Nostr notes by Prism & Pen

This is something that so many trans women experience, especially ...

2026-10-27T14:12:01Z

This is something that so many trans women experience, especially in the early stages of transition. Expressing our inner femininity might not come naturally after so many years of hiding and suppressing it, but is there a way to learn? Definitely!
https://medium.com/prismnpen/training-your-voice-walk-and-poses-for-trans-women-202dd6a8a2b2?sk=d1361d3d492713a7def6667961b3a310

#LGBTQ #Transgender #Advice

I had no idea what was going on and what was coming next. Yet, ...

2026-10-27T14:06:07Z

I had no idea what was going on and what was coming next. Yet, the crowd clearly did, and that was part of the pleasure of watching them. Although I was trying to take in the scene being played out on the screens, watching the room of gay men being enraptured by a shared experience was much more interesting to me.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/what-a-scene-from-designing-women-taught-me-about-gay-church-5b11742547d8?sk=8c2217f8b4df5257d9b98c229bd3c5ba

#LGBTQ #Gay #GayCulture #SharedCulture

I am the creator and the created. I don’t need your version of ...

2026-10-27T13:55:09Z

I am the creator and the created.
I don’t need your version of reality, your truths, or your denials. I don’t need your spaces. I don’t exist outside your reality; I am not part of it to begin with.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/i-am-a-transgender-woman-born-not-to-stay-small-but-to-shape-the-unknown-54d16891622a?sk=d490e8c716937915cec1885c88f60e1c

#LGBTQ #Transgender #Identity

It is necessary to talk about some of the bad tactics we see in ...

2026-10-26T14:51:03Z

It is necessary to talk about some of the bad tactics we see in people who are, ostensibly, trying to defend trans people.
When defending trans people and their identities, a lot of people will make the obvious point that gender is socially constructed.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/implicit-transphobia-is-still-transphobia-2949e740f47a?sk=2de5736bc8c2725ca0b6ac891b416a6b

#LGBTQ #Transgender #GenderStuff #Politics

That wasn’t the case in 1998 when I came out. I call 1998 my ...

2026-10-26T14:25:01Z

That wasn’t the case in 1998 when I came out. I call 1998 my coming-out year. A whole lot of shit went down that year. One tragicomedy after another.
Boystown in Chicago was the only place I wanted to be. Gay bars were a whole new world, filled with possibilities and lust. They were the place to meet people and the place to go with your friends. The problem was, I didn’t have any gay friends.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/that-time-i-gotthrown-out-of-a-boystown-gay-bar-5a474421349b?sk=f078e210ff544c823a487c39382138a3

#LGBTQ #Memoir #GayBar

After a hundred years in the closet, Laura DeForce was coming ...

2026-10-26T14:17:22Z

After a hundred years in the closet, Laura DeForce was coming out! (She was briefly married to a Scot named Gordon, but I prefer her given name.)
It seems she anticipated that her identity might be erased by history and found a way to send a message directly to the future.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/a-century-later-she-comes-out-in-a-note-stashed-in-a-time-capsule-7f4ec66121fd

#LGBTQ #QueerHistory #Lesbian #Feminism #Suffragette

The film opens with a moping Alex (Michael Hsu Rosen) on a pier ...

2026-10-25T14:06:06Z

The film opens with a moping Alex (Michael Hsu Rosen) on a pier in the Berkshires. Wearing his heart on his sleeve, he’s getting ready to host a “bachelor/bachelorette” party for his soon-to-be-wed ex, John Michael (Cole Doman), who will be arriving shortly by car packed with several of their college buddies.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/before-i-do-homosexuals-in-love-and-then-some-newfest-fa4eba11d318?sk=d4af6b6aa8d3c0c79e9b1aa441a0ec88

#LGBTQ #QueerFilm #FilmReview

When I was finally diagnosed as a transgender woman eight years ...

2026-10-25T13:57:01Z

When I was finally diagnosed as a transgender woman eight years ago, I entered a world I was brutally unprepared for.
How does a middle-aged man, after years of male socialization, accept that he is a she?
It is not an easy task. In fact, it borders on extreme emotional cruelty.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/my-trans-lite-life-led-to-me-being-called-a-milf-423052546a0d?sk=7d8b002edb7eec803e50d394235df3a1

#LGBTQ #Transgender #Identity

My earliest friends were girls. Later, I was encouraged to find ...

2026-10-25T13:45:29Z

My earliest friends were girls. Later, I was encouraged to find boyfriends, and I gravitated toward the quiet shy ones, the ones who liked to play fantasy games of pretend, preferably where there was some dressing up involved.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/a-trans-womans-sexuality-i-warned-you-it-was-complicated-7a1966ce613a?sk=1efb0d9a2f06fab869295d185b0f5a2f

#LGBTQ #Transgender #Sexuality

What do election operatives do when it looks like they’re only ...

2026-10-23T14:30:22Z

What do election operatives do when it looks like they’re only a couple weeks from a shellacking in the midterms? Well, not only do they keep lying through their teeth — nothing new there! — they make up fake organizations and send mass mailers and texts under false pretenses.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/desperate-gop-stoops-to-new-lows-to-strike-fear-into-transphobic-voters-030841f2d018?sk=311021a15e7a189d99a130d8783b5c60

#LGBTQ #USPolitics #Elections #Midterms

At the beginning of my transition, makeup felt like a shield ...

2026-10-23T14:23:15Z

At the beginning of my transition, makeup felt like a shield against judgemental looks, but I had no idea how to use it.
Does that sound familiar? Let’s look at how to make makeup feel less like a struggle and more like something you can enjoy while exploring your femininity.
https://buff.ly/Q5t4ubg

#LGBTQ #Makeup #MakeupTips #Transgender

Some of us have become skilled at being easy to be around. We can ...

2026-10-22T14:06:05Z

Some of us have become skilled at being easy to be around.
We can laugh at any joke, help direct a conversation away from unsteady ground, or give mostly true answers to direct questions. Many of us have mastered the skill of leaving certain details out based on who is in the room. For example, we can describe a weekend getaway without mentioning the name or gender of the person we spent it with, without missing a beat.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/whats-dinner-like-for-you-mr-gay-at-the-table-with-friends-and-family-76dca46b01b6?sk=4b601dcd898e3dff3126cc98050af5b7

#LGBTQ #Gay #MentalHealth #Family #Friends

In 2016, as the chyrons rolled on the big-screen TVs and the CNN ...

