TY for this. The Dims will probably repeat their practice from last time, when they let that atrocious free-surgery-for-prisoners ad float out there without a hint of correction. Not only is that silence morally heinous, but it is also a great way of showing how insincere they are. What monster doesn't care about trans people? Only the actual monsters, as everybody knows.
Don't other people see the constant harassment and intimidation of trans people in the US? Some are blind to how we are treated and others see it and don't remark on it. Thank you Parker for writing it all out so others might get it.
And we need lots of people to get it. Dylan asks people to support trans folk now and she's right to do so. We can't make it without the support of CIS folk. There are so few trans people and we just don't have much power.
Thank you again Parker for your perceptive thought and writing.
Democrats not vocally defending Mulvaney was disappointing but sadly not surprising.
I've noted that whenever Sarah McBride posts on social media, there is a flood of vicious transphobic comments. If a GOP House Rep was cruelly harassed by liberals online, Republicans would make a big issue about it and demand that Democrats denounce the people who do this.
Oh, God. I don’t know where to begin. Let me start here: I have a grandchild who has come out as non-binary — loud and proud. As am I for them. Their “protection” or “cushion,” if you will, is living in a liberal city in a liberal state surrounded by family who loves them. Further, the grandchild of one of my close high school era friends is also non-binary but lives in a shamefully backward southern state. So, not only do I hear the fear but also share the anger. For them and, Parker, for you too.
There’s part of me who wonders, though, whose fucking business is gender, genitals, sexuality, sex and choices — yes, yes, I know the exceptions to that statement. For years I’ve asked some form of this question of the GOP: “If you’re so intent on small government and keeping government off our backs, why are you so interested in our genitals and what we do with them?” When I’ve posed this directly to individual Republicans, I get no answer. Given the wide swath of hypocrisy, none of us should be surprised.
Now, I will pose a question to all of us, one my therapist introduced me to: What is there to do? Because, that is the question for all of us who are not MAGAts. It’s the question for the LBGTQ+ community. It’s the question for the straight community. It’s the question for the decent community.
Get out the vote in the upcoming elections? Sure. The turnout will need to be massive to overcome the already-in-place voter suppression. The non-feckless Democratic leadership is working on that. But that’s another story for another time.
First and foremost, we need a new mantra and here it is. “The madman shouted in the marketplace and no-one stopped to answer him. Thus it was confirmed that his thesis was incontrovertible,” Dag Hammarskjöld in 1957, “Markings” (1963). Every time someone in power insults or degrades members and allies of the LBGTQ+ community, we need to respond. Loudly, calling out their bullshit and hypocrisy. Because part of the problem is the lack of pushback and that’s giving the enemy free rein to wage the war against us. Seriously.
Example: The Roman Catholic bishops in the various archdioceses in Texas have remained silent in the wake of the political wars Greg Abbott, the state’s psychopath governor, has launched against the poor, the weak, Muslims. people of color and LBGTQ+ community. The United States Conference of Bishops likewise have behaved the same in the face of the Trump-oligarch administration. And they all are behaving the same as where and when? Germany in the 1930s. I wonder when the American pope, Pope Leo XIV, will tumble to this. He needs to. This suggestion isn’t a digression. It’s a clarion call to attack people like Amy Acton and Gavin Newsom while applauding Tim Walz and J.B. Pritzker for speaking out.
Second, we need to help the faith community supporting our cause do their part louder and more assertively. The Christian Nationalists right-wing is working to repeal the Johnson Amendment, aimed at opening the door for the evangelical fundamentalists to instruct their flocks directly from the pulpit. Well, good for the goose, good for the gander. The United Church of Christ, the ELCA Lutherans, the Episcopal Church in America, the Unitarian Universalists, the Metropolitan Churches, the Jewish community and others must increase the noise and take advantage of the opening. They need to lead their congregations in a march against the hate and insanity.
Finally, we need to push back on the local news outlets that are part of the right-wing plan to destroy democracy. I’m talking about the Sinclair-owned media, Fox, CBS (and, sadly, soon, CNN) and others of their ilk. Hit them at the local level as well as corporate. I’m not talking about just “letters to the editor.” Go for the jugular and contact the advertisers. I’m sure some of those businesses will pound side with these devils, but some may realize their bottom-line will see the consequences and comply.
Of course, this is bur one front of the anti-MAGA fight. There are other battles to wage, for indeed, we are in a war. Stay strong, people. Illegitimi non carborundum.
