Fact/Flag of the Day for March 23 2023
“Polysexual” is a term describing sexual attraction to multiple genders but not all genders.
“Polysexual” should not be confused with “polyamorous”, which means having or desiring a relationship with more than one partner at the same time (with the informed consent of all partners involved).
Polysexual and Polyromantic Visibility Day is celebrated on July 26.
The term “polysexual” dates back at least to the 80’s: a 1988 issue of an anarchist publication in Toronto, The Ecomedia Bulletin, stated that an organization called the Lavender Panthers of Discordia was seeking “Information, ideas or articles concerning AIDS, quarantining, gay/lesbian/polysexual liberation, paganism, animal liberation or antistatism”.
Polysexual is part of the mspec (multigender attraction spectrum) umbrella.
The polysexual flag consists of three horizontal stripes in pink (#F714BA), green (#01D66A), and blue (#1594F6).
Further reading:
https://mspec.miraheze.org/wiki/Polysexual
https://www.reddit.com/r/Polysexual/
Indigenous Peoples’ Day, October 10 2022
This is a bit belated, but October 10 was Indigenous People’s Day. Group leaders would like to give acknowledgement to the many native peoples that lived (and some who still live) in what is now called the greater Austin area. You can learn about one such tribe, the Lipan Apache, at their website https://www.lipanapache.org/Communitypages.html
Other native peoples with historical claim to land in the Austin area include the Jumanos, Coahuiltecan, Comanche, Tonkawa, and Sana.
If you live in Waco, Dallas-Fort Worth, Llano, Fredericksburg, etc, you are on Kickapoo land and can learn about the Kickapoo tribe here: https://kickapootexas.org/
Visit https://native-land.ca/ to learn more about specifics of the Indigenous roots of where you live.
Pride Month Charity Raffle 2022!
It’s time again for our group’s annual Pride Month Charity Raffle! This year it will be running from Tuesday May 10 through Sunday July 10!
You may participate by making a donation to any reputable* LGBTQIA+ related charitable organization, or to individual LGBTQIA+ people in need. Additionally, this year we are also accepting participants who donate to reproductive health organizations/abortion funds.
For every $5 you donate, you will be entered in the raffle one time. Of course you can be entered multiple times if you donate more 🙂
When you make a donation, please DM us the proof of your donation. (DMs accepted through our Twitter account or via Discord to the user juice.tex#7378)
If you don’t have any idea of where to donate, here are some suggestions:
- The Trevor Project, supporting LGBTQIA+ youth
- Trans Lifeline, peer support hotline for trans and nonbinary people
- Out Youth, providing support to LGBTQIA+ youth and their families in Austin
- QWELL Community Foundation, promoting LGBTQIA+ health (physical + mental) in Austin
- Equality Texas, providing public education and advocacy for LGBTQIA+ rights
- Texas Pride Impact Fund, providing grants to nonprofits across the state
- Black Trans Travel Fund, providing Black transgender women with financial and material resources
- National Black Trans Advocacy Coalition, providing Black trans people with basic needs, healthcare, housing, job support, and more
- OrganizaciĂłn Latina Trans Texas, providing housing, service referrals, gender-affirming supplies, name change/gender marker change help, etc.
- OutRight International’s LGBTIQ Ukraine Emergency Fund
- All Out’s LGBT+ Ukraine fundraiser
- Gofundme for a queer Black couple whose apartment burned down
- Browse #TransCrowdFund on twitter , instagram, and other social media to find other trans folks in need
- Any of the Texan abortion funds listed in this article: https://www.thecut.com/article/donate-abortion-fund-roe-v-wade-how-to-help.html
Winners will be selected by the random number generator at random.org, and the number of winners will be proportionate to the number of people who donated. (E.g. if 3 people donate, 1 winner will be picked. If 10 people donate, then 2 or 3 people will be picked.)
Prize list is in need of updating, but some of the available prizes include:
“Transposes” (115-page graphic novel by Dylan Edwards about the lives of various transmasculine people)
“Pride For All” Bumper sticker with many different pride flags on it
5 varied stickers, your choice of pride-related or otherwise
Full set of seven rainbow dice suitable for Dungeons & Dragons/other tabletop RPGs
Zippered fabric pouch with various different pride flags on it
Artisan crafted soap, your choice of fragrance (I have a lot of them)
6 oz candle from Delve, various scents available
Your choice of pride button/pronoun pin I will buy you off Etsy. Any pronoun/flag/name on it that you want. (If you can’t find something you like I will help you.)
