The Category Is… Happy International Womxn’s Day

“Being an immigrant in the U.S. is hard.”

Tonight on @rupaulofficial @rupaulsdragrace Mercedes Iman Diamond, the first Muslim Drag Queen on the show, got candid about her experiences in the U.S. as an immigrant. Originally from Mombasa, Kenya, Mercedes noted that “I used to travel a lot [for pageants]. It was just like so hard for me to fly that I ended up like, I used to drive state to state for shows.”

“They put me on a no-fly list, I used to be for a long time.” Mercedes notes that this was most likely due to her name and the current political climate.

“Because my name sounded “Muslim” they put me on a watch list.” I was like I’m a drag queen, what am I going to do?!”

“Because I couldn’t fly I was on the road all the time, to the extent of fainting during a show and having to use a wheelchair.”

The watchlist is a part of the FBI’s Terrorist Screening Database that has long been challenged for it’s “bloated, discriminatory, and unfair” practices.

The @aclu_nationwide believes the No-Fly List to be unconstitutional and is challenging the process in court. There is a process to remove yourself from the watchlist, and Mercedes says she’s no longer on it.

Sylvester James, who performed as “Sylvester,” is an extraordinary figure in LGBTQ history. He became the first, and perhaps only, gay “disco diva.”

In the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, he was an unapologetically queer presence in an era not very warm to LGBTQ voices, an artist who embraced the gender spectrum decades before ‘gender queer’ became part of the national conversation.

At the age of 41 #Sylvester died of AIDS-related complication but his voice, videos, and songs continue to inspire us all to dream, sing, and dance as free as we can. For instance, he attained particular recognition in San Francisco, where he was awarded the key to the city. In 2005, he was posthumously inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame, while his life has been recorded in a biography and made the subject of both a documentary and a musical.

In December 2016, #Billboard magazine ranked him as the 59th most successful dance artist of all-time.

Janelle Monaé Robinson is an African-American singer, songwriter, actress, and producer. Monaé was recently nominated for two Grammy awards: “Dirty Computer” for Album of the Year and “Pynk” for Best Music Video. Although Monaé did not win in either category, she dedicated the nominations to her “Trans Brothers and Sister.” She also spoke of how difficult it can be as a creative person who “color[s] outside the lines,” to also be out as a queer black woman.

In an interview with Rolling Stone last year, Monaé told the publication that she identities as pansexual. Unlike bisexuality, pansexual usually means being attracted to anyone regardless of their gender.

#WeStan

“I want to live the rest of my life, however long or short, with as much sweetness as I can decently manage, loving all the people I love, and doing as much as I can of the work I still have to do. I am going to write fire until it comes out of my ears, my eyes, my noseholes–everywhere. Until it’s every breath I breathe. I’m going to go out like a fucking meteor!”

Audre Lorde (1934-1992) was an Afro-Caribbean writer, activist, and self-described “black, lesbian, mother, warrior and poet.

She empowered her readers with her moving poetry often tackling the injustices of racism, sexism and homophobia. She’s known for her poetry and memoirs such as, From a Land Where Other People Live, The Black Unicorn and A Burst of Light. 

Today we shout #HappyBirthdayAudreLorde

Last night on #SNL, Don Cheadle sported this #ProtectTransKids t-shirt. We stan!

Andrea Jenkins made history in November 2017 by becoming the first openly transgender black woman elected to public office in the U.S., according to LGBTQ advocacy groups and researchers. Jenkins, a Democrat, was one of two openly trans people to win a seat on the Minneapolis City Council last year. Jenkins is also a published poet and an oral historian at the University of Minnesota. Jenkins won about 73 percent of the vote in Minneapolis’s Eighth Ward, where she is known for addressing youth violence and improving the south-central ward’s neighborhoods.

‪Happy National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day‬

I am Black

I am HIV+

I am Young

& I am Living.

Gregory Meredith

He/Him/His

Washington, DC

#NoNameCallingWeek brings awareness to the unkind names that many people within the LGBTQ+ community may face during their time in school. It also brings focus to the power of names and the different meanings that words can have for people. I came to terms with my sexuality in high school. During that time, it was very common for people to use the word “gay” as an insult or a joke. Calling something “gay” was somehow seen as funny. At the time, I knew this was something that was harmful for the LGBT+ community. However, I don’t think I fully grasped how much power a word can truly hold. The word “gay” should not be associated with shame or be seen as a joke. Now that I am 20 years old and have fully accepted my sexuality and gender identity, I am proud. I am proud to be a queer trans man and I know and understand the power that words, names, and labels can hold.

Cody Drew Clayton

He/Him

Malden, Massachusetts