Prism & Pen This Week: Fierce Resistance, Community Support, & Nurturing
Prism & Pen Weekly Digest, 24 November 2024
by James Finn
As the LGBTQ backlash grows around the world, U.S. queer folk rue an election that is putting the very worst of humanity in charge, people not shy to express their extremist hatred of us. This week, we offer stories of resistance. We’ve been here before, and we have skills! We offer practical advice for hooking up with physical community. And we offer art — film, music, poetry and fiction to nurture when the need is greatest.
Read stories for free by clicking the links that say “Read in P&P.” Want more daily stories from across the rainbow? Follow us on Medium, Facebook, Tumblr, Mastodon, or Bluesky! Want to help support P&P? Join Medium.
* P&P Highlights *
Fearful of LGBTQ Backlash? Let CenterLink Help You Find Your People!
Lots of queer people are [scared today], especially transgender people. As an older cisgender gay man, I’m scared. I live in a very rural, very conservative part of the U.S. …
But after a phone call the other day with CenterLink, I reached out to a local group, and I might already have found community I didn’t know existed. I bet you can too…
CEO Denise Spivak was kind enough to speak to me from Florida, where I imagine she deals with a certain amount of fear, herself. She took the CenterLink helm in 2020 ... If anybody knows queer community building, Denise does.
This Transgender Day of Remembrance: Despair Is a Luxury We Can’t Afford
Monday, November 18 finds me finalizing my annual address for the November 20th observance of the Transgender Day of Remembrance. This is a duty I set myself as a Trans woman, a queer woman, a lesbian, a Trans advocate, a Trans and LGBTQ cultural competency educational consultant, a lecturer, a public speaker, and a social-work-informed intersectional DEI professional… as an American.
This has always been a difficult task. I find new ways to fail at it but also new ways forward.
Beautiful Queer Cinema to Lift Your Spirits in Frightening Times
The day after the election, I felt this creeping dread that being queer would be criminalized in the United States. Project 2025 states that “pornography” should be outlawed, and the term has been broadly interpreted to include any media or literature with positive queer representation.
So over the past two weeks, it has been profoundly empowering to go out and see so many of my friends in the New York City arts community be completed undeterred by all that looming, bigoted censorship...
My essays on film are usually about dismantling queerphobic tropes — but in light of this scary moment in history, I want to highlight beautiful queer films that will hopefully gladden your heart and awaken your spirit.
Don’t Mistake Me for a ‘Good Queer’
At first, I was the ‘bad queer’ pushing my pronouns (eye roll). Now, I’m the ‘good queer’ because I don’t care.
Truth is, I do care. I care a lot. I care so much that I’m vetting everyone I meet before I share my pronouns. Because I don’t owe anyone anything.
It’s been a long road to understand that and I’ll be damned if I will turn around and head back. I now care so much about ME that I won’t put myself in a situation where I expect to be degraded by anyone. Screw that.
After Trump’s Victory, It’s Up to All of Us To Protect Trans Folk
We all have a part to play in the next four years, making sure that those of us with power, privilege, and a voice speak up and act out all members of the queer community…
Almost as soon as the election was called there was a vociferous chorus from all sorts of people pointing to Vice President Harris’ support of trans rights as a key factor in her loss (as well as that of other Democrats). And it wasn’t just cranks from within the Democratic Party …
Of course, some of us saw this coming from a mile away. How could it be otherwise, when esteemed, respected and popular outlets …
I Respect LGBTQ+ Allies, So I Won’t Sugarcoat This
I should know better than to talk to strangers at a Trans Day of Remembrance event. Each year, the Universe sends me a shiny new message in neon lights, saying “Logan, we’ve told you and we’ve told you. Never talk to strangers at a Trans Day of Remembrance event! We know you want to. We know you’re too friendly for your own good. Bless your sweet heart. If you didn’t learn your lesson last year, we’re going to have to ramp up the punishment for you until you do better.”
The Queer Community Is Awesome at Fighting Back Against Tyranny
Historian Timothy Snyder’s “On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century” offers comprehensive information about everyday behaviors that led to fascism and authoritarianism in other countries, framed as lessons we can learn to avoid a similar future…
While much of Snyder’s book reads like a cautionary tale, recounting the horrors that befell those who did not learn from their history… it struck me that the queer community has had a lot of experience with these lessons.
And we’re actually kind of great at them.
