|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2012 4:22 pm
Entry #1: Introduction
Hey guys, I'm TigerLilyChick. People have also called me Tiger or TigerLily, but if you use a nickname for me, I prefer that you use the nickname Tiger (but if you call me TigerLily, I won't bite your head off). I wanted to create a journal ever since this past summer, but I finally have the time to make one.
Some Stuff About Me:
I am a college junior and my major is... can we shorten it to Computer Forensics? I don't want to keep typing "Computer Information Systems, computer forensics track". However, my original major was nursing. I changed majors after the end of freshman year. If I wanted to minor in anything, I would minor in religion. Because I live on campus (and because of the things we can and cannot bring), all of my instruments have to stay at home. Sure, I can bring my ocarina, but it's ceramic. Do I really want to bring a ceramic item and risk it breaking? No.
I belly dance, but I practice the American Cabaret style. What I really like about belly dancing is that there is no typical look of the dancer. If you see professional ballerinas, they are normally long and lean. A belly dancer can be of any shape and size (and if you're afraid of showing too much skin, there are more conservative costumes out there). A belly dancer can also be of any gender. I also heard that belly dancing can be an exercise a pregnant woman can do.
I am a straight ally (if it wasn't obvious from my sig and the title). However, only a few friends know that I'm a straight ally. The short story is explained in the introduction thread, but it would take me a while to find it. Where I live, they tried to pass a bill allowing for marriage equality back when I was a college freshman. The bill didn't get passed, and one of my friends was pretty upset about it. Of course, I felt bad for her because she could never marry the person she loves. We now get to vote for whether or not marriage equality can happen in November. I didn't become a straight ally until some time during my sophomore year. This year, I finally joined my college's LGBTQIA club. A couple of my friends are also in the club.
So in my journal entries, I'll be talking about things that go on in my life, my views on current LGBT issues, and any other stuff you're interested in learning about me. Please feel free to comment, but commenting is optional.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2012 5:40 pm
Hello, I hope you don't mind me posting. Wow, you are a cabaret belly dancer? I am a ATS (American Tribal Style) and Tribal Fusion belly dancer. That is really neat to meet other dancers. I am so excited that the Belly Dance Superstars are going to preform near by this Oct. My teacher thought about making it a field trip to see them. ^^
One great male dancer is Steven Eggers, check him out sometime.
Cool major, Computer forensics sounds fascinating. I also thought about into nursing, but having second thoughts. Good luck!
I hope your friend will someday get to marry the she loves, really nice that you support her.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2012 6:37 pm
Hello, I don't mind you posting. I welcome posts! So welcome, first poster! Belly Dance Superstars is performing near you? Lucky!
About nursing, it's hard. There are a lot of science classes involved. At my college, you needed to get at least a 3.0 in the sciences, a 2.7 overall, and have repeated 0 or 1 science class to move on to sophomore year nursing. Then to get to junior or senior year nursing, the requirements were the same, but you need at least a 3.0 overall. With my new major, I only need at least a 2.0 in the major to move on to the next year.
I hope she can marry her girlfriend too. My state is close. A bill has been signed, but we need to vote now. Unfortunately, my dad is voting "No." Only because of Leviticus something or other (yeah, even though I'm a Christian, I don't care about what verse that was. My personal belief is that character, not sexual orientation, matters).
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Sep 14, 2012 6:36 am
Leviticus also says no pork no shellfish no mixed fabrics no haircuts. i'm an ally as well!!!!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Sep 14, 2012 7:31 am
NocturneKefka666 Leviticus also says no pork no shellfish no mixed fabrics no haircuts. i'm an ally as well!!!! Well, I never ate shellfish anyways. If you think about it, does anyone strictly follow the Bible anymore? I mean, I'm wearing capris and a t-shirt right now! Back then, all of your limbs had to be completely covered. Yay! Another ally!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Sep 14, 2012 8:19 am
TigerLilyChick NocturneKefka666 Leviticus also says no pork no shellfish no mixed fabrics no haircuts. i'm an ally as well!!!! Well, I never ate shellfish anyways. If you think about it, does anyone strictly follow the Bible anymore? I mean, I'm wearing capris and a t-shirt right now! Back then, all of your limbs had to be completely covered. Yay! Another ally! eeup,i love the ladies myself!!!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Sep 20, 2012 7:51 am
Entry #2: Things You Surely Don't Know About Me
First of all, before I start this, I want to say that I'm proud of my friend. I found out that over the summer, he came out as bi on Facebook (some time after I deactivated my Facebook).