2026-10-22T13:59:34Z

In 2016, as the chyrons rolled on the big-screen TVs and the CNN pundits pundited, the mood in the bar turned dark and somber. Two tables down from us, I heard a woman crying. My Brown friend leaned into me, like he was already afraid of being overheard:
“Jim, is your passport valid? You better get things in order. With my last name and history, they’re coming for me first. But you aren’t gonna be safe either. You mark my words.”
https://medium.com/prismnpen/as-a-queer-man-in-the-u-s-i-cant-describe-the-election-anxiety-i-feel-ad10faa1d64c?sk=e5338eb4423e1630bf9e539b5cd0a7df

#LGBTQ #USPolitics #Fear

I never understood why we’ve become so focused on labels. Every ...

2026-10-21T14:51:01Z

I never understood why we’ve become so focused on labels. Every time I turn around, another term or acronym seems to appear. What once seemed like a simple way to proudly identify ourselves has turned into a never-ending alphabet.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/lesbian-labels-lgbtq-acronyms-and-identity-dc3e094f26ef?sk=03c7f0c37833bea8aa1dd27e1392ac06

#LGBTQ #Lesbian #WLW #Identity #Labels

Today, October 19, 2026, Transitics journalist Aleksandra Vaca ...

2026-10-21T14:30:04Z

Today, October 19, 2026, Transitics journalist Aleksandra Vaca reported on new guidance from the Department of State that instructs employees to go much further than “your supporting documents and our records” in determining a person’s assigned sex at birth.
DOS is evidently instructing its employees to go down all kinds of rabbit holes to determine whether an applicant for a passport (or renewal/replacement/change) is or isn’t trans.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/u-s-state-dept-gender-marker-guidelines-anti-trans-witch-hunt-nonsense-737d7c0ec20f?sk=fd999af63d254687a2912ad9df9cb98b

#LGBTQ #USPolitics #Transgender

A lobster’s real beauty lies in its journey. Its hard outer ...

2026-10-21T14:22:40Z

A lobster’s real beauty lies in its journey. Its hard outer shell can’t expand along with its body. To grow, it has to moult, working its way out of that covering and taking in water to increase its size. For a while, the new shell is soft.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/thoughts-on-being-a-lobster-a-trans-womans-journey-to-transformation-01a5e88ecb79?sk=273349dc23363ff040711d1633e6bde2

#LGBTQ #Transgender #GenderStuff #Transitioning

Just when and why Polari came into use by British gay men is ...

2026-10-20T14:19:01Z

Just when and why Polari came into use by British gay men is unknown.
But starting sometime in the 1920s through the 1960s it was used as a way for gay men to connect. Polari drew on older slang associated with entertainers and market workers. There was no official language dictionary and speakers knew different words and phrases with meanings varying depending on locale.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/before-the-apps-gay-men-connected-through-polari-and-the-hanky-code-f7e544351b2a?sk=bd30916b8cd50fac9aa709331eb9c855

#LGBTQ #QueerHistory #Language

When I mentioned the last time I saw him, he remembered right ...

2026-10-20T14:12:27Z

When I mentioned the last time I saw him, he remembered right away and said — “Oh yeah, and you met my opera singer friend that night.”
I visibly cringed, and he could tell there was a story there. I debated how much to reveal, then I finally muttered — “Yeah, he kind of assaulted me.”
https://medium.com/prismnpen/when-i-said-your-friend-sexually-assaulted-me-why-did-i-feel-so-guilty-1ea1e16e8b13?sk=8fb361ef802024dba350503d71fbacf6

#LGBTQ #Gay #SexualAssault #Guilt

If you grew up learning to hide, you may get very good at reading ...

2026-10-19T14:25:04Z

If you grew up learning to hide, you may get very good at reading a room and much less practiced at asking what you want from it. You learn to manage other people’s comfort before you have words for your own desire. That is one of the closet’s quiet costs. It does not only keep a fact secret, but interrupts the everyday practice of being known.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/what-growing-up-gay-in-the-closet-took-from-us-fd94744c3f51?sk=f0395846217b697d100f9300ad346a4a

#LGBTQ #Gay #MentalHealth

Being #transgender is understood by major medical and scientific ...

2026-10-19T14:17:03Z

Being #transgender is understood by major medical and scientific organizations to involve a complex interplay of biological, neurological, and psychological factors rather than being exclusively one or the other.
In other words, being transgender is not an ideology. It’s recognized as a medical and scientific fact.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/the-fact-that-i-am-transgender-is-not-an-ideology-b8f9355254f8?sk=11e7da7690b7de08103517bdfc62dd5d

#LGBTQ #GenderIdeology #Identity #CultureWar

In 1974, five years after the Stonewall riots, director ...

2026-10-19T14:10:18Z

In 1974, five years after the Stonewall riots, director Christopher Larkin released A Very Natural Thing. Recognized as one of the first commercial narrative features directed by an openly gay filmmaker to depict a loving, non-tragic male relationship, the film serves as a living record of a community wrestling with its own future.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/long-before-marriage-equality-a-1974-film-dared-make-queer-love-ordinary-64359c6a71b9?sk=9be47207327236af5cc0a5bdb248f549

#LGBTQ #Gay #QueerFilm #QueerHistory

People who get sucked into anti-trans discourse and go down an ...

2026-10-18T13:31:01Z

People who get sucked into anti-trans discourse and go down an anti-trans path never really know anything about what it means to be trans or even anything about gender itself.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/transphobia-is-a-thought-terminating-clich%C3%A9-67cc1e726f18?sk=0bc7ccf26d8d5bccee64f348887cc3b7

#LGBTQ #Transgender #GenderStuff #CultureWar

We accept the inevitability of changing weather and seasons. We ...

2026-10-18T13:22:01Z

We accept the inevitability of changing weather and seasons. We can even accept changes in our pets and gardens. When it comes to accepting the equally inevitable changes in human beings, we flounder.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/a-trans-woman-a-130-mile-trip-a-shaved-head-and-a-conversation-e7cf09e0f7c3?sk=919b3c25ee09906d27ba92e0525b1715

#LGBTQ #Identity #Transgender #Relationships

Gaga titled her record simply “Born This Way,” not “I Was ...

2026-10-18T12:42:52Z

Gaga titled her record simply “Born This Way,” not “I Was Born This Way” for a reason. The superstar singer made that specific choice to differentiate her record from an earlier gay disco anthem, composed 35 years earlier, and released by two different artists during the height of the disco craze.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/this-original-gay-disco-anthem-is-part-of-lgbtq-history-f8a1a05090d8?sk=a0f86336d80610756060f0675ae788c1

#LGBTQ #QueerHistory #Music #BornThisWay

I used to always be the useful one in my friendships. I was the ...

2026-10-17T15:11:01Z

I used to always be the useful one in my friendships. I was the one who always organized things and made sure everything was handled. My friends knew they could count on me, yet they hardly ever knew what I was dealing with just below the surface. That is the loneliness I mean here: being close to people you love and who trust you while feeling mostly unknown and unseen.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/the-hidden-loneliness-of-gay-men-who-always-show-up-e6637725c4a0?sk=31267b05f3065531d9a2112f468c8a34

#LGBTQ #Relationships #MentalHealth

If users were to find partners effortlessly, they’d abandon the ...

