#right now there is fascist legislation in so many states

[lotusofhope]

I swear to god if a cis person ever brings up trans in sports again I'm just gonna deck them in a video game

[germiyahu]

Like can we think about the journey this website has taken? From mocking people who claim not to be bigoted and smugly patting them on the head and explaining that they are bigots but just don't realize it... to becoming those bigots?

This website used to laugh at people who said "I'm not a homophobe! I'm not afraid of things that are the same lel!" Now it says "We're not antisemites... we have nothing against Semites only genocidal Zionazis and their colonizer supporters 😂"

This website used to see red when people said "I'm not a transphobe, I just have concerns about the unregulated influence this MOVEMENT OF GENDER IDEOLOGUES is having on innocent children!" Now it says "We're not antisemites, we're just curious who is funding all this pro-Zionist legislation and initiatives and campus organizations! Aren't you worried that Zionists have an undue influence in our government and culture?"

This website used to sneer at people who said "I'm not a racist! It's a fact that black people [misquoted and misinterpreted statistic]! My God you people are against the truth!" Now it says "We're not antisemites when Zionists have proven that their bloodthirsty fascistic goals are widely supported by Jewish institutions in America, who aren't even true Jews by the way! Zionism =/= Judaism real Jews support Palestine ✊"

This website used to roll its eyes at people who said "I'm not a misogynist! Women have their equal rights under the law, and if you research it they actually have it better off than men in several areas, they're always whining about nothing!" Now it says "We're not antisemites, Jews are a protected class, more than you can say for most actual minorities, they control succeed in finance, entertainment, politics, in what ways are they oppressed? Where are these streets that Jews don't feel safe on lol? Why do they always cry antisemitism when there's a genocide going on? They actually collaborate with the police state btw 🤓"

And there are so many more examples and parallels and my posts are always too long. Antisemitism is the rug being pulled out from under Leftists to reveal that they've been right wing bigots this whole time. Antisemitism is a tool that Leftists use to radicalize themselves into abandoning their own principles, because it's just too enticing not to use it.

[decolonize-the-everything]

it's not accurate to act like the feminist movement in rok is free of terfs/only has incidental issues with transmisogyny. there's rampant transmisogyny in rok feminism. there's not a lot of english-language scholarship about it, but look up the kind of rhetoric and policy that was on sites like megalia/WOMAD, or the trans woman who was accepted to a women's university but got harrassed into withdrawing by terfs/conservatives in 2020. i'm sure you mean well but your post is irresponsibly misleading about the content and ideology of current-day korean feminism

I never said RoK doesn't have TERFs or a widespread radfem problem.

We in the USA have them and depending on where you are a transwoman might get the same treatment. There have been 538 pieces of anti-trans legislation presented in the USA this year alone. Florida specifically is turning into a straight up anti-trans fascist state.

TERF/radfem ideology is gaining ground in the USA and theyve actually been the people pushing a lot of these bills through with supporters like the heritage foundation. For example:

Several other states are starting to follow suit now that they see whats possible. US progress is deeply turning backwards. This is largely being allowed to happen by a public who isn't fighting back. The only people really talking about any of this is in fact trans people or the people close to them.

That said, radfems and such shouldn't be made out to be the face of feminism.

They're not and I would never say they are because there are Actual feminists fighting against them and trying to stop them from co-opting feminism.

Radfeminism is gaining ground, sure, but I'd still never say that it's representative of US feminism or even feminism really.

Feminism is about gender equality. TERFs/Radfeminism is about gender separatism, defining women by their sexual ability, and catering to patriarchal views of gender as a "rebellion" against actual feminism. Ask a radefem what defines them and they'll say their uterus.

Does your ability to create babies for the patriarchy define you as a woman? Of course not.. especially when feminists have been seeking to destroy that idea.

How can you be feminist and fundamentally disagree with it's premise?

It's more like anti-feminsim than anything else. Especially when we consider that feminists have fought generations to be defined by more than their sex, that the genders are equal and have equal abilities, that women have a Right to be in spaces considered for men, and try so hard to fight against the way that patriarchy defines women as maids, wives, and breeders who should be pretty and thin.

