importantwomensbirthdays:

Marsha Mehran was born in Tehran, Iran on November 11, 1977. In her short life, Mehran made a strong impression in the literary world. Her debut novel, Pomegranate Soup, based on her experiences as an Iranian living in Ireland, was published in over twenty countries and translated into more than twelve languages. She later published the sequel, Rosewater and Soda Bread. A film adaptation of Pomegranate Soup is currently in the works, and Mehran’s novel The Margaret Thatcher School of Beauty was published posthumously.

Marsha Mehran died in 2014 at the age of 36.

halfhardtorock:

My post that’s going around: I keep seeing reblogs talking about how dangerous white men are, and while I agree (obviously), we need to watch other white women too.

White women are fucking dangerous. As soon as a white woman starts crying while engaging with a person of color, other white men and women get antsy and tense. If you witness white women trying to start shit with a person of color, step the fuck in. Stand with them. Especially if you are a white woman too. Engage. Shut white women down. Inform others of what’s really happening. Speak up and stand with people of color. Back up their voices.

Yes. This. Seriously. I am a white woman but seriously. Do not trust white women. Do not trust older white women.

mcdyke:

gayvoice:

Seeing straight people say “we made it through Reagan!” Is making me go fucking insane and I want to cry

“In 1981 with the emergence of the AIDS epidemic also came the emergence of the Christian Right, who which Reagen ushered into power and disgustingly seized the moment as a sign of God’s abhorrence for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. Reagan, who saw the first signs of the AIDS epidemic in 1981, his first year in office, . said “maybe the Lord brought down the plague because illicit sex is against the Ten Commandments.”

AIDS research was chronically under-funded. When doctors at the Centers for Disease Control and the National Institutes of Health asked for more funding for their work on AIDS, they were routinely denied it. Between June 1981 and May 1982 the CDC spent less than $1 million on AIDS and $9 million on Legionnaire’s Disease. At that point more than 1,000 of the 2,000 reported AIDS cases resulted in death; there were fewer than 50 deaths from Legionnaire’s Disease. This drastic lack of funding would continue through the Reagan years

In 1986, Reagan ordered Surgeon General C. Everett Koop to prepare a major government report on AIDS. Critics attacked Reagan for ordering the report on the same day he submitted requests to reduce the AIDS budget, according to the Globe. Koop’s report called for mandatory sex education for children as early as elementary school, but Reagan’s education secretary, William Bennett, and his undersecretary of education, Gary Bauer, strenuously opposed those efforts, calling for abstinence-oriented education.

But Reagan still remained silent to the public

Finally near the end of 1986 Reagan requested $85 million for AIDS research, but Congress horrified at the low number bumped that figure up to $244 million only to have Reagan then unsuccessfully try to rescind $50 million of that figure, according to the Boston Globe, he ultimately agreed to Congress’ figure. In 1987, Reagan proposed cutting the research budget for AIDS down to $214 million. Congress again responded dramatically against Reagen by raising it to about $400 million.

It would not be until 1987 when pushed that Reagan would publicly speak about the AIDS epidemic in a major policy address. By the end of that year, 59,572 AIDS cases had been reported and 27,909 of those women and men had died. He and his administration did almost nothing during the first seven years of the epidemic. AIDS research was chronically underfunded. Community education and prevention programs were routinely denied federal funding and would have been even more so if Regan had had his way. Only when pushed did Reagan offer any assistance.”

source

datingdisastersofaqueergirl:

I wish people wouldn’t make posts about how to deal with tear gas/protests unless they actually know what they’re talking about. 

I am a trained street medic and I’ve personally been tear gassed more times than I can count.

- Do not use soda or water to wash tear gas out of your eyes. Use a combination of liquid maalox and water, 50:50. That’s what works. 

- They can literally tear gas you anywhere you stand in relation to the police because riot cops have gas masks. I’ve been tear gassed within five feet of the front line of police. They do not care. 

- Before my very first protest I asked my friend who’d been doing this for over 5 years if I should soak my bandana in vinegar. She laughed and said, “I have no idea who started that rumor but it’s never done shit for me or anyone I’ve ever known.”

- If you are bulimic or have chronic vomiting, please keep in mind that the mucus membrane in your throat is a precious tender baby and you will be much more effected by tear gas than everyone around you and you will feel it in your throat for weeks afterwards and NO ONE EVER WARNS YOU ABOUT THIS.

- The police probably won’t zip tie you with your hands in front, they pretty much know how easy it is to break out of those.

- People with asthma should always carry their inhalers because that shit is real bad when you get sprayed with tear gas. 

- Never go to a protest alone. Always have a buddy there and always let someone who isn’t going know where you are, your legal name, and your birthday so if you get snatched they can check the jails and the online database for you. (note: this does not work when they grab hundreds of people at once or sometimes they just never put your name in the database yay!)

Seriously y'all, this is not the time for posturing. If you don’t know something, ask a street medic or google it.