Lgbt+ …

Hii there. Thanks so much for checking out this post.

I’m in the middle of summer classes for college, right now. I’m taking 2 classes, towards my BA in liberal studies degree. I also recently got a volunteer role teaching math and reading to 3 – 5 year-olds. That starts tomorrow (Monday), actually:)

In addition to those two things (summer classes + volunteer role), another thing that went on this summer was that this summer was my first acknowledgement of Pride month, in my life. I had never been part of Pride month, before. I’d never posted “happy Pride” on my facebook or instagram, let alone done much/anything else. I actually come from quite a conservative Muslim family… we’re from Sudan and all.. (I observed hijab at age 11.. me and my siblings were enrolled in the weekend and summer camp programs at our local mosque.. we prayed the five daily’s, etc. We had family meetings that were halaqas – religious circles where we read from the holy book, discussed things, etc. We were like, a really muslim* family. Everything was like clockwork – everything was to a T, to a large extent…). That environment/rearing gave me a strong sense of altruism. ‘Altruism’ is also the approximate meaning of my first name, ethar. The direct translation, I think, is “caring for other people more than yourself.’ From the Qur’an: “they care for others over themselves, even though they may be in desperate need (of what they might give up.)” -All in all, I’m really grateful for this islamic rearing I’ve had. I wouldn’t have it (have had it?) any other way, actually. But this type of upbringing has also meant that I’ve grown up in a tightly closed existence, in many aspects.. and haven’t been exposed to narratives other than my own. “Other narratives” being existences that aren’t necessarily influenced by Islam, or even religion. Like some social positions, such as questioning authority/having anarchist ideas, or being a free spirit/free thinker – believing what you want in life/creating your own path in life… and of course agnosticism and/or atheism, or religions other than mine. These ideas weren’t afforded to me, I think, in my environment. Some social causes kind of slipped under the radar, too//I didn’t know (could never really know) about them.. like lgbt liberation, or rights. (But then again, no kid really knows about lgbt rights, or liberation. That’s something you know about later, and become socially conscious of later, I think. Regardless of upbringing..)

These days, I’m trying to think for myself, and get a good understanding of different takes on and experiences of (and things that exist in) life. ✌🏾

One thing I sort of did in that vein is: I actually did something for Pride month, this year. (I’d never rly taken part before, as aforementioned). I drew a few lgbt+ themed illustrations, and posted them on my blog, and social media. And in fact, even before this month (June, 2019) – about 5 years ago, or so – I’d written a few short essays about how i reconcile my faith with my lgbt support. (My main premise was the unconditional love for humanity that islam instills in its followers – love that extends to everyone.) I had also created some drawings with lgbt themes, in them. I’d shared all these pieces on my blog, and stuff. The essays are actually deleted (*I’m trying really hard to find maybe a copy of one of the essays, though – i really liked one, actually, looking back on it 😦 hopefully I’ll find it. But at least all of my drawings (if not essays) with lgbt themes are still up, online:) In fact, i compiled them all, here – every drawing with lgbt themes i ever did in my life are compiled, below. This is one of the reasons why I wanted to make this blog post, actually – to have all my drawings with lgbt themes in one place. 😬😬 If/when I do more drawings like this/with this theme, I’ll def. add them, below:))

Before we get to that actually, here is a Fb post I wrote talking about my religion + lgbt support –

Here’s the pdf :3 . i made a pdf of it, idk why 😅. (actually to be honest it was because i wanted to delete my Fb account, but wanted to have a copy of my lgbt Fb post still available, for me to post on my blog and whatnot. lol. PDF

Here’s another Fb post I wrote;

Here are the aforementioned illustrations i mentioned (pls click on them, they’ll open in a new window 😗;