Comics

I'm going to sort of sidetrack very briefly back to the previous mission of the blog, just because this is time-sensitive and I refuse to not post things that are interesting and vaguely relevant just because I feel a little weird about it. Hey, it's still about art.
I read a lot of awesome comics with queer characters, which I will list for you at the bottom, but I want to focus on just one.
Shades of A by Tab Kimpton began as a parody of 50 Shades of Grey, and there are amusing newsposts explaining many of the parallels and the 'fixing' of the original story, but you by no means have to have read FSOG to understand and appreciate Shades of A. Our main character is asexual Muslim Anwar, who gets dragged onto the kink scene by best friend genderqueer JD, where he meets transvestite Chris and sparks fly. You should read the comic because it's snarky and has excellent dialogue, but you get the side benefit of supporting a comic that promotes visibility of some of the less common sides of 'queer'.
But! Shades of A has finished its current arc, and Tab is thinking about discontinuing and working on a new project. Thus, he has created a Kickstarter. For those of you unfamiliar with the concept, a Kickstarter allows people worldwide to pledge money toward a goal--your card will only be charged if the goal is met. You get awesome stuff depending on how much you pledge. At first glance, we appear to have already hit the goal, but Tab's done something a little different--the first goal is just cost money for the rewards, and we need to hit 6000 pounds to actually get updates for another year. There are only four days left to back, and you're already guaranteed the cool rewards, since we've hit the first goal. We need another 900 pounds to keep the comic going.
A couple of things you should be aware of before you start clicking things: The comic says 'not safe for work' but there is no explicit nudity. I'm not sure whether it's for implied nudity, swearing (didn't notice any, but it doesn't bother me, so it might not have jumped out), or just content matter like kink and polyamory.
Also, remember that pounds and dollars may be roughly equivalent on a very low scale, but the higher you pledge, the greater the difference will be between the number you type in the box and the number of dollars that is actually equivalent. For example, ten pounds is about seventeen dollars. 35 pounds, on the other hand, is around 60 dollars. I'm not trying to be condescending, but it took me a ridiculously long time to realize that all the numbers were written in pounds, and I nearly pledged $60 by accident.
So, I'm going to stop begging you for money on other peoples' behalf, and list you awesome queer comics! Unless otherwise noted, all of these link to the most recent page.
Khaos Komix is a finished story, also by Tab, about gay cis people, bi cis people, gay trans people, and bi trans people, and there's got to be a less confusing way to put that, but oh well. There's also this one straight guy. Trigger warnings for everything, but it's beautiful. It's basically playing on the fact that nobody has the whole story--each arc retells much of the same time frame, but you learn more each time and end up with more questions each time. Links to homepage.
Girls With Slingshots is a comic with three self-described lesbians, one self-described whateversexual, and one adorable asexual dating a woman. Also many cats, a drag queen, a talking cactus, and several straight people. It's mostly about people living in ruts and having a hard time getting out of them, but our lesbian couple just got married and it's great.
Go Get a Roomie is about hippie Roomie who is well-known for having sex with most interested women she meets, but is a little confounded when she meets Lillian, who is not only not interested, but seemingly completely oblivious to Roomie hitting on her. Add in twins who are a dom and a sub, an engaged opposite-sex couple having a threesome with the dude's boyfriend, and Lillian's engaging fables.
Menage a 3 and its spinoff, Sticky Dilly Buns, are set in Toronto, and there's so much gay going on they specify sexual orientations on the meet the characters page. Dillon is both fabulous and fabulously gay, and I love watching him. Zii is bi, but has commitment issues. We're not sure about Yuki, but her phobias make her a WSW. Senna is a transgender underwear model from Brazil who recently tried to get Gary, but failed--not so much because Gary had problems with her genitalia, which he doesn't, but because Gary is a total geek and would rather play video games with Senna's former assistant. Amber is a retired porn star who didn't really want her sister Ruby to show up on her door, but is trying to be a gracious host.
Questionable Content is about Marten and his adventures with the staff and patrons of the local coffee shop, Coffee of Doom. Faye is snarky and occasionally violent with people who are bothering her, but once you get behind her walls, you discover a woman who's just trying to get along in life despite the problems her dad left her. Dora is semi-Goth, insecure, and the owner of Coffee of Doom. Tai is Marten's boss, a perky little butch redhead with an extremely interesting dating life. The love rectangle between these four drives much of the romantic plot, but the story is also about Marten's band, everybody's little robots that cause So. Much. Trouble., and of course Marten's parents, who are, respectively, a gay man and a dominatrix.
Prince of Cats is about Lee and Frank, who are kind of in love but having trouble actually doing anything about it. Frank's younger brother, Sam, struggles with breasts and liking this girl Adi who may or may not know he's a boy. Oh, and Lee can talk to cats.
The Young Protectors is about a band of young superheroes, and how one of them, Kyle, ends up going out with the most notorious supervillain of all, The Annihilator. Shenanigans ensue. It's beautiful art, and the characters are very real. Links to first page.

