Nostalgic Contemplation on Asexuality and Family

(x)

Anyone who’s read any of my previous posts likely knows that I am asexual, and that I desperately want to be a mom. You probably also know that I have been trying to get pregnant via alternative means for a while now. I have experienced a lot of emotional highs and lows during this process, and the past couple of weekends have presented me with the return of one of my most basic emotional struggles in this situation: feeling like everyone else moves forward and I am stagnating. More than that, it’s become a more personal and cross-generational feeling. I know that I am my own person and that I shouldn’t compare myself or my life to others, but it’s very hard for me to avoid doing that, especially within my own family.

A Tale of Two Sisters

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My sister I and are complete opposites in many ways. I have brown hair, fair skin, and brown eyes with a little green. She has dirty blond hair, olive skin, and green eyes with a little brown. I am shy and introverted; she is a social butterfly. I was born a week early; she was born a week late. I'm a tomboy; she likes "girly" stuff. Yet somehow, when we were growing up, our differences never stopped us from playing together and generally getting along. Sure, we fought like all siblings do, but at the end of the day, we loved each other and enjoyed spending time together. I've always felt protective of her, and as the older sister, I took my duty to watch out for her very seriously. The night before she started middle school, I sat up with her late into the night, talking about her worries and fears, and reassuring her that she would do just fine. That night holds a very special place in my heart, because it was one of the last times I got to play my "big sister" role. Once she started middle school, everything changed.

Politicising Pasta

Love and pasta for all. (x)

A couple of weeks ago, the chairman of Italian pasta company, Barilla, caused controversy by saying that his company would never create an advert featuring gay people, because “I don't think like them and I think that the family we try to address is anyway a classic family." Guido Barilla, the chairman, later apologised, saying that he was merely trying to point out that women play a central role in the family.

His apology, however, did nothing to mollify the many LGBT people and allies who vowed to boycott the brand, and there were countless other pasta brands stepping forward to announce their support for gay people and gay rights. Bertolli was one such brand with came out as pro-gay. They created an advert featuring gay pasta, and the slogan ‘love and pasta for all’, designed to entice in the people that Barilla had angered. Other pasta brands also joined in this industry political civil war, but the question is, why was it even necessary in the first place?

They Found Out

Yeah, so I made these. Glad I can wear these all the time now.

Ladies, gentlemen, variations thereof and none of the above, you are probably wondering where I've been these past few weeks. You must have been frustrated, enraged, cursing my pretty face as you mash the refresh button, praying for a new post from me. I can hardly forgive myself for keeping you in such a state, dear readers. So let me tell you why I've been so long away.

They found out.

In Praise of Philial and Filial Love

 From the 2011 SF Gay Pride Parade

My sister recently had one of those disturbing situations that pretty much gets to the heart of why ace visibility is important and why aces might feel a teeny bit dismissed and invisible.

She is being treated for a severe illness that she’s had for a very long time. It is a grueling, time consuming treatment and she is also in law school, so she really has very little time for anything else.

The treatment has been working well, but last time she saw her doctor, she called me sounding rather disturbed. Apparently the doctor was worried because even with the return of her health, she has not changed in her orientation. That is to say, she is still asexual.

Holiday Edition!

Ladies, gentlemen, variations thereof and none of the above, I come to you refreshed from a strange American ritual celebrating the decimation of native peoples and the national vice of gluttony. Thanksgiving is seen among my people as all of these things and more. It’s a week off of school. It’s passing out from a food coma. It’s giving thanks that Native Americans were the victims of mass genocide by white settlers, allowing the United States of America to be. But above all things, it’s time for the awkward and forced interaction between people who share little more than a few more gene sequences than the mean. Yes, Thanksgiving is family time. But many of us in the LGBT community don’t have family to speak of. How do we celebrate the holidays?

No Time to Back Down

Time to (wo)man the barricades. (Artist: Kathe Kollwitz)

Ladies, gentlemen, variations thereof, and none of the above, it doesn't take me a lot to make me actively angry. I threw the remote at my TV and started screaming during a 40 minute anime that failed to live up to my exacting artistic standards. The rendering was awful, the voice acting was stale, and the inconsistencies in the incredibly simplistic plot almost made me flip a table. Here's the thing, though: It only lasted 40 minutes. Those feelings of rage, helplessness, and injustice were only valid for less than an hour. If worst comes to worst tomorrow, I could be feeling like that for the next four years. Ladies, gentlemen, variations thereof, and none of the above, welcome to The Day Before the End. Welcome to the Day Before Election Day.

What's the Spanish Word for "Progress"?

TAKE US BACK. PLEASE, JUST TAKE US BACK!

Ladies, gentlemen, variations thereof, and none of the above, I am about to commit high treason. No, not to the United States government, but to the former Republic of Texas. As some of you may know, like the other states, Texas has its own flag. However, Texas also has a state pledge recited every school day (as only Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana do), can fly its flag at the same level as the American flag (and higher on Texas Independence Day) and has a very grandiose anthem that refers to the twenty-eighth state in the Union as "empire wide and glorious" and "largest and grandest" of all the states. Texas pride is a big, big deal, so it is with much caution that I announce to the world that a) contrary to the state anthem, Alaska is, in fact, bigger than Texas, and b) I'm really beginning to wish we were still a part of Mexico. For gay marriages performed in Mexico City are required to be recognized throughout Mexico, with all the benefits entailed. 

Pariah (2011)

 

Rating: R

Written and Directed by Dee Rees

Cinematography by Bradford Young

Produced by Nekisa Cooper

Starring

Alike by Adepero Oduye

Laura by Pernell Walker

Bina by Aasha Davis

Arthur by Charles Parnell

Sharonda by Sahra Mellesse

Audrey by Kim Wayans

It has been exactly one year since I accepted my flaming gayness

I am going to be completely honest here, and say some things that I am not at all proud of, but I feel it just proves what a complete revolution happens inside people's minds when they accept their homosexuality.

This post was published on the 9th May 2012 at 21:00 (GMT +1 / Paris). This makes it exactly one year - to the hour - since I accepted the fact I'm gay.

Throughout this past year, and my coming out, I've been keeping a diary. I thought it would be a good idea so I could look back and see if my points of view have changed. They have. Radically. And some extracts are in this post.

The Myth of the Bisexual Male

Source

First off, let me clarify.  I don't believe that bisexuality is a myth whatsoever.  In fact, I liked bisexual people so much that I became one.  This post is going to be a look into the "myth of the bisexual male" that people in my hometown seem to subscribe to.  This isn't meant to offend anybody that is bisexual, this is merely a bout of story time.

"The Night: Antibullying / My Story Speech" by Taylor

See more from TheTaylorNelson

WE DO Campaign - South Carolina

Safe (Wherever You Are)

Hey guys, my name is Tommy, and I'm excited to be a new writer for Freedom Requires Wings! I've always been involved with the arts to some degree. I filled diaries and journals turned to online blogs throughout the course of my 21 years, and I'm thankful to have a platform that will help project my voice a little more and give a point of view.

I am gay, and I've known at least since I was in middle school (after learning the term). Until then, I just knew of myself as different. Growing up is tough enough, but the added pressure of coming to terms with your feelings is one of the most mind-boggling battles a person can go through. I just remember living day-to-day inside a shell, feeling a little nervous and unsure of myself. All I used to worry about 5 years ago was coming out as gay and how my life would turn out. Would I have a place in this world? Would I be happy?