Now you're probably wondering why I didn't include the stuff about what you don't know about me in the introductory post. Well, I was saving it for this post. Why? Because these things that you don't know about me are related to LGBT Issues. Remember, this guild is a safe zone.
1. When I was in 6th grade, there was a rumor that I was a lesbian. Uh no, I had a huge crush on a guy who was in my classes. Everyone knew about my crush on the guy. Looking back on it, I got lucky that a friend was the only one to tell me about it. Even though I was lucky not to be confronted about it, not everyone is lucky. There are some people who get bullied or attacked for their perceived sexual orientation.
2. When I was a college freshman, I questioned my sexuality. Yeah, you read that correctly. Have you ever wanted to know what it's like to kiss someone of the same sex? Yeah, I wanted to know (and I still want to know), but it was more than a few girls that I wouldn't mind kissing. However, I had a crush on a football player as well. "Maybe I'm bi?" I asked myself. After some soul searching, I figured that I'm still straight, but I learned it's not uncommon to be straight and want to know what it's like to kiss someone of your sex.
Fast forward to sophomore year. I moved in early for band camp, so my suitemates didn't move in until over a week later. Everything's fine, my suitemates are friendly, and my roommate's a huggy person (which is good, since my mom's side of the family likes to hug). Soon, September hits and wuh-oh, I'm starting to get these feelings. I almost had a crush on one of my suitemates (Yeah, almost. How I determine whether it's a crush instead of admiration may be different from how you determine when you have a crush on someone)! Forget questioning my sexuality; I am mentally freaking out at this point! I knew I couldn't tell anyone about it. These feelings didn't last more than a few weeks.
Now it's junior year and I am a peer educator at my college. We had to do the officer training luncheon for Sex Ed Boot Camp (look up Sex Ed Boot Camp. It's read). The two people running it will soon be celebrating 10 years together. One thing they said is that for college students, questioning your sexuality is completely normal. I wish someone told me that two years ago! I also talked to another peer educator when she told me and the VP of my college's LGBTQIA club (the VP is also a peer educator) that she's pansexual. She told me that you can't truly figure out who you are unless you question your sexuality. Anyways, I finally confided everything I said in the previous paragraph in one of my friends one night (but not the same friend that I talked about in my introductory post. I felt like I could tell her because after she dated a girl while she was bi-curious, she later identified as a lesbian. I feel so much better telling someone. My friend told me that some of her straight female friends have also had crushes on girls before. Well, that's more proof that sexual orientation isn't "black and white".
So why did I tell you this? Well, as a peer educator, I may come across someone who is questioning their sexuality and wants to talk to someone about it. Because I went through those things mentioned above, I feel like I can be very helpful as a peer educator when it comes to the topic of sexuality. Oh, and if you're wondering why I keep saying suitemates, it's because at my college, we have suites and apartments. Depending on the building, there will either be 2 bedrooms or 3 bedrooms in the suite. Sophomore year, I was in a 3-bedroom suite. I'm in the apartments now and freshman year, I was in a 2-bedroom suite.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Oct 03, 2012 2:08 pm
Entry #3: When Your Best Friend Comes Out
Warning: My thoughts may be everywhere. I didn't have time to pre-write this on Libre Office like I usually do (I have Ubuntu running on a virtual machine).
I got my flu shot today at college! I got some lollipops too (I already had the orange one)! I saw friends too! What else happened to me today? One of my best friends came out to me as transgender. I would not have expected that if he didn't tell me a few weeks ago that he was going to legally change her name. So how do I feel about this?
Well, I'm really proud of him for telling me. I'm using female pronouns right now because she has only come out to me, one friend, and her mom. I'm the only one who knows her new name (and she told me to call her by her birth name until she comes out to all her friends). Once she comes out to everyone she's comfortable with, then I will start using male pronouns and a male name. He will continue with his transition upon graduating from college.
It took us a while to find a place on the small campus that was empty and away from people(my college actually has 2 campuses. We were on the campus that existed when the school first opened). We found a spot. He was nervous, so we talked about other things. Then I realized that I had left my receipt for my flu shot on the table that I was originally sitting in. I got the receipt and came back. He didn't know how to word it, so he said he was going to be blunt.
