Challenging myself to consume a piece of queer media every day for Pride month.
Feel free to recommend anything, but keep in mind it should be easily finishable within a day or two. Short stories, anthologies, mini series, small games or episodes are therefore preferred! 😊
📙 Day 1 - あの娘と目が合うたび私は 社会人百合アンソロジー (Whenever Our Eyes Meet... A Women's Love Anthology) by various artists
For Day 1 I chose a sweet little shōjo ai anthology because I haven't really read many manga in the past few years. Most of them were very cute, some a bit repetitive, but all definitely drawn and written with lots of love, detail and charm. For some of them I really wouldn't have minded a longer series, and maybe that means I will be on the lookout for a sweet Yuri manga in the near future. 👀 Along the lines of Kare Kano would be great, but queer y'know, because I remember really loving that one as a teen.
I read volume 1, and I might read another one this month whenever I feel like reading something soft. ❤️
I meant to start Pride Month with this newly released and still airing show, but since it's more of a serious approach and very current, I decided against it. It was a good decision, I was way more ready for it today and consequently watched not just one episode, but the two episodes that are already out.
So far, it's really good. The acting, editing, use of music is amazing and the writing is exciting to follow. Sure, the topic(s) at hand might be grim, but they're important to pay attention to. Very real, close to heart. I just adore Alan Cumming. Can't wait to see what happens next. The following three episodes that complete the show are airing from Sunday to Tuesday.
🎧 Day 3 - Give It To Me Bi, Bisexual Podcast: How do you actually know if you're bisexual?
Being into podcasts over the years, I've listened to quite a few different ones that focus on queerness, be it entire podcasts or single episodes, series or community collabs. I've quite enjoyed the ones that specifically focus on bisexuality, because I'm bi myself, of course. Steve and Chad have very chill and soothing voices, their episodes are usually over an hour long, and they're very enjoyable to listen to. They do rant a lot, which is why the episodes are longer, but it's exactly what I enjoy when I'm in a podcast mood.
I chose the most recent episode because it's one of the episodes I hadn't yet listened to. I genuinely love the deep dive, the personal experiences, the occasional stories from friends or listeners that are discussed. It always feels very good to listen to bisexuals talk about bisexuality ... because they get it.
In my opinion, reassuring young queers or people that have been questioning their identity or their sexuality their entire lives is one of the most important parts of activism. A simple, "It's okay, we are listening, it's perfectly fine to question, to experiment or change your mind." goes a long way. As always, the episode discusses bi myths, reactions from outsiders, and validates what people are going through.
📹 Day 4 - PBS Documentaries: She Never Got Her Quinceañera. Until Now. | VOCES Shorts
Catching up with day 4, this was really sweet. It's just a 15 minute documentary, but it still made me tear up. What Karyna tells us about her past and her family is the experience of thousands of us. To this day, we are treated differently.
My big take-away from this story is that it's extra important to be there for friends and family, to listen and accept things even if we can't entirely comprehend them. Support each other!
I think it's especially beautiful for trans people in cultures with parties and ceremonies that celebrate adulthood, womanhood, and similar, to be able to fulfil that dream. Karyna looked absolutely gorgeous!
🎧 Day 5 - Trixie and Katya's Guide to Modern Womanhood by Trixie Mattel and Katya (Audiobook)
Well, they can't all be winners. 🦨 I don't know why this wasn't for me, maybe it's because I've not been invested in the Drag space for years and years now, but I just didn't like it, even if Katya has always been one of my favourite Queens.
I don't even know what this was supposed to be, but it wasn't really funny. Satirical, sure, but a lot of what was said also seemed grossly harsh. Trixie and Katya take turns talking about some (more or less, random?) parts of life, and how they deal with it. A lot of what was said seemed odd, some of it was downright disgusting, and their usual bouncing-off-of-each-other doesn't really work here for me.
The end was a bit more interesting because they're having an actual conversation, but it's still a book, so the pace felt off. The title also kinda loses its meaning after the first two chapters. To me this was a lot of nonsense rambling which made me zone out repeatedly.
👂🏻 Day 6 - ZDFtivi PUR+ Podcast: Wissendrin mit Eric, Podcast: LGBTQ+ (German)
This is an episode of the kids program of our public access channel in Germany, the ZDF (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZDF). Turns out, the host of the show is also part of the queer community. Since this is for kids, it's a pretty basic explanation of the LGBT+ community. He also introduces one of his co-workers, who is a lesbian, and they both talk about their experiences as kids, teens and young adults, how it felt to not quite 'fit in', and that when they were young, there were very few queer rolemodels to be found.
The second half is about the trans part of the community, and a guest named Nick, who talks about his experience as a trans kid. How he came out, how everything was dealt with, and that he's also on hormones.
For me, this episode was almost too basic. It felt almost too plastic, I was missing the passion about the topic. I've definitely seen better shorts and explanations for kids, they aren't dumb, and usually kind. Maybe it's because I prefer the style of logo!, another kids program, which funnily enough also belongs to the ZDF.
🎥 Day 7 - An Interview with Stefan Gagne (Game Developer, Author) - cutiespectives by Jasmin Page
Listening to this was such a delight. I love @Twoflower's games and writing, and the one hour interview went by so quickly. Jasmin and Stefan talk about his writing, @FictionFactoryGames, disability, resistance and of course, the queer community. I don't want to spoil much more and invite you all to listen to this interview yourselves. The topics discussed can't all be condensed into one simple post.