GOP Says LGBTQ Are Predators… But (Hetero) Predator Men Are OK?
The hypocrisy of the “family values” party is breathtaking.
The Republican Party’s president-elect Trump had been found liable for sexual abuse. No problem for the GOP.
He has nominated to his cabinet three men who have faced allegations of sexual misconduct. Not a problem…
MAGA Republicans are not bothered by this.
However, they are bothered by the simple existence on this planet of LGBTQ people, and they most especially reserve the greatest vitriol and venom for trans women.
‘Close To You’ Deserves To Be An Instant Queer Cinema Classic
The other night, I watched one of the most beautiful and touching films I’ve seen in many years.
The following morning, I lingered in bed, reprising scene after scene of this raw, intimate gem in my head, wondering how I might share my enthusiasm for the movie without spoiling it for you.
Suffice to say that, if you choose not to read beyond this sentence, I couldn’t possibly recommend Dominic Savage’s 2023 indie release Close To You (streaming on Netflix) highly enough.
Divine: The Icon Who Revolutionized Everything
Divine — born Harris Glenn Milstead — was a cultural hurricane. As Divine, Harris didn’t just push boundaries; but bulldozed them, threw glitter on the rubble, and danced through the chaos in heels that could double as lethal weapons. A larger-than-life figure, Divine wasn’t just a drag icon — he was the blueprint for unapologetic self-expression, blazing a trail that reshaped pop culture forever.
* From the Editors*
Prism & Pen Says, Bye Bye Birdie to Twitter: Come join us on BlueSky!
See that story above by Fay Wylde? It was marked as “hateful” by X (formerly Twitter) and was suppressed. That motivated us to do what we’ve needed to do for a while — leave X. Click below for details and to connect with Prism & Pen and some of our editors on BlueSky.
* This Week’s Essays & Creative Non Fiction *
Transgender Microaggressions: Family and Friends Hurt the Most
The TV ads by the Trump campaign attacking the transgender community are an excellent example of macroaggression. They are an attack on us as a group. We can always change the channel or mute the TV.
Microaggressions, on the other hand, are much more personal. Family, friends, and acquaintances commit them, sometimes innocently or sometimes deliberately.
They always hurt.
One Pill, One Truth: How I Took My First Step To Transition
Taking the first step to transition isn’t always straightforward.
For many transgender people, it’s a process filled with doubt, fear, and an overwhelming need for clarity. This story is about how I took that first step — not in a conventional or recommended way, but in a way that was uniquely mine. It’s a tale of desperation and discovery, of risks taken and truths revealed.
This isn’t a guide or advice — it’s a glimpse into a deeply personal journey.
For My LGBTQ+ Friends: I Took a Self-Defense Class
I’m scared for the LGBTQ+ community. I’m scared of the racism that’s surging. I’m scared of the people determined to ban books, shut down discussion, teach a version of history that’s so whitewashed it no longer makes sense. I’m scared by the hatred of women that’s running rampant. I’m scared for my friends, for those I barely know, for people I’ve never met.
But when the fear circles my throat, I take a deep breath and remember: I know how to fight.
This 80-Year-Old Gay Man Still Honors His Boyish Christmas Feelings
I have so many fond memories of Christmas celebrations and the love many people brought to this gay man: 1) with my first husband Robert’s family, who truly accepted me and taught me the meaning of the holiday. 2) With my soul mate husband Gregory (RIP) and his family. and 3) at the beginning of each December when bringing in the holiday with our friend Roger and our Gay Family.
On a daily basis, I try to live my life compassionately and generously with my fellow human beings, and I double my efforts during Christmas.
Christmas, Thanksgiving, Birthdays, Etc … Gay Times — Bah Humbug
One of the benefits of being older is realizing that the only person who needs to be pleased is oneself. Especially now, with my significant other, soul mate, best friend, lover, and husband gone … I no longer have to compromise. Not being in a relationship, I only have myself to whom to answer and to please.
Another caveat: … I am aware that I do have to be there for family and friends, that they enjoy my presence and our time together, but I must husband my doing so.
I’m a Bisexual Woman. Stop Asking Me To Have a Threesome with You.
As a cisgender bisexual woman, there is one question that I get asked virtually any time I mention my sexual orientation to any heterosexual man I happen to be on a date with:
Threesome?
And I believe it’s about time we discussed how problematic this question is.
