Our Health is More Important Than Your Religion

In one of the LGBT+ groups I'm a member of on Facebook, someone shared this article.

I know. I'm pissed too.

Religious freedom? What complete bullshit. How is it freedom and equal protection under the law, like the Constitution says all Americans are supposed to have, like everyone in the world should have, if I and so many others like me might die because it's supposedly okay for members of a religion that a lot of us don't even agree with to neglect our medical needs in the name of their religious freedom?

 Was it 'religious freedom' when autistics and accused witches and homosexuals and heretics were burned or hanged or tortured for hundreds of years in the name of Christianity, and are likely still today? Was it religious freedom when Black lives were completely devalued, their bodies destroyed and beaten by brutal slavery, because White Christians felt that Blacks were somehow inferior to them? When an autistic boy died because a preacher knelt on his chest while trying to exorcise the 'demon' that had 'caused' his autism? When so many Muslims were murdered simply for staying true to their faith and the home that had been theirs for centuries, because Queen Isabel wanted her people to be Christian? When the Spanish invaded the Americas and obliterated so much Aztec, Inca, and Maya culture, and then enslaved the people of those civilizations? How about when the English and French pillaged the villages of Native Americans, raped and killed their people, and called them savage and worthless - after those same people had welcomed them and tried to be their friends? Is that the kind of bullshit religious freedom these oppressive bastards want? 

Look, I frankly don't give a shit what religion anyone is or even if they have one. What I give a shit about is the way they act. What I give a shit about is if people are getting hurt. If someone thinks their right to practice their religion is somehow more important than another person's safety or health or rights or life, I will fight back.

With my nature-based spirituality, neurodivergency, bisexuality, affinity for masculine clothes, desire for a chest binder, feminist values, dancing, and quick temper, a lot of the fundies reading this blog - though why they're even here, I have no idea - probably think I'm some kind of demon. They probably think everyone unlike them is a demon, out to destroy them and persecute them and take away their bullshit Christian freedom when really, we just want equality. That's prejudice on their part, and it's getting people killed. So we need to do something about it. The question is, what?

Why the Fact that Rosie is a Sex Worker is Not Anti-Feminist or Anti-Christian

Hello all. I'm behind on my novel, due to procrastination, distraction, and my hectic life (though I made some beautiful magnets at youth retreat - one of them has a cross combined with a Star of David, symbolizing the Jewish roots of Christianity and the differences between faith and religion, and the other is Snow's face from The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod - green eyes, white teeth, red vampire fangs. I'll post pictures of them soon). BUT I have big news.

Well, first of all, my novel has undergone several title changes. It's been Vivir, What is Normal? and now Adventures of an Odd Couple in Love and Their Quest to Save the Multiverse. You can guess the plot.

Second, it's interracial, queer, interspecies romance - what else would you expect from me? Taylor is a lesbian, though her sexuality can be described better as 'I don't like penises' since her partner, Van, is nonbinary, afab, and asexual (Van uses ke/kir/kirself pronouns). That's the queer part. The interspecies part comes from Van being a dragon and Taylor being a werewolf, and the interracial aspect is from Van being Indian and Taylor being a mix of Russian and Dominican. So there's a lot of diversity and representation, and I'm happy about that. They even have a couple name - Vaylor, and I think they're perfect for each other.

And there's a new type of representation in this novel, one I've never tried before and one that some people I know would be absolutely scandalized to know I'm including.

Van's mother, Rosie, is a sex worker. She does professional phone sex, strips, and writes erotica, and it was she who passed on her love of writing to Van (Van writes fanfiction and roleplays). I see nothing wrong with this - Rosie is a mature, responsible adult who enjoys her job, and I've contacted a fellow Wrimo, Robyn, who is a stripper, so I could write Rosie more accurately. I've also started reading the wonderful sex-worker run blog, Tits and Sass, for research and fun. I feel excited about writing Rosie and her family.

BUT I know that not only will I garner shock from multiple relatives on all three sides of my family, and even anger or anger from some. I also know that I will be told that I'm not being a good feminist or a good Christian via my choice for this character's job.

What.

How is trying to dictate what a woman can and can not do with her body of her own free will a feminist action? How is slut-shaming a sign of being a good feminist? How is it feminism when women allow men to dictate what is feminine or whether a certain woman is worthy of respect? Feminism is the solidarity and empowerment of women - all women. It's not women being pitted against each other. It's not demonizing sex or sex workers. You shouldn't have to put others down to pull yourself up.

How is judging others a Christ-like action? Didn't Jesus dislike those who loved God but neglected or held contempt for His people? How is not standing up for the personhood of a marginalized group something that Jesus would ever agree with?

See, I believe that God and love are one and the same. And judgment - whether it's based on race, body type, sex, gender, sexual orientation, romantic orientation, neurotype, religion (or lack thereof), appearance, polyamory vs. monoamory, or style of dress - is not a loving or feminist action.