Welcome to my May Resource Roundup! This monthly feature includes a variety of articles, videos, infographics, books, etc. on LGBTQ+ topics that I’ve encountered during the month which were helpful for me or could be helpful for others. Some of them will be old things I encountered for the first time or rediscovered. Others will be new. But they will all be things that resonated with me during this month.

Articles & Websites

• 35 Western Pennsylvania Voices on Pansexual Visibility Day [Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents]
  
  For Pansexual Visibility Day, PGH Lesbian Correspondents amplified the voices of 35 pansexual folks with ties to Western PA. I’d recommend these firsthand accounts to pan people looking for some affirmation and to non-pan folks looking to learn more about the pan experience.
  
  
• Bi+ History Month
  
  This month, Unicorn March spearheaded a project to help connect more people to bi+ history by launching Bi+ History Month. The official Bi+ History Month website highlights reasons bi+ history is important as well as resources to help people discover more bi+ history. Besides checking out the website, I’d definitely recommend checking out the Unicorn March twitter which is full of threads on specific aspects of bi+ history.
  
  
• Gender-affirming surgery linked to better mental health, study finds [NBC News]
  
  One of the common refrains amongst those fighting to curtail trans people’s access to gender-affirming care is that this care is harmful to trans people’s wellbeing. This article covers a recent study using data from nearly 20,000 participants which shows that for trans folks who desire gender-affirming surgeries, having access to those surgeries improves rather than impedes their wellbeing. This article also does a good job discussing gender-affirming surgeries in a way that acknowledges the trans community is not a monolith.
  
  
• How Jen Richards is Confronting Silence of the Lambs’ Transphobic Legacy [Into]
  
  This article in some ways feels like a follow-up to Disclosure as Jen Richards discusses how her guest role on Clarice works not only to challenge the transphobic legacy of Silence of the Lambs (a legacy she discussed in Disclosure) but also to move the needle forward on what trans representation can look like. Although I’ve watched neither Silence of the Lambs nor this television follow up, I really enjoyed reading about how Richards and others involved in the show approached creating a trans character who could speak directly to this legacy while not limiting the character to being solely defined by her transness. It was also informative to get more of her perspective on the type of trans representation she wants to see in media.
  
  
• In Their Own Voices: New BiCoastal Exhibit Celebrating the Community Pride Flags [The Gilbert Baker Foundation]
  
  A few days ago, the Gilbert Baker Foundation unveiled a new exhibition at the Stonewall Inn that seeks to highlight the histories and meanings behind some of the most recognizable LGBTQ+ community flags by sharing what the creators of those flags had to say about them. This link provides access to a slideshow of the photos and information provided in the exhibit. If you’re interested in learning a little more about the flags displayed – and the flags the foundation would love to display in the future – you can check out this recorded Facebook Live event featuring some of the creators named in the exhibit.
  
  
• Supporting and Working With Transgender and Gender-Diverse Individuals [American Speech-Language Hearing Association]
  
  As an educator who works to help other educators support LGBTQ+ students well, I was happy to see this write up by ASHA with guidance for communication science and disorders professionals on how to best support trans and gender diverse students, clients, and families.
  
  
• “We wanted people to see that we exist”: the photographer who recorded lesbian life in the 70s [The Guardian]
  
  While looking through my Twitter bookmarks this month, I found this article from a few months ago that I had saved but never read. It brings to light a topic that I don’t often see discussed in mainstream LGBTQ+ discourses – the lack of authentic, affirming images of lesbians prior to the 70s and the lesbian photographer who committed to filling the gap. This interview with that photographer, JEB, provides a fascinating description of what it was like to be a lesbian back then and what it took to create a project dedicated to sharing authentic, intimate images of lesbian life. I’m definitely looking forward to adding the reprint of her photography book Eye to Eye: Portraits of Lesbians to my book collection someday.
  
  
• Where are the elder asexuals? [Cody Daigle-Orians]
  
  This blog post does an excellent job combatting the notion that asexuality is just a youth fad by breaking down the historical and sociological reasons why young ace people are more visible than older ace folks and offering suggestions for older ace folks feeling unsure about their place in the ace community.

Films/Videos

• The Blue’s Clues Pride Parade Sing-Along Ft. Nina West [Blue’s Clues & You]
  
  I unexpectedly found myself crying through this whole video both times I watched it because this is the most inclusive LGBTQ+ representation that I have ever seen – not just in kid’s programming but in anything. So often, I hear people who control policy, curriculum, or narratives in other ways complain that they cannot include less acknowledged or supported LGBTQ+ subcommunities in their work because it’s too difficult or too confusing or just too much. Blue’s Clues & You proved them wrong in three minutes. This video is a great example of how easy including the diversity of the community can be – even when creating materials for children – and also is a great entry point for families and educators to have conversations with kids about different terminology, different family structures, and even different flags. I’d love to see some educators who work more with younger kids create some lesson plans and/or resource guides for families and other educators on how to use this video to have those conversations with children in age-appropriate, accurate ways.
  
  
• “Sun Goes Down” [Lil Nas X]
  
  I love this music video (and also cried to it) because it both highlights the challenges that sometimes come with being Black and queer in a society that doesn’t truly value either of those identities and it offers hope to Black queer youth who may feel trapped in spaces that don’t affirm all of who they are. This is definitely a resource I foresee sharing with students who can’t yet conceive of a world in which they can be happy and loved as their full selves.
  
  
• Transgender History Quiz [Pink News]
  
  I found this short video really fun both because it gave me the opportunity to test my own trans history knowledge but also because it taught me trans history that I didn’t know. These questions could easily be woven into a lesson or activity on trans history in a classroom or for a GSA or other LGBTQ+ group.

Informative Posts/Graphics

• “If it’s homophobic to use ‘monosexual’…” [Shiri Eisner]
  
  I really appreciated this Twitter thread by Shiri Eisner which challenges the idea that the term monosexual is problematic because it puts gay and straight people in the same category. She provides solid examples of less contested words we use that combine people with different levels of power and experiences of oppression and ends by highlighting the real reason monosexual is so frequently debated compared to these other terms.
  
  
• “Most trans people…” [Assigned Male Comics]
  
  This graphic by Sophie Labelle highlights reasons why some trans people will never transition and underscores the fact they still deserve just as much respect and dignity as trans folks who do transition.
  
  
• “Ten years ago, I came out as bisexual – out loud – for the first time…” [Angel Gravely]
  
  For those who may have missed it, I wrote a Twitter thread earlier this month of 10 things I’ve learned about bisexuality, myself, and the world in the 10 years since I first came out as bisexual. Hopefully, these lessons will affirm my fellow bi+ folks and help any non-bi+ folks reading understand the gifts and challenges of being bi a little better.