I see the pictures of the past
“I AM A MAN!”
These pictures blast
What is the difference?
There isn’t one
No Civil Rights for me….
It has just begun.
By Mx. Anunnaki Ray Marquez
Dedicated to any man who might understand.
I used African American History to make this point because groups of men have been singled out as not being “real men” throughout history. Black men are not the only ones who have been targeted for inhumanity. But they are an example of one of the most extreme forms of persecution. Denying the manhood or womanhood of an intersex person has been used to justify persecutions every bit as bad as what black men have experienced. Right up to and including castration, amputation of our body parts, and abortion. People who are being persecuted because they are being de-humanized by others must be allowed to learn from each other. Only in this way do we stop segregating and start embracing all of humanity as ONE species.
#WeAreHuman!
World Wide Advocacy & Support For Intersex and Transgender People
Celebrate Intersex
Added April, 18th, 2019
A public post on my Facebook page, after upsetting a few people regarding the above images I had created back in 2018.
April 22nd, 2019:
I had created a post that compared the human rights violations faced by intersex men with African American men. It used the “I am a man” pictures of the past of black men holding signs proving they were real men. I have taken it down after talking calmly and rationally with a few friendly advisors I use. One of them a black chaplain minister who is a friend.
As some of you know my husband is part African American, so his family knows prejudice. Many of his ancestors even escaped to freedom with the underground railroad up into Canada. All together my family is Spanish, African American, Pawnee, Irish, French, German and Dutch. We also are of Jewish descent. On top of the homophobia, transphobia, and intersex phobia, we sadly know prejudice.
However, I now know that the two movements, the intersex movement, and the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement should never cross together and will never do it in the future. I now see clearly, after talking calmly with others, that these two movements need to stand alone and independent of each other. As a person who lives with much intersectionality, this is a lesson learned.
This was the note I had originally used to justify using Black History to make my point, and share it again for transparency of my good intentions: “I used African American History to make this point because groups of men have been singled out as not being “real men” throughout history. Black men are not the only ones who have been targeted for inhumanity. But they are an example of one of the most extreme forms of persecution. Denying the manhood or womanhood of an intersex person has been used to justify persecutions every bit as bad as what black men have experienced. Right up to and including castration, amputation of our body parts, and abortion. People who are being persecuted because they are being de-humanized by others must be allowed to learn from each other. Only in this way do we stop segregating and start embracing all of humanity as ONE species. #WeAreHuman!”
Again, I know now to not mix human rights movements together in the future; appropriation is never good.
PEACE to all of us and may we all be #FreeAndEqual someday.
Mx. Anunnaki Ray Marquez
Update August 4th, 2020
A beautiful miracle in the United States Happens June Pride Month 2020:
More about this Flag: Daniel Quasar redesigns LGBT Rainbow Flag to be more inclusive| June 12th, 2018
Quote from article above:
Graphic designer Daniel Quasar has added a five-coloured chevron to the LGBTRainbow Flag to place a greater emphasis on “inclusion and progression”.
Quasar‘s Progress Pride Flag adds five arrow-shaped lines to the six-coloured Rainbow Flag, which is widely recognised as the symbol of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) communities.
The flag includes black and brown stripes to represent marginalised LGBT communities of colour, along with the colours pink, light blue and white, which are used on the Transgender Pride Flag.
Quasar’s design builds on a design adopted by the city of Philadelphia in June 2017. Philadelphia’s version added black and brown stripes to the top of the Rainbow Flag, to represent LGBT communities of colour.
It still upsets me much, and it is August 2nd, 2020. We are in the middle of a COVID 19 pandemic. The stress in the United States has led to the Black Lives Matter Movement had to join June Pride Month for the very first time. On my Rainbow Human Rights Community Page it was now welcomed to show BLM’s support as a white-passing person. The intersectionality is undeniable now, especially with the high number of black trans women being murdered. It saddens me that these people of color in my intersex community still refuse to talk to me or work with me. One intersex activist is right here in my city. I have tried my best to reach out with love and as a bridge-builder with people of color in the intersex community. They refuse to even talk to me. They all refuse to speak and remain radio silent. As Mother Theresa tells me to do: I continue my work anyways. It is for intersex babies. The new PRIDE Flag tells all and it warms my heart. Together we are stronger! I now put most of my focus on the LGBTQIA+ and not those who want to keep me down in the intersex community. I will take the high road, because I know they have been terribly hurt by this world, and hurt people hurt people.
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