Red, White, and Brainwashed
I don’t believe money makes you evil.
I don’t immediately feel disgusted by most wealthy people.
Wanting money is about wanting comfort, and who doesn’t want that?
Growing up, I was surrounded by extreme wealth. I was exposed to all the different flavors of money. New money. Old money. Red money. Blue money. Classy money. Showy money. Stealth money.
And then there was one kind of money that I always observed from a distance …
A Queer Woman in a Deep Red State: Should I Stay or Should I Go?
In the last two weeks, I have sat down at my computer countless times intending to write about my feelings on the (US) election results. I couldn’t do it until now, perhaps because I’ve gone through several stages of grief and have finally settled on anger for the time being.
All I can think is: “I don’t WANT to move, but I think I HAVE to move.” And that makes me damned angry.
Can We Talk About Queer Breakup and Heartbreak?
The year 2023 unraveled like a sweater caught on a nail — slowly at first, then all at once, until I was left holding a pile of loose threads. It was the year I lost the man I thought I’d marry — we’d been together for five and a half years. We convinced ourselves we were breaking new ground, stepping boldly into the kind of open relationship that so many gay couples seem to navigate with ease.
But what started as an experiment in trust only magnified the tiny cracks already forming beneath the surface.
* Fiction Series *
We Came from the Same Womb
Deliria could recite by memory everything they’d been told was important. What had to be important. There was never any room for what was in between or off the spectrum altogether.
She’d hoped to make a disembodied soul into a baby someday. Did that soul now sense the emptiness in her? Did it yearn to make that place into its home, even if its mother didn’t yet know how to prepare a place for the child? Were those the sensations that had so overwhelmed and defeated Andy in this mysterious room everyone kept referring to?
“I love your whole outfit,” came a voice from her right.
Read part 1 of 3: Trans Woman’s Pregnancy Shakes (Saves?) the World
Read part 2 of 3: The Cult That Got a Trans Woman Pregnant
Read part 3 of 3: Trans Woman Gets Pregnant — But At What Cost?
* Fiction Shorts *
The Gay Detective: Reporter, Career Conspiracy Theorist — Dead in the Water
In death, Jackson Bean looked much as he had in life. Wearing his rumpled suit and furrowed brow. Surprised beyond belief anything he’d said or done had caused someone to kill him.
Once a promising stringer for the Times, his flagging career had been dead in the water for some time. Now he was, too. Pulled from the East River early this morning.
His death had made the front page. He’d’ve been the first to raise a glass and say, “Finally!”
From Idle Wings to Feathered Revolt: Two Gay Birds Chirp the Way
Fawns: Sometimes it’s good to step out of your nest and explore another way of being, Beaky. (Pauses) I don’t understand your aversion to nature programs. They’re so educational.
Beaky: Eh.
Fawns: Come on now, humans are entertaining! (Gestures to the screen) Especially this guy here, addressing a crowd.
Beaky: (Looking over) Who’s he?
Fawns: Oh…um, well this is a bit awkward. I thought he was just some buffoon they plucked off the street, but it says here he’s the… president of the United States.
Two Victorious Men Kiss at the End of the War
I can still feel the rasp of his growing facial hair against my cheek, from that moment when he grabbed me by the waist and kissed me. His lips were chapped and he tasted like sweat, but it was everything I’ve been dreaming about since he came into my life.
Ours is not just a sweet, happy story, though.
This was war, and men like us were there to be fodder for the whims of more important people.
* Poetry Picks *
We’re the Libraries of the Inverted Triangle
We’re the texts that grew
from the oily embers
of the last fire storm.Our pink leaves still
cut the winter skies
in the next century.Our roots dig deeper
than your memories, …
You Can’t Pray the Gay Away — a poem
Do you remember the night I told you
That my best friend could fly?
He had been so tired that day
And he told me to stay
On the phone because he had something to say
About how he’d had enough
About how this world’s too rough
And asked me to forgive
Asked me to only remember
All our good times together …
That’s it for this week! Writers, new prompt coming as early as tomorrow, if I can work it around appointments. My new kitten has to go for his first shots, for one thing. That’s a nice reminder that life goes on, isn’t it?
A little birdy told me the prompt will center Resistance. If any of you have specific suggestions, I’m all ears!
Courage to all of you! Keep reading, shining your love, and sending your stories to Prism & Pen.
We need you all!
Jim