Equality or Justice? And who's the man in your relationship?

I know I've spoken before on how what the lgbt are asking for is not quite equal rights. I finally found a model that explains it better than I can.
You have three kids at a baseball game, and three crates. One kid is tall enough to see with no problem. One is almost tall enough to see. One is way too short to see.
Equality is when each kid gets a crate to stand on. Justice is when the shortest kid gets two crates and the medium kid gets one, and they can all see the game.
http://slowrobot.com/i/43945
On the theme of explaining lgbt life to those outside it, Ellen Degeneres is quoted as having the best counter-argument  to 'who's the guy and who's the girl in your relationship' that I've ever seen.
Which chopstick is the fork?
http://iwastesomuchtime.com/on/?i=69584

Gay men will marry your girlfriends.

http://www.collegehumor.com/video/6846855/gay-men-will-marry-your-girlfriends

Bisexual Chemistry

For all my Bi friends.
http://www.unfriendable.com/Tumblr/Bisexual-Chemistry/101389?id=101389&c_val=1

Homphobe: Fag.

Ever been in one of those situations where you know you want to say something, but by the time you know what, the moment has long passed? This time, I planned ahead. How to stand up for someone called a fag in your presence. Of course, this will only work if you're gay and ready to come out, but you can probably edit it a little yourself. So, my model script for you:
Homophobe: Fag.
Me: That's a despicable thing to call someone.
Homophobe: But it's true.
Me: He/she may or may not be gay. What does it matter? I'm gay, and that is highly offensive. You know what it means, 'faggot'? Bundle of sticks. So you're saying that a person, a living, breathing, thinking, feeling person is no more than a bundle of sticks. And you know why you say that? Because you're afraid. And you demean a person to the level of debris because a bundle of sticks is nothing to be afraid of. A bundle of sticks can't possibly make a rational decision. A bundle of sticks isn't worthy of human compassion. And a bundle of sticks certainly doesn't know love when it feels it.

FYI, whoever you're sticking up for might try to quiet you, saying "it's okay" or whatever. Remember: This isn't just about them. It's about saving everyone this homophobe may come into contact with from the insult that could be their last straw.

Yes, I'm in a heated fury. So be it.

Too High a Cost

You can hurt someone every time you make a gay joke. Let's say you're a football jock. It might be your friend, who makes up his mind never to come out to you and trust you. It might be your bisexual girlfriend, who's afraid of being dumped. It might be the kid who looks up to you, who first gets the idea that being gay is wrong from you, and goes home depressed or ready to pick on more kids. It might even be the guy you called a fag. Maybe he is gay, or maybe everyone thinks he is, and that was the last straw for a troubled teen.
Even if you're alone with your friend who makes plenty gay jokes himself, or who has a girlfriend, you never know who's just in denial.
By the same token, standing up against the teasing could be what saves someone's life. It could be what makes your friend or girlfriend trust you, or makes the kid who looks up to you be okay with it. It could even be your brother or sister who hears about it, and trusts you first.
If only it were that easy. If only it wasn't hours later that I come up with the perfect response. If only I could be sure that was what you said. If only I could be brilliant and end the jokes without being rude or just making it worse. If only I were braver.
I have the Broadway song Defying Gravity from Wicked in my head, which brings the phrase "it comes at much too high a cost" to mind when thinking about teasing. Even simple, unassuming comments.