“Good Vibes Only” notepad with subtle rainbow design
“Pride Month Is Every Month” notepad
Pride-flag inspired art print
Embroidered pride themed patch (iron on or sew on) – your choice out of three designs
“I’m Bisexual, YOU’RE confused” pin button – your choice out of three colors
$10 gift card to The Little Gay Shop (I will up this to $25 if we raise more than $100 in total donations!)
*”Reputable” meaning we don’t want any donations going to hateful/exclusionary groups such as LGB Alliance or whatever
Winter Charity Raffle Event!
This event runs from November 20, 2021 until January 10, 2022.
Donations can be to any LGBTQIA+ supporting organization or to individual LGBTQIA+ people in need (Gofundme, Cashapp, Venmo, Paypal, etc).
When you make a donation please DM us the proof. (DMs accepted through our Twitter account or via Discord to the user juice.tex#7378. You may censor out any personal details you don’t wish to share, like your address etc.)
For every $5 you donate, you will be entered in the raffle one time. Of course you can be entered multiple times if you donate more 🙂 or you can opt to have less entries, or no entries if you like 🙂
Each raffle winner (to be drawn on January 12, 2022, by random number generator at random.org) can choose anything off the prize list that has not already been taken by another winner. The number of winners drawn depends on how many people participate!
Note: for logistics purposes, most of the prizes can only be delivered to Austin and the surrounding area (e.g. Kyle, Round Rock, Pflugerville, etc.) However, some prizes can be sent out without restriction!
Here are the currently available raffle prizes:
- “Transposes” (115-page graphic novel by Dylan Edwards about the lives of various transmasculine people)
- “Girls/Girls/Girls!” (112-page anthology zine of WLW art and stories)
- “Pride For All” Bumper sticker with many different pride flags on it (Can be shipped pretty much anywhere, no requirement to live in the Austin area.)
- Slightly smaller sticker similar to the above (2 people can win) (Can be shipped pretty much anywhere, no requirement to live in the Austin area.)
- 5 varied stickers, your choice of pride-related or otherwise (Several people can win) (Can be shipped pretty much anywhere, no requirement to live in the Austin area.)
- Zippered fabric pouch with several different pride flags on it
- Artisan crafted soap, your choice of fragrance
- Pride hand flag (“Progress Pride” design)
- Notepad with subtle rainbow motif
- Small USA rainbow flag pin
- Small round “Pride For All” pin with several different pride flags on it
- Small round “Being Straight Was My Phase” pin
- Your choice of pride button/pronoun pin I will buy you off Etsy. Any pronoun/flag/name on it that you want. If you can’t find something you like I will help you. For some ideas of what is out there, check out https://www.etsy.com/shop/cpikoart, https://www.etsy.com/shop/TigersEyeAdventureCo, https://www.etsy.com/shop/MarginalDoodles, https://www.etsy.com/shop/Doodlepeople?section_id=28637351, https://www.etsy.com/shop/PiratitoGB, https://www.etsy.com/shop/Schlady?§ion_id=26424742 etc. (Can be shipped pretty much anywhere, no requirement to live in the Austin area.)
- $25 gift card to The Little Gay Shop (Gift card delivered by email, no requirement to live in the Austin area.)
Raffle is open for entries until midnight on Monday January 10 (Central Time).
Pride Month Charity Raffle!
It’s starting now! The three charities for our pride raffle are Equality Texas, Out Youth, and The Kind Clinic. Choose whichever one you’d like to support, or donate to more than one if you choose. 🙂
When you make a donation to any of these organizations please DM us the proof of your donation. (DMs accepted through our Twitter account or via Discord to the user AssJ#7378)
For every $5 you donate, you will be entered in the raffle one time. Of course you can be entered multiple times if you donate more 🙂
Each raffle winner (to be drawn by random number generator at random.org) can choose anything off the prize list that has not already been taken by another winner.
Note: for logistics purposes, most of the prizes can only be delivered to Austin and the surrounding area (e.g. Kyle, Round Rock, Pflugerville, etc.) However, some prizes can be sent out without restriction!
Here are the currently available raffle prizes:
- “Pride For All” Bumper sticker with many different pride flags on it (Can be shipped pretty much anywhere, no requirement to live in the Austin area.)
- Slightly smaller stickers similar to the above (2 people can win) (Can be shipped pretty much anywhere, no requirement to live in the Austin area.)
