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James-Finn

@james-finn.bsky.social

570 followers 190 following 97 posts

Editor at Prism & Pen. Queer writer. Grumpy progressive. Uppity Faggot. Former HIV/AIDS street activist. I don't tolerate transphobia.

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Reposted by James-Finn

Prism & Pen @prismnpen.bsky.social · 19h

Autocrats have long used fear effectively to manipulate the masses into subservience and compliance. When others seem different and odd, it’s easy to make up stories about them for the purpose of fomenting fear and distrust.
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#LGBTQ #Transgender #USPolitics #Fear

Look out! Powers That Be Warn that Trans People Will Take Your Stuff!

Powerful people know that fear of lack is a major motivator.

Reposted by James-Finn

Prism & Pen @prismnpen.bsky.social · 19h

It’s the bright light of summer I live for. If I lived in a more northerly latitude, there would be even more light. I recall summer nights in western Michigan when it stayed light until 10:00 p.m.
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#LGBTQ #Gay #Summer #Autumn #Seasons #Change

As Summer Fades, So Does My Libido

What I hate most about autumn

Reposted by James-Finn

Prism & Pen @prismnpen.bsky.social · 19h

We all know about the efforts in the US to ban books and go after art that is queer-themed, and this is obviously as good a time as any to celebrate such brilliant art.
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#LGBTQ #QueerBooks #Books #BookRecs

Two Amazing Queer Books Everyone Should Read

A celebration of queer art and joy

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Prism & Pen @prismnpen.bsky.social · 1d

I didn’t know what I was stepping into the first time I went to a gay Asian night in London. My friend, an incredible #gay South Asian man and drag queen, had begged me to come.
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#LGBTQ #GayBar #London #Queer

A Queer Night of Bhangra, Drag, and Hidden Asian Love in London

A South Asian queer night taught me more about love, longing, and visibility than I was ready for.

Reposted by James-Finn

Prism & Pen @prismnpen.bsky.social · 1d

I’d been planning and putting off a visit to friends and family in the Pacific Northwest for at least 10 years. My last trip had been somewhat fraught as it turned out to be the last time for my wife to see the ocean.
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#LGBTQ #Transgender #RoadTrip #Travel #Grief

A Solo Transgender Road Trip in 2025

Finding my path toward peace near the ocean, and in the trees.

Reposted by James-Finn

Prism & Pen @prismnpen.bsky.social · 1d

We, as transgender people, overthink everything, from self-doubt to a sense of shame, to the fear of rejection, and then everything in between.
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#LGBTQ #Transgender #Self #Identity

Transgender ‘Why Nots’ and ‘Maybes’

Never surrender the joy of the possibility

Reposted by James-Finn

Prism & Pen @prismnpen.bsky.social · 4d

She was referring to a common request Bluesky management receives: Would they please apply some commonsense moderation regarding anti-trans agitator Jesse Singal? The CEO declares this request inherently nonsensical and off-topic.
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#LGBTQ #Transgender #Bluesky #Waffles

Is ‘Waffles!’ a New Anti-Trans Dogwhistle?

Explaining the new Bluesky phrase

Reposted by James-Finn

Prism & Pen @prismnpen.bsky.social · 4d

Nicholas Colia might well be the greatest living gay, Boston-raised director and screenwriter America has ever cultivated. There’s no guarantee. After all, he’s only made one feature and several shorts. But what a feature!
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#LGBTQ #GayFilm #QueerFilm #FilmReview

Adolescent Shocker: Gay Teen Loves Handyman in ‘Griffin in Summer’

Reposted by James-Finn

Prism & Pen @prismnpen.bsky.social · 4d

Pallas glowed in the sunset, the water whispering her contentment as she and Athena bathed with their feet dipped in the sea. The two had trained together for some years.
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#LGBTQ #QueerFiction #GreekMyth #Goddesses

Creative Writing: A Retelling of the Greek Myth of Athena and Pallas

Why did Athena declare herself a virgin goddess? My retelling explores the significance of her seminal, youthful relationship with Pallas.

Reposted by James-Finn

Prism & Pen @prismnpen.bsky.social · 4d

Friday, June 4, 2028
I don’t know how but Trump was allowed to run for a third term. News broke today about the Supreme Court interpreting the 22nd Amendment that since Trump was not elected to two consecutive terms...
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#LGBTQ #Fiction #QueerFiction #DystopianFiction

A Trans Woman’s Diary of Life In Trump’s Third Term

This is a work of fiction…I hope.

Reposted by James-Finn

Prism & Pen @prismnpen.bsky.social · 3d

I produce tears whilst on the phone with a friend, when watching sport, as I’m telling a story about someone I truly admire, even listening to an old Huey Lewis tune last night in the car (that one was unexpected).
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#LGBTQ #Transgender #Emotions #Tears

Trans Woman Cries Before Bedtime, Tea Time, and Any Other Time

On becoming better connected with my female self, my tear ducts, and a lot of other things.

Reposted by James-Finn

Prism & Pen @prismnpen.bsky.social · 3d

Hasan said that although he voted for Kamala Harris, he sees her as surrendering trans rights, and he maintains that trans people would face problems under Democratic leadership similar to what they’re facing under Trump.
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#LGBTQ #Transgender #USPolitics

Is Hasan Piker Right About Kamala Harris and Trans Rights?

