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As Summer Fades, So Does My Libido

Prism & Pen @prismnpen.bsky.social · 20h

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

What I hate most about autumn

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

Prism & Pen @prismnpen.bsky.social · 20h

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

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

Transgender ‘Why Nots’ and ‘Maybes’

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

That's a very good question.

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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

Never surrender the joy of the possibility

A Solo Transgender Road Trip in 2025

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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

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

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

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

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

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

A Prism & Pen writers prompt

Ghanian Homophobes Rage Over a Kiss Between Gay Activists

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

A cry from Ghana

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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

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

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

I wish I could say more to you, Ines

When Your Identity Is Treated Like a Phase

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

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

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

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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

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

Is Hasan Piker Right About Kamala Harris and Trans Rights?

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

Standing up for trans people when nobody else will

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

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

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

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

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

This is a work of fiction…I hope.

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

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

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

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

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

Film review

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

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

Explaining the new Bluesky phrase

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

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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

Lessons carved in the stillness of existence..

You Call Me Mentally Ill for Being a Trans Woman…

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

…because I fight to be lesser

Are Trans Folks Too Few To Matter?

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

Debunking the common criticisms of trans rights advocacy

A Queer Veteran Listens to Pete Hegseth and Mourns

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

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

A Transgender Woman Finds Hope on the Dance Floor

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

Am I drawn to her because I’d like to be her, or be with her?
Is it existential, the inability to make a choice, wanting it all, or just another version of envy?
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#LGBTQ #Transgender #Attraction #Envy #Self

Appreciating life and finding some new dance moves along the way

On Blurred Boundaries in a Gay Bar

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

I often experienced unwanted touches, like groping or slaps. These incidents ranged from subtle gestures in crowded spaces to deliberate acts, often accompanied by awkward remarks.
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#LGBTQ #Gay #GayBar #NightLife #SexualHarassment #Boundaries

The thin line between validation and violation