2026-10-17T15:00:04Z

If users were to find partners effortlessly, they’d abandon the apps. So the platforms shifted to rationing matches, doling out enough to keep daters swiping and hopeful, but not so much success that their services would be rendered obsolete. And also not enough, for most users, to create predictable momentum — unless they were willing to pay.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/can-we-salvage-the-dating-app-junkyard-or-is-it-time-to-look-elsewhere-e16be5b15055?sk=f1bc8220f9cde2246c41da24c2f53dba

#LGBTQ #Dating #DatingApps #Enshittification

I realised that all my life I’ve been wary of inviting strange ...

2026-10-17T14:40:54Z

I realised that all my life I’ve been wary of inviting strange men into the house while I’ve been on my own.
I am a closeted #transgender woman, so for most of my life, I thought of myself as a man. It didn’t make sense why I felt so alone and vulnerable. I don’t want to assign a gender to the anxiety of strange men visiting your house and being alone with them. When women spoke about things like this, it really resonated with me.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/it-came-from-the-yellow-pages-my-fear-beyond-halloween-109e1c20db6d?sk=6e98a3846ab8ad6687ac85be05b96fc2

#LGBTQ #Gender #Identity

Jack Fertig is better known as Sister Boom Boom, an early member ...

2026-10-16T14:06:03Z

Jack Fertig is better known as Sister Boom Boom, an early member of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence in San Francisco, an activist street theater group of men in nun drag.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/i-interviewed-drag-queen-nun-jack-fertig-sister-boom-boom-db3666723d9e

#LGBTQ #Gay #Drag #Interview #QueerHistory

Hi, I’m Kira, a transgender woman and counsellor specialising ...

2026-10-16T13:57:03Z

Hi, I’m Kira, a transgender woman and counsellor specialising in transgender care. Years ago, my skincare consisted of shaving foam, aftershave lotion, moisturising cream from time to time, and sunscreen, which I applied only during the first couple of days of holidays at the seaside.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/skincare-for-transgender-women-everything-i-wish-i-knew-before-transitioning-c793ffbcba8f?sk=c0b6c2f41da1d36b6e601570cce20f67

#LGBTQ #Transgender #SkinCare #Makeup

I knew the symbolism of pink triangles, knew the relevance to ...

2026-10-16T13:47:42Z

I knew the symbolism of pink triangles, knew the relevance to queer resistance, knew they had been appropriated from the Nazis, and didn’t think my design was using the triangle for anything other than good.
In the middle of the night I woke up, panicked that my triangle was UPSIDE-DOWN and I, the baby trans, was using it wrong. The upsidedown triangle WAS STILL NAZI.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/symbolism-appropriation-and-the-fragilities-of-queer-community-c390aec71286

#LGBTQ #Transgender #QueerHistory #Symbols

After turning 50, there may be a great deal involved with your ...

2026-10-15T14:28:03Z

After turning 50, there may be a great deal involved with your coming out. A relationship of many years. A shared home filled with memories. A community in which your role is well and truly established. It makes complete sense that you need to consider everything very carefully. At the same time, it can also become extremely difficult to have a rational thought at all when every question carries an equal demand for an answer.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/coming-out-gay-after-50-not-everything-figured-out-adfd641d3d87?sk=36daf16294442e4b35b03459807df4a8

#LGBTQ #ComingOut #Aging

I recently reread Call Me by Your Name, and my feelings about it ...

2026-10-15T14:25:01Z

I recently reread Call Me by Your Name, and my feelings about it were completely different from when I first read it ten years ago, in my early twenties.
Back then, I was crazy about someone, too. I saw the story from Elio’s point of view and understood all too well how he kept falling deeper into his feelings, to the point where he was willing to hand over his entire self. I identified with him.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/man-ten-years-older-answer-never-gave-f6ee1c222aa4?sk=97f9da3c167209b544ac93712f35f7c7

#LGBTQ #Memoir #GayLove

It was still against the law to have consenting gay sex. In big ...

2026-10-15T14:17:25Z

It was still against the law to have consenting gay sex. In big cities, gay culture was beginning to emerge from hiding, but it was nonexistent in a small town like Olympia. There was no support, no bar, no organization, no role model. I didn’t even know how to meet other gay people.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/children-of-the-70s-how-we-struggled-for-rights-in-a-leftist-college-af5e4dbeaa47

#LGBTQ #Gay #QueerHistory

When I embarked on my writing career 12 years ago, the first ...

2026-10-14T14:51:00Z

When I embarked on my writing career 12 years ago, the first projects I completed were three memoirs of varying lengths I ghost wrote for a diverse group of clients.
I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. I was the right person for each one. Communications were excellent. The clients were happy.
After that, I had no success finding other ghosting gigs.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/ghost-gig-6e988364f9d0?sk=01cd7350b3e86955e204d8f13d706cf3

#LGBTQ #QueerFiction #GhostStory

I don’t actually make anyone more gay. Everyone does that for ...

2026-10-14T14:30:20Z

I don’t actually make anyone more gay.
Everyone does that for themselves. I try to give people space to feel more comfortable in their own skin. They don’t have to be gay. Maybe someone will see me go crazy on the dance floor to a Wang Chung or Carly Rae Jepsen song and follow me.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/am-i-that-gay-boy-scout-who-can-make-people-more-gay-bba5db7236b3

#LGBTQ #Gay #ComingOut #Relationships

He begins his book with a tale of one Thomas Henry Gibney, born ...

2026-10-14T14:24:14Z

He begins his book with a tale of one Thomas Henry Gibney, born in Belfast in 1868, who was jailed, as some (but not many) queer men were jailed then and there — for getting caught having sex with another man. Then Hulme overturns expectations by showing us that Gibney’s life was not a tragedy. He went on to become a respected, well loved father and grandfather whose family didn’t disown him, but celebrated him.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/belfastmen-unexpected-queer-love-triumphs-in-19th-and-20th-century-ireland-b4293af10a9a?sk=092d88290ff4b3fab39afe979b64136c

#LGBTQ #QueerHistory #Belfastmen

The Halloween of 1978 was especially scary. Seattle had just ...

2026-10-13T14:12:03Z

The Halloween of 1978 was especially scary. Seattle had just established an Office of Women’s Rights and passed a municipal ordinance to protect lesbians and gays from housing and employment discrimination. These protections were threatened with repeal by the people aligned with Anita Bryant’s national anti-gay campaign.https://medium.com/prismnpen/octopuss-garden-how-anita-bryant-s-anti-gay-ghouls-came-for-us-51f86cfa1351

#LGBTQ #QueerHistory #Memoir #AnitaBryant

I wasn’t monitoring the area or shrinking myself. I was simply ...