TY for this. The Dims will probably repeat their practice from last time, when they let that atrocious free-surgery-for-prisoners ad float out there without a hint of correction. Not only is that silence morally heinous, but it is also a great way of showing how insincere they are. What monster doesn't care about trans people? Only the actual monsters, as everybody knows.
Don't other people see the constant harassment and intimidation of trans people in the US? Some are blind to how we are treated and others see it and don't remark on it. Thank you Parker for writing it all out so others might get it.
And we need lots of people to get it. Dylan asks people to support trans folk now and she's right to do so. We can't make it without the support of CIS folk. There are so few trans people and we just don't have much power.
Thank you again Parker for your perceptive thought and writing.
Democrats not vocally defending Mulvaney was disappointing but sadly not surprising.
I've noted that whenever Sarah McBride posts on social media, there is a flood of vicious transphobic comments. If a GOP House Rep was cruelly harassed by liberals online, Republicans would make a big issue about it and demand that Democrats denounce the people who do this.
Oh, God. I don’t know where to begin. Let me start here: I have a grandchild who has come out as non-binary — loud and proud. As am I for them. Their “protection” or “cushion,” if you will, is living in a liberal city in a liberal state surrounded by family who loves them. Further, the grandchild of one of my close high school era friends is also non-binary but lives in a shamefully backward southern state. So, not only do I hear the fear but also share the anger. For them and, Parker, for you too.
There’s part of me who wonders, though, whose fucking business is gender, genitals, sexuality, sex and choices — yes, yes, I know the exceptions to that statement. For years I’ve asked some form of this question of the GOP: “If you’re so intent on small government and keeping government off our backs, why are you so interested in our genitals and what we do with them?” When I’ve posed this directly to individual Republicans, I get no answer. Given the wide swath of hypocrisy, none of us should be surprised.
Now, I will pose a question to all of us, one my therapist introduced me to: What is there to do? Because, that is the question for all of us who are not MAGAts. It’s the question for the LBGTQ+ community. It’s the question for the straight community. It’s the question for the decent community.
Get out the vote in the upcoming elections? Sure. The turnout will need to be massive to overcome the already-in-place voter suppression. The non-feckless Democratic leadership is working on that. But that’s another story for another time.
First and foremost, we need a new mantra and here it is. “The madman shouted in the marketplace and no-one stopped to answer him. Thus it was confirmed that his thesis was incontrovertible,” Dag Hammarskjöld in 1957, “Markings” (1963). Every time someone in power insults or degrades members and allies of the LBGTQ+ community, we need to respond. Loudly, calling out their bullshit and hypocrisy. Because part of the problem is the lack of pushback and that’s giving the enemy free rein to wage the war against us. Seriously.
Example: The Roman Catholic bishops in the various archdioceses in Texas have remained silent in the wake of the political wars Greg Abbott, the state’s psychopath governor, has launched against the poor, the weak, Muslims. people of color and LBGTQ+ community. The United States Conference of Bishops likewise have behaved the same in the face of the Trump-oligarch administration. And they all are behaving the same as where and when? Germany in the 1930s. I wonder when the American pope, Pope Leo XIV, will tumble to this. He needs to. This suggestion isn’t a digression. It’s a clarion call to attack people like Amy Acton and Gavin Newsom while applauding Tim Walz and J.B. Pritzker for speaking out.
Second, we need to help the faith community supporting our cause do their part louder and more assertively. The Christian Nationalists right-wing is working to repeal the Johnson Amendment, aimed at opening the door for the evangelical fundamentalists to instruct their flocks directly from the pulpit. Well, good for the goose, good for the gander. The United Church of Christ, the ELCA Lutherans, the Episcopal Church in America, the Unitarian Universalists, the Metropolitan Churches, the Jewish community and others must increase the noise and take advantage of the opening. They need to lead their congregations in a march against the hate and insanity.
Finally, we need to push back on the local news outlets that are part of the right-wing plan to destroy democracy. I’m talking about the Sinclair-owned media, Fox, CBS (and, sadly, soon, CNN) and others of their ilk. Hit them at the local level as well as corporate. I’m not talking about just “letters to the editor.” Go for the jugular and contact the advertisers. I’m sure some of those businesses will pound side with these devils, but some may realize their bottom-line will see the consequences and comply.
Of course, this is bur one front of the anti-MAGA fight. There are other battles to wage, for indeed, we are in a war. Stay strong, people. Illegitimi non carborundum.