💗💜💙 BI PRIDE 💗💜💙

Since joining Tumblr, I’ve met a lot of young queer people. Look, I’m a bisexual man in a gay relationship, and I’m approaching 30. I was still a kid when Matthew Shepard’s story was being covered on the news. I remember thinking, “I better keep my mouth shut about these feelings I’m having.”

And then I met Dominic when I was 12, and people could see how in love we were. And we got the shit beat out of us. The year I met him, some kids in the grade above me held me down against the bleachers in our gym and stomped on my hand until my fingers broke. Instead of sending me to the nurse, the teacher sent me to the assistant principal to explain the situation. She asked why the kids had beat me up. I said, “They were calling me gay.”

Her response was, “Well, are you?”

My, “I don’t know,” earned a call to my parents, and I was outed. Efforts were made to keep me from seeing Dom. Throughout high school, Dom’s stepmother intensified these efforts. He slept in the basement of the house. Although he was an incredibly talented student, he was prohibited from participating in any extracurriculars. He suffered a lot of physical abuse during those years.

The day he turned 18, he packed up everything he had and walked to my house, and we’ve lived together ever since. Things are better, but they’re not perfect. I’ve had trucks pull up next to me at stoplights and, seeing the pride sticker on my car, through old drinks and garbage into my window. I no longer speak to my dad’s side of the family. I haven’t been to see them for Christmas or Thanksgiving in years. One of my uncles had cornered me at Thanksgiving when I was 17 and said, “I’m not going to judge you, but I’d be happy to break your neck so God can do the judging a little sooner.”

I joined a support group for trans and intersex people. When I joined, 40 people attended regularly. Within the year, the group was half the size it had been. Some couldn’t make it anymore, because they were staying at the shelter, where their stay hinged on them agreeing to instead to attend homophobic sermons. Some were put in correctional therapy. Five of them died. Three of those, I didn’t know, but I knew Alex, the 19 year old who was fag-dragged in Kentucky and died a day later in the hospital, and I knew Stephanie, who went home to Alabama to care for her mom in hospice and was beaten to death with a baseball bat by her mom’s boyfriend.

Tumblr is not reality. The dynamic here does not reflect the dynamic out there. Here’s the part where I finally make a point, and it might be extremely unpopular - but guys, value your allies. Value each other. We are met with enough hate in our daily lives to enter an online safe-space and meet more hate from our own, over petty things. Don’t go after one another over every little thing you find problematic.

Learn to see nuance. Maybe the word “queer” bothers you, and you see a gay man using it as an umbrella term. Maybe someone called a trans man a trans woman because they’re confused about terminology, but the post where they did it was voicing support for the trans community. Maybe someone is just asking a question, wanting to learn more. Stop. Attacking. These. People.

Allies are being driven away. Members of our own community are being ostracized. Others are feeling nervous and estranged, and it’s largely because of places like Tumblr, where the social justice movement is quickly becoming violent and radical. I am begging you, stop nitpicking “problematic” things and start directing your efforts to create real change. When it comes to comes to your allies, forget the “social justice warrior” mentality and put down your torch. Educate calmly. Be respectful. Be understanding. Be forgiving. And I’m certainly not saying that your anger doesn’t have a good place - when you are met with bigots on the street, congress members who want to pass hateful laws, violent protesters, abusive parents, prejudiced teachers, that is when you need to be a warrior. That’s when it counts. In the real world. When you have the opportunity to protect people from real harm. Attacking your would-be allies via anonymous asks is just going to lose us ground in the long run. And we don’t have time for that, not when trans women of color are being murdered every day, not when states are still fighting against marriage equality, not when there are politicians in office who believe that trans people are possessed by demons, not when we’ve just lost 50 brothers and sisters to one gunman, not when the media won’t even admit that the attack was homophobic.

Please step back. Look at the big picture. Look at where we are, globally. Don’t just log on to your safe space and attack your allies over small missteps. That’s like washing the dishes in a house that’s on fire, kids. Let’s fight on the battlefield, and when we come home to each other, let’s just focus on bandaging up our wounds so we can go out and win the war.

Hey guys ♥ 

As part of my #februarybalance challenge, I’ve decided to get rolling with another giveaway!

Rules: 1. Must be following me. 2. Must re-blog this post.

That’s all you’ve gotta do to become eligible. Easy, right? Likes can be bookmarks for the post, but I’ll be considering only the re-blogs for entry ;)

Prizes: 1. MUJI Stationery Set [Standard 2] 2. Uclever Decorative Washi Tape

My winner will be chosen on Wednesday, March 4th at 12:00 p.m., and will be announced the next morning. You’ve got 24 hours to respond to my message and must be willing to provide a shipping address.

