Nico

flutterflyinvasion:

Every Minority Has a Word

andythenerd:

Privilege - you’re doing it.

The author Staks starts out well enough, by explaining the basics of minority slurs.

Recently however I was listening to one of my favorite radio talk show hosts and he (as a gay man) took ownership of the word, “faggot.” He puts this word in the same category as the word, “nigger.” I can see his point of view here. I would never call a gay person a faggot just as I would never call a black person a nigger.

But then he ruins his moral high ground with this zinger:

Then Sarah Palin stepped in to the game and insisted that no one use the word, “retarded.” As a retard herself, I am guessing she wants exclusive rights to that word. That is where I started to get uncomfortable. But since Sarah Palin is… well… retarded.

No, no she isn’t.  And it’s not for some third party to decide that, either.  What’s more, she has a child with Down’s Syndrome.  People with DS frequently are called “retards” as a degrading ableist slur, so I think she is more aware of what she’s talking about than you, Staks.

Why is this so difficult for people to understand?  Why the insistence on using anti-disability slurs for the sake of convenient political jabs?  Simple: it’s privilege, and Staks has plenty to spare.

However my disagreements aside, why can’t atheists join in this game too? What word can we own exclusively?

…

I want to point out that offense is taken and not given. So in my mind, we choose what words offend us.

…

I want a word just for our community that no one else can call us. I want to join in these reindeer games. 

Excuse me while I grab a sip of water.  I just threw up in my mouth.

LAUNCH! Sins Invalid’s Full Annual Shows Online for the 1st Time!

Hey crips, queers, artists, activists, allies, kinksters, kids, and creatures!

As part of our work as interns at Sins Invalid in stunningly wheelchair accessible Berkeley, California, my colleague Allegra and I are helping to launch a new web streaming series of Sins Invalid’s Annual shows. The pilot will be launched on the week of August 6th and will remain online until August 12th. Depending on the success of this venture we do plan to continue the series through the fall and winter! 

As you may have seen on www.sinsinvalid.org, our website has a wealth of clips from various Sins Invalid performances. However, this impression of Sins as a sort of cabaret is inaccurate, and we want to bring the full arc of the Sins shows to you, starting with the year 2008. We know that you may have been unable to attend shows in the past, and as a wheelchair user I know how inconvenient and painful traveling can be. This is why we’re taking action and getting Sins to you. This is about getting communities together and celebrating the work of Sins Invalid over the years!

Every piece speaks to and touches the last, they writhe and complicate and bless and grow in one another’s grasp. The 2008 show explores the territories of spirituality, the sacrifice and the sacred, as these themes play out in our relationships and over the landscapes of our disabled bodies. The performers are asserting the blessing that is the knowledge of one’s sexiness, agency, vulnerability, messiness, grace, and power, and if that’s a sin too, then so be it!

This will be a pay per view, sliding scale donation event of anywhere between $0-$100. We are a fiscally sponsored organization; there will be a link on the upcoming event page to our sponsor’s website where you can make paypal donations. We are making a suggested donation of $10 but no one will be refused the opportunity to view the show for lack of funds. 

And the bonus! There will be a discussion packet sent to any interested parties and a live Q & A with directors Patty Berne and Leroy Moore!

To participate in bringing a viewing party to your home or group, email info@sinsinvalid.org, Allegra Stout: astout@wesleyan.edu, Patty Berne: pattyberne@sinsinvalid.org​, or myself, Beast Von Fancy: foxlovesriver@gmail.com!

This is a preliminary event invitation. More details will be released as we create them. Just drop me a line or RSVP to this event to let me know that you’re interested.

Fierce Blessings,
Beast

Facebook Event for LAUNCH! Sins Invalid’s Full Annual Shows Online for the 1st Time!

I’ll of course assume he’s completely ignoring the presence of autistic trans women

draggle:

eateroftrees:

Because if autistic women are inconvenient for his theories about extreme male brains, autistic women who have absurd levels of distress over coercive masculinization are like… Yeah.

Brains: You can’t just arbitrarily stick genders on them.

(This is the guy who’s tests show that most women have male brains and who doesn’t think this is a problem SO I MEAN REALLY.)

Hell yes.  My best friend is an autistic transwoman and so very “stereotypically feminine”.  SBC’s tripe always reminds me of her, how very opposite his tripe she is.

