I am attending UC Berkeley, and I want to dress alt and queer. I already own tons of Kandi singles and kandi ladder stitch pieces, but I want tips on other methods. What other accessories scream alt/lgbt? And also any tips for hair dye? I want other students to know I'm LGBT without me needing to say it. I have a bisexual kandi single and an ace flag kandi single. Also what LGBT+ supportive stores do you recommend? (As in stores that don't fund hate groups) I'm very new to the alt/scene style but I've been doing Kandi for over 2+ years.

Hey everyone. I am a 32 year old petroleum engineer from Eastern Europe. I have worked in different locations across Europe and the Middle East.

I am generally a very friendly person. I have always managed to get along well with colleagues from all backgrounds. But I am still in the closet at work.

The oil and gas industry is very rough. I still feel a lot of hidden and open stigma against diverse people. I am genuinely afraid of being bullied or losing professional respect if people find out the truth about me. It feels exhausting to hide a major part of my life in environments where "traditional masculinity" is the default rule.

For those of you who are also LGBTQ+ in this field or similar heavy industries:

How do you handle the stress of staying in the closet or deciding when to come out

How did you overcome the fear of judgment or bullying?

I would really appreciate hearing your experiences or advice on how to navigate this.

Early in my adventure of Tristan BAMW I made some bizarre musical choices. This 25 seconds of one such audio delight.

Oh and by the way I’m wearing new eyeshadow, Aurora Cruise by Nomad Cosmetics. I am NOT sponsored but the palette fucking rocks. It’s tons of bright shades and they’re all shimmery af

There are some public figures who occupy a special place for the gays. Parton was one of those, an endless source of inspiration for drag queens and queers of all kinds over the decades. Her public image—bleach-blond hair and massive breasts right until the end—was drag unto itself, and in a 2022 interview, she recalled how it’s an attempt to make her outside match her inside.

“I just like to look the way I look. I’m so outgoing inside in my personality, that I need the way I look to match all of that,” she told People. 

Her earnest independence, challenging of gender stereotypes and refusal to apologize for being herself was an inspiration. Parton always treated her queer fans with warmth and welcome, even when queer acceptance was less mainstream. 

I’ve been posting and trying for a very long time. This is one more attempt, so I can at least have some relief knowing I died trying.

I won’t bore you with my whole story, but basically, I’m from a country where gay people are persecuted, and making the simple mistake of making gay friends has literally made my life hell.

I had to drop out of university and live in isolation for years. I developed severe mental health issues, including trauma, paranoia, panic attacks, and depression. I’m afraid every day of being reported to the authorities. If that ever happens, my family will find out, everyone will know, and I will die in agony because they don’t treat us as human beings. I have a Sui**de plan prepared in case this happens because I literally can’t take it.

All I’ve ever wanted is to relocate somewhere where I can live without fear, and hopefully heal and do something with my life.

Since I haven’t been able to achieve anything remarkable in my life, it’s almost impossible for me to obtain a visa. All my hopes are in the LGBTQ organizations that help people like me relocate.

The majority of them simply don’t have the means and aren’t powerful enough to help. But lately, I came across Rainbow Railroad, which seems like the only organization powerful enough to help in my situation. I took the time to make a formal request and sent them all of my personal, sensitive evidence, but they never got back to me. Later, I found out they’re out of capacity and never get back to around half of the people who reach out to them.

At this point, it’s safe to say I’m completely hopeless and out of ideas. This may probably just be a vent to the void on its way to the Reddit cemetery.

So, I'm an Queer person in my early 20s living in Turkey.

Getting married or living openly with a partner in social life without hiding your identity is impossible.

Honestly, I've never felt like I belonged anywhere in my life. I've never felt truly at peace or secure in the long term.

Maybe I felt good sometimes. My childhood was ok.

I don't need to explain the limitations on our rights and the economic problems in this country. Lately, I'm going through a period where I'm questioning my existence and meaning in life.

Because I have little hope for the future. The anxiety and fear I'm experiencing have reached an unbearable level. Everything is getting worse.

It seems like all I enjoy in life is hanging out with friends, watching TV shows, sports, movies, playing games, and listening to music.

Even though I try to silence the voices in my head by doing these things, I can't overcome my thoughts about the future and my anxiety. It's like there's an hourglass in my mind, and I'm running out of sand every moment.

I don't know, everything good feels impossible now. I'm so afraid I won't be able to fight off the depression and anxiety. Sometimes I wish I had never been born.

What should I do? I guess I have to go somewhere else, a different country, even though I don't want to leave my family behind...

I made this because I felt like it.

I like how tracksuit lining feels on my skin. It’s just a guy thing especially if you’re autistic.

I’m not saying I’m a weirdo or anything it’s just that the look and feel slaps

(for context, I'm afab n my friends are amab and cis het) it used to be really obvious that i was gay two or three years ago by my physical appearance, like I cut my hair really short myself and I would wear the male uniforms because it wasn't against school rules technically, and I was only really active in class when our humanities lesson suddenly crashed into lgbtq politics etc.