"I'm going to be blunt. That'll work. I'm a guy." My friend told me. I asked my friend what his new name will be. After he told me (I'm not going to put the male name on here for personal reasons), I changed the name on my phone. He then told me to go by his birth name until he comes out to his friends. In future journal entries mentioning her (when, I don't know), I'll use male pronouns. Out of respect for her, I won't use male pronouns yet. (please see edit note at the bottom of this entry)
The name that my friend will eventually go by is a Biblical name, but with a very slight spelling modification.
So how did you feel when a friend came out to you? Did you expect it, did you not expect it? And to those who were in my friend's situation with coming out: Were you nervous? Were you in her situation where you were ready to come out, but you didn't know how to say it?
Oh, and on another unrelated note, next week, another friend will be filming me chasing a pen around the same campus. It's for her class project and she already took the photographs yesterday. Hopefully the guy remembers to bring the upper leg pieces of the robot costume this time.
Edit: I can now use male pronouns and my friend's preferred male name. I have edited this journal entry to reflect these changes.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Oct 03, 2012 4:50 pm
Just wanted to say that I am an ally as well, I am a highschool student of 17 and I too have questioned myself of my sexuality. I found out that I am straight for the most part, I am only Bisexual with one girl. She is my best friend, has been always will be. I am a little mad at her right now because she kinda took by boyfriend kinda didn't. Any way, kissing a girl to me is nothing different than kissing a guy. Having sex is completely different. With girl and guy to guy and guy its penetration, to girl and girl its whatever you want to consider it to be. I am in no means a virgin, I have had sex with a guy and a girl before. I lost my virginity to a girl in 7th grade and I lost it to my best friend, I lost my virginity to a guy when I was "raped" by an ex-boyfriend. I put guotes around rape because I was 16 and I did say yes to him asking, only because we where on a date and he would not take me home unless we did, at that time my phone was dead and I didn't know the password to his. Back to the LGBT things. I support Gay rights to marry because, yes I am a "christian" but I also go by what God gave to us, which is CHOICE! To me if God wanted to always be there with him he would have not given Adam and Eve the tree of knowledge and the freedom of choice. That is just me and most would disagree saying that "God created Adam and Eve not Adam and Steve" I think that its just a bunch of bull because to me that is just an excuse to not look at the way things are. Its just the Red Scare all over again only its more like the Gay Scare.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2012 8:12 am
Entry #4: Marriage Equality in Maryland (plus an update from my previous journal entry)Hey guys, I'm back. I was in Orlando for a national conference related to my on-campus job (I turned 20 while I was there) and it's cold in Maryland now. Boo. I hate the cold. I'm also first aid certified. Yay smile . So, the elections just happened in the U.S. A few states made history relating to same-sex marriage. In my state of Maryland, 52% (according to one source) of voters voted for same-sex marriage. This is great! Now my friends can get married! If you remember my introductory post for this journal, the bill for same-sex marriage wasn't passed a few years ago. My friend (let's call her S) was pretty bummed. Now, S can marry her girlfriend! But not yet. They're still in college. Our job is not done yet though, but we are one step closer to the ultimate goal. Even though Maryland made history as the first state below the Mason-Dixon line to allow for same-sex marriage, this won't go into effect until January 1st, 2013. Anyways, now to the update of my previous journal entry.Recap: My best friend came out to me as transgender and until my friend is out to everyone, I still have to use her birth name and female pronouns. (please see edit message at the bottom) Current Update: My best friend has recently come out to two more friends through a letter on a note card. The note card was done because whenever my friend would try to come out, he would choke on his words. He said it took half and hour (not including when I had to go back to another friend's table because I left my flu shot receipt on the table) to come out to me. Everyone my friend came out to so far has been accepting of this smile . Right now, I still have to use her birth name and female pronouns. I have been given permission to tell my mom. I asked for permission because my mom often greets people like "Hi, [insert person's name here]!" and I didn't want my mom to use my friend's birth name after it's time to use the preferred name. My mom's very supportive and I think my mom would be a great straight ally. At home, my mom and I practice using the preferred name and male pronouns when we talk about my friend (this was my mom's