At first glance, this new bill proposed by Texas Sen. Konni Burton seems harmless. Do a little digging, however, and its intention is crystal clear: The bill would require teachers to out LGBTQ students to their parents. The public knows this because Burton said as much herself.
this is so vile
God this is disgusting
NO
WHATEVER YALL FUCKING DO DONT LET THIS BILL PASS
As a closeted queer kids, the only irl place I can be myself is at school. The people there know. I’m not quiet about it. And they’re okay with it. And that takes some of the pain of being closeted from my family okay because hey I have a community that accepts me.
I wouldn’t be affected by this bill but for all the kids that are like me, that consider school a save haven, this could fuck some major shit up.
Don’t let this bill pass. Please.
Texas what the fUCK… Please don’t let this be real
DON’T LET THIS PASS!!!
Okay, this post is for everyone who is on the fence about this stupid post or needs to face the reality of it, okay? Lets get real. Story time.
So when I was freshman in high school, I knew this sweet girl. We’ll call her Hailey. She was a high b-average student, and she wanted to be a veterinarian. She had a rough life but was like a younger sister to her friends, and got along well with about everyone because of her bubbly nature. And as you probably suspect, she was gay. She found herself around sixth grade, so she established to her friends. But her friends only.
But during her freshman year, something horrible happened. One of her friend’s parents told her parents she was gay. Now what you need to know about this woman is that she didn’t do this out of any sense of cruelty. Her own son was gay, and she’d really struggled with that for awhile before accepting him and openly supporting him. And their relationship was great now.
So she wanted to tell Hailey’s parents, as a conservative parent as a gay child herself, because she felt like her reaction had been extreme, and she’d acted cruely and had wronged her child. She wanted to be there for them if they had negative reactions, and talk them through her experience.
Now Hailey, she had begged this woman not to. She had even cried over it, because she knew her parents, but this woman really thought she knew what was best and everything would be better once she no longer had to hide. And went off and told them behind Hailey’s back, without listening to her or giving her *any warning.*
And this woman said Hailey’s parents were quiet when she gave them the news. They listened to her entire story and experiences. They even asked a question or two, and said they’d talk about this with Hailey. And the woman left feeling like she’d done the right thing.
But she the furthest thing from the right thing that you can imagine. Hailey’s parents didn’t pick her up at the bus stop, so she walked home all by herself. She didn’t know she’d been outed, or anything was off. She thought her parents might just be working late.
And as she’s told me of the account afterwards: “I was happy. I’d passed that math test and I was going to ask my Dad if he might help me practice driving when I get home because I was thinking about taking Driver’s Ed. I thought it weird they weren’t returning my texts to tell me they were going to be late because we don’t live in the safest neighborhood, and they don’t like me walking alone, but I wasn’t worried. And then I got home… And then I got home and my parents were waiting for me, and I just. Knew. I just KNEW. Something about their expressions and way they stood up gave it away.”
And what happened next I was forced to believe. She told me, she just ran to the front door, but her Dad grabbed her and held her down. And as he held her down, her Mom proceeded to beat the living shit out of her.
And I’m not talking a slap across the face, or being struck with a belt. It was so bad that her screams – she was lucky enough to have run and got to the front door to be heard by a passing neighbor walking his kids home – who called the police.
But until they arrived, for minutes on minutes she was beaten by Dad and Mom. When she came back to school, she had bruises on her wrists from where she’d thrashed trying to get away from her Dad’s iron grip, and a fractured wrist. She had an ugly bruised and STITCHED forehead from where her mom’s wedding ring had gotten her, and black and bruised skin across her stomach from where she’d been repeatedly stomped on.
And you must be thinking, oh my God what horrible parents. They must have been punished harshly.
No. They spent just a single night in jail, and I still don’t know if they were later charged. Hailey was forced to leave her home. She told me no one would take her in, and never told me where she ended up having to stay.
And did I mention she was made to come to school the next day? Because she did. She tried to hide the injuries, but you really can’t hide those. Especially when you aren’t even wearing your own clothes because you weren’t allowed to go home and get them.
And I could tell you more. I could tell you how her parents wouldn’t let her back in her house to get ANY of her things. I could tell you how aunts and uncles turned her away like she was ridden with an STD.
I could tell you about how she dropped out of high school, or apparently the girl who wanted to be a veterinarian one day because she wanted to take care of sick animals and make them better tried to take her own life months later.
I could tell you that after that day, I didn’t see her again until I ran into her a YEAR later by chance. This girl VANISHED for a year. Her friends clammed up about her, like they were afraid and determined to not tell anyone where she was at any time. Ever.
So the next time you say OUTING someone couldn’t be that bad, or that making it law for a child’s safe place to out them is right or doesn’t concern you – remember Hailey. Remember the little sister-like girl who wanted to be a vet and once only seriously worried about math tests and learning to drive.
And you what? Hailey told me she still sees herself as someone lucky. Because she lives with her Grandpa now who flew down from Florida to take care of her. And she feels lucky because she still has someone, and because she’s still ALIVE.
So you remember that when they try to pass this law. You remember Hailey, and all those like her who were treated worse and aren’t here anymore. You probably know of someone. Remember people like Hailey, and protect them. Because when they say it IT ISN’T SAFE FOR THEM TO BE OUTED, believe them!!!