2026-10-13T14:06:03Z

I wasn’t monitoring the area or shrinking myself. I was simply with her, inside our bubble.
This kind of freedom is something cisgender folks rarely have to think about. They get to be affectionate in public without scanning the room or calculating risk. If you ask me, it’s a privilege they take for granted.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/my-lifelong-coming-out-process-gives-me-freedom-i-didnt-know-i-needed-77b46ff7dd0e?sk=b33d4fdabdd1838b6a9c86099cd0daa0

#LGBTQ #Gay #Queer #ComingOut #PDA

Like Hefner, Renslow was a native son with a sharp commercial ...

2026-10-13T13:53:24Z

Like Hefner, Renslow was a native son with a sharp commercial instinct, a camera, and a vision to commercialize the human form. But while Hefner built a mainstream empire celebrating the female centerfold, Renslow operated in the shadows, pointing his lens at male muscle.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/the-other-chicago-playboy-how-chuck-renslow-built-a-queer-empire-ff10f8797c70?sk=0319104e0e8e92a5b50249112d6f0ec2

#LGBTQ #QueerHistory #Photography

When your family is the kind of family conservative politicians ...

2026-10-12T14:12:03Z

When your family is the kind of family conservative politicians are warning other parents against, it’s hard not to take these things personally. Isn’t it personal? Many of these ads are about us and families like ours. To believe otherwise is to take a convenient exit from the uncomfortable conversation that means something is very wrong here.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/sex-change-surgeries-kids-election-clickbait-60a3d69a4928?sk=cde2e8441fa26422c80a159395e466aa

#LGBTQ #Transgender #USPolitics #Family

I’m a 62-year-old gay man, a father, and a coach who works with ...

2026-10-12T14:06:03Z

I’m a 62-year-old gay man, a father, and a coach who works with gay men navigating life after 50. When I came out, my daughter was thirteen. There were many tears shed between us, but also a great deal of joy. Years later, I’m glad I found the courage to tell her.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/dont-let-new-boundaries-as-you-age-threaten-your-gay-chosen-family-7c490b38db3a

#LGBTQ #Gay #Family

I’ve been considering recently if masking as a reflex is ...

2026-10-12T13:53:26Z

I’ve been considering recently if masking as a reflex is different to masking as a choice. I now obscure my identity to varying degrees from time to time. The lines of identity blur without rendering me invisible.
My pop-culture saturated thoughts turned to ‘Sheila, The Thief’ from the 1983–1985 Dungeons & Dragons cartoon.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/sheila-the-half-visible-trans-woman-do-they-see-a-cloak-or-an-apparition-ad771962ef46?sk=05d661e102cf5bb7fa2f380bd43e2d6a

#LGBTQ #Transgender #DnD #Identity

There’s a big difference between choosing age-appropriate ...

2026-10-11T13:21:19Z

There’s a big difference between choosing age-appropriate materials and treating the existence of LGBTQ+ people as inappropriate. A story about a gay character isn’t teaching a student to become gay.
For a young person questioning who they are, seeing themselves reflected in the pages of a book can mean everything.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/national-coming-out-day-you-cant-ban-who-we-are-be49d2f11f52

#LGBTQ #ComingOut #USPolitics #NationalComingOutDay #BannedBooksWeek

No one is truly free unless everyone is free. Abandoning the ...

2026-10-10T13:50:03Z

No one is truly free unless everyone is free. Abandoning the rights of the tiny, marginalized fraction of Americans who happen to be trans or gender nonconforming in an effort to sway bigoted voters is not a demonstration of political savvy. It’s a revelation of moral weakness.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/why-compromising-on-trans-issues-is-a-losing-strategy-for-democrats-57b94d7d0c21?sk=dbf37dfd6c32ccbaaec09e85822f5870

#LGBTQ #USPolitics #Transgender #TransRights

At this stage of life, and my transition, there was no “mum ...

2026-10-09T13:49:03Z

At this stage of life, and my transition, there was no “mum takes me to a high-brow department store for a bra-fitting on a Saturday afternoon.” There was “find a tape measure, use the internet advice to measure myself, and scurry into a low-brow department store after hours” instead.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/comic-ineptness-buying-my-first-bra-transgender-woman-66efb991bd08?sk=08a7d9699fd1adb2182aa0a485470734

#LGBTQ #Transgender #BraShopping

To be clear There’s a lot of stuff I don’t understand How ...

2026-10-08T13:32:34Z

To be clear
There’s a lot of stuff I don’t understand
How humanity can behave so inhumanely
The way civilisation has become anything but civil
Discourse so often simply coarse
It’s troubling the way my decision to transition
My own significant and deeply private choice
Has somehow led to me becoming public property...
https://medium.com/prismnpen/a-trans-womans-rant-b1cf60bbeb3f?sk=537a24b3fcd24f34a464c13ac44f84c6

#LGBTQ #Transgender #Poetry #QueerPoetry #Politics

Dear Nicole, my Infant Self, This is your Adult Self speaking to ...

2026-10-07T14:28:01Z

Dear Nicole, my Infant Self,
This is your Adult Self speaking to you. There are many things that you should know about yourself.
You were AFAB (assigned female at birth).
Throughout your childhood, you will be experiencing different things as you grow older.
You will start off playing with Barbie & Hello Kitty dolls, playing pretend and tea party with your stuffed animals, and even putting on your mom’s makeup behind her back.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/letter-infant-self-fighter-nonbinary-17142ad59348?sk=3f2e9475dad514a65f2b242d8ad8a9df

#LGBTQ #Nonbinary #Identity #LetterToMyself

[1.5] He set out looking for her, and found her sitting in a ...

2026-10-07T14:25:01Z

[1.5] He set out looking for her, and found her sitting in a clearing where the trees of “The Knowledge of Good and Evil” and “Eternal Life” were planted. And she was playing and laughing with the wild beings and she did not see him.

[1.6] And God grew jealous of Woman, as He was a jealous God, and he sent the serpent to fool her into eating from the prohibited trees.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/a-transgender-woman-rewrites-the-story-of-the-garden-of-eden-bef7c54cef87?sk=815590580752a00915d1c9ad658c0cd5

#LGBTQ #QueerFiction #Transgender #Bible

“Those windows will be the death of us when the zombies rise ...

2026-10-07T14:17:03Z

“Those windows will be the death of us when the zombies rise up,” Cal had warned.
Aaron replied, “I’m pretty sure when the zombies rise up, I’ll be ready to check out anyway.”
“I don’t necessarily want to join the world after a zombie apocalypse, but I don’t want to join the zombies either. I figure we could store enough food in here to keep us eating for a year. And then we could find a way to off ourselves.”
https://medium.com/prismnpen/a-gay-couple-and-the-boy-across-the-street-0934da6c2eea

#LGBTQ #Fiction #QueerFiction #Zombies #HorrorFiction

Hi, I’m Kira, a transgender woman and counsellor specialising ...

