A Gay Teacher From Ghana, a Trans Woman Who Loves Hezbollah, & Much More!
Prism & Pen Weekly Digest, 19 January 2025
by James Finn
What I love best about editing for Prism & Pen is getting to know queer people from all over the globe. You don’t know what you don’t know until somebody’s personal storytelling breaks it open! We offer so much global queer experience this week. Want your preconceptions shattered? Join us as we swap stories about our real queer lives!
This week’s highlights:
- Transphobic press about “sex by deception” in the UK as a 16-year-old trans girl is stabbed multiple times and then blamed for it
- Peaceful protest wisdom from the 1990s and the Wizard of Oz
- A trans woman’s passionate refusal to sit down and be quiet
- A lesbian teacher in Ghana risks her safety and freedom to constructively challenge her students
- A trans woman in Lebanon struggles with the toxic effects of the region’s colonization
- A queer novelist fears for her safety after finally landing a publishing deal
- A (very!) frank talk about bisexuality from a woman married to a man
- A filmmaker’s stirring inspiration from not-much-loved Batman films of the ’90s … that queer people today sure could use!
Oh, and our serial-fiction piece about a closeted gay high-school demon slayer is really heating up. Fighting demons and your homophobic principal at the same time sure is fun!
In this weekly edition, you can read all P&P stories for free. If you join Medium, you’ll financially support P&P when you read.
Follow us on Medium, Facebook, Tumblr, Mastodon, or Bluesky!
* P&P Highlights *
Trans ‘Sex by Deception’: What Are We Really Protecting Cis Men From?
This week details emerged about the brutal assault of a transgender teenager who was lured to a roller disco and then stabbed repeatedly by a group of teens.
The attempted murder happened after the trans girl, sixteen at the time, was forced to out herself as trans after engaging in sexual acts with a boy.
The case raises issues about the role of the law in enforcing transphobia and homophobia and illustrates how trans people often pay the price for the shame cis people are made to feel for being attracted to us.
How a Bigoted Preacher and Dorothy Taught Me the Ways of Protest
The late ’90s were a time of significant progress for LGBTQ+ rights, but also a period of intense backlash. The first effective drug regimens to combat AIDS were being developed, and the Clinton administration was (for the times) cautiously sympathetic to our demands for broader rights. It was also the time when a small church in Kansas became known for trolling –protesting funerals of gay men and those sympathetic to gay rights.
This “preacher” of hate had decided to come to the church in my [Chicago-area] neighborhood to protest the fact that the reverend of the church had performed a commitment ceremony.
No, as a Trans Woman, I Refuse to Sit Down and Shut Up
Here’s the problem: equality is not negotiable. It’s not a privilege granted to the deserving or a prize awarded to the most patient. It’s a right. And demanding your rights isn’t rude or arrogant — it’s necessary.
Let me put it bluntly: I will not beg for the basic dignity to live my life authentically. I will not say, “Please, sir, may I exist?” My existence is not up for debate, and the idea that it is says far more about society than it does about me.
Imagine telling women in the suffrage movement to “tone it down.” Imagine asking enslaved people to wait a little longer for freedom so as not to upset the status quo.
How I Deal with Homophobia in Education as a Gay Teacher in Ghana
Ghana was once under the imperial rule of the British Empire, so, yes, our history books are full of the ‘achievements’ of the colonizers.
One particular topic — aptly called ‘Colonization’ — makes me want to throw my fist into a brick wall. Now, while learning about the atrocities of imperialism can be infuriating, that’s not exactly what pisses me off. What raises my blood pressure is the so-called Benefits of Colonization in our textbooks …
Thanks to this ‘benefit of colonization’, we’re now obsessed with female submission and the vilification of gay people. Worse, we wrongfully believe it’s part of our real culture.
A Trans Woman Sacrifices Herself for Hezbollah
One of the consequences of sanctions on Hezbollah and Iran and Syria has been the booming drug trade in the Levant. Entities problematic to zionism/Washington become blocked from legal trade with the outside (dollar-using) world and turn inwards to fleece their flock with opioids.
Next time you hear about sanctions being imposed on some country at the behest of Washington, remember this story.