Anyone who steps outside that definition should be celebrated as a success story. Proof that the gender binary is bigger and more complicated than believed. Proof that women and womenhood are too expansive and too complex to be limited by such a small minded definition.

That to say.... Just because it's a massive problem...doesn't mean that radfems are the face of feminism. And saying that doesn't mean I'm ignoring their existence either.

I just wouldn't ever ever validate them successfully co-opting feminism. And I wouldn't Let them have it either by saying "well I guess there's so many radfems in this movement that I guess it's their's now" either.

All this to say, I'm aware. It was actually kinda difficult to find resources on the 4b movement that weren't transphobic.

The point is fighting patriarchy tho right? That means fighting transphobia. And since there ARE Korean women and other people doing that and talking about it, I'm going to focus on progress. Not whatever the fuck radfems are doing.

And I'm going to trust that as feminism makes more strides in gender equality that the groups of radfems will shrink. And that are more people will see radfems/TERFs less and less like feminists and more and more like the Patriarchy Preservers they are.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Dean Obeidallah at The Dean's Report:

We must make our focus keeping the barbarians outside the gate, not figuring out how to lessen the damage once they are on the inside. That was my immediate thought Sunday when I read NY Times in-depth article, “The Resistance to a New Trump Administration Has Already Started.” The piece featured a wide network of Democratic officials, progressive activists and more who are engaged in “extraordinary steps to prepare for a potential second Trump presidency.”  Examples include Democratic Governor Washington State Jay Inslee’s efforts to make the state a safe haven for women seeking reproductive freedom to an organization hiring a new auditor in case a second term Trump directs the Internal Revenue Service to target them. On one hand, I truly applaud these officials and organizations for grasping that Donald Trump back in the White House poses a unique threat to our freedoms and democratic Republic. Far too many don’t understand this threat.

But on the other hand, the only certain way to prevent Trump from using the government to wage a campaign of retribution, ending civil service protections so that only Trump loyalists will be in key positions in the federal government--as well as ushering in a far right wing agenda being peddled by his allies--is to defeat him this November. Again, we must make our focus keeping the barbarians outside the gate, not figuring out how to lessen the damage once they are on the inside. Trump is telling all who will listen his dark goals for a second term—from mass deportations to building in essence concentration camps for migrants to expanding executive power. There’s also Trump’s deeply concerning vow to “liberate” America from those not loyal to him. We first heard this during his 2023 speech at the conservative gathering CPAC where he promised his supporters to be their “retribution.” He then alarmingly  vowed that if elected to target Democrats, “the fake news media,” Republicans in name only, the globalists and others who oppose him, bellowing, “we will liberate America from these villains and scoundrels once and for all.”

He has repeated this pledge to “liberate” our nation from those who oppose him, including at a rally last month in Wisconsin.  When have you ever heard an American political figure speak about “liberating” America from those who politically oppose him or her?! You can’t find it because we never had an aspiring fascist—who has pledged to be a dictator on “day one”— lead one of the two main political parties. To be blunt, the forms of resistance utilized to stymie some of Trump’s agenda in the first term are unlikely to work against this bitter, angry convicted felon who is hellbent on retribution and purging America from those who won’t bend a knee to him.

[...]

From a legislative point of view, If Trump were able to win and his MAGA GOP were able to also take control of the House and Senate, we can expect him deliver for them on a laundry list of right-wing policy dreams from national abortion and birth control bans to further weakening civil rights protections for LGBTQ and Black Americans and worse. This won’t be like Trump’s first term when some Republicans stood up to him to block his radical agenda—with the most famous example being the late Senator John McCain preventing Trump from repealing the Affordable Care Act with his vote.  The Republicans who have dared to stand up to Trump are almost all out of Congress or now capitulated to his undemocratic goals. Of the ten House Republicans who voted in  January 2021 to impeach Trump for inciting the Jan. 6 insurrection, only two remain in the House. Senator Mitt Romney--a vocal critics of Trump--will be leaving office  this January. Even GOP Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell who slammed Trump on the Senate floor after the Jan. 6 attack with the words, “There is no question that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of that day,” last week met with Trump and dubbed  it “entirely positive.”