2026-10-06T15:00:04Z

Hi, I’m Kira, a transgender woman and counsellor specialising in transgender care.
The topic of presenting feminine deserves a series of conversations because of the many aspects we have to consider, but this time we’ll focus on something that can make a big difference and can be achieved in a relatively short time — clothing.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/a-practical-guide-to-dressing-more-feminine-for-trans-women-ab2390d6cb65?sk=45b3f4d35404239e8a67e14837cad5ba

#LGBTQ #Transgender #Advice #Clothing

When they told me they were practicing Catholics and had raised ...

2026-10-06T14:51:00Z

When they told me they were practicing Catholics and had raised their three kids as Catholics, alarm bells went off in my head.
Really? The catholic church is the enemy of women and gays.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/how-did-this-lesbians-hippie-comrade-turn-into-a-catholic-5cbe633cd2fb

#LGBTQ #CatholicChurch #Friends

Back then, there was always a rumor about whether he was gay, but ...

2026-10-06T14:38:51Z

Back then, there was always a rumor about whether he was gay, but none of us was ever sure. He and I were close, we studied together, but I couldn’t bring myself to ask him to his face. In a country where homosexuality is criminalized, with prison terms of up to 14 years, asking felt like indicting him already. So I kept my thoughts to myself.
Then he moved abroad, and I watched him come out online.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/my-fellow-nigerians-you-cast-my-gay-friend-out-of-church-we-have-a-choice-14580b5d6ffe?sk=7fedfb486145bd8ce4a405866bcc9ab5

#LGBTQ #Politics #Nigeria #Gay

There are approximately 342,620,143 Americans. There are ...

2026-10-05T14:25:01Z

There are approximately 342,620,143 Americans.
There are approximately 39 million registered Republicans in the U.S. According to YOUGOV.com, 67% of Republican men and 54% of Republican women identify as MAGA.
There are approximately 45 million registered Democrats in the US. According to PRRI, 46% of LGBTQ people are registered Democrats.
That leaves approximately 258 million Americans not registered in either party.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/in-november-every-democracy-loving-american-and-lgbtq-person-must-vote-7140ef414f24?sk=11b859e52df3c203c2a399e7507ab44f

#LGBTQ #USPolitics #Vote

One of my joys of parenting was seeing my two daughters dressed ...

2026-10-05T14:20:16Z

One of my joys of parenting was seeing my two daughters dressed up as the latest Disney craze princesses, stepping into the drizzle (it always rained on Halloween), and spend a good part of the night roaming the neighborhood.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/a-transgender-woman-and-the-halloween-that-may-never-be-again-e014302cf3d6?sk=e02fe30c26357fe82048ba46aca265c0

#LGBTQ #Transgender #Halloween #Family

The subject of the self can be a complex one. If it is, the ...

2026-10-04T13:34:14Z

The subject of the self can be a complex one. If it is, the subject of compassion follows a similar complex path.
No one should declare if the self is complex or simple, unless such a declaration is from the self that declares it.
I began dismantling my self years ago. It was complex, but age and responsibilities demanded that it be so. Today, at 66, not so much. A simplified self suffices.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/a-trans-woman-and-self-compassion-self-definition-and-self-determination-4ae6a751f548?sk=d4e0663747368b4739fc2a4014a27c89

#LGBTQ #Transgender #Self #Identity

If an individual, especially a beloved celebrity, dons the club ...

2026-10-03T13:31:02Z

If an individual, especially a beloved celebrity, dons the club T-shirt, then fails to adhere to that club’s unwritten bylaws, somebody in the bleachers is bound to question their bona fides.
A single germ of distrust can spread into a contagion. People start taking sides. Accusations and judgments are lobbed back and forth like word grenades.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/lgbtq-labels-become-ridiculous-when-personal-identity-and-community-clash-98b5ce836a24?sk=f1b2fd0f82db58ef601024f0a6f371c9

#LGBTQ #KingPrincess #Labels

Historical note: This was written in that short late-COVID moment ...

2026-10-03T13:22:01Z

Historical note: This was written in that short late-COVID moment when we could still get passports with X markers (I had just gotten mine) and trans women could actually compete in the Olympics, or most any sport at most any level, without having their lives upended.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/coming-out-letter-x-markers-passports-4f999059080e

#LGBTQ #Transgender #ComingOut #Politics

I’m not embarrassed that I got it wrong. Kids figure themselves ...

2026-10-02T13:11:23Z

I’m not embarrassed that I got it wrong. Kids figure themselves out in drafts, same as the rest of us. What embarrasses me is how sure I sounded. I wrote a whole run of those posts that month. Every one of them reads now like a parent auditioning for the part of Good Parent. They’re not lies. They’re just too clean. And clean is its own kind of lie when you’re writing about something this messy.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/i-told-internet-my-kid-wasnt-transitioning-6b441f582c3d?sk=eb4905ab58703b4b99a25ed90ecae63b

#LGBTQ #Transgender #Parenting

I have only been out socially as a trans woman since September 1, ...

2026-10-01T13:41:02Z

I have only been out socially as a trans woman since September 1, 2023, and what I’ve experienced in those three years has been nothing short of an increasing amount of hostility towards trans women in general and towards me, personally.
This is my lived experience as a woman for ONLY three years… I cannot imagine being subjected to this for an entire lifetime if I’d been born a cisgender woman.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/do-whatever-you-want-to-a-transgender-woman-for-six-hours-ef3d7b15233a

#LGBTQ #Transgender #ThoughtExperiment #PerformanceArt #MarinaAbramovic

I couldn’t understand why people who look like me would help ...

2026-10-01T13:35:02Z

I couldn’t understand why people who look like me would help the visitors capture the Creature. Didn’t they know those same visitors could turn on them too?

I didn’t consider it a gay movie at the time.

I was a kid and I didn’t have a concept of gay, but I knew what it meant to be seen as the strange one. Even though there were only four of us, my mom and dad, my sister, and me, I was the one who didn’t fit.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/a-gay-reading-of-creature-from-the-black-lagoon-362f9df6de8a

#LGBTQ #Gay #HorrorMovie #Halloween

Trans people (& crossdressers, TV, TG, etc.) have an odd ...

2026-10-01T13:23:46Z

Trans people (& crossdressers, TV, TG, etc.) have an odd relationship with “the purge”… not the movie, but the action, the event… We tend to accumulate clothing we use in secret, and then, at some point, we “purge” it all in a long-delayed, often high-shame event… then, over time, the process cycles again… and again…
https://medium.com/prismnpen/purge-trans-people-know-process-well-0a07a932b35f?sk=1c36a1791b87a3329f7c401b0ac4602f

#LGBTQ #Transgender #Clothing #Identity

Our country is moving in the wrong direction, with rage and ...

