#gbltq — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #gbltq, aggregated by home.social.
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A Map of Gender-Diverse Cultures
This text and the language in the corresponding map was updated in consultation with a world gender expert in October, 2023.
"Throughout recorded history and since time immemorial, thriving cultures have recognized, revered, and integrated more than two genders. Terms such as #transgender, gay, or bisexual are Western constructs that often assume three things: that there are only two sexes (male/female), as many as three sexualities (gay/straight/bisexual), and only two #genders (man/woman).
"Even after the end of the modern era and as the #colonial period wanes, hundreds of distinct #Indigenous societies around the globe still retain their own long-established traditions for third, fourth, fifth, or more genders. The subject of #TwoSpirits, Fred Martinez, for example, was not a boy who wanted to be a girl, but both a boy and a girl — an identity his Navajo culture recognized and revered as #nádleehí. Meanwhile, Hina of Kumu Hina is part of a #NativeHawaiian culture that has traditionally revered and respected #mahu, those who embody both male and female spirit. It’s not uncommon for third gender people to perform critical spiritual and religious functions in their communities.
"Among many Indigenous societies, two prominent features often distinguish the lives and social roles of third gender persons from those of cisgender persons or contemporary transgender persons in non-Indigenous societies. The first is that many Indigenous terms for third gender people contain both the word for 'man' and 'woman' in their construction, and that #ThirdGender people are seen as embodying both of those genders in diverse ways. The second is that the history of many third genders is in the community role of religious specialists, which also takes diverse forms, depending on the beliefs of diverse cultures. While not all third gender persons are defined in these terms, across our species, this phenomenon of the third gender religious specialist, healer, or spiritual worker has been part of our #CollectiveIdentity and human experience since time immemorial.
"Since the beginning of the 21st century, we’ve seen tremendous expansion of the role that transgender, #GenderDiverse, and third gender people have in society, following the tenuous establishment of civil rights for #gay and #lesbian people in many nations and increased access to #genderaffirming care in the transgender community. Many Indigenous transgender people who also identify as third gender are familiar to large audiences via their participation in popular media or social media activism. Third gender people, like the Japanese-Samoan, #Faafafine artist Yuki Kihara, now participate in major global cultural events and function not just as representatives of their gender-based community, but of their nation. Kihara had both a solo exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and represented New Zealand at the 2021 Venice Biennale. [For more: '#LGBTQIA+ Pride and Two-Spirit People' in Smithsonian Voices.]
"In the 21st century, many third gender people choose to take advantage of #GenderAffirmingCare, and identify, in addition to being third gender, as transgender. As access to gender-affirming care parallels healthcare access, and both third gender and Indigenous persons are often marginalized economically, it is not as readily available to many Indigenous transgender people, and within Indigenous cultures, medical transition is often seen as separate or secondary to social transition.
"Within #Western societies, despite centuries of suppression, there are still traces of a past when third or fourth or more genders were recognized within many cultures and societies. In rare cases, they presently exist. An example of this would be the #burrnesha of Albania, women who give up their social role as women to live as men. Likewise, within Jewish culture and law, as many as eight genders have been historically recognized, and in diverse ways.
"Take a tour with this world map, and learn how many cultures see gender diversity."
Learn more:
https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/content/two-spirits_map-html/#PBS #GenderDiversity #CulturalTraditions #Genders #ThreeGenders #ThirdGender #FiveGenders #Gender #GBLTQ #Genders
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From 2018. This picture is so beautiful!
#NativeAmerican Two-Spirits Look to Reclaim Lost Heritage
Read more:
https://www.voanews.com/a/native-american-two-spirits-look-to-reclaim-lost-heritage/4440354.html -
Rites of Passage: The Strawberry Ceremony
by Jillian Kerr
"Traditionally, the strawberry ceremony is for girls after their first menstrual cycle. However, today it is offered to folks who identify as #TwoSpirit and to those who didn’t have the opportunity to participate as young people, like me. I didn’t have the chance to go through this ceremony decades ago as an adolescent, and I am eagerly looking forward to my own strawberry ceremony experience this year. In anticipation, I researched the strawberry ceremony and talked to those who had already experienced it to learn more."