Thanks again, and best of luck to you all <3

Hey guys ♥ 

As part of my #februarybalance challenge, I’ve decided to get rolling with another giveaway!

Rules: 1. Must be following me. 2. Must re-blog this post.

That’s all you’ve gotta do to become eligible. Easy, right? Likes can be bookmarks for the post, but I’ll be considering only the re-blogs for entry ;)

Prizes: 1. MUJI Stationery Set [Standard 2] 2. Uclever Decorative Washi Tape

My winner will be chosen on Wednesday, March 4th at 12:00 p.m., and will be announced the next morning. You’ve got 24 hours to respond to my message and must be willing to provide a shipping address.

Thanks again, and best of luck to you all <3

You just described 2016

personally, i hope 2017 is the year the Old Gods awaken from their slumber and lay waste to human civilization

Giveaway Contest: Thanks to the generosity of @harperperennial, we’re giving away all eight of the brand new, limited edition 2017-18 Harper Perennial Olive Editions! Won’t these look lovely on your shelf? :D To win these books, you must: 1) be following macrolit on Tumblr (yes, we will check. :P), and 2) reblog this post. We will randomly choose a winner on November 18, at which time we’ll start a new giveaway. And yes, Harper Perennial has agreed to make this an International giveaway! Easy, right? Good luck!

Giveaway Contest: We’re giving away ten vintage paperback classics by William Faulkner, Harper Lee, Alice Walker, George Orwell, Richard Wright, and others. Won’t these look lovely on your shelf? :D To win these classics, you must: 1) be following macrolit on Tumblr (yes, we will check. :P), and 2) reblog this post. We will randomly choose a winner on January 22, at which time we’ll start a new giveaway. And yes, we’ll ship to any country. Easy, right? Good luck!

Dear everyone who says “Oh it doesn’t matter who I vote for, Trump will never win”… it does matter. It absolutely does matter.

Britain gave in to the racist and xenophobic rhetoric. And the consequences to the EU - and to the world at large - will be catastrophic.

I don’t care if you hate Hillary. I don’t care if you think Hillary killed your cat and stole your yogurt. I don’t care. You have to vote for her. You HAVE to vote for her. You cannot allow a megalomaniac racist piece of shit like Donald Trump become the President of the United States of America.

Do not give in to fear and hatred. Do not allow xenophobia and bigotry to run this nation. Do not. Do not. Do not.

I never thought I’d see the day where a nation like Great Britain allowed hatred and fear to rule. Don’t let that happen here.

Giveaway Contest: We’re giving away ten vintage paperback classics by William Faulkner, Harper Lee, Alice Walker, George Orwell, Richard Wright, and others. Won’t these look lovely on your shelf? :D To win these classics, you must: 1) be following macrolit on Tumblr (yes, we will check. :P), and 2) reblog this post. We will randomly choose a winner on January 22, at which time we’ll start a new giveaway. And yes, we’ll ship to any country. Easy, right? Good luck!

Alright, its a little delayed, but as promised I will be doing a giveaway to celebrate 4k followers!

RULES:

Reblog’s and likes count, you may reblog as many times as you like for more chances, but try not to spam your followers.

You do not need to follow me but it would be nice

no side blogs

open internationally

PRIZES:

There will be 2 big prizes and 2 smaller prizes

2 big winners will receive the following:

A choice between a custom art print approx. 8x11 in.  (any two characters, fullbody or half body, simple background) or a print of one of my existing pieces (from the examples above, or anything under my art tag)

1 custom sticker or existing sticker from my redbubble

2 more winners will receive the following:

a digital commission (half body, max. 2 characters, no background)

Prints and stickers will be sent through redbubble

You have until February 28th, 2017 to enter! 

Hello ♥

So we’re moving along into the 3rd quarter of the school year and I’ve teamed up with the Whitley Law Firm for another giveaway!

Rules: 1. Must be following me. 2. Must re-blog this post.

That’s all you’ve gotta do to become eligible. Easy, right? Likes can be bookmarks for the post, but I’ll be considering only the re-blogs for entry ;)

Prizes: 1. MUJI Gel Ink Ballpoint Pens 0.38mm 2. Zebra RC5 Highlighter Mildliner, 5 Color Set 3. Kuuqa Black Pencil Case 4. Red Co Pink Heart Journal

My winner will be chosen on Wednesday, May 10th at 12:00 p.m., and will be announced the next morning. You’ve got 24 hours to respond to my message and must be willing to provide a shipping address.

Best of luck to you all ♥

Thanks to the Whitley Law Firm, a personal injury firm serving North Carolina, for sponsoring this giveaway.