click HERE to view my previous drawings...
but there's nothing there yet!
OR, it has been for some time now. the first week of july has been designated as our "pride week", following pride month for the "normal" queers. not that paraphilias don't inherently fall under queer identity and belong in pride, they do -- i'm sure as hell not cishet...! i do believe there is a specific paraphile pride month too -- i think it's in august. But i see zoo week as a similar thing to other weeks or days dedicated to specific facets of lgbt identity - nonbinary week is apparently coming up later this month, and there are many more. i think it's good to dedicate time to specific identities, even if they can be celebrated under a larger umbrella.
i personally identify more with the omniphile ( Φ ) label these days, but on the list of "everything", nonhuman species are very high up there for me. i love birds(and dinosaurs), cats(especially big cats), and other assorted creatures. the way i experience "attraction" in general is very outside of the normal range of what makes sense to most people (i generally label myself aroace for this reason) , so it's hard to explain my feelings in detail.
being openly zoo(or para in general) on the internet means tons of people, who have never met you before, will decide they know better than you how you think and act, and they are going to fight that version of you they created no matter what you say to them. it's incredible (and a little terrifying) how readily people will turn on someone they think is "bad" without even checking to make sure they actually ARE "bad" first. pride this year, for me, has been about persevering despite this sentiment - loving myself and continuing to exist despite the complaints or the people saying i'm not "allowed" to celebrate, that i have nothing to be proud of.
it's been an interesting ride being more or less public about this
attraction -- i've met some good people and some very very bad people
along the way. such is the way of every community, though, and my
overall experience has been positive as i make new friends and become
more comfortable with being myself. that's why i'm celebrating this year
-- for all the progress i've personally made, i'm quite proud of
myself.
don't let anybody get you down.... stick together... never give up!!!
click HERE to view my past thoughts...