Read more:
https://www.wabanakireach.org/rites_of_passage_the_strawberry_ceremony#RitesOfPassage #GBLTQ #GBLTQAcceptance #Mikmaq #FirstNations #IndigenousNews #TwoSpirits
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I've done this. And yeah, it's not for the faint of heart!
via @thenarwhal
Finding myself in blood, flesh, veins and bug bites — life at a hide camp for #TwoSpirit #IndigenousYouth
By Kierstin Williams
Kierstin reported and photographed this story at Niizh Manidook Hide Camp over six days in May 2024
June 27, 2025
"It’s my first time tanning my own deer hide. At #NiizhManidook Hide Camp, I’ve learned to slow down, listen and be in relation while immersed in brains and skin..."
https://thenarwhal.ca/two-spirit-indigenous-hide-camp/
#TwoSpirits #BrainTanning #IndigenousTraditions #TEK #BeingInNature #NatureImmersion #Nature #GBLTQ #IndigenousPeoplesDay #AnimalProducts
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I stayed up late reading this article, but decided to wait until today to post it. A very good read about #PowWows, which mentions #TwoSpirits and the #NativeAmerican community!
In the powwow circle, Indigenous people are ‘dancing for our families, our Elders and our babies’
Jingle dresses, medicine wheel colours and eagle feathers are some of the ways dancers use regalia to tell stories of the land, history and people
By Gabrielle McMann
Photography by Gabrielle McMann
Sept. 25, 2024Excerpt:
“I like to work on the land and show hunting stories when I dance,” Mary Ann Manatch, a woodland traditional dancer from Wiikwemkoong and Rapid Lake First Nations, says. Their unique dance style also incorporates elements from men’s traditional dance. Manatch said telling stories of animals through dance, connects them to the spirit of those animals.Read more:
https://thenarwhal.ca/indigenous-regalia-powwow-culture/#TwoSpirit #GBLTQ #NativeAmericanCommunity #PowWows #AutisticNativeAmericans #IndigenousPeople #IndigenousPeoplesDay
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For #TwoSpirits, An Opportunity To Reclaim Acceptance Across #IndianCountry
#KLCC | By Brian Bull
Published November 29, 2018"The term '#TwoSpirit' in #NativeAmerican culture often describes a person possessing both male and female spirits. And they’ve been around well before the Santa Maria or the Mayflower dropped anchor. And while 'Two Spirit has been used for Indians who identify as gay, bisexual, or transgender…many say there’s more to it than that. KLCC’s Brian Bull explores a community that’s finding its voice again after generations of oppression, prejudice, and oversight.
"This summer, the annual #Powwow in #SiletzOregon presented something subtle…yet powerful.
"A new sign affirming tribal members could compete in the gender category of their preference debuted at this year's annual #SiletzPowWow.
"Lisa Norton, a member of the #ConfederatedTribesOfSiletz Indians, explains.
"'It’s a competition pow-wow, so people dance in categories…traditionally male or female.
"'So one of the things we wanted to do was #ungender that, so we were able to post a sign that said we were an open and affirming pow-wow. And that people could feel free to compete in the category they desired.'
"It was the first time such a sign was posted at the event. This pleased #JackieCloud, a Chippewa who identifies as a 'Two Spirit'.
"'And I also saw Two Spirit individuals out there dancing. And I was like, 'YEAH! Cool!'
"Cloud joined the other dancers.
"'Y’know there’s that twinge of excitement, exhilaration, oh like…it’s okay. And I commented to someone that I was with there at the pow-wow, and she said, 'That’s where we need to be. That’s where we need to be going.'
"'And so I was very proud of the tribe of #Siletz to…to acknowledge that.'"
#Decolonize #NonBinary #GBLTQI #Activism #GBLTQ #GBLTQAcceptance #SupportPublicRadio #Reclamation #Indigiqueer