2026-09-30T13:35:05Z

Our country is moving in the wrong direction, with rage and hatred running rampant.
In high school, as that pack closed in on a boy I’d never met, I didn’t know what to do. But now I do.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/bullying-that-targets-lgbtq-high-school-kids-3659c15b8800

#LGBTQ #USPolitics #Bullying

Here then are my Four Noble Truths of a Transgender Woman. Noble ...

2026-09-30T13:22:01Z

Here then are my Four Noble Truths of a Transgender Woman.

Noble because they are understood and practiced by Transgender Women, and are regarded as a true and correct path by them. My interpretations are mine, and not to be understood as exclusionary or binding. Each will have her own.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/the-four-noble-truths-of-a-transgender-woman-edc9bd6dd8ed?sk=28f8c94724e3fe2efbc206086a862e53

#LGBTQ #Transgender #Philosophy

Other family members tried a few times, but did not succeed in ...

2026-09-30T13:07:42Z

Other family members tried a few times, but did not succeed in re-creating her connective magic. She was our leader, the one whose heart was big enough to hold us all together, despite all our crazy and conflict and mess. And it just didn’t work the same without her.

So it was really sad that her mind was too far gone, already, to be at my civil union. Just as I was entering adulthood, she was leaving us all, in the most slow and excruciating way.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/what-i-learned-as-a-queer-person-from-my-migrant-grandma-9ac476f28152

#LGBTQ #Family #Memoir

We have plenty of challenges in the United States. But based on ...

2026-09-29T13:57:00Z

We have plenty of challenges in the United States. But based on some of these ads, you might think that the future of the country hangs on how the federal government views gender-affirming care for minors, or trans athletes, or access to public bathrooms. This follows the political theme of the past few years in this country: when in doubt, pick on the already vulnerable trans community.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/anti-trans-election-ads-detransitioner-twist-4592d6237c82?sk=6e41fd65548719c9abdcdb2625fcc9e3

#LGBTQ #USPolitics

Glad you enjoyed it!

2026-09-29T13:54:01Z

In reply to nevent1q…c866
_________________________

Glad you enjoyed it!

You’ve probably heard the term “religious trauma”? Well, ...

2026-09-29T13:51:56Z

You’ve probably heard the term “religious trauma”? Well, meet one of its poster boys. I’m not going to define the term, I’m just going to show it to you so you can (I hope!) understand and empathize.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/getting-religious-homophobia-off-my-chest-conversations-with-a-nun-3f967822b724?sk=ea7ff14c758b7f21ce83c622e174f725

#LGBTQ #Religion #ReligiousTrauma #Christianity

He was crazy about her, they had been inseparable for a few ...

2026-09-28T14:12:04Z

He was crazy about her, they had been inseparable for a few months. He hoped when the time came, he wouldn’t screw it up.
Although so far, things hadn’t exactly gone to plan.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/stars-align-5506c1b74c95?sk=978950479d3365a23dcdc8187887f195

#LGBTQ #Fiction #QueerFiction #Transgender

It’s still September, but not for long, and that means ...

2026-09-28T14:09:09Z

It’s still September, but not for long, and that means Halloween is around the corner!
Prism & Pen would like you to send in your stories about your Big Gay Halloween Parties!
https://medium.com/prismnpen/prism-pen-lgbtq-stories-halloween-6b8bc9fba916

#LGBTQ #QueerWriters #WritingPrompt

Alienation is a hard to explain to people who have never ...

2026-09-27T13:22:01Z

Alienation is a hard to explain to people who have never experienced it. It is not unlike the proverbial tree which falls in the woods. Unless I explained how I felt it at the time, everyone else in my life saw me sat around with an expression and body language that often matched the energy of the room.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/at-last-i-discover-queer-love-will-it-stay-with-me-will-you-179576f38e8a?sk=0a5003470c09103ca46ea3f1e1325492

#LGBTQ #Transgender #QueerLove

It’s a hostile act to inform queer people that they’d be ...

2026-09-27T13:01:44Z

It’s a hostile act to inform queer people that they’d be murdered if they lived in SWANA, in part because such a statement seems to imply that hate crimes are “inherently ‘more evil’ within non-Western contexts.”
https://medium.com/prismnpen/queer-here-help-survive-599512f7feb2

#LGBTQ #Palestine #SouthwestAsia #North Africa #Queer

Not only did I fail to spend any time at all educating myself ...

2026-09-26T13:41:00Z

Not only did I fail to spend any time at all educating myself about my own community, I missed the whole celebration… if there was one. Here I am, wondering exactly where and when these festivities took place… because I never heard a peep about it!
https://medium.com/prismnpen/yesterday-was-bi-visibility-day-who-knew-not-this-bisexual-man-91393910e23e?sk=ee9187f92aaf941374fa66570899922d

#LGBTQ #Bisexuality #BiVisibilty

Something that recently came across my mind was a transphobic ...

2026-09-26T13:31:01Z

Something that recently came across my mind was a transphobic talking point we heard a lot during the 2010s: “transtrenders”. The idea behind this talking point was simply that more people were identifying as trans because they saw it trendy rather than an authentic expression of who they were.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/what-happened-to-the-transtrenders-2d1df5326665?sk=45ded706a4cbde21ebaf299f468e6f64

#LGBTQ #Transgender #Politics

While I was busy fighting myself, the field of battle moved from ...

2026-09-26T13:19:01Z

While I was busy fighting myself, the field of battle moved from my insides to the external world.
I know this information isn’t new, but it isn’t fucking fair either. I have better things to do with my gender transition than more fighting. I was planning to learn to sew this year, or maybe get a dog.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/a-trans-woman-finds-the-enemy-outside-541a2442758d?sk=3051dd06ad289b74edf2c4412c0c8ca3

#LGBTQ #Transgender #Politics #CultureWar

How many times, while thinking about gender transition, have we ...

2026-09-25T13:57:01Z

How many times, while thinking about gender transition, have we told ourselves, “I have too much to lose,” “I can live with it,” “Other people have it worse,” or “If I stop thinking about it, it will disappear”? Or how many times have we shown through our actions that “it has nothing to do with me,” “I’m fine,” or “I don’t feel like that anymore”?
https://medium.com/prismnpen/what-happens-when-trans-people-spend-years-suppressing-dysphoria-453c0670c1fd?sk=22a3b89e7c1935a80b41789d48e35760

#LGBTQ #Transgender

Vienna is quiet. Like, really quiet. It’s the opposite of ...

