Dear Readers, 
I would like to sincerely apologize for any offense caused by Liz's posts. Retrospectively, I realize that much of her writing tends to focus on the relationships between Caucasian people and African American people or other people of color. This excludes many people and I am very sorry to those who found this rude. I am leaving all of her posts online since this is a school project and we both had to do work, but I kindly request that you disregard any offensive material should you choose to read her posts.
Sorry again,
Heather

Q&A

Here's a Q&A with the parent of a transgender child(all names are confidential). 

Question 1: Were there any people in your life who refused your company after or during the transition?

Yes, but I can only recall one particular family that made an impact. To be honest, there might have been more, but we were so focused on our kiddo that I might not have noticed others. There were those that might have drifted away or just took longer to process the change, but the one that was very abrupt refused to let their daughter participate in the tolerance training at school. Then, subsequently, they removed her from Girl Scouts and AYSO soccer teams that my daughter was on.

Question 2: What resources do you recommend to LGBT+ youth in need of support?

Talk to their parents or other adults they trust (friends parents, teachers, etc.), look into LGBTQ+ club/groups in their school, join an Outlet support group, and/or check out the Gender Spectrum.

Question 3: What kind of resistance did you receive from your community and/or the law during the transition?

While there wasn’t resistance from the school; the teacher was awesome, but the school was willing to support us to an extent. I had to ask and arrange for any support we got. It’s the same still. We’ve had to create the infrastructure to support ours and other LGBTQ+ students.

Question 4: What advice do you have for struggling or closeted LGBT+ youth and adults?

Look for and connect with folks for support—find allies wherever you can and let them help you navigate and create a safe space for you.

Thanks for reading, and see you next time!
-Heather

Update

Hi! Heather here!

Just wanted to let y'all know... *drumroll*
Our project is officially DONE!!!!!
However, I hope to continue this blog and my book of poems(available at https://www.wattpad.com/user/HeatherAndLiz)
We also have a survey for you at https://goo.gl/forms/NuoA6RyjfB1ylguy2. Your input is greatly appreciated.

Thank you so much for reading, and I'll (hopefully) see you soon!
<3 u all, Heather

Personal Pride Flag, Attraction Edition

Hi! Heather here. So this post is to teach you how to make your own personal pride flag. This one will have a(hopefully) complete list of sexual/romantic orientation, definitions, and the corresponding flags. Your gender would go as the background of your flag. The circle is the sexual attraction, and the heart is the romantic attraction. Therefore, the flag below represents genderfluidity, asexuality, and panromanticism. Have fun making your own!

• Abrosexual/Abromantic [Having fluid or rapidly changing sexuality that fluctuates between different sexualities]: The shades of green and red(which are opposites on the colour wheel) represent a large range of sexualities.
• 
• Androsexual/Andromantic [attracted to males]: The blue represents masculinity.
• 
• Aromantic [Attracted to no one]: The green symbolizes attraction and the varying white/grey/black represents the range from attraction to no attraction
•  

• Asexual [Attracted to no one]: The purple symbolizes attraction and the varying white/grey/black represents the range from attraction to no attraction. 
• 
• Autosexual/Autoromantic [Attracted to oneself]: The heart with the arrow shows the attraction to oneself.
• 
• Bisexual/Biromantic [attracted to any two genders]: The blue and pink represent dualism.
• 
• Cupiosexual [desire to be in a relationship without being attracted to anyone]: The muted colours represend desire that won't be fulfilled, while the pink, purple, and white represent romanticism.
• 
• Demisexual/Demiromantic [can only be attracted to someone after forming a strong emotional bond]: The purple represents community and the emotional relationship, the gray represents asexuality, and the white represents sexuality.
• 
• Greysexual [is only sometimes attracted to others]: The same colours as the asexual flag, but the absence of black shows the absence of an absolute lack of attraction.
• 
• Gynesexual [attracted to women]: the pink represents femininity and the green represents sexual attraction.
• 
• Heteroflexible [predominately heterosexual/heteromantic but flexible in that identity]: The varying shades of gray represent heterosexuality while the strip of rainbow represents homosexuality.
• 
• Heterosexual/Heteromantic(Straight) [attracted to opposite binary gender]: The heart represents the attraction between the blue(masculine) and the pink(feminine).
• 
• Homoflexible [predominately homosexual/homoromantic but flexible in that identity]: The rainbow represents homosexuality as it was the original pride acceptance flag. The strip of varying shades of gray represents heterosexuality.
• 
• Homosexual/Homoromantic(Gay/Lesbian) [attracted to same gender]: The rainbow was the original pride flag. A history of its development will appear in a later post. 
• 
• Akiosexual [Attraction which fades if/when feelings are reciprocated]
• 
• Omnisexual/Omniromantic [Attraction towards all genders while noticing genders]: The different colors, ranging from different shades of pink to different shades of blue, represent attraction to all people.
• 
• Pansexual/Panromantic [Attraction towards all genders; gender-blind attraction]: The pink represents attraction to femininity, the blue to masculinity, and the yellow to all other genders.
• 
• Polyamory [Attraction to or relationships with many people at once]
• 
• Polysexual/Polyromantic [Attraction towards more than two, but not all, genders]: The pink represents attraction to femininity, the blue to masculinity, and the green to non-binary people.
• 
• Skoliosexual/Skolioromantic [Attraction towards non-binary people]: The yellow and green represent non-binary people, the black and white represent opposite ends of the gender spectrum, and the heart represents attraction.
• 

