From: OUTspoken Date: June 1, 2020 Subject: Holy moly, I was so gay.
I mean, I still am gay, but even before I started questioning...wow...
I remember starting to question my romantic orientation (at that point I had already realized I was asexual) during the summer of 2016. Yes, the time is important to this. The other night, I was going through my blog, and I was looking at some of my first/older posts. Oh. Wow. In 2015 (aka before questioning), I reblogged a post where someone asked another blog "are you straight?" to which they responded, "straight out of hell." I reblogged it and tagged it #me, because when I saw it I thought, "oh yeah, that's me." I THINK I SERIOUSLY MISUNDERSTOOD THE MEANING OF THAT POST.
But wait, it gets worse. (If you're not interested in this feel free to skip to the next section. No judgement here.) Here are other things I heterosexually reblogged:
A post talking about how attractive an actress is.
Post that goes something like, "me: i'm gonna watch this show casually and wow this lead actress is really pretty, let's look at her imdb and watch all her stuff and wow she's really pretty" (January, 2016)
GIFs of female characters in the shows that I watched that didn't have any dialogue.
In the tags of those I would comment on how "gorgeous" they are on multiple occaisions.
and more
Yeah...and that's not even mentioning all the general LGBTQ+ stuff, either.
You didn't think it was possible, but it is: I have gotten worse about newsletters. This is going out a few days late. I had a long and extremely frustrating day "at" work on Friday, and then also just a bunch of other stuff. I'm sorry about all of that. I hope you all don't hate me for being bad at getting these out on time, or having enough content, or whatever. Speaking of content...
There's not much I have in the way of events or resources for this week, and that's for a reason. I haven't had the time to research and compile stuff since I'm on that nine to five work grind now (and by the time I'm done, I'm just so drained from constant roadblocks and/or mental health stuff). Also, I wouldn't feel right including events that don't have interpreters or captioning. It would be pretty crappy to say "hey, look at all these cool things to do! (Deaf/HoH people need not apply)" However I also acknowledge that we're really getting hit with a double whammy (to put it lightly), and both things are disproportionatelly affecting people of color, and want to include resources for them.
(Stuff might get semi-real here. Not in detail, but still, Serious on Main.) There's a lot of information coming at us, whether we actively seek it out or not. I know that some people need a break from the constant stream of facts, opinions, and opinions being presented as facts. RSOs, unlike clubs, must remain bipartisan since we are Student Government, and with everything being so polarized, these days people can consider anything political, or try and associate/extrapolate political affiliations with content that is not explicitly Democratic or Republican. I just want you to keep those two things in mind if you wonder about content that OUTspoken has posted or will post in the future. Wow this is long. My b.
Also...
HAPPY PRIDE MONTH!
Now, you may be wondering why I didn't say that in the beginning. Well, that's because I actually started writing this email yesterday, May 31st, and I naively thought I would send it out before today. I deliberated back and forth for a bit before just deciding on sending it out today. Yeah, I stopped after "that's for a reason" and then just kind of...peaced out. Ideally I would have something cool to announce, some neat initiative or just really anything that I/OUTspoken are doing, but a full time job, mental/emotional stuff that can pop up at any time, and whatever else I decide to waste my time with, sometimes makes planning stuff diffficult. I like to keep you on your toes. I'll be posting events as I discover them, because y'ardy (y'all already) know there's a bunch of virtual events this month. In lieu of events, I'll be sharing some groups and organizations that you can look into with this email. (Also many of these organizations have "subgroups" like for POC, women, trans people, etc. so I highly recommend looking for those!) Some stuff will be location specific, but because of the C-virus, (any Resident Evil fans reading this? I've been playing RE6 and lemme tell you, playing a game about an outbreak of a virus called the C-virus really hits different when you play it in 2020.) many events are going virtual, so even if you live outside that area, you can still participate!
Without further ado, here I go. And you know, if I was good at my job, I would probably find something for all fifty states at least, but you guys don't love me for quality.
The DC Center (NoVA/DMV gang, wya) (They also host weekly support meetings for queer POC through Zoom. I know I said I wasn't gonna include events, but like I said earlier, I also wanted to include at least one (1) thing for QTPOC. But because it's on Zoom maybe it's possible to set up interpreting/captioning?)
I know I need to include more but my mom just came back with ice cream and it's melting and I can't stop thinking about how good it looks
One last thing before I go. That meme at the top, the Asia Thomas meme? I saw that one night a few months ago and I couldn't stop laughing for at least fifteen minutes, which only made it funnier, which only made me laugh harder. What a time.
Elizabeth Sherrock (she/her)
Director of Marketing
Today's media was suggested by our new VP, Luca Travis, and they wanted to share Shatter The Sky by Rebecca Kim Wells.
Summary: Raised among the ruins of a conquered mountain nation, Maren dreams only of sharing a quiet life with her girlfriend Kaia—until the day Kaia is abducted by the Aurati, prophetic agents of the emperor, and forced to join their ranks. Desperate to save her, Maren hatches a plan to steal one of the emperor’s coveted dragons and storm the Aurati stronghold.
If Maren is to have any hope of succeeding, she must become an apprentice to the Aromatory—the emperor’s mysterious dragon trainer. But Maren is unprepared for the dangerous secrets she uncovers: rumors of a lost prince, a brewing rebellion, and a prophecy that threatens to shatter the empire itself. Not to mention the strange dreams she’s been having about a beast deep underground…
With time running out, can Maren survive long enough to rescue Kaia from impending death? Or could it be that Maren is destined for something greater than she could have ever imagined?