2026-09-24T15:14:02Z

Vienna is quiet. Like, really quiet.
It’s the opposite of Berlin in almost every conceivable way.
All the supermarkets close at 7pm, the chalky coffee is overpriced, and everyone wears white trousers and polo shirts. For a city revered as the more sophisticated alternative to Berlin’s “poor but sexy” nonconformity, Viennese locals offer some of the most flavourless street style I have ever seen.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/shy-or-bi-eye-contact-and-small-talk-in-a-mens-sauna-in-vienna-22181a9a0c72?sk=5ad182cf274be6790ff52cf2fb4aed25

#LGBTQ #Travel #GayTravel #QueerTravel #Vienna

Sure, if you’ve got the time and the privacy, masturbation with ...

2026-09-24T15:03:51Z

Sure, if you’ve got the time and the privacy, masturbation with toys is fun. But all we really need are our hands. So hand health is important, and I’m starting to notice a problem. Here is my story.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/last-night-as-this-gay-man-was-um-you-know-71e3a79967e6?sk=7295fbc011bdcec6f1474e40f2d36c0a

#LGBTQ #Gay #Health #Aging

When I was a little kid, most people saw me as remarkably ...

2026-09-24T15:00:36Z

When I was a little kid, most people saw me as remarkably effeminate. Only they didn’t use such high-register vocabulary. Instead, I got mocked as a “sissy,” “girly boy,” and even worse 1970s homophobic slurs. While I didn’t have the slightest idea I was gay or even what gay meant!
https://medium.com/prismnpen/bullies-mock-effeminate-boy-us-senator-path-toward-hope-b0e4420a535b?sk=c0aa224119646e24494368ef7bea9202

#LGBTQ #Gay #Bullying #USPolitics

Popular memory often reduces bathhouses into simple punchlines ...

2026-09-23T14:17:03Z

Popular memory often reduces bathhouses into simple punchlines — dark hallways built strictly for anonymous sex. But sex was only one part of the story.
As Chicago historian Owen Keehnen captured in his book Man’s Country: More Than a Bathhouse, Renslow built something far closer to an underground village.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/what-1970s-bathhouses-can-teach-us-about-queer-survival-f81115132980?sk=466060f6c7d21efbd8873e9c8ca1aa84

#LGBTQ #QueerHistory

In hindsight, I can see that what happened to me at the time was ...

2026-09-23T14:12:02Z

In hindsight, I can see that what happened to me at the time was monumentally handled badly. It’s true. I was such a bonehead about it all that it hurt everyone. But, like some teenager, I was on a mission of new discovery, and no one could avert me to go back to good common sense …no way, no how.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/i-came-out-at-36-knowing-exactly-zero-lesbians-this-is-what-i-did-about-it-f710cb36fc3f?sk=709e104cbf184f7c0042bc3e17c9104d

#LGBTQ #Lesbian #ComingOut

“The reason that those signs went up is, over the last couple ...

2026-09-23T14:04:05Z

“The reason that those signs went up is, over the last couple years we’ve had females going into the males’ restrooms, not only at the grandstand but other places, because the lines are a lot longer in the females’ restrooms.”
https://medium.com/prismnpen/anti-trans-law-has-all-women-crossing-their-legs-at-kansas-state-fair-78d1b978482d?sk=f856def4f9ae48fec9ebdbc70c8796fb

#LGBTQ #USPolitics #Gender #Kansas #Bathrooms

Living the past ten years in rural #Ohio, I learned that being ...

2026-09-22T14:23:20Z

Living the past ten years in rural #Ohio, I learned that being #gay here is rarely just about acceptance or rejection. The reality is more complicated.
It’s knowing when to be visible and when to be cautious, which conversations are worth having and which are not, and how someone can disagree with you politically while still caring about you. That sounds strangely familiar to the questions that haunted me when I first came out.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/navigating-election-gay-man-rural-ohio-4c3149d760d4

#LGBTQ #USPolitics

The day began as most my Saturdays begin, with early dilation, a ...

2026-09-21T14:12:01Z

The day began as most my Saturdays begin, with early dilation, a walk, coffee and breakfast, and catching up on Medium poolside. The most decisive decision of the day inevitably surfaces: Pool or beach? Today I decide for the pool and settle in for a relaxing morning.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/a-day-in-the-life-of-a-trans-woman-in-dominican-republic-sept-14-26-767798654e6c?sk=356ba5b2b7d4d3f1fc80c1eec2b4e78f

#LGBTQ #Transgender #ADayInTheLife #DominicanRepublic

Brayden King, a professor from the Institute for Policy Research, ...

2026-09-21T14:05:51Z

Brayden King, a professor from the Institute for Policy Research, believes that the most effective boycotts do not merely impact revenue, but generate negative media coverage.
This suggests that even if a boycott is not financially damaging, the discussions of it in the media and the mere fact that some people are participating can make a difference.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/why-i-boycott-a-queer-perspective-f41de7068fab

#LGBTQ #Boycotts #Palestine #Gaza #JKRowling

I thought I was just cold, but I’m losing my sense of feeling. ...

2026-09-20T13:31:01Z

I thought I was just cold, but I’m losing my sense of feeling.
It’s been happening for the past year or two. On cooler days, my fingertips go pale or even blueish, then I can’t feel anything with them. Yesterday I couldn’t even put on a set of earrings. It was like my digits had become a set of small, insensitive clubs.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/ive-become-a-cold-unfeeling-trans-woman-a13c175e580d?sk=75240b2fa0efd5d23003f9f48b3bd589

#LGBTQ #Trangender #MentalHealth #Raynauds

Let’s be crystal clear. Trans people are human beings. They are ...

2026-09-20T13:22:01Z

Let’s be crystal clear. Trans people are human beings.
They are our siblings, our children, our friends, our coworkers, our neighbors. They are not an abstraction. They are not a debate. They are not a threat.
They are people. Full stop. And they deserve every single right that every American is supposed to be guaranteed.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/stand-with-trans-siblings-call-out-real-threat-62f0cd140432?sk=2311bfe49d50268acd23be356f5dbe1f

#LGBTQ #Transgender #USPolitics

People in the world today show a surprising lack of empathy. In ...

2026-09-20T13:00:49Z

People in the world today show a surprising lack of empathy. In fact, some right-wing Christian leaders like Allie Beth Stuckey and Joe Rigney are even teaching that empathy is sinful or toxic, and some people are using this as an excuse to treat anyone different from them like second-class citizens.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/why-calling-trans-people-mentally-ill-is-a-pretext-for-cruelty-624b4bda5199?sk=db02762a6697a08073853ff066d5dce5

#LGBTQ #Transgender #MentalIllness #Ableism

It’s hard to make friends in your 30s. Okay, late 30s. For a ...