I first met Douda at the house of Nicole Saab, who is an evil shemale …
Douda went on TV Shows with Nicole Saab and crossed swords with journalists trying to make sense of this phenomenon of transexuality …
My Fear of Success as a Trans Person
… This process gets mildly interrupted by an email from my publisher letting me know it’s time for me to review the typeset proof for my debut novel set to release in May, which I am simply ecstatic about… yet with each step in this process of reaching my publishing dreams, there is an undercurrent of fear… I’m sure most novelists feel this same anxiety…
For me, as a queer author, there are extra layers of fear, though, because I choose to make queerness part of my characters’ identities.
The Most Hated Batman Movies Are Gay — but Not the Way You Think
Somewhere between Batman Forever and Batman and Robin, I came out to myself. At 10-years-old, I remember I sat on top of my bunk bed, scribbling some angsty self-flagellation in my journal, … and the words “… I’m gay.”
I had no idea, as I watched Joel Schumacher’s Batman movies in theaters at least five or six times each, that generations of fanboys would lambast the films for being “too gay.”
… I thought if I revisited the films, as a confident gay adult, I’d revel in the fabulous queer subtext and just have a good laugh. But it turns out the queerness is not where I thought it would be …
The world wants us to stay underground in a cave. We need to run up to the highest rooftop, in the brightest neon spandex, with our capes billowing in the wind. We need to shine our light in the sky.
When I Said ‘99% Lesbian,’ What I Really Meant Was ‘Bisexual’
I was once in the habit of describing of my bisexuality in ways that emphasized my attraction to women, saying “lesbian-leaning bisexual” or “99% lesbian.”
It’s true that, in general, I’m more attracted to women than men. It’s true to the point that if my husband were to be abducted by aliens, I’d likely find myself only dating women forevermore.
But it’s also true that I am indeed both romantically and sexually attracted to Jack. So why not just embrace my bisexuality, call a spade a spade, and leave it at that?
* This Week’s Essays & Creative Non Fiction *
Breaking Oppression’s Chains: How Self-Acceptance Powers LGBTQ+ Resistance
For anyone who doesn’t fit into cisgender, heteronormative boundaries — whether because of their sexuality, gender identity, or simply their nonconformity — the feeling of being “less than” is all too familiar. At some point, nearly all of us have wrestled with the thought that we are inherently wrong, that we don’t belong.
This internalized shame is not only painful — it’s a tool of oppression, one that keeps us from living freely and fighting back. But by challenging these deeply ingrained beliefs, we can reclaim our power and resist a system that seeks to erase us.
The Most Disastrous Acting Job I Ever Had Sparked Years of Queer Joy
On our first day off, we heard that a lot of people’s paychecks bounced.
The next day at rehearsal, we spent most of the afternoon in the hallway, staring at bank balances, making phone calls to the union, and coming to grips with the idea that this production was probably not going to happen.
I couldn’t bear the thought of saying goodbye to everyone so quickly. And as the other queer men in the cast grew furious at the producer, they had little patience for my naïveté, compounding my disappointment with shame.
I Am Queer and Mentally Ill. Get a Clue, Mark Zuckerberg.
Updated policies at Meta for Facebook, Instagram, and Threads — recently announced by Mark Zuckerberg — now specifically clear the way for posts accusing folks of mental illness simply because they are queer or trans.
One has to wonder what incentive Zuckerberg and Meta had to detail this policy change with such targeted specificity.
After all, gender identity and sexual orientation are not irrational behaviors… Not that someone has to actually act irrationally to qualify as mentally ill.
Despite Musk and Trump, the Word ‘Cisgender’ Is Here to Stay
The term “cisgender” originates from Latin, not modern identity politics. “Cis” means “on this side of,” while “trans” means “on the other side of.” These prefixes have been used for centuries and are still used today in chemistry, genetics, music, optics, and geography to describe opposing orientations (e.g., cisalpine vs. transalpine, or even transatlantic).
Nobody seems worried about “transatlantic” flights — but when it comes to gender, the same prefix suddenly feels threatening to some.
This Older Gay Man Embraces the Joy of Both Order & Chaos in Interior Design
A person whose living environment is so simple that it does not reflect who they are or even hint about them as a real, live person is just as bad as one whose environment is so complex that the environment becomes unlivable and screams, “Hoarder.”
Sometimes, my condo gets out of order and becomes unlivable. Stuff relentlessly accumulates no matter how many times I clean up. Yet I don’t feel oppressed by my collections because they are clutter with which I have chosen to surround myself.
