This community is housed on an instance run by two trans women, focused on the needs of the queer and gender diverse community.
We allowed 196 here because we were promised the community is queer and trans inclusive.
If you’re here it’s because you’re aggressively supportive of trans folk. Not middle of the ground, not “just asking questions”.
If your response to that is, “yes, but…” then this isn’t the instance for you, and by extension, this isn’t the community for you.
tl;dr - Unambiguous support and inclusion, or fuck off somewhere else.
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Edit - I changed the phrase "aggressive support to “unambiguous support”, as there was some confusion over the intent behind my previous phrasing.
Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Not to equivocate trans and black liberation because they are very different, but do you think “aggressive” or “non aggressive” supporter of race rights better slots into the whites who demonstrated their unwillingness to go along with racism or the ones who were like “I don’t care about your race, I’m not a racist, but how dare you ask me to support you in any meaningful or visible way?”
That’s a quote from his letter from Birmingham jail, right?
While there are, of course, major differences in trans and black liberation, I read the full letter again recently and was shocked at how much of it was applicable to the current trans rights movement. I actually get the feeling that the two movements are more alike than they are different.
History repeats itself. I highly encourage everyone to take a half hour and read the full letter. Maybe if everyone took his words to heart, we could avoid some of the bullshit this time around. The conservative playbook of oppression hasn’t changed much. It’s just focused on a different target this time.
I quote that letter regularly, sadly those who need to hear it never do and always try to bring it back to the whitewashed MLK and “non-violence”.
Here are a few articles I linked to someone recently who did that, that others might find interesting:
https://timeline.com/by-the-end-of-his-life-martin-luther-king-realized-the-validity-of-violence-4de177a8c87b
https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2021/1/18/martin-luther-king-jr-was-radical-we-must-reclaim-that-legacy
https://www.history.com/news/for-martin-luther-king-jr-nonviolent-protest-never-meant-wait-and-see
https://www.npr.org/2023/05/15/1175833143/mlk-martin-luther-king-jr-malcolm-x-quote-biography
I agree that there is a great deal to be learned and analogies to be drawn. However, I’m not a person of color so I didn’t want to unilaterally co-opt a movement that isn’t mine to take.
Completely fair, and I totally agree! I’m also not a person of color, so I hope my comment didn’t come across as trying to co-opt the movement. Just wanted to, as you said, point out there are a lot of similarities and lessons that could be learned.
I, as a trans person, fully recognize that black people had it worse than trans people do now. While both communities face violence, black people faced violence that was heavily state-sponsored and far more widespread, even with the recent increased rates of violence against trans people. The entire U.S. legal system was rigged against them from the start. It was their blood that earned us the Civil Rights Act, which is the foundation our movement needed. And that’s a debt we will owe forever. And I also recognize that people of color continue to face discrimination. The fight isn’t over, for any of us.
I’m getting wordy. I think we’re both on the same page here. I guess civil rights discussions get me going (but tbh, I’m okay with that). Hope you have a great day!
Good point! I do think it’s important to support trans rights, but I’d be a hypocrite if I said I AGGRESSIVELY support the cause. There’s just a lot going on in my life right now, I just want to keep a clear mind, is all.
That being said, I never agree with or accept signs of transphobia.
What I mean by aggressively is, without caveats, without “but…”'s, without ambiguity. Your support needs to be clearly on the support side.
You don’t need to be an activist. You don’t need to be out marching or even commenting on trans stuff, but your opinion on trans folks should be unambiguously on the “support” side of things.
Oh, that’s a much better description. I think I’ll stay for longer then, thank you!
Yeah. If someone is ever writing out “I’m an ally, but…” literally nothing good ever follows.
Thanks for replying. I don’t know OPs intent when they said aggressively, but I can’t imagine your description not fitting into some reasonable definitions of allyship. Most people (even queer people) are not hauling themselves to every protest. Calling out transphobia as uncool when seen is as aggressive as anybody needs, imo. I wouldn’t get hung up on the wording.
MILITANT SHITPOSTING
SEIZE THE MEMES OF PRODUCTION
Btw, I don’y think “equivocate,” which comes from equivocal, means what you’re trying to say (that you do not wish to position the movements as 1-to-1 matches)
Thanks, I think you’re right! One of those words that somehow formed the wrong definition in my brain. TIL