I hope you found your gender on this list. If so, use it as the background of your flag, as seen at the top of the post. If not, send us the gender, definition, and flag at 20percenttime.tolerance@gmail.com.

Thanks! Have fun making your flag!

<3 Heather

The Stonewall Riots

https://www.history.com/topics/gay-rights/the-stonewall-riots

• In the 1960s, the New York City police were allowed to arrest anyone wearing less than three pieces of clothing that matched the stereotype of their assigned gender.
• Bars that sold alcohol to known or suspected LGBTQ+ people could and would be shut down.
• By 1966, the LGBT+ community was allowed to be served alcohol.
• Holding hands, kissing, or dancing with someone of the same sex was illegal.
• Many gay bars were owned by mafia and did not have liquor licenses.
• The Genovese crime family bought Stonewall Inn in 1966, renovated, and reopened as a gay bar in 1967.
• The Stonewall Inn was registered as a “bottle bar” where people brought their own alcohol because there were still laws against LGBT people being served alcohol.
• There were raids but corrupt cops would inform bars run by the Mafia so they could hide alcohol and other illegalities (ex. gay dancing)
• On June 28, 1969, there was surprise raid on the Stonewall Inn.
• 13 people were arrested for selling alcohol and not wearing enough “gender appropriate clothing.”
• Female officers brought patrons suspected of cross-dressing into the bathroom to check their biological sex and count pieces of gender appropriate clothing.
• People were beat up and physically abused.
• An officer hit a lesbian over the head and she called for onlookers to take action.
• The crowd started throwing things(ex. bottles, stones, coins) at the officers and the riot began.
• The police and their prisoners barricaded themselves into the bar, the crowd tried to set it on fire.
• Protests continued for five days, especially after “The Village Voice” published their own account.
• In 2016 President Obama declared Stonewall Inn and the surrounding area of the riots as a national monument.

How unfortunate that this is our nation's history. Well, we can't change the past, but we can change the future. Let's make sure that this never happens again.

<3 u, Heather

Personal Pride Flag, Gender Edition

Hi! Heather here. So this post is to teach you how to make your own personal pride flag. This one will have a(hopefully) complete list of genders, definitions, and the corresponding flags. Your gender would go as the background of your flag. The circle is the sexual attraction, and the heart is the romantic attraction. Therefore, the flag below represents genderfluidity, asexuality, and panromanticism. Have fun making your own!

Find your gender below!

• Agender [No gender]: The green symbolizes gender and the varying white/grey/black represents the range from gender to no gender.

• 

• Androgynous [A blend of both binary genders]: The blue and pink represent masculinity and femininity, and the purple represents a blend of both. 

• 

• Aporagender [No particular gender, but vague gendered feelings]: The varying shades of pink, blue, and yellow represent femininity, masculinity, and all-encompassing gender, respectively.

• 

• Aquarigender/Genderflow [No particular gender, but there are labels which are close to feelings]: The infinity sign represents change and eternal flow, while the colors represent the gender's waterlike qualities and the different shades represent shades of gender.

• 

• Bigender [Identifying as two genders, either interchangeably or simultaneously]: The light shades of pink, blue, and purple represent the binary genders and their connection.