- 5 varied stickers (Several people can win) (Can be shipped pretty much anywhere, no requirement to live in the Austin area.)
- Zippered fabric pouch with several different pride flags on it
- Artisan crafted soaps, your choice of fragrance (13 people can win)
- Pride hand flags (“Progress Pride” design, 3 people can win)
- Notepad with subtle rainbow motif (2 people can win)
- Small USA rainbow flag pin
- Small round “Pride For All” pins with several different pride flags on it (4 people can win)
- Small round “Being Straight Was My Phase” pins (4 people can win)
- Original English manga Music of My Heart volume 1.
- Your choice of pride button/pronoun pin I will buy you off Etsy. Any pronoun/flag/name on it that you want. If you can’t find something you like I will help you. For some ideas of what is out there, check out https://www.etsy.com/shop/cpikoart, https://www.etsy.com/shop/TigersEyeAdventureCo, https://www.etsy.com/shop/MarginalDoodles, https://www.etsy.com/shop/Doodlepeople?section_id=28637351, https://www.etsy.com/shop/PiratitoGB, https://www.etsy.com/shop/Schlady?§ion_id=26424742 etc. (Can be shipped pretty much anywhere, no requirement to live in the Austin area.)
- $25 gift card to The Little Gay Shop (Gift card delivered by email, no requirement to live in the Austin area.)
Raffle is open for entries until midnight on Saturday July 31 (Central Time).
Fact/Flag of the Day for May 12 2021
Neutrois is a gender identity under the nonbinary umbrella. The term was coined in 1995 by a neutrois person named H. A. Burnham. It is generally defined as a “neutral” or “neuter” gender; neutrois people may seek surgical transition to appear gender-neutral. Some use the word neutrois as a synonym of agender or genderless, whereas others say these words mean completely different things.
In the commonly-used neutrois flag, white is for neutral, unidentified, or questioning gender, dark chartreuse green (the inverse of lavender, the mix of pink and blue) is for nonbinary gender that isn’t female or male, and black is for agender or genderless.
Further reading:
Fact/Flag of the Day for May 11 2021
Queer is an identity that can be claimed by anyone who falls on the LGBTQIA+ spectrum. The word queer appeared in the English language around the year 1500, meaning “strange, peculiar, odd, eccentric.” Starting in the 1700s it began to mean “suspicious, doubtful, counterfeit”, such as in the phrase “shove the queer” meaning “to circulate counterfeit money”. By 1922, queer was being used to mean homosexual, but nowadays the meaning is much broader.
The word was widely used as a slur, and still sometimes is today, but also has a long history of being used as a positive self-identifier, especially by people who:
- have a complicated identity that is difficult to explain with a single term
- have an orientation that cannot be explained with common terms like gay, lesbian, bisexual, pansexual, asexual, etc.
- are unsure of their identity, but know they aren’t straight/cisgender.
- are not straight/cisgender but do not want to label themselves with a more specific term.
- reject labels altogether
- are more politically-minded
- seek to stand out/be flamboyant rather than conform closely to cisheteronormativity
One of the first flags created specifically as the “queer flag” was created by tumblr user pastelmemer/pastelroswell on or before August 17, 2015. The shades of pink next to each other and shades of blue next to each other represent same-gender attraction, the orange and green are for nonbinary people, while black and white are for asexual, aromantic, and agender spectrum people.
Sources/Further Reading:
– https://lgbta.wikia.org/wiki/Queer
– https://www.etymonline.com/word/queer#etymonline_v_3174
Fact/Flag of the Day for April 28 2021
“Sapphic” is an umbrella term for any women or female-aligned nonbinaries who are attracted to women/female-aligned nonbinaries. For example, lesbians, bi women, and demigirls attracted to other demigirls could all consider themselves sapphic. The term is derived from the Greek poet Sappho; her sexuality is highly debated, but from her poems it is clear that she liked women. Here is a sample verse from her Hymn to Venus.
O Venus, beauty of the skies, To whom a thousand temples rise, Gayly false in gentle smiles, Full of love-perplexing wiles, O goddess! from my heart remove The wasting cares and pains of love.
Fact/Flag of the Day for April 27 2021
Abrosexual and abroromantic are terms meaning that the individual’s sexual and/or romantic orientation is often changing. For example, an abrosexual person could be pansexual, then later lesbian, then later asexual. This is not the same as a change in preference.