Because all it took was ONE person feeling obligated to out her, who didn’t believe Hailey, and before she was ready to leave home safely to cause all this.
of course this post gets made when im almost graduating
sorry to be That Ass, but if you’re using MLA make sure it’s upgraded to MLA 8 (not 7 like the screencap shows)! There’s been a huge overhaul of citation and formatting with that style guide this past year.
but otherwise YES! this is excellent and has saved my ass on many grad school papers
Hey! Sorry for the late reply, I haven’t really had time to do the tutorial for you! But, I did one today. It’s kinda messy and not 100% anatomically perfect (I do several flaws myself) but I think I made some good points!
Arms:
Arms cannot be done without shoulders, so that’s why I will include them here. To know how one body part works, you need to understand the other parts too. I suggest drawing a stick figure, as shown above. Do it with shoulders and everything – don’t care about anatomy. Really, don’t – go mad! You can figure out how to deal with the anatomy AFTER you have figured how to draw the body freely.
I imagine most body parts to be shaped as tear drops, as shown above; especially the arms and legs. Draw them above the stick figure – don’t be afraid to overlap the teardrops. In fact, I suggest it! The best way to understand anatomy is to think of it as shapes and doll-parts.
After you’ve figured that out, do several, VERY tiny, small doodles like these. Go crazy – don’t bother with anatomy just yet. Do them also very quickly and so small you can’t think of the details. Just keep doing this until you sorta understand how arms work.
Here is a doodle of a “real” arm, and as you can see, how it’s shaped it resembles the teardrops above. A general rule is to constantly draw the body in curves – male AND female. NEVER draw a single line straight.
I mentioned before I thought it was important to include shoulders/other body parts to understand another. This is why. The body basically has a “flow” when you move. The red lines clearly shows the flow. This is also how you can create a dynamic pose: think of the flow. The muscles are formed that way to be able to function. Which reminds me, buy some good anatomy books. And I’m talking about more or less MEDICAL anatomy books – you think you won’t need it – but trust me, it’s more useful than you can imagine. I do NOT suggest buying “stylistic” anatomy books, like Christopher Hart (ugh NO), for example, as these can mislead you. Medical anatomy books CANNOT because they MUST be right.
And for the last part, here’s some “do’s” and “don’ts”. It’s important to remember the muscles between the neck and shoulders. Many, especially when drawing females, forget this. It’s true the most visible it is – the more muscular you will look. But even the most petite people have these. Your neck literally would not function if you didn’t have these supporters. Then, the arms below is just to show why it’s important to draw the body with curves. Many have probably heard “straight lines for males” which is a complete lie. They will look stiff and unnatural. Curves can both empathize muscles AND fat. Heck, even your bones aren’t straight.
Legs:
Legs certainly are the hardest. There’s a good reason for this; because they’re one of our most strongest muscles, and they are more or less dominating when it comes to poses (together with the spine). However, just like with the arms, draw a stick figure. I won’t suggest drawing them completely straight, as you can see here, as it will add weight. Do teardrops shapes. As for the hips – think of them as panties or briefs. This is not a MUST; but it will help; I think!
And just like the arms, do small doodles. Don’t be serious, play around until you get the idea.
As you can see, these legs easily can be turned into teardrops even when they’re detailed like this.
Now, what makes legs/hips interesting is that the way fat gathers there. Although not a must, seeing as we’re all different, females tend to get more fat there than men. Usually, however, it’s not at the SIDE of the hips, but at the thighs, calves and the “love handles”. (Excuse my english, aaah…) Women also tend to have bigger hips, but again, it’s not a must. It’s not uncommon to have small hips, either; or big hips for men, etc.
Of course, the legs too follow the “flow”!
Something worth noting is the “Standing point” The standing point is basically a straight line, and the further away you are from the line; the more unbalanced you are. To create a dynamic pose you should avoid that line as much as possible. However, if you want to look balanced/realistic, have the one leg stand there for support. The leg to the left is balanced, as you can see one of the legs is taking all the weight; with other words, it’s the support leg-making it balanced. The legs to the right, however, are likely to fall over if she keeps standing like that! edit: <- that explanation was horrible. Hope you still get it.
Now for some more do’s and don’ts. I already mentioned the barbie legs, invisible heels and micro-mini crotch in my previous tutorial, but these two are different. I see this mistake a lot; when you sit down, your thighs will become wider because you’re pressing all the fat to the sides. Now, this also depends on how you’re positioning your legs. How much it widens depends on how much fat you have in the first place; but it will always be there.
And then there’s this awkward “thigh gap”. Before I get any haters telling me how I “thin shame”, please, take a seat and read this. Good? Good. How much space you actually have between your thighs depends fully on how you’re standing, bending, angle, body type and everything else. However, the one to the left? Not likely.
Hands:
– Okay, I’m getting really lazy now; so I’ll be quick. Draw a rectangle. Sorta like this; it doesn’t have to be exactly like this – since hands can be shaped VERY differently. Just compare to your friends.
– Draw a little triangle attached to it.
– Now, the fingers! How long they should be and etc doesn’t really matter either. But if you’re unsure, draw them as tear drops, too.
– Now, flesh out the fingers! Starting to look like a hand, sort of.
– Then draw the details and fix things you didn’t like. I really don’t like the way this is drawn but I’m just tired right now.
Just like the legs/arms, practice by doing that simple figure really quickly.
Feet:
Okay, I’m getting really lazy. Plus, feet are SUPER HARD- I’m just going to say this: think of them as triangles. Overlap them; think of it as 3D!
Practice practice practice! And medical anatomy books. And photo references. And real-life references!
Hope this helped! o/ As I said, I’m nowhere near perfect but, ahh, I tried.
