The LGBTQ Community Has Seen Controversy Regarding Acceptance Of Different Groups (bisexual And Transgender

The LGBTQ community has seen controversy regarding acceptance of different groups (bisexual and transgender individuals have sometimes been marginalized by the larger community), but the term LGBT has been a positive symbol of inclusion and reflects the embrace of different identities and that we’re stronger together and need each other. While there are differences, we all face many of the same challenges from broader society.

In the 1960′s, in wider society the meaning of the word gay transitioned from ‘happy’ or ‘carefree’ to predominantly mean ‘homosexual’ and was an umbrella term that meant anyone who wasn’t cisgender or heterosexual. The community embraced the word ‘gay’ as a mark of pride.

The modern fight for queer rights is considered to have begun with The Stonewall Riots in 1969 and was called the Gay Liberation Movement and the Gay Rights Movement.

The acronym GLB surfaced around this time to also include Lesbian and Bisexual people who felt “gay” wasn’t inclusive of their identities.

Early in the gay rights movement, gay men were largely the ones running the show and there was a focus on men’s issues. Lesbians were unhappy that gay men dominated the leadership and ignored their needs and the feminist fight. As a result, lesbians tended to focus their attention on the Women’s Rights Movement which was happening at the same time. This dominance by gay men was seen as yet one more example of patriarchy and sexism.

In the 1970′s, sexism and homophobia existed in more virulent forms and those biases against lesbians also made it hard for them to find their voices within women’s liberation movements. Betty Friedman, the founder of the National Organization for Women (NOW), commented that lesbians were a “lavender menace” that threatened the political efficacy of the organization and of feminism and many women felt including lesbians was a detriment.

In the 80s and 90s, a huge portion of gay men were suffering from AIDS while the lesbian community was largely unaffected. Lesbians helped gay men with medical care and were a massive part of the activism surrounding the gay community and AIDS. This willingness to support gay men in their time of need sparked a closer, more supportive relationship between both groups, and the gay community became more receptive to feminist ideals and goals.

Approaching the 1990′s it was clear that GLB referred to sexual identity and wasn’t inclusive of gender identity and T should be added, especially since trans activist have long been at the forefront of the community’s fight for rights and acceptance, from Stonewall onward. Some argued that T should not be added, but many gay, lesbian and bisexual people pointed out that they also transgress established gender norms and therefore the GLB acronym should include gender identities and they pushed to include T in the acronym.

GLBT became LGBT as a way to honor the tremendous work the lesbian community did during the AIDS crisis.

Towards the end of the 1990s and into the 2000s, movements took place to add additional letters to the acronym to recognize Intersex, Asexual, Aromantic, Agender, and others. As the acronym grew to LGBTIQ, LGBTQIA, LGBTQIAA, many complained this was becoming unwieldy and started using a ‘+’ to show LGBT aren’t the only identities in the community and this became more common, whether as LGBT+ or LGBTQ+.

In the 2010′s, the process of reclaiming the word “queer” that began in the 1980′s was largely accomplished. In the 2020′s the LGBTQ+ acronym is used less often as Queer is becoming the more common term to represent the community.

Smut-writing Advice

Rebloggable version, since this seems to be so popular ;)

Anonymous asked you: Do you have any advice for writing smut?

Yes.

1) Be shameless. Get comfortable writing sentences like “He trailed the tip of his tongue down the length of his lover’s cock, making him shiver and twitch as the heat spread to his tip, turning it purple.” The more a sentence makes you blush, the better a sentence it is and the more it belongs in your story. If you’re censoring yourself, if you’re not writing things that are super-hot to you and make you hot as you write, then it’s gonna be a dry, boring smut scene.

2) Be detailed in actions, and more importantly, reactions. Which is hotter? “He swirled his tongue around his lover’s nipple, tracing around the areola in a slow circle before closing his lips around the tip.” or “he slowly licked over his lover’s nipple, making her shudder and gasp, arching her back into the warm heat of his mouth.”

The first example is good detail, but includes no reaction, so your reader is probably just going to get bored. The second sentence has less detail on the action, but more detail on the reaction- and that’s what shows a character is feeling something, how they react.

Shivers, moans, groans, whimpers, clasping fingers, twitches, eyes closing or opening, faces tilting or turning, toes curling- those are the reactions, the hot stuff, the stuff that says “this character is feeling.”

Put that in, and you don’t have to worry about describing every detail of the actions.

3) Don’t use words that you normally wouldn’t use. “Ministrations”, “gyrations”, etc. This words make me want to vomit, they’re so horrible. No one uses them. Describe your smut with normal everyday words. This does not mean use boring words. There are a hundred ways to describe breathing, for example: gasp, hitch, inhale, pant, sigh, hiss, etc.

4) Watch porn, but with a grain of salt. It can give you some references for areas you have no personal experience with, but keep in mind that the people are acting and this is scripted.

5) DETAILS, details, details. Mention many details and EDIT YOUR STORY to KEEP THEM STRAIGHT. First, write the scene. Let it flow the way you want, the way it wants to go, get in the emotion and the character’s reactions. Then go back and make sure that you have kept track of articles of clothing, the positions people are in, who’s eyes are open, closed, where hands are, etc. Nothing ruins a smut scene like someone getting a blow job while their pants are still on in the reader’s mind.

6) Make the PACE SLOW. Writers tend to be embarrassed so they rush through their smut scene. BUT THIS IS THE PART YOU’VE BEEN BUILDING UP TO, THAT YOUR READER IS WAITING FOR. So don’t rush it- let it linger! Most smut scenes feel too long when you write them- and then fly by too quickly when you read them. Three pages of smut is short. And I don’t mean make it longer by dragging it out- I mean make sure that the pacing of your writing is slow. Don’t have everybody stark naked after the first paragraph. Tension and build are what sex is all about; don’t sell it short. How do you know if your smut scene is paced correctly? Same way you tell if the rest of your story is paced correctly. Reread it, reread it, reread it, edit, edit, edit.

If you haven’t reread your scene at least twice, it’s not done. That goes for any scene, not just smut.

7) EMOTION. Show it. Sex is powerful, regardless of who’s having it. It intensifies everything. If the character is miserable, they are very miserable; if they are happy, they are very happy. Show it, describe it on their face, in their actions, in their motions and possibly with words (I like to write smut scenes full of dialogue, but that’s my style, other authors are different). But connect your reader to how at least one character is feeling, depending on the point of view of your story.

8) And lastly, did I mention be shameless? BE SHAMELESS. If you’re not mortified to show it to your grandma, then you’re not doing it right. (Unless you have one heck of a cool grandma).

Okay, that’s all my advice on smut for today. Hope this helps! :)

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colddeadqueer

1 month ago

What Is It?? A Plane?? A Bird?? No, It's My Homemade Simon Snow Trilogy Poster

What is it?? A plane?? A bird?? No, it's my homemade Simon Snow trilogy poster

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colddeadqueer

3 months ago

Does anyone else spend way too much time combing through the original books to ensure that every small detail fits into canon if I’m writing canon-compliant fics. Or am I just an autistic perfectionist and my love research papers has bled into my fanfic writing.