• 

• Cancegender/Agenderfluid [Mainly agender, but with vague overlapping and changing gendered feelings]: The background represents the agender identity while the patterns of color represent the ever-changing gendered feelings.

• 

• Cisgender [Identify with assigned gender]: The colors represent the binary genders accepted by society.

• 

• Demi-{insert gender} [partial identification with said gender]: The greys represent the partial identification while the other color represents the relevant part of the gender.

• (demi-androgyne)

• (demi-male)

• (demi-fluid, as in genderfluid)

• (demi-flux, as in genderflux)

• (demi-female)

• Gender Non-Conforming [non-binary, or doesn't conform to gender roles/stereotypes, can be non-binary]: The light pink and blue represent traditional gender identities and roles, while the other colors represent a larger scope of interpretation and identification.

• 

• Genderfluid [fluctuates between any and all genders]: The pink, purple, and blue represent binary genders and a combination of them, while the black and white represent the range of genders.

• 
• Intersex [possesses a combination of male and female physical characteristics]: The yellow represents all genders, and the purple represents gender in itself.

• 

• Librafluid [partially agender, and the rest fluctuated between male and female]: The grey and black represent lack of gender, while the pink/blue gradient represents the fluctuation between male and female.

• 

• Pangender [identifies as any and all genders that may or may not be known, simultaneously, in combinations, or over time]: the yellow represents all genders and the white represents the lack of acknowledgement or awareness towards some gender(s).

• 

• Paradoxigender [identifying as one or more genders which are in paradox with each other. Eg. both male and female]: the shape is a paradox, and the pink, yellow, and blue represent femininity, all genders, and masculinity, respectively.

• 

• Polygender [more than three genders, at the same time or interchangeably]: The black and grey stand for intensities of gender, while the pink, blue, and yellow stand for femininity, masculinity, and all genders, respectively.

• 

• Transgender [does not identify as assigned gender]: The degrees of color and white represent the different genders that one might be, and the white represents the lack of connection between sex and gender.

• 

• Trigender [identifies as three genders, either individually or at the same time]: The colors just generally represent different gender identities. This flag is less symbolic than most.

• 

• Varumgender/Avarumgender [either fitting under many labels or not feeling the need to associate with any]: the shades of purple represent the shades of gender.

• 

I hope you found your gender on this list. If so, use it as the background of your flag, as seen at the top of the post. If not, send us the gender, definition, and flag at 20percenttime.tolerance@gmail.com.
<3,
Heather

Homophobia

Apparently there seems to be minor categories of 'Homophobia' 

-Lesbophobia
-Transphobia
-Biophobia 

We also need to stop using the word 'gay' as an insult. Being called gay isn't much of an insult as it is just a remark that they could think of in the moment. You shouldn't be offended by this either, both responding and saying things about 'gay' are not an insult to you but more of an insult to the gays, and others. 

Slavery

Today is better than the past. In the past slavery was a large problem. It left people of color in bondage, working in plantations and farms for powerful white men who were making profits. In slavery the only cost it had was feeding the slaves poor food and purchasing the slaves themselves. Slaves were used as servants farmers and other non-ethical things. They were objects for trade, not human beings. In this time slaves were prone to disease due to horrible living conditions and infection of cuts. This caused the land owners to have to buy more slaves and pay more money than just taking care of them better. 

Racism is the thinking of ones race is superior compared to others.
-Liz

Survey Results, Part II

Hi! Heather is back! Sorry I've been gone... I've been busy with school and stuff. Today, I'm continuing what I was working on last post. Here are more interesting details about the survey that we took.

Although 67.6% of respondents claimed to be accepting to all people and 93.9% claimed never to have accidentally discriminated against others, only 14.7% feel completely safe at school, and 50% feel completely safe at home. This creates a strange conclusion: most everyone is accepting and kind to others, and yet the majority of people feel unsafe or uncomfortable being themselves. There are only a few ways to explain this. First, people are uncomfortable with themselves and their own identity. Second, there are outside factors(parents, administrators, etc.) who were not surveyed and who cause respondents to feel uncomfortable. The third and most probable of my theories is that respondents are actually not as accepting and inclusive as they believe they are being. One way this could manifest is that they are totally comfortable with what they say and do, but others interpret actions or words differently and in a way that makes them feel uncomfortable.

Another issue(that we were not able to address in this project due to lack of resources and time), is social pressures. One respondent noted that they didn't always feel included. This is interesting because the respondent has not been a victim of obvious discrimination to their knowledge, but feels somewhat uncomfortable at school and in public. 