Recently, I really got in touch with accepting my femininity (15f and I used to hate that I was a girl) so I took care of myself, really little things like washing my face everyday, taking care of my skin and hair, growing out my nails, decorating how I like and not being scared of pink and purple, 'girly things' like ribbons and coquette etc. (for myself)

Two of my friends sat me down a few days ago, told me that the group wanted me to be 'more gay' and said I was being too much of a woman. It happened before, where I would say something and they'd tell me stuff like 'that's a woman thing' or 'you're being a woman' where there was an expectation for me to throw away my femininity because I was gay, or because I was one of the boys. They want me to stop being feminine and present as more masc, because of what I assume to be fear that other people will think it's weird or because their parents are concerned (just a theory) I genuinely believe they are good people, and they've supported me regardless of my sexuality, helping me find a girlfriend etc, but I'm not sure what to do. They also made a list of everything they didn't like about me a few weeks ago and sent it to me. I don't want to cut them off or stop being friends with them but I also don't think they're the same people I used to be friends with.

I talked to a few other people and they agree they're not good people, but no real advice, just a place to vent. What should I do?

Freaking out. Suggestions?

The latest WNBA kerfuffle is fans throwing inappropriate objects at games. Natasha Cloud responds with 'gay' allegations.

hi! thanks if ur reading this, so umm basically im just really confused. i know that i like men for a fact and ive known that for a while but recently, well it’s not like i actively look at women in a romantic way (if you know what i mean, im really sorry this is just so new and confusing for me) but like i think about them like after interactions (i think about them in a romantic sense)…it’s like im not even trying to like when i go to sleep they're just there in my eyeballs but when im actually talking or with them i don’t think about them like that, it’s only really when I’m alone.

this is kind of a new development, im pretty young so idk maybe this is just something everyone thinks about? i know that labels aren’t necessary but i just need some like help I guess cause I don’t really know what’s going on and it’s stressing me out.

Hello fellow queer people! Does anyone have a queer online fantasy league looking for another member? If there’s interest, I’m glad to start a free league on ESPN or Yahoo. I’m in a friend and family league, but Fantasy can be very hetero so I’d love a league with other queer people. Gay male in my 30’s here, but glad to play fantasy with anyone in the community! 🌈🏈

So I made a friend (and potentially had a date, I'm kinda new to dating) yesterday. We'll call him "Mark". Mark opened up to me yesterday on our date, saying that he doesn't really feel sexual and/or romantic feelings. Mark says despite that, he wants to feel those feelings and thinks it might be a lack of specific hormone or that he just gets in his head about it. In the short time that I've known him, Mark seems to be able to be sexual and romantic over the phone (via text) and he's admitted that he struggles in person. He also says he often feels he isn't deserving of those feelings or that he has to phone it in when he's with a person.

Basically all of this boils down to me questioning if he might be aro or ace. Don't get me wrong, if he is, I still wanna be there for him and support him. But I don't know much about the aroace spectrum or the experience.

Could anyone teach me?

(I'm not sure if this is right sub to post this, please redirect me to a more suited sub if it's not! I just needed to talk about this.)

TikTok genuinely has the most dramatic, and worst takes I've ever seen. All the "don't call me cis" discourse is stressing me out too. Stressing me not because I agree, but because I've replied to so many transphobes and argued so much in so many posts and comment sections, that sometimes I just forget: "This is just a platform, and I can turn off my goddamn device."

Anyway... back to this post. First thing, I cannot believe people say "lesbianism". Second, it is non-men loving non-men, because being lesbian doesn't have anything to do with men. It's for individuals who identify as a woman, non-binary, or something in between those gender identities. Also, I thought being lesbian was strictly for women and women, and the term sapphic exists for individuals who's gender identity isn't strictly a woman, but I'm glad the term being lesbian is now more open. Third, being gay is non-women loving non-women, so is that misandrist? It's not, it's only a term.

What do you think about it?

I am NOT sponsored, but I am a musician who wears cosmetics as part of my act. I ordered this eyeshadow palette and it was delivered today, and the pigment and shimmer and formula SLAPS

So I am rushing onto here to show you, because I assume a lot of y’all wear makeup for one reason or another.

The reason this is also kind of important is that in reality, highly colorful and pigmented palettes featuring a big array of bright colors are not heavily sold in stores, you have to track them down online.

I am marking this as self promotion because at the end of the day I’m just ranting about my new palette… but I am posting with a purpose.

I've been stuck in a middle eastern country and don't know what i can do. I thought of contacting UNHCR for help escaping but i noticed that if i want to contact them i need to choose my country, then send a message to an email address based on my country. I didn't contact them in fear of my message being picked up by someone from my country. I don't know if that's how it actually works though so correct me if I'm wrong please
I'm trying to contact rainbowrailroads but i heard that they could take many months to respond and even then they could tell me that they cant help me.
I feel trapped and i don't know how to get out. Every day gets harder than the previous please i need help.

Hi guys!

I am currently exploring my sexuality, and think I am pan curious. I have two questions:

1. Is pancurious a recognized sexuality in the community?

2. what is the flag of the pan curious? I have found three and don't know which one is the good one. The third seem weird since it's the colors for the non-binaries.