Speaking of peer respite (again), there are none in Minnesota, (despite them already existing in many Midwest states) meaning MN residents in crisis have no choice but to go to the psychiatric hospital, which is incredibly expensive and can be traumatizing and isolating.
(Peer respites are homelike, entirely voluntary environments for people in crisis, staffed by individuals with lived experience, and are usually free for their clients. You can come and go as you please, and are not isolated from the community like you are in psychiatric hospitals.)
HF2301 tried to ameliorate this problem by seeking funding for two peer respites, though it seems it was never picked up after 2019.
You can find the emails of the members of the Minnesota State Advisory Council of Mental Health here. I sent ‘em an email already, as someone who is considering a move to MN who has multiple friends and loved ones in the state who could benefit from this service.
I think it’s better if you write your own thing, but you want a template/example, here’s basically what I said:
Hello,
I am a(n) [MN resident/individual with loved ones in MN/concerned citizen/whatever you wanna put about yourself here]. As members of the State Advisory Council on Mental Health, I would love for you to revisit the idea of funding (a) peer-run respite house(s) in MN, as outlined in 2019’s HF 2301.
Peer-run respites are a homelike, cost-effective alternative to inpatient hospitalization for folks experiencing a behavioral health crisis, staffed by peers with lived experience. They are successfully run in at least 14 states and counting, and are a rising trend in the US. On average, they resulted in $2,138 lower Medicaid expenditures per month and 2.9 fewer hospitalizations for individual respite clients. (source) [feel free to put more data here if you know of any, there’s a ton]
There are currently zero peer-run respites in the state of Minnesota, despite the strong evidence base for peer support. I know many people who would benefit from such a service, especially individuals who do not qualify for inpatient hospitalization or would prefer a less clinical environment.
[Thank you for considering/I hope you will consider this/etc]
People don’t like to admit it bcs cringe or w/e but Homestuck really did revolutionize the webcomic as a storytelling medium and I am endlessly frustrated that before webcomic artists could really stretch our legs fucking webtoonz swooped in, set a new, more restrictive standard, and then monetized and monopolized the ever living fuck out of the concept of The Webcomic until it drove away anyone who couldn’t be a professional quality manga artist for free, and now the only webcomics that actually feel like spiritual successors to Homestuck are so obscure they’re basically cult classics that you have to beg people to read.
Like it’s just so wild to be in high school and see Homestuck be like “we’re using like fifteen different artistic mediums to tell this story bcs we can” and be really fucking inspired by that, only to grow up and see basically every webcomic ever have to conform to One Single Standard or fucking perish.
When September and October are nearing and you’re planning an event: google “Rosh Hashanah *year*” and *Yom Kippur *year*” and then, and I cannot stress this enough, don’t plan your event on those days. In fact, don’t plan any events starting sundown the night before. Those are the three most important days of the Jewish calendar, and, once again, I cannot stress enough how much this little bit of forethought and kindness will make every Jew you know cry tears of joy.
in 2023, the night before Rosh Hashanah is Thursday evening, September 14.
wow i sure wonder 🤔🤔 what the new layouts supposed to look like 🤔🤔🤔🤔 its a mystery
Don’t forget y’all that there’s a much better way for us to let Tumblr know what we think about specific changes, rather than @ ing staff or wip, and it’s sending in a support ticket and choosing feedback!
Tumblr reverted some of the asinine app decisions they made after a concerted feedback effort! So make sure to use this form! It’s what it’s for, but it’s not well advertised!
still so fucking weird to go from real life, where a cis man being flamboyant/effeminate/camp is judged like 70+% by how he speaks and carries himself, to online queer communities, which often seem to have no concept of male gender non-conformity that doesn’t involve wearing a skirt
i promise you, a man can be fem to the point of being in danger while wearing literally exactly the same thing as a hypermasculine guy. a boring basic black suit. a t shirt and jeans. a UNIFORM. gender conformity is not only about what you wear
None of you have watched that heartbreaking scene in The Birdcage where Albert gives up wearing everything he likes to try and blend in for their son’s conservative prospective in-laws and is so awkward and uncomfortable that no one says much until finally he says, defeated, “I know what you’re thinking - dressed like this, I’m even more obvious, aren’t I?” and it shows.
Here, have your queer heart broken:
This is what I’m talking about. This is still literally how it is in most places in the Midwest if you’re trying to “pass” for straight/cis/whatever.
I cannot begin to describe how hard I cried when I saw this scene the first time and how confused my conservative family was as to why I was crying.
It’s so funny how literally the way a man holds his wrists is an indication of femininity but also people think it’s all about makeup and clothing. But we’re also at a point that if you have a suit that is any color other than black, dark grey, or navy, it’s flamboyant.
Men’s sartorial stylings are so rigidly controlled it’s painful. Tim Gunn here is at the very absolute bleeding edge of “acceptably masculine” here for most cishet men, just for some noticible stripes, patterns, and purple, and that’s before he even moves. This is how restricted it is.
But Trixie Mattel (out of drag here) wearing standard masculine garb is could still be deemed unacceptably feminine for body language alone.
This is why we talk about “toxic masculinity” – the idea that any expression of emotion besides anger or even wearing colorful clothes is non-masculine and therefore restricted is horrifying. It sucks! Men should be allowed to express themselves outside of a tiny box of acceptable behavior, because they’re, y'know, people, and people have a wide range of expression in the way they like to look and move and act.
I honestly feel like it’s gotten worse over the last couple decades, too. If you look at men’s fashions from the 70s and even into the 80s, there’s a lot of style choices that look pretty cringe to us, but…. you also see a lot more color and pattern in suits than you do now. I’m not sure when this started to shift, or if it’s tied in to the increasing lack of color in all consumer products, but it sucks.
Still got lots of prints left of all of these. They come signed, 8x10, $30 each. I need some money to pay my tattoo licensing fees, which in Minnesota, is a lot, lol.
