RIP, "The Man of the Hole." We never knew your date of birth or name.

And after what we did to you, we didn't deserve to.

The Man of the Hole was the sole survivor of an Indigenous tribe that was genocided by Brazilian settlers in the 1970s, the other survivors of his tribe were killed by illegal miners in 1996 leaving him the last of his people. From that point on he lived in complete isolation for over two decades. He survived by hunting and gathering and moving around frequently, he left a deep hole in each of his homes for unknown purposes, hence the title that was given to him. It remains completely unknown who his people were, what language they spoke or what his name was.

His story is similar to that of Ishi an Indigenous man whose people were entirely exterminated during the california genocide, he lived in isolation for decades and no one knew his real name. And with him dying so did his people.

The story of the Man of the Hole brings to the forefront the ongoing genocide of the Indigenous peoples of Brazil. And the many perils they face.

As a wheelchair user I'm trying to reframe my language for "being in the way."

"I'm in the way," "I can't fit," and "I can't go there," is becoming "there's not enough space," "the walkway is too narrow," and "that place isn't accessible."

It's a small change, but to me it feels as if I'm redirecting blame from myself to the people that made these places inaccessible in the first place. I don't want people to just think that they're helping me, I want them to think that they're making up for someone else's wrongdoing. I want them to remember every time I've needed help as something someone else caused.

I must not mock Gen Alpha. Mocking Gen Alpha is the mind killer. Mocking Gen Alpha is the little-death that brings total generational solidarity obliteration. I will engage with Gen Alpha lovingly. I will permit them to be cringe. And when they grow up I will turn my eye to their accomplishments. Where mocking has gone there will be nothing. Only generational solidarity remains

i always convince myself i dont sound that weird and then i go out in the world and get involved in anything longer than transactional small talk and its like ohhh thats right ive only been hanging out with gay people who speak in riddles

Help Our Homeless Queer Squatter Camp to Raise $80 for Refilling Our Community Water Tanks!

April 13th 2024

My girlfriend and I are two transgender homeless women living in Slab City, a homeless squatter town in the middle of the desert.

We live in one of the poorest communities in the United States. None of our neighbors have access to water or other utilities that they don't have delivered to tanks or otherwise provide for themselves.

Summer is rapidly approaching and the heat reaches 120°F

Our camp is dedicated to helping our neighbors and our community. As such, one of our services we provide is two gallons of free water per person per a day.

We don't have an income outside of whatever donations we raise and so if we can't raise money we can't help people.

Please help us raise $80 to fill our water tanks so we can continue to provide this service!

💕 Cash App: $ThistleDD

💕 Venmo: @ThistleDD

💕 PayPal: PayPal.me/ThistleDD

If you can't donate please like, reblog, and share. Every bit of help counts!

As a disabled person who's loved LEVERAGE and LEVERAGE REDEMPTION since the beginning - for the characters but also the whole ethos of performing acts that help people against crap systems, it's wonderful to be reminded that it springs from reality.

Transcript: (Copied from Jamey's posts on Bluesky)

What was in the box? A wheelchair!

Admittedly this is pretty anti-climactic for those hoping for #LeverageRedemption spoilers. 😬

But it’s super duper important not just for me, but for all Disabled people in this industry, and for our allies everywhere.

Let me explain:

[photo ID: A neon yellow wheelchair with purple and white spokes sits by a fence, against which is leaning a panel from yesterday’s box. On the panel you can see the same sign it had yesterday: “LEVERAGE: REDEMPTION DO NOT THROW AWAY PLEASE”]

About a month before I was scheduled to travel to New Orleans to cover my episode, my boss @johnrogers.bsky.social asked me how it was flying with a wheelchair.

I told him—it’s terrifying. Airlines break an average of 30+ wheelchairs A DAY.

Every. single. time. I board an aircraft, I am at risk of losing my sole means of mobility for an indefinite amount of time

Can you imagine what that feels like? Knowing every time you board a plane, there’s a 1 in 65 chance the airline will break your LEGS.

Sure the airlines will replace a chair they clearly broke. But not in time to enjoy your Hawaiian vacation! Or do your job! Or go to the PARALYMPICS!