Ultimately, this survey taught us a lot not only about the subject(s) of the survey, but about the people we were surveying. Many of them conformed to societal expectations for most of or all of the survey. Also, a few of them did not appear to care about the goals of the survey, or the project behind the survey. A link is here if you would like to take the survey and help us out a little(If we get enough data, we'll do a new round of results and conclusions). 
https://goo.gl/forms/zk9ECLGnf9DHm35f2

Sorry this was so short. Bye!
<3, Heather

More Racism Info

Racism is normally worried about by blacks than whites. It states in statistics that blacks think whites get more advantages than blacks.    

It seems as some whites or "Americans" are slightly oblivious. A poll found online is that basically all the races interact with there own kind. Such as whites with whites. Many statistics show that whites don't take racism as seriously because it doesn't apply to them. Such as while blacks who actually get hurt by this. Another statistic from a few years back state that 54% of blacks feel like they have been discriminated at some point.

As you see the drastic different percentages that are shown. The whites have more answers of no, than yes. Blacks and Hispanics on the other hand are shown to have 48% yes.
-Liz

Idk, stuff about Racism?

Racism, the thinking one's own race is superior.

Races:

Asian  

American Indian

African American

Pacific Islander

Caucasian

Latinx

_________________________________

-Liz

Survey Results, Part I

Hi All! Heather here! When Liz and I were in our research stage, we sent out a survey to some people in our school. We found the following:

• Of 35 respondents, 13 were assinged male at birth and 22 were assinged female

• Of all 35 respondents, only 2 had a different gender identity than the gender assigned at birth; one person assinged female identified as agender(no gender), and one person assigned female identified as both male and female. 

Some people misinterpreted the questions and felt intruded. For example, one respondent replied to the question "What is your sexuality?" by stating that they were single and therefore aromantic. Several other similar incidents occurred, like people claiming that they identified as "monkey" or "kati roll" in the place of their gender. It is possible that this was caused by lack of understanding on the subject or was caused by people not taking it seriously, but it is also possible that people did not know or care and were not willing to explore the subject further. We also noted that one respondent believed that there were only two genders(male/female) and questioned our sanity in their response. (By the way, Liz and I are both totally fine.) This response may have been a lack of understanding, or just blatant disrespect for the intentions of the survey, which were to determine people's level of acceptance and support based on different variables, like their gender, race, family situation, and religion.
Additionally, this whole group similar responses for may questions. For example, almost every answer to "Are you parents accepting of you?" was affirmative, and answers to "Have you ever been teased on the basis of sex, gender, sexuality, romantic orientation, or race?" were often variations on no. Most people thought that they were accepting and accepted by their community, and yet there were still a good chunk of respondents who did not feel 100% comfortable in their own skin. This may have something to do with the fact that people often give "the right answers" instead of the true ones.
As an answer to the question "what is your romantic orientation?" 55% of respondents replied that they were heteromantic. A good many more identified their romantic orientation by the gender that they are attracted to. However, two young respondents made an excellent point: they were both 12 at the time of the survey and unsure of their romantic orientation. I found this interesting because instead of conforming to the heterosexist ideal by making the assumption that they were heteromantic, they did not select any of the options.
Interestingly, we received one reply to the question "What is your sexuality?" that got me. Someone had claimed that their sexuality was "normal." What is normal? Is it our heterosexist ideal that assumes all are heterosexual unless otherwise specified? Is it the norm in our families and cultures? And what is that for a given person? Is it what the media and society represent, that "normal" is heterosexual heteromantic cisgender and binary? Think about your pen pal from a few posts ago. Is that your "normal?"
A few questions later, when being asked about any teasing, one respondent mentioned that "sometimes my friends talk about how I'm gay when I am not." This is also very interesting because "gay" in many circumstances is used to refer to something below par, due to the negative connotation that has been associated with LGBTQ+ people. So did this person's friends mean that they were dumb, or homosexual?