suggestion). Mom sometimes slips up and uses female pronouns during conversations, but that's to be expected. Once my friend is out to all of her friends, then everyone can start using male pronouns and the preferred name.Oh yeah! I almost forgot! I did a submission for the site ANoteToMyKid.com where people submit letters to a family member or friend who is a member of the LGBT community. Members of the LGBT community can also submit letters thanking someone for their support. Since my entry is now buried under other October 2012 entries here's the link to my letter: My ANoteToMyKid.com Submission. I used my friend's first initial because I wasn't sure if he'd see the letter before or after I was to start using his preferred name. The first initial of his preferred name is the same first initial of his birth name. I really like the comment that was left on my note. Yes, my best friend saw the note, but he wasn't the one who commented. Time to get back to my business writing homework. Grrrr. Well, at least I got all the classes that I wanted (I just registered). Edit: I can now use male pronouns and my friend's preferred male name. I have edited this journal entry to reflect these changes.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Dec 25, 2012 9:04 am
Entry #5: Merry Christmas!It's me again. It's Christmas! Merry Christmas! If you don't celebrate Christmas, then Happy Hanukkah or Happy Kwanzaa. I got a djembe, pan flutes, 2 scarves, a fedora, beaded bracelets, scratch-off tickets (out of 5, I only won from 1 ticket), Tekken Tag Tournament 2, and other stuff that I can't remember. Also, I'm going to be an aunt! Yay! Some Updates:1. In one week, same-sex couples in Maryland will be allowed to marry. In my previous journal entry, I said that Maryland was one of the states to make history. However, I said that it wouldn't go into effect until January 1st, 2013. Now, January 1st, 2013 is one week away. Happy New Year, loving couples (yeah, I know. It's not New Years' Day yet). 2. My friend has come out to everyone he hangs out with so now I can use male pronouns and his preferred male name. I'm going to go back and edit my previous journal entries to reflect these changes. Before I go, I'm going to leave a Christmas song up here. It's karaoke, so just sing along to the words. We Wish You a Merry Christmas
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Feb 01, 2013 7:34 pm
Entry #6: Pissed Off (a.k.a. I'm so mad I could *insert strings of curse words here*)As you can see, I am upset right now. More like offended, but whatever. So I'm on teenchat.com in the LGBT Chat. I was saying how last night, a friend of mine asked me if I was bi-curious. I found that interesting because I was going to ask her what she thought I was (one of her friends who was bisexual recently came out as lesbian because it hurt when she lost her virginity to a guy on her birthday). I then said that at the end of the previous school year, another friend thought I was bi. One person said that bi-curious people are attention seeking love starved teens (hey, I'm 20). Another person said "Or sluts. Either way." So I got offended as well as two other people. I put those two on ignore. Then the two other people who were offended started defending themselves. I stood up for them too. Yes, I know that bisexuals get called sluts or are told that they can't decide between being gay or straight. One of my ex-boyfriends (he and I are still friends) is bi so I told them after me saying more stuff "But honestly, I dare you to say all that stuff to my ex." I dare them to. Then again, that would be a bad idea. I'd be in jail thinking that it was totally worth it. Mom taught me to pick and choose my own battles. I pick this one to fight in. The things that the two were saying (I had them on ignore so I didn't see what they were saying) made one person say "It's because of people like you that make me afraid to come out." I think that's really sad. I've calmed down now (moreso because I can't punch a wall. I live on-campus so any damages get billed to the resident). The people saying the stuff about bi-curious people can play a game called "Hide and Go ******** Yourself". The name of the game came from another TV show that I can't remember. So I'm listening to this song right now and the songwriter's right: The devil is a loser. The Devil is a Loser - LordiAdios!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jun 15, 2013 1:53 pm
Entry #7: Hate Against Straight Allies? What?
Dang, it's been a while since I last posted. Well I don't go on teenchat.com anymore. I have a friend on that site's phone number so she and I just text each other. She also stopped going on that site.
Now to the reason why I'm posting this. I have browsed through some LGBT Tumblr blogs (I am not a member of Tumblr) and I have seen some posts and blogs dedicated to LGBT members who hate straight allies. Straight allies have even told a blogger that they will stop being allies because of her anti-straight ally posts. The person even said that 95% of LGBT members on Tumblr and 99% of LGBT members IRL do not like straight allies (I'm hoping the numbers are less than what she mentioned).