When I inform nondisabled people about this they are SHOOK. Am I for real?? How has this been allowed to go on?? Can’t we do something??

My response is always “It has happened to sitting US senator & war hero Tammy Duckworth too & nothing has changed…”

Airline travel is one of the underreported nightmares of being in America, a country which very much has the resources to change or fix it. But nothing changes. Why? You guessed it—#ableism! That’s why it was so amazing that my boss even thought to ASK the question.

Even more amazing was his response to what I told him:

“Wow, that sucks. Would it ease your mind if production shipped one of your spare chairs to NOLA ahead of time? That way you’d KNOW you had a functioning chair there regardless of what happens on the flight.”

Reader…I could’ve cried.

An accommodation! That I didn’t even have to ask for! Because an ally asked first!

And when the Showrunner says “We’re shipping a wheelchair to the production office,” the production office says, “Yes sir!”

So that’s what we did.

The airline thankfully did not wreck my gorgeous full-suspension everyday wheelchair that I got through @wgawest.bsky.social health insurance and which took me through 5 months of picketing. THIS time.

[Photo IDs: The post author is pictured from behind, seated in a white full-suspension wheelchair with colorful spikes. She is wearing a large strike sign on her back with reads “WRITER’S GUILD ON STRIKE!” The tweet author has written below that, “LET’S ROLL!”

and

The post author, a white woman with blonde hair, sits in a white wheelchair while holding a picket sign in her hand that reads, “WRITER’S GUILD OF AMERICA ON STRIKE!”]

But it was a huge load off my mind to know that, even if they did, I’d be okay.

I’d be able to cover set.

To do my job.

The DREAM JOB that I fought like hell to get.

This accommodation was a small expense for a TV show. It didn’t disrupt anything or anyone. It didn’t slow anything or anyone down. Nobody on set was even aware it had been done for me.

And the conversation started not with me but with someone with the power to ACT.

I know for a fact that my boss, John Rogers, will HATE that I am giving him public credit for this.

He didn’t do it to be recognized or praised.

He did it because I needed it and he needed me.

Because I am disabled & ALSO a kickass writer. 😈

_________________

One thing I'd like to add is there is currently a comment form for proposed new regulations on airlines' handling of wheelchairs.

I WANT A FOUR DAY WORK WEEK

I WANT A SIX HOUR WORK DAY

I WANT A $25 MINIMUM WAGE

I WANT A MINIMUM OF 20 PAID DAYS OFF PLUS PUBLIC HOLIDAYS OFF

I WANT AN AUTOMATED INCOME TAX SYSTEM THAT PUTS THE OWNESS ON THE GOVERNMENT TO DO THE LEG WORK AND TELL YOU WHAT YOU OWE

a comic about feeling gross (for very mysterious reasons) and bed time

~360 votes at the time of writing, and this reblog is the 40th note. PLEASE press the reblog button I am begging everyone

Troy Quane, co-director of Nimona the only man I've ever trusted

(Link to article)

And here's the movie, it's real!

can we like…get rid of the so-called leather and rubber “pride flags” ? it’s honestly ridiculous and offensive to the lgbtq community. those aren’t pride flags. 

The leather pride flag is the second oldest pride flag. It has been at almost every single US pride parade and protest in history.

It’s older then you are, it’s older then I am. The leather community is responsible for pride. Leather daddies were the ones chasing away cops when they tried to arrest us for being queer in public back when Pride Parades were illegal in the US. They are still the ones chasing away cops and corporations from smaller pride events and those that aren’t sanctioned by Wells Fargo. The leather community is essential to the queer community and has a long and rich history.

Please fuck off if you’re not going to learn the actual history of pride.

And don’t fucking out your hate in our tags, asshole.

The leather pride flag represents an expression of self which is inherently queer, and a community which has been around for generations. It is not offensive to the LGBT+ community in any way. I have seen cis gay and bisexual men standing shoulder-to-shoulder with trans men, all of them united by their leather community roots. The leather community is more diverse and nuanced than you perhaps know, but that is no reason for you to shit on a community you don’t understand.