My personal favourites by Fiction Factory Games are The Shadow Over Cyberspace and Arcade Spirits.
Got randomly attacked by this really sweet comic qwoppy shared on Discord last night, so I thought I'd include it as number 8 in this little series. ❤️
There really aren't more words needed. Just a cute little comic to enjoy during Pride Month. 😊
📺 Day 9 - LGBTQI* - (k)ein Problem mit sexueller Vielfalt? auf ARD alpha (German)
Yesterday and today I watched the last three episodes of Tip Toe. Since I already talked about it on Day 2 I can only recommend it. But only on a day you're not already feeling down or vulnerable. ❤️
For today I chose another German report because I'm genuinely curious to see how life feels for other queer people in Germany. Having lived in Berlin my entire life I can only guess people in more rural areas have an entirely different experience.
I really liked these interviews, they're more focused on gender identity and gender expression rather than sexual identity, which is why I'm not sure the title they chose really fit the topic (English: (A/No) problem with sexual diversity?), but this seems to be a problem for a lot of reports. The interviewer seems really personable and nice, the people interviewed all seemed chill af.
Unfortunately, and I'm already aware of this, Germany still seems hostile and uncomfortable with queer identity. Some cities might be ahead, but that's definitely not true for all of them. We need to be better.
👀 Day 10 - Becoming Courtney Act: How drag made Shane Jenek queen of his own identity | Australia Story
Aw man, this was such a wonderful little documentary about Shane. I absolutely adore him! He's not just an entertainer but an educator, he created his own dating show for bisexuals and in general, just seems like a lovely person. ❤️
If you haven't read his memoir, I recommend you read it, or better yet, listen to the audiobook.
He also has a mini series on sexualities and gender identity on his YouTube channel.
The docu made me cry, even though it's just a short look into is life and on how he became Courtney.
Working my way through suggestions, this is one of the videos @david shared with me initially. 😊 And I agree, it's inherently queer.
Out of the videos shared, this was the longest at approx. 18 minutes, but do check out the other two shorter ones too, for sure.
I like that the author of the video explores monsterfucking as a topic, and dives into actual books of it, as well as pointing out that tumblr (at least used to be) one of the places where being into monsters was pretty normalized. What I didn't realise was that there were people who are literally gatekeeping monsterfucking? LOL. I guess there's gatekeeping in everything, that's just silly.
I would've liked a mention of the fact that a lot of monsters can also be genderless, which would tie in more with the queerness of the entire deal, but all in all, it was a pretty good summary. It's also interesting in how it broke through to the mainstream. We're all just little freaks, aren't we? What's your monster crush?
@SunnJax suggested I take a look at the website of SPLC, they have a page specifically for queer people so I took a look and picked Fireflies to read.
The short story is heartwarming and probably what all queer people would love to hear from their families. In this, it's a bit of a romanticized view because reactions are seldom this straightforward. Emotions are involved, anxieties, it's not that easy. But the story itself would certainly make a young queer person feel loved, and more secure. If we taught kids the way this story does, I feel the world would have less problems with queer people to begin with.
A queer little retelling of the Red Riding Hood which I've very much enjoyed. 😊
I like that the artist did this in collaboration with their girlfriend, and themed for Halloween. We need more of these little gems in our world. We need more wlw media, in any form. 🥹
👂🏻 Day 14 - Is Bisexuality The Same As Pansexuality?
Deep sigh. Although I'm tired of the discourse between bi and pan, I always remain curious about the current state within our community. Unfortunately I come to discover bi erasure is still alive and well, and gets discredited by people who choose pansexuality as their label.
Even if a lot of the things that were brought up and discussed were important to dive into, I really wish it would've been done in a more respectful way. I had issues with a lot of what was said, and how it was said, mainly by the guests.
I tried to remain as objective as possible, even if the first few minutes already pissed me off. I really wonder why 'the binary in bisexual' is still a topic that is brought up so much. It's completely fine if a different label fits you and your identity better, but you really don't have to shit all over other people's identities either. Especially when they have a much longer history than your label does. Important was that people back in the day, with fewer words, stuck together and supported each other, and that should be respected.
Thanks to @nocci's reminder, I started playing Tell Me Why last night. I picked up the first episode quite a while ago, since it's been free during Pride Month for the past years, but I never actually sat down to play it.
I must say, I missed the episodic, LiS style vibe in a game. It feels almost a bit slower even than other, similar games I've played, but in a good way. I love walking around and exploring what's there. I like the dialogue options. I'm digging the story. I finished episode 1, bought the other two today and can't wait to finish it.
The game deals with a tough story, but still, it felt like it introduces you to the characters and their past in such a gentle way that I personally didn't feel unsafe, or rattled. Sure, emotional, but that's what it's supposed to do.
Also, what the heck, a trans character in a game, and the game is about them? I can't celebrate that enough. All I can do is thank the creators. It makes me want to check out their other games too. ☺️
I'm so glad you played the game. And yes, the style is very much like Life is Strange, but with a different, somehow deeper twist.
And yes. For me, too, it's the first time I've played a game where a main character is trans. And I think it’s a good and valuable experience for every player.
It’s also a nice gesture that the game has been available for free during Pride Month in recent years.
I think it’s very valuable and a good way to raise awareness, especially in video games.
@nocci exactly my thoughts when I first played it. It was an amazing experience and a humbling one as well, knowing what others have to get through to find themselves in a good spot, just because they do not fit social norms. I cried a lot. Like a lot lot 🥲
