Queering the Conversation: LGBTQ Sub->-bleeped-<-s Building Communities
Posted March 8, 2013 2:15pm
by Gideon Resnickhttp://hypervocal.com/culture/2013/lgbtq-sub->-bleeped-<-s/These safe and open forums have become especially significant to the LGBTQ community.
"The Internet changed everything. Everything," said Rachel Young, a 36-year-old who identifies as a transgendered woman. "We can discuss how we feel and who we are in a nonthreatening space, without risking 'real life' relationships."
Young is one of the moderators of the
cross-dressing sub->-bleeped-<-, which has nearly 4,500 subscribers. Young reads posts ranging from conversations about gender-play to queries from friends and significant others asking about cross-dressers in their lives.
"It happens pretty frequently and really gives me faith that a lot of people are at least trying to be supportive, even if they don't 'get it,'" Young said. Sometimes, it takes an individual sub->-bleeped-<- to point out the lack of support existing in online spaces.
Jamie K., 29, created the sub->-bleeped-<-
transphobiaproject to "identify trouble spots" throughout the rest of ->-bleeped-<- where knowledge about trans individuals was limited.
"People post pictures or Twitter posts of someone talking about a 'man in a dress' or something every single day, and those posts often receive huge volumes or upvotes and the comments are then filled with horrible shaming comments and hateful jokes," Jamie said. She identifies as genderqueer pansexual and prefers female pronouns.
While her sub->-bleeped-<- fostered what she perceives as valuable conversations about gender identity, Jamie thinks that ->-bleeped-<- has a long way to go before it becomes an entirely safe space.