I'd love to share more with you all about the fascinating results of our survey, but I have to go. 
Ciao, and see you soon!
Love, 
Heather  <3

Update Liz Edition

Heyo Liz here, same as Heather I was away on vacation during my break and couldn't update sorry! :D

-Liz 💝

Rape Statistics in the United States

Hi folks! Sorry I haven't posted lately, winter break and all... but I'm back! Today's post is on rape stats.

https://www.nsvrc.org/statistics

• ⅕ of women will be raped
• ⅓ of women will experience contact sexual violence
• 51.1% female rape victims were raped by an intimate partner and 40.8% by an acquaintance
• 91% of rape and sexual assault victims are female
• 80% of rape victims knew the perpetrator
• 8% of rapes occur when victim is at work
• Rape costs the us 127 billion dollars, which is more than any other crime
• ¼ girls will be sexually abused before 18
• 30% of women were 11-17 when first raped
• More than ⅓ women raped before 18 were raped again as adults
• 96% people who sexually abuse kids(under 18) are male, and 76.8% are adults
• 12.3% women were 10 or younger when first raped
• On average, female victims of prostitution start 12-14 years old
• 20-25% of college women experience rape or coerced sex
• 27% college women report unwanted sexual contact
• 63% rape assaults are not reported

From another study at this Link, it was found that...

• 28% of rapes were committed by a stranger
• 45% were committed by an acquaintance
• 25% were committed by a former or current spouse or other partner
• 6% were committed by more than one person, or the victim cannot remember
• 1% were committed by a relative other than the spouse
• 50% of perpetrators are 30 or older
• 25% of perpetrators are 21-30
• 9% of perpetrators are 18-20
• 15% of perpetrators are 17 or younger
• 57% of perpetrators are white
• 27% are black
• 8% are unknown ethnicity
• 6% are other ethnicity
• 1% are mixed race

Therefore, the vast majority of rapes were committed by white perpetrators aged 21 or older who were at least acquainted to the victim. Most perpetrators of rape know the victim. 

Enough of that, though. It's a sad situation, and the only thing to do is speak up. Educate people about rape; it's not(often) a random black guy walking down the street. Most victims are raped by people they know and trust. And, most importantly, it's NEVER THE VICTIM'S FAULT. No one asks to be raped. No one wants it. So please, don't assume that rape only happens because the victim "was asking for it," or because of something they did or wore. It's not okay.
Love ya'll,
Heather

Not a post, just an update

Hey folks! Heather here. Just wanted to let you know that my winter break is starting, so I'll be out of commission for a while. I'll post when I can, but odds are good that I'll miss a few days. Sorry!
Love ya!
Heather

Trans Population Statistics in the UK // Gender Identity

Hi everyone! I was feeling ambitious, so here's a double post: The first part is about transgender people in the UK, and the link is here. The second part is about gender identity and the link is here.

Part I

• About ⅓ of UK trans people were victims of hate crimes
• Around ⅕ of LGBT people were victims of hate crimes
• 41% trans people have experienced hate crimes because of their gender identity
• Trans people between 18 and 24 are 52% more likely to be shot
• 79% of trans people who have experienced hate crimes and/or violence do not go to authorities or law enforcement for support because of the fear that the “help” will discriminate against them or make the situation worse
• From 2015-16 to 2016-17, referrals due to hate crimes against trans people decreased from 98% referred to only 87%
• The trans community tends not to trust police enforcement because they have done more harm than good in the past
• 48% of trans people report being scared to use public toilets
• 12% of trans people report being physically attacked by a peer
• 28% of trans people report domestic abuse by a partner
• 44% of trans people report that they are scared to walk in certain areas because of violence
• Trans murders are rising all around the world

Part II

• Gender is a spectrum
• An intersex person has a combination of male and/or female parts: internal/external anatomy, hormones, etc.
• Dimensions of gender:
• - body → how society and individuals interact w/ bodies, how we are treated, ect.
• - identity → internal knowledge of our gender as we feel
• - expression → how we show, present, and shape our gender in society.

• Cisgender (cis)= assigned gender matches gender identity
• Transgender (trans)= assigned gender does not match gender identity
• Binary gender identity= identifies as boy/man or girl/woman, regardless of trans/cis
• Around age 4 we know our gender identity, even if we don't know that we know; it’s just part of who we are, how we act, and how we express ourselves
• By age 3 kids tend to participate in activities or play with toys that are more associated with their sex/gender identity
• Gender expression IS NOT gender identity: people can wear or act however they want

• Transvestite/Crossdresser: a person who wears the clothing or accessories typically associated with a different gender
• Drag queens: boys/men who dress as girls/women, for entertainment or as part of their gender expression

So I hope you enjoyed this!

Love ya!

-Heather