On "Straight Pride" and Hetero Toxicity

Me everytime someone brings up the idea of "Straight Pride," also known as EVERY DAMN DAY IN A WHITE SUPREMACIST HETERONORMATIVE HATEFUL SOCIETAL CULTURE.

Image description: A picture of the right arm and hand of the children's animated cartoon Arthur's main character, Arthur Read. His right hand is clenched into a fist.

I swear hetero cis male people be really in their feelings every June, acting like their existence is diminished because other people are celebrating their lives, resilience, and perseverence in the face of generation-spanning bigotry and oppression and the whims of weak-sauce people who haven't had fun or given their partners an orgasm in years.

How you can be a part of a dominant culture that celebrates your existence and is intentionally structured to cater to your need to feel superior and important yet still act like you're being victimized is beyond me. And doubly beyond me for the hetero cis male people whose skin looks like rotisserie chicken if they don’t wear sunscreen.

[Image description: A picture of the right arm and hand of the children's animated cartoon Arthur's main character, Arthur Read. His right hand is clenched into a fist.]

On Pride Month, Performative Nonsense, and Stepping Up or Stepping Out of the Way

It’s Pride Month, which sadly ranks up there in performative pallor energy with Black History Month on the “I’m a Good Person” scale. Months that are equal parts celebration and memorial always hit a certain way, especially if your identities are intersectional with a splash of melanin. With the state of intentionally harmful practices aimed at trans and queer folx currently taking laps through the counties and communities that collectively operate under the United States of America brand, months like this feel more meaningful…which makes it all feel more tenuous and precarious than usual.

As a queer-identifying person who hasn't had to constantly have my sexuality and sexual identities questioned and threatened by "sleuths" who think that have everyone pegged, I have been able to use the little bit of privilege and positionality I have to educate, correct, and chin check “allies,” melanated misanthropes, and alabaster homophones and transphobes without them seeing it coming. I say all of that not to brag or boast. There's nothing to brag and boast about. I have privilege and positionality, and I use them to support others without the need for kudos and cookies. No, I say all of that to amplify one simple idea:

It's easy as f--- to step up, speak up, speak out, call in, call out, and fight for people facing harm, death, and oppression.

And you don't need a special month or brand name merchandise to do that sh--.

We don't have time for y'all pulling us aside after a work meeting to "apologize" for Bill from Accounting being a toxic ghost that none of y'all who share his lack of melanin have the backbone to stand up to.

Ain't nobody got time for your low-key "apologies" when your ashy homophobic and transphobic family members aren't present to hear that you stand with your LGBTQIA+ friends and family members and that their anti-Black bigotry is not a good look.

You either stand with and fight for folx in the now or admit that you don't care about their later.

Performative activism is a choice. It's not and never has been the only choice, but a whole lot of y'all so-called "allies" love to act as such.

Just sayin.'

Happy Pride, my peoples.

The Old, Two-Headed, Pale Elephant in the Room

So, let’s talk about the old, two-headed, pale elephant in the room.

The push for voting for the incumbent over the previous President is underway. And the “pick the incumbent because he’s not the worst pick” crowd is deafening. Equally loud is the “they both are equally horrible” crowd. The vote-shaming is likely right around the corner. So, let’s talk about it.

Real talk? They’re not similarly horrible choices, but neither one offers a choice that brings me joy.

And frankly? I’m tired of choosing between a sh— sandwich and a sh— and arsenic sandwich.

The incumbent isn’t the safe bet, because he still supports genocide and has a plethora of non-murderous weaknesses that don’t necessarily support a lot of communities, but we’re all supposed to get OK with voting for him because the other guy is an aspiring dictator?

It sucks.

I’m exhausted by round two of this white toxic masculinity political nonsense, especially because people of pallor have overwhelmingly voted for the wannabe dictator the past two election cycles and will likely do so again. So, once again, it’ll be up to Black people, communities of color, and LGBTQIA+ communities to pick the lesser of two evils and “save” a democracy that doesn’t care if we survive or exist.

I’m begrudgingly voting for the incumbent but I’m tired and unhappy with all of it. My choice, our options, this country, all of it.

I know I’m not the only one.

And because I know I'm not the only one, I'm not going to tell anyone how they should vote or shame anyone for not voting. I implore the people of pallor out there not to vote for the aspiring dictator, but I know that's a waste of energy so my side-eye for y'all stays eternal. Either way, do what you believe you must and own your decision.

May the odds be forever in some of our favor.

And may the unserved and mistreated not have to save the world for the umpteenth time.