MB Meets World

I am not remembering right now which countries have outlawed being the way God made you, if that way happens to be queer. But it sure hasn’t felt like a queer couple would feel super safe in any of the countries I have visited.

I have observed lots of gender stereotyping with pink and blue. Below, children at a school wearing pink and blue uniforms based on gender. Do trans or non-binary kids get purple? And bathroom figures with pink and blue faces.

And yet,

1. a trans woman (or cross-dressing/man-in-drag) was begging in India and my tour guide was very accepting and said the younger generation wasn’t hung up the way parents and grandparents were;

2. An openly gay couple in Singapore used PDAs and my hosts said folks were more accepting of non-Singaporeans being queer;

3. A bookstore in Singapore had these books

4. The Taipei 101 had a pride arch for photos.

I am not suggesting the US is great for the queer community, but I think we’ve gotten better in the past 30 years. These few examples I share make me feel like there is hope on the horizon for more acceptance, but it doesn’t feel present yet.

In fairness, my host in Singapore said the crime rate is so low; one of her queer friends said they felt safe in that they knew they wouldn’t be killed, even though being queer is illegal. Can’t say that in the US. And, damn, I hate that.