Featured This Week: Josh!!! :D

Hello Everyone, 

Hope you all are having a good day :)

I know its hard, because there's a lot going in this fucked up world, 

So I hope that my blog can be a safer space for you to get away, relax, and have a moment of happiness before you go back into the harsh struggles of real life. 

I haven't done this in a while, so I think its long overdue for a Featured Friend. 

This is a person I didn't know I'd become friends with, but I'm glad I did. 

This person is a true individual, open and honest, and one of the friendliest people you'll ever meet. 

He's the type of person to wave to you in the halls, and chat with you on the way to class. 

Herrrrrrrrre's Josh!!!

(All this info he gave me word for word)

Name: Joshua Morad

Pronouns: He/him/his

School: Boston Latin Academy

Likes: hugs, video games, drawing, writing, and fries!

Dislikes: sea food, mean people

About me: I am romantic asexual* and I spend a lot of time drawing and lately I've gotten really into writing. I attend a YMCA leader's club some fridays, though a big reason I go is to hang out after the meetings and play scrabble.I love playing games like that too, not just video games. I like to talk to people a lot and make new friends ^__^ ! I'm also in my school Rainbow Alliance, which is really awesome! It'll be my first and last year in it, which is too bad, but I'll enjoy it while it lasts :D

**Reminder! 

Asexual means: Does not experience sexual attraction, 

If you are a romantic asexual, that means even though you don't experience sexual attraction, 

You can experience romantic attraction 

(Romantic Attraction: who you like, who you wanna cuddle, hold hands with, etc. or nah)

PRONOUNS :D

"Know your pronouns, they're so easy

Know your pronouns, please respect me, 

Please know your pronouns, 

Please know your pronouns!

He, She, They/Them, Ze/Zim/Zir!

And many more!!!"

That is a song from my upcoming musical Louder Than Words!

Some of you may be saying to yourselves, 

"Kyle! What the heck is a pronoun? Why do I have to know what they are?"

To that I respond, 

Very good question friend! 

A pronoun is a word you use when referring to someone when you aren't using their name.

 For example, She/Her/Hers, or They/Them/Theirs. They come in sets.

 They are a part of someone's self identification, so respect a persons pronouns. 

How do you know what someone's pronouns are?

Ask them politely!

Some of you are probably saying,
"But Kyle, They/Them/Theirs pronouns aren't grammatically correct!"

And to that I say,

Stop. The point of using someone's pronouns is to demonstrate that you respect their identity, and that you want them to feel safe around you. If you think that an arbitrary system of rules is more important than making other people feel accepted and safe, that's a big problem.

I get it, when I first met people who didn't use She/Her/Hers or He/Him/His pronouns I messed up all the time.
But I realized, this is a part of who this person is, and by not even trying to call them by the correct pronouns, I'm being really disrespectful.
And then I realized I was Transgender.
It gets frustrating people calling me she all the time, when my pronouns are He/Him/His.
People don't ask, they just assume because of the way I dress, and thats something I have to deal with.
People can get called the wrong pronouns all day, it gets really discouraging.
As an ally, you have the chance to show someone you care, so do it!

I'd also like to add that just because someone identifies with a certain gender (or not), doesn't necessarily mean they use certain pronouns. 

Like, just because someone identifies as a woman, maybe they don't feel like She/Her/Hers pronouns feel right to them, so they use They/Them/Theirs for their pronouns. 

When you're introducing yourself to someone, or letting someone know your pronouns, refrain from saying things like, "Male pronouns" when you mean He/Him/His or "Female pronouns" when you mean She/Her/Hers, or gendering any other pronouns. 

Just because someone isn't a girl or boy, doesn't mean they can't use those pronouns, and when you say "Male", "Female", "Feminine", or Masculine" pronouns, 

it implies that you have to be a certain gender to use certain pronouns. 

Anyone can use any set of pronouns that feels right for them. 

Here's a chart I made, with different pronouns people use:

(There are many more, Look them up!)

Project FLUID: What does it mean to be LGBTQ+?

Hello my Friends!

I got inspired and decided I wanted to do this project I think is really righteous!

I call it:
Project FLUID: Youth documentation on sexuality, gender identity, expression, romantic orientation, and more!

Basically, I want y'all's art, pictures, videos, dance, a poem, or whatever, on your experience being LGBTQ+!

What does your identity in this community mean to you?

You could talk about coming out, or paint a picture of someone you like, a poem about how different parts of your identity intersect (for example, being Black and Transgender), or maybe send a video of you singing a song thats all about pride.

These are only a couple examples of the many different things you can do!

You can also team up with your friends or whoever!

Hopefully a lot of you submit so I can put up beautiful work everyday, or at least a couple a week.

With anything you submit, please include your:
  Name, Pronouns**, a little about you, and how you identify in the LGBTQ+ community!

Ask me any questions in the comment section, you can send in any of your pieces to my email: kylediaz35@gmail.com!

**Pronouns are the words you use you use when referring to someone when you aren't using their name. For example she, her, hers, or they, them, theirs.
They are a part of someone's self identification, so respect a persons pronouns!
How do you know what someone's pronouns are?
Ask them politely!