2026-09-19T13:47:39Z

It’s hard to make friends in your 30s. Okay, late 30s. For a start, it’s not like there are a lot of opportunities to do so, unless you have kids. I don’t have kids, just cats, and they don’t present much chance to socialise with other cat mums.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/transphobia-is-a-hurdle-to-friendship-but-its-not-them-it-s-me-fe204eff9f31?sk=f6faa22591441fbcd1aafc6f99fb2aa1

#LGBTQ #Transgender #Friendship

The thing about that one person is that somehow, someday she will ...

2026-09-18T14:25:01Z

The thing about that one person is that somehow, someday she will attend another meal with another friend and the same topic will come up. And this time, she’ll remember what I said. She will have a new perspective, she will have second hand knowledge of our struggle and learnings and she will share this with someone else.
And that’s a win, however small.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/talking-about-my-trans-teen-with-my-mom-my-girlfriend-and-strangers-400100e6c9b9

#LGBTQ #Transgender #Society

“It must have been hard growing up in Idaho,” I remarked. ...

2026-09-18T14:17:01Z

“It must have been hard growing up in Idaho,” I remarked.
“Oh, I don’t know,” he said. “It wasn’t easy, that’s for sure. But I’ve always been my own person, done things my own way.”
“My brother has a trans son,” I relayed. “I adore my nephew. He lives in Florida. I wish he’d move to Portland.”
https://medium.com/prismnpen/sharing-a-hot-tub-with-a-smiling-young-trans-man-7cadcf654b80?sk=430781f6109e5590546ad3744fd974cd

#LGBTQ #Transgender #USPolitics #Portland

Actually, both partners are experiencing their own, different, ...

2026-09-18T14:09:28Z

Actually, both partners are experiencing their own, different, transition, even if only one of them is transgender. It can become two colliding forces fighting against each other or one strong flow that is aiming for the same goal — understanding and accepting each other.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/can-a-relationship-survive-gender-transition-advice-from-a-psychologist-3e83a8910b30?sk=ed0c91a8bfc2cbd37d41989ce51de797

#LGBTQ #Transgender #Transitioning #RelationshipAdvice

Qtopia wasn’t always a place of queer joy. Ironically, it’s ...

2026-09-17T14:17:01Z

Qtopia wasn’t always a place of queer joy. Ironically, it’s the site of the former Darlinghurst Police Station, which has a long history of queer bashing, brutality, and dishing out its own ugly brand of rough justice.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/our-police-in-australia-are-back-to-queer-hating-70b1dbb3fe6f?sk=d7cee067e33ac8143790e6991f2dc822

#LGBTQ #Australia #Politics #PoliceBrutality

Today I wander my world as a Transgender Woman. I am aware of the ...

2026-09-17T14:12:01Z

Today I wander my world as a Transgender Woman. I am aware of the questioning stares, the whispering, the spaces around me that are lengthened, the name-calling.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/there-is-a-beautiful-strength-in-trans-women-16b86a4ed5f0?sk=23811cdacc2d862ee9353d43c6efbb6f

#LGBTQ #Transgender #Identity

When I go out and meet people, attend events, perform, or even ...

2026-09-17T14:09:51Z

When I go out and meet people, attend events, perform, or even just buy groceries, I gain an alternative perspective. To my relief, people are mostly OK, and not the vindictive, braying hyenas portrayed by the media.
The people I encounter are mostly are kind, generous and thoughtful. A few are wonderfully supportive, and a lot of them simply ignore me, and that’s OK too.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/creating-greater-queer-acceptance-might-not-require-a-protest-rally-a9752d82c9b0?sk=11ef9005230a4d98465e3ecb1971fb59

#LGBTQ #Queer #Society #Acceptance

When love comes unconditionally, there’s no knowing the lengths ...

2026-09-16T14:19:01Z

When love comes unconditionally, there’s no knowing the lengths to which you’ll grow.
I’ve always been a romantic in some sense; I wouldn’t call myself a hopeless romantic, but perhaps a dreamy one, head nearly always in the clouds. But my most important romantic relationship, my current one, started from a place of pure pragmatism.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/tpoc4tpoc-love-story-88f26653685e

#LGBTQ #Transgender #T4T #Love #QueerLove

Maybe this is just a part of getting older. I was hoping some of ...

2026-09-16T14:17:02Z

Maybe this is just a part of getting older. I was hoping some of the work we had done fighting for equality for all our LGBTQ+ family, could be considered finished. I now realize that is not true. The work is never done. We can’t close our eyes. We cannot rest on the work we’ve done. There are too many people in this world willing to undo it.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/queer-and-three-inches-off-ca48887a86af

#LGBTQ #Politics #Resistance

A clip from Matt Walsh’s 2022 appearance on the Joe Rogan ...

2026-09-16T14:09:50Z

A clip from Matt Walsh’s 2022 appearance on the Joe Rogan podcast has started to do the rounds online again. Walsh was arguing against gay marriage. It really got me thinking just how poor the arguments against gay marriage are.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/arguments-against-gay-marriage-fail-baea64c00511?sk=6a549f8ab4622fd683ee72ee60645eb2

#LGBTQ #GayMarriage #Politics

With nowhere else to go, blue-grey smoke rolled its way through ...

2026-09-15T14:19:03Z

With nowhere else to go, blue-grey smoke rolled its way through the interior of the cabin. The haze floated languidly across the middle of the room, easing its way over an old table, across the curled edges of a lime-green countertop and into the kitchen. Spreading smoke almost obscured tongues of flames in a rough stone fireplace.
A man coughed loudly as the door opened, ‘Oh god, the fucking chimney must be blocked.’
https://medium.com/prismnpen/my-heart-was-elsewhere-a-love-triangle-0cfe697dc6a2?sk=2c091aa17d51d503f1ceb3fbe427e63a

#LGBTQ #Fiction #QueerFiction #Relationships

One of the gifts of coming out as queer and trans has been my ...

2026-09-15T14:17:03Z

One of the gifts of coming out as queer and trans has been my ability to somatically feel a concrete sense of future. My mental health has improved so much that I’ve found myself imagining what it would be like to grow old. I’ve begun caring for myself through this new perspective of wanting a long, happy life. This sense of clarity has allowed me to plan, taking steps to help me age as gracefully as possible.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/my-wife-and-i-are-taking-a-bipoc-queer-centered-yoga-class-14012ef56711?sk=268c969f67675116ab9a656aaa34d7ff

#LGBTQ #MentalHealth #Aging

Full disclosure — for me, being #transgender is neither good ...

2026-09-15T14:09:02Z

Full disclosure — for me, being #transgender is neither good nor bad, neither blessing nor curse. It is a part of who I am, like so many other things. But it is the part which causes me the most friction, because it is the part that doesn’t slip nicely into society.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/the-world-is-not-flat-neither-are-transgender-people-3f54143d0aed?sk=521575e4bfd98ca9399ec1971ff882dd

#LGBTQ #Identity #Gender