What do they even sell thereSo glad we buy most of our stuff for home AND the office at Target. Aww yeah. <3
I just bought stuff at Target the other day :D
Source: astrolope
Gay Pride Events in Uganda
“The importance of this Pride event cannot be understated. The fact that these brave activists could pull this off in this milieu of persecution is a great victory for the community. Visibility like this notes the ongoing legacy of late activist David Kato, it defies the export of American Evangelical hate, and it helps ensure defeat of the Bahati Bill. It shows leadership for all of Africa, and above all it shows that the LGBT people of Uganda simply refuse to give up their right to exist and to live their natural born sexual orientation.”
you can read the full article here
Their bravery is inspirational.
(via palaceofposey)
Source: queen-galadriel
Equality in America
I think I make it pretty clear in my video today that I don’t understand why we’re even talking about this. I don’t understand the arguments of people who oppose gay marriage, and I’m usually pretty good at understanding people’s viewpoints.
The arguments are so silly and uninteresting that it’s hard to argue that there isn’t a deeper place where all of this is coming from. I think, in my quest, I’ve found some understanding that allows me a little bit of peace.
The world is complicated, and we like to think that we have tools with which to understand it. But it’s difficult to imagine understanding a world with no foundations. To a lot of people, I think, gender and sexual orientation are a big pillar of support for their understanding of the world.
I have mine, science, belief in the fundamental goodness of people, love of family, etc.
Other people have God and tradition and loyalty.
And so when I say something like “All people who love each other should be allowed to get married.” People who use God and tradition and gender roles as fundamental supports for their understanding of the world feel as if those supports are being attacked.
When people attack my fundamental supports, I also get angry. Like when people stop teaching science in schools because they see it as an attack on Christianity…that pisses me off. A lot.
So I can understand that. But being American isn’t about protecting your pilars of belief, it’s about supporting equality and freedom.
We are not asking straight people to get married to gay people. We’re not even asking them to hang out with gay people, or agree that homosexuality is OK. They’re perfectly welcome to believe whatever they want, as long as it does not infringe upon the rights of other Americans.
Legalizing gay marriage does not infringe upon anyone’s rights, making it illegal does. It’s that simple.
Election 2012: Stances on LGBTQ Rights
Hopefully the people who smile at this message won’t forget that Hetero and Pansexual are a part of this. People are people.
Just found it a little weird that “heterosexual” and “pansexual” are like the only ones in there left out of the tags.
(via hokuto-ju-no-ken)
Source: johnlockcreys