More on How to Support Your Trans Students Without Losing Your Job
We are in a time when LGBTQ+ kids are under threat, especially in states like mine that actually require teachers to out such kids to their parents... In the last piece I focused on Learning About the Relevant Laws and Contacting Your Union or Professional Organization. We touched on a few other items. I would like to focus on some of those today.
First let me say that I was a teacher who supported LGBTQ+ kids and who was targeted by admin and some parents because of my advocacy. But I am not an expert or a lawyer (although my son is an attorney). I’m just someone who’s been there.
I Just Learned Something From My Trans Neighbor About Being a Better Ally
Bree was clearly irritated. Evidently, I’d poked a sensitive button.
Apparently, she’d heard questions of this type too many times and she was fed up with it. My query was just the latest. So, I was the one on the receiving end of her vitriol.
The question was totally sincere, uttered in an effort to further the conversation. And, I was genuinely curious. I certainly didn’t think I was being patronizing or presumptuous. Still, as it quickly became evident, that’s how Bree took it.
What a Gay Wants, What a Gay Needs, According to Grindr
Grinder claims to be the world’s largest hookup site. (Alright. Dating Site. Are you happy now?) Users sent 130 billion chats in the last twelve months!
This is the third year I’ve covered the year-end wrap-up of what was popular in the gay world, according to Grindr. Annually, Grindr compiles anonymous aggregated data from its global user base and surveys from its community on an array of pop culture topics and trends.
I don’t think I’ve ever felt so out of it in my life!
How I Told Everyone I Am a Trans Woman
I am blessed to have two kids. They are the people I love the most. I will always remain their father, and I’m proud of that. It doesn’t matter how I look or sound; nothing will change my feelings for my two buddies. At the time of my coming out to them, the younger was 3 and the older was 8 years old.
My kids were okay with seeing me wear some female clothes at home but not with the makeup, accessories, female behavior, voice, and mannerisms. I came out to my older son a couple of weeks before getting the prescription for HRT.
The Transgender Terrors: Learning that I am Transgender
In 2018 I felt my world collapse… but it didn’t.
In 2018 I thought about suicide… but I didn’t.
In 2018 I thought my wife was going to leave me… but she didn’t.
In 2018 I felt I was alone in the world… but I wasn’t.
In 2018 I believed that no one would understand… but I was wrong.
In 2018 I found out I was wrong about a lot of things… but I learned.
LGBTQ Teenagers Helped Me Find My Brand Of Resistance
Ms. S. nodded, and several more students began to cry.
The girl found her voice as she hugged her cello. “This is weird, but in 8th grade, when I was carrying my cello, people said awful things, but they didn’t push me or hit me. So I started carrying my cello everywhere. I still do.” She shrugged, blushed. “Like I said, it’s weird.”
The group again watched for my reaction. “It sounds like your cello is your protective shield.”
They laughed, and others began sharing the times they had been verbally or physically attacked in the hallways at school.
Here’s a Video Memorial to My 41-Year Gay Relationship
Yes, I am very fortunate to have found such a love to hold on to for 41 years and now for the rest of my life (currently at 49 years in 2025) until I join Gregory on the other side. I am grateful for our time together, the adventures we shared, the lessons we helped each other learn, and just for holding him tight as we drifted off to sleep.
Gregory, I love you more than ever!
* Fiction Series *
Demons Are Coming Out!
I knew he wasn’t going to do anything unless I got forceful, unless I used some of my newfound hero vibes to finally stand up for myself.
In case you’d forgotten, I’d overheard him chatting and laughing with Steve and his co-bullies (about cars!) when he should’ve been reprimanding them.
He cracked his knuckles, which sounded like tiny threat-pops. “Young man, I don’t like the accusation in your voice. Think of everything I’ve done for you. Think of your scholarship.”
I wanted to grab one of his fake-apple paperweights and throw it against the wall. I wanted to watch it crack into a thousand pieces.
This week’s episodes:
Chicken Nuggets and Invisible Demons— Part 19
A Crappy Morning Full of Tentacles— Part 20
Crash! Crunch! Lots of Destruction!— Part 21
That’s it for this week!
Courage to all of you! Keep resisting, reading, shining your love, and sending your stories to Prism & Pen.
We need you all!