Scarleteen

Hello all!
My name's Catherine.
I probably won't use the right words. But I am trying really hard!
I am a cis female, I think that's how you say it. I am also pretty much heterosexual. It is what I am, I don't question it, it's not a problem for me.

I was introduced to the whole gender and sexual identity thing while reading Erica Moen's Oh Joy Sex Toy comic.
I am really curious about it all. Not that I think I might identify as something else; I'm just super curious and I want to uderstand.
As I am and have always identified as a heterosexual female, it's all very strange to me - in a non-negative way, please try and understand that I do not judge and I mean no harm to anyone. It is something that I am trying to understand, especially since one of my friends has an asexual and queer life partner, they are absolutely adorable btw, and I would just like to read more about it all. Gender and sexual identity. Out of pure curiosity and open-mindedness.

So, what are your reading suggestions? Books, comics, blogs, doesn't matter.

Hi Caathx and welcome to Scarleteen,

One of my main reading suggestions is actually our website. There is a ton of content on sexual orientation and gender identity on there. Another favorite of mine is "Redefining Realness" by Janet Mock. It's technically her memoir, but it does an excellent job of covering some basic gender theory. Sites like Everyday Feminism also produce a lot of articles on those topics.

Hi Caathx! Other resources to check out that I can think of would be HRC, GLAAD, and PFLAG. All these groups do a lot of work around LGBTQ equality and have support and tips for allies.

Links:
http://www.hrc.org/resources
https://www.glaad.org/publications/talkingabout
http://www.straightforequality.org/about
https://www.pflag.org/advocacy-101

It sounds like you would like to be a great ally, and that you have a lot of goodwill towards your LGBTQ friends, even when you identify as heterosexual and cisgender yourself. That's awesome!! If you are also curious about more tips for being an ally, check out this publication from PFLAG (an ally organization for Lesbian and Gay folks). It comes from their program "Straight for Equality":

https://bolt.straightforequality.org/fi ... t-ally.pdf