Say, when is the Autism Women’s Network interviewing Simon Baron-Cohen on radio again?  Someone should ask him about transwomen.  I’m sure people must have asked him ‘bout ‘em before, but whatever drivel he replies with ought to be recorded.   

Anyone want to volunteer to be the call in question asker? (Prefer if it’s a trans autistic btw…)  

I DO know that he is/was supposed to be coming on the Autism Women’s Network Radio Show again SOON, if he hasn’t backed out. Unfortunately, it seems like he still hasn’t been scheduled in? I’ll have to talk to my executive director….

(Source: thenameoftheworms)

Webinar Invitation: LGBTQ Teens: School-Based Strategies to Prevent Bullying and Suicide

LGBTQ youth face unique challenges in our schools and communities that put them at statistically higher risk for social isolation, bullying, and suicide. Please join us for aninformative discussion about fostering a positive school and community climate for middle and high school youth regardless of their sexual orientation, gender expression or gender identity. 

This panel discussion, facilitated by Melanie Puorto, director of the New York State Office of Mental Health’s Suicide Prevention Initiative, will feature panelists from The Trevor Project, The Long Island Crisis Center’s Pride for Youth program, and Price Center of the [NY] Capital Region discussing the challenges faced by LGBTQ youth, as well as practical strategies and steps schools can take to promote the well-being and academic success of all students. This Webinar is organized and hosted by Kognito Interactive, developers of the At-Risk family of suicide prevention and gatekeeper training simulations for education, health care and military settings. The Webinar will be conducted twice. Please click your preferred date.

Who Should Attend? 

Middle and High School Educators and Administrators, Youth Center Leaders, Mental Health Professionals, Parents.

Webinar Learning Objectives: 

Attendees of this Webinar will learn: 

• About the unique challenges facing LGBTQ teens
• About national data showing high rates of suicide, depression, and substance abuse among students identifying as LGBTQ
• What schools and community organizations can do to foster a positive climate for LGBTQ students and what mental health providers can do to affirm LGBTQ youth

Facilitator

Melanie Puorto, Director, Suicide Prevention Initiative, NYS Office of Mental Health

 

Panelists

Meg Ten Eyck, Education Manager, The Trevor Project. Meg joined The Trevor Project in 2010, where she oversees and expands the Trevor Lifeguard program. The Trevor Project is a national organization providing crisis and suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) youth.

Pete Carney Director, Pride for Youth, Long Island Crisis Center. Pete supervises Pride for Youth’s day-to-day operations. He is the primary point of contact for the Counseling and Community Education programs and carries a caseload of individuals and families. 

Curran Saile, Program Director, Pride Center of the Capital Region. Curran has been the program director at the Pride Center of the Capital Region since June 2009. She coordinates the Center Youth, Center Support, Vintage Pride, and Trans Pride programs. 

The webinar will be held twice. Please click one of the links below to register.

Register for Webinar: Tuesday, May 10th, 2011 at 4:00pm EST

Register for Webinar: Tuesday, June 28th, 2011 at 4:00pm EST

I Unfortunately don’t know if this is truly T inclusive but I figured I’d share. 

A little SOS

eateroftrees:

fyeahautismspectrum:

nicocoer:

I need to write a statement about accepting trans* folk for AWN. But I’m nervous about writing it. eep.

If you want to help, and have a non-cis gender ID, please email me savannah@autismwomensnetwork.org)  

Basically I want to make it so that it is clear we welcome trans women, non-binary folk who have some sort of connection to the ID of women, and those who have been the brunt of misogyny and/or who have had to deal with sterotypes of being a “girl” even if that wasn’t your ID (outcomes of being CAFAB).

But ahhhhh I am not sure how to do that and I’m all worried about wording it wrong and having people go o_0 at me or fucking it up.  Eep.

Help?

Signal boost.

I could probably help; but I can’t send email. (Social phobia, and my anxiety has been bad enough lately I’m not going to deliberately expose myself to more; I’d probably end up sick in bed for the rest of the day ._.)

So um, if there’s another way that works better that might, you know, be better :P

Totally totally- we can have a tumblr convo via reblogs, or using the ask box. If you (or others) are up to googletalk, I’m nicocoer there and on skype. 

Does someone want to write something about Simon Baron-Cohen’s Gender essentialism for Queering Autism?

I know I want something on the topic to go up, but my spoons are otherwise engaged.