Standing up for trans people when nobody else will

Reposted by James-Finn

Prism & Pen @prismnpen.bsky.social · 3d

From the moment you walk through the door, you’re in the middle of it. I’m sure you know some people whose living rooms are bigger than this space. In the corner of the dance floor, behind a small bar, there’s a corridor.
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#LGBTQ #Queer #Gay #Memoir #Identity

Imagine You’re 19 on the European After-Hours Gay Scene

You’ve just finished work. Something inside you is screaming to be heard.

Reposted by James-Finn

Prism & Pen @prismnpen.bsky.social · 2d

Bisexuality isn’t confusion, it’s clarity — but the world still insists on erasing it.
In my case, it looks like invisibility. Most of my friends just treat me as another straight woman.
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#LGBTQ #Queer #Bisexual #Invisibility #BiErasure #Identity

When Your Identity Is Treated Like a Phase

Being bisexual means living in the in-between — and fighting to be seen as whole.

Reposted by James-Finn

Prism & Pen @prismnpen.bsky.social · 2d

Dear Ines,
You were not someone I had planned for, but instead, were the person my story sorely needed.
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#LGBTQ #Lesbian #ConversionTherapy #FirstLove #LoveLetter

No More Conversion Therapy, I’m a Lesbian: An Apology to My First Love

I wish I could say more to you, Ines

Reposted by James-Finn

Prism & Pen @prismnpen.bsky.social · 2d

You smoked a pack of cigarettes
outside the club every weekend
I took one pull from each
while talking about
lung cancer statistics
and you said...
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#LGBTQ #Poetry #QueerPoetry #Loneliness

A PACK A DAY — a poem

it hasn’t got to us

Reposted by James-Finn

Prism & Pen @prismnpen.bsky.social · 2d

The citizens were outraged, which is no shocker for a bunch of homophobes. But even we, the queer community in Ghana, were outraged. Why, you ask?
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#LGBTQ #Gay #Ghana #Outrage

Ghanian Homophobes Rage Over a Kiss Between Gay Activists

A cry from Ghana

Reposted by James-Finn

Prism & Pen @prismnpen.bsky.social · 2d

What books helped influence and shape YOU? How? Got a story?
What books do you want to recommend? Let’s see your reading list!
What about toxic effects of book bans?
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#LGBTQ #QueerWriters #WritingPrompts #BookBanning #Books

As Library Shelves Empty, Let’s Shout Out Queer Books & Other Art!

A Prism & Pen writers prompt

James-Finn @james-finn.bsky.social · 3d

With #Trump threatening to unleash the military on 'internal enemies,' I react to a dystopian speech to generals. Meanwhile, #queer people continue to live, love, and tell stories, which we center every day in Prism & Pen.

Daily #LGBTQ #transgender #gay #storytelling 👇

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Queer Dystopia, a Queer Veteran Speaks, and Real Queer Lives — Unlocked

Prism & Pen Weekly Digest, 5 October 2025

Reposted by James-Finn

Prism & Pen @prismnpen.bsky.social · 6d

What I heard as a #veteran and #queer person distressed and frightened me. I’ll tell you why, but first, a little about me.
I joined the Marine Corps because we were dirt poor. I desperately wanted to go to college, but...
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#LGBTQ #Military #USPolitics #PeteHegseth

A Queer Veteran Listens to Pete Hegseth and Mourns

I joined the military at 17, and I have something to say

Reposted by James-Finn

Prism & Pen @prismnpen.bsky.social · 6d

Every so often, I receive comments and e-mails from people eager to explain why I am wrong in my advocacy for #transgender rights or how I’m doing it the wrong way. More often than not, these come from (self-identified) cisgender, straight, white men.
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#LGBTQ #TransRights #Debunking

Are Trans Folks Too Few To Matter?

Debunking the common criticisms of trans rights advocacy

Reposted by James-Finn

Prism & Pen @prismnpen.bsky.social · 6d

You call me mentally ill because I fight to be recognized as a woman.
You call me mentally ill because I want to triple my risk of r*pe, physical assault, or stalking from 10% (men) to 29% (women).
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#LGBTQ #Transgender #MentalHealth #Identity

You Call Me Mentally Ill for Being a Trans Woman…

…because I fight to be lesser

Reposted by James-Finn

Prism & Pen @prismnpen.bsky.social · 5d

They told me faith was obedience. They told me love was punishment. They told me fear was holy. Yet even as a child, I felt the fracture in my chest between the God of the pulpit and the God of my breath.
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#LGBTQ #Transgender #Religion #God #Questions #Truth

I Am My Silence: A Trans Child, Seeking God Beyond the Walls

Lessons carved in the stillness of existence..

James-Finn @james-finn.bsky.social · 6d

Interesting! I had to look it up, but yes, very much so. The participants and observers agreed on the same set of objective facts, but not on their subjective perceptions of those facts. I understood that when I edited the story, but I didn't have a name for it. Thanks!

Reposted by James-Finn

Prism & Pen @prismnpen.bsky.social · 7d

She didn’t earn a first-place medal by excelling over the competition. In fact, she didn’t even place second or third. Instead, she somehow managed to exploit a fifth-place finish to win significance and notoriety.
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#LGBTQ #Transgender #Transphobia #RileyGaines

Riley Gaines Keeps Cashing In on Transphobia

How one self-aggrandizing former collegiate swimmer turned a fifth-place tie into right-wing stardom.