FOTD Archives — LGBTQ+ Anime Austin

March 23, 2023March 23, 2023

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).

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.

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.

Queer pride flag created by pastelmemer/pastelroswell.

Sources/Further Reading:
– https://lgbta.wikia.org/wiki/Queer
– https://www.etymonline.com/word/queer#etymonline_v_3174

Flyers from the activist group Queer Nation, founded in 1990.

April 28, 2021April 28, 2021

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.

April 27, 2021April 26, 2021

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.

April 26, 2021April 26, 2021

Fact of the Day/Flag of the Day for April 26 2021

Fact of the day/Flag of the Day is a new thing we are doing to help educate our members! Feedback is welcome via email, Twitter, or Discord!

“Achillean” is an umbrella term for any men or male-aligned nonbinaries who are attracted to men/male-aligned nonbinaries. For example, gay men, pansexual men, and demiboys attracted to other demiboys could all be considered achillean. The term is derived from the mythical character Achilles who had a relationship with Patroclus.

Some alternate terms for achillean are “vincian” (derived from Leonardo da Vinci), “wildean” (derived from Oscar Wilde), and “hyacique” from the Hyacinth flower and minor Greek deity.

The achillean pride flag incorporates blue as the color of maleness, and a green carnation which is a historical symbol of gayness.