Honestly, this is upsetting. However, I am not going to quit being a straight ally. There are LGBT members that appreciate straight allies, and I thank you for supporting straight allies. I have a question for everyone, and anyone, LGBT or straight, can answer this question. Why do many LGBT members not like straight allies? I have seen a few things online saying that many straight allies are allies because they want to be recognized for their efforts (kind of like "I'm a straight ally! Give me a cookie!!!"). I also saw on Tumblr that some straight allies are saying that if it wasn't for straight allies, the accomplishments towards LGBT equality would not have occurred. I disagree with that. It's the COMBINED efforts of the LGBT community and the straight allies that there are all these accomplishments towards LGBT equality. It's because of LGBT members not accepting the inequality that these changes are happening. It's the fact that LGBT equality still has a long way to go gives LGBT members and the allies the ability to continue to fight.
Anyways, if anyone has reasons why straight allies are hated, please feel free to reply to this thread. Please keep any discussions here about ally hate civil.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jun 16, 2013 1:33 pm
Hey, I'm a straight ally as well and I think I might have a rather simple reason. A reason none the less that is common with everything. Well, you kinda mentioned it a little in your post there in a way- there are a lot of posers in the world. I can see them getting tired of it. It's posers on both ends that probably makes this an unfortunate "truth".
It's kinda sad to see heteros and what not going into gay bars to have fun and basically MAKE FUN of the patrons, and then go everywhere else and say they have gay friends or do that kinda stuff. *sighs* My best friends were gay, and they introduced me to my husband, actually. XD It's kinda funny how things work, and she did AWESOME tarot readings. I miss her.
Anyway, I also knew some lesbians that were...very unattractive in nature to put it blatantly. They touted it and basically latched onto whatever they could get and were just mean to everyone and accused others of such things, even people of being, "Faggots or dykes" rather derogatorily.
It's hard to find someone, ANYONE of good character to share your life and love with. So I am sympathetic. However, like everything, there eventually will be people who "abuse" such things. ...ah, I'm old-fashioned and I simply mean... oh, I'm sure you understand! I'll stop mumbling.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jun 16, 2013 4:20 pm
-Explosion-Array- Hey, I'm a straight ally as well and I think I might have a rather simple reason. A reason none the less that is common with everything. Well, you kinda mentioned it a little in your post there in a way- there are a lot of posers in the world. I can see them getting tired of it. It's posers on both ends that probably makes this an unfortunate "truth". It's kinda sad to see heteros and what not going into gay bars to have fun and basically MAKE FUN of the patrons, and then go everywhere else and say they have gay friends or do that kinda stuff. *sighs* My best friends were gay, and they introduced me to my husband, actually. XD It's kinda funny how things work, and she did AWESOME tarot readings. I miss her. Anyway, I also knew some lesbians that were...very unattractive in nature to put it blatantly. They touted it and basically latched onto whatever they could get and were just mean to everyone and accused others of such things, even people of being, "Faggots or dykes" rather derogatorily. It's hard to find someone, ANYONE of good character to share your life and love with. So I am sympathetic. However, like everything, there eventually will be people who "abuse" such things. ...ah, I'm old-fashioned and I simply mean... oh, I'm sure you understand! I'll stop mumbling. Hello, and welcome to my journal! It's nice to know that it doesn't seem like I'm talking to myself on here xd . When you mentioned that heterosexual people go into gay bars to make fun of the patrons, it reminded me of a friend who wanted to go to the coming out monologues at my college to laugh at the stories. I feel that's belittling because coming out takes a lot of courage. And guess what? My friend is gay now (the semester after, she dated a girl to see what it was like. Then that summer, she tried dating a guy again and felt that she couldn't feel that way for a guy anymore). Plus, people question their sexuality at all ages (I know I questioned my sexuality near the end of 17. I mention this in my second journal entry on here), so you shouldn't make fun of a gay or bi person because you might end up discovering that you are gay or bi. There are also straight allies that don't do anything towards equality. I don't have a car so I can't go to pride rallies, but I sign petitions, support my LGBT friends, and I use the proper name and pronouns for my best friend (in a previous journal entry, I mention that my best friend is FtM transgender. Using the right name and pronouns may seem insignificant, but it means the world to a transperson to use the right name and pronouns). I also want to pay for my best friend's first testosterone shot (which he will start once he graduates from college). You're also right about people abusing such things. People DO abuse their privilege and don't realize that they take some stuff for granted (for example, a straight person doesn't have to worry about being fired because of their sexual orientation. Yes, in 32 states, a person can get fired for being gay). Sorry for this much text. Looks like we both talk a lot xd . I blame the McFlurry I'm eating right now.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