Here is a photograph from 1998, displaying the leather pride flag, the bear gay pride flag, and the rainbow flag. This is our history.

Source.

Here is a photograph from 1987: three queer women entering into the Ms. National Leather Association Contest, or simply gathering as spectators.

Source.

A flyer from 1989, rallying the leather community to march in a Stonewall anniversary protest.

Source.

A photograph from 1988: Tony Deblase, the creator of the leather pride flag, and a gay man, embracing a fellow member of the leather community. Over his shoulder is Judy Tallwing McCarthy, a Native American woman who was part of the leather community from 1959. She co-founded the first lesbian BDSM group in Portland, along with her partner, Sashie Hyatt.

Source. Source.

Just because you don’t know the history, doesn’t mean it isn’t there. Be humble, and always assume you have more to learn. Hatred, and outright dismissal of communities you know nothing about, is the most aggressively anti-LGBT thing I can imagine.

The leather community has always included trans people, lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals. The leather community is global and nuanced. The leather community is where many of us encounter our found families, and our lovers. For you to dismiss that is cold-hearted and ignorant. Just because queer sex is involved, doesn’t make the community dirty or bad.

I’m again fucking begging the baby gays to read/watch/listen to How To Survive A Plague.

Do you have any. Any idea. Any god damn clue. How kink intersects with LGBT and queer community. Queer history. Do you know why the community pushed for, and against, closing the bathhouses during the 80s? Do you know who organized awareness campaigns about HIV, even way back when it was still called GIRD. Do you know who created the safe sex pamphlets, the classes, who pushed for disclosing your health history to partners, who distributed contraceptives and condoms and dental dams at parties and meetings and baths? Do you even know where the safe sex education we have now comes from? Do you know where a bulk of the language about consent came from? Do you have any good god damn idea what the kink communities have done for us, and continue to do for us?

Keep their names out of your mouths because you clearly don’t know what the hell you’re talking about

If there is one thing I could say to young queer folks, especially young queer folks in the U.S. who are coming of age in a world that is more accepting than the one I knew growing up, it’s this:

Don’t be so quick to sanitize your queerness and make it corporate pride daytime TV-friendly. Don’t be so quick to jump on the purity bandwagon. Don’t be so quick to speak on what your community should look like before you’ve actually learned the history of your community, and always be aware that there are things you probably don’t yet know.

These things will not protect you. They never have. And all you’re doing is isolating yourself from community, from support, from the strength we all have when we stand together in a world that would gladly pick us off one by one.

Queerness isn’t as hidden or embattled now (in some places) as it once was, but make no mistake: when our existence was illegal everywhere the people you have this knee-jerk “hide the weirdos” reaction to are the very ones who would’ve had your back against the cops and the gay-bashers.

The people who made me feel safe to come out in my 20s flew the rubber and leather flags alongside the rainbow flag and often the trans flag as well. You don’t get to tell any of them they don’t belong anymore just because you don’t understand.

Rip this from my cold, dead hands

grief is so crazy like what if i forget what her laugh sounds like. does she know i loved her. i miss her so much. i catch myself doing things she used to do. i wish i could call her. i miss her so much. i do a crossword puzzle. i cry while washing the dishes. does she know i loved her? my heart feels like a hummingbird. i miss her so much. what if i forget what her laugh sounds like. what if i forget.

its actually quite simple

"but aces and aros can be in relationships"

Yes, I know that, but do YOU know that aces and aros in relationships are still aces and aros? Do you internalize that? Are you aware that we don't just suddenly turn straight, or gay or anything else?

Yes, even demis

Are you aware that a sex repulsed asexual will still be sex repulsed even in a relationship, and so, might never fuck you?

Are you aware that a romance repulsed aro will still be romance repulsed even in a seemingly normative relationship and might not like doing typical romantic gestures and activities?

Are you aware that a sex neutral or positive asexual might not actually be sexually attracted to you at all even if they do fuck you?

Are you aware that a romance neutral or positive aro might not actually be romantically into you even if they are comfortable with typical romantic gestures?

Are you aware that our identities are just as permanent as yours?

this is a reminder that if a nap will help you make it through the rest of the day, you should take a nap 🫶🏻