[...] If Trump wins, there are few things that can rein him in. That is why diverting efforts at this point to second term resistance strategies is dangerous given the threat Trump poses. Rather, the top and only priority must be utilizing all resources to defeat him. Nothing else matters.

Dean Obeidallah dropping truth nuggets in his latest Dean's Report post on why defeating fascist felon Donald Trump is imperative to save our nation.

See Also:

CNN: Opinion: Don’t focus on bracing for a Trump win

[anonymous-dentist]

"It's not that deep"

Yes, yes it is. It is that deep. Buying a Trump flag is that deep. I don't know if most of these Dream fans leftover in their echo chamber of a fanbase remember this, because they were probably kids, but the Trump presidency signaled the end of the world of minorities all across the United States. We're still feeling the repercussions of that today in 2022, almost two full years into Biden's administration. White supremacists are out in louder numbers than they have been in years. Antisemitism is on the rise. Abortion is being threatened in most U.S. states after the conservative-packed Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade this summer, a court packed by Trump and including Christo-fascists, racists, misogynists, homo- and transphobes, and literal alleged rapists and actual cult members. Anti-queer legislation is being pushed in a significant number of U.S. states and in the federal government by members of the legislature who have been emboldened by having a president that agreed with them.

The 2020 presidential election was huge- some of the largest numbers in decades- because people wanted this man out of office. And he's running again in 2024 despite having been impeached twice (the most for any sitting president in the history of the United States) and despite being under investigation for a bajillion federal crimes, including a recent indictment brought against him in response to him instigating, encouraging, and assisting an attempted insurrection and violent takeover of the government in January of last year. (You people might remember it for Doomsday on the smp; many others remember it as one of the most terrifying moments in U.S. political history.) He's running despite the several charges of campaign fraud and election interference brought against him. The Republicans might not be done with him yet, which is a terrifying thought. Even if they are and they're going with DeSantis for 2024, Trump is still planning on running, and he's bankrupt right now. He's broke. His company is broke. He is broke. The only income he gets now are from MAGA supporters buying his merch. Those funny little NFTs from last week? Those support him.

Know what else directly supports Donald Trump and his campaign? Flags. Buying flags.

Does this mean that Dream and Sapnap are Trump supporters for buying a Trump flag as a gag gift for their British friend? No, absolutely not, but the joke of 'lol look at this stupid idiot flag we got you' doesn't land when, A, the person giving the gift is a former Trump supporter himself, and, B, the person that the flag was bought from is a literal white supremacist and fascist who is friends with white supremacists and fascists who all want queer people to die, they want women to be silent or to die, they want civil rights overturned, they want to turn this country back into a shell of itself in the name of white male Christian supremacy

Dream's audience is young and vulnerable. Many members are queer. Many are POC. Most are young. They might not remember how fucking terrifying 2016 through 2020 were. People woke up in tears the day after election day in 2016 for a reason. The polls were flooded in 2020 for a reason. These audience members might not remember that because they were so young, or they might not realize the gravity of the situation. What does it say to them when their hero pulls out a Trump flag and says it's a gift? It's something to laugh at, yeah, but is it really? It shows people that it's okay not to take Trump seriously, and he and his followers are still a threat to America today. It's dangerous not to take him and his followers seriously. And since the Democrats don't seem to have anybody they're pushing for for 2024, it's especially important for potential voters (because that's what these fans are, many will be old enough to vote by 2024) to start to research and understand the opposition.

Oh, and this also alienates members of Dream's audience that do remember the Trump administration. Reminder, thanks to Trump and his buddies, being queer is becoming illegal again. POC are constantly under attack because of the racist remarks encouraged by Trump during his administration. Treating Trump as a joke could, and probably has, alienated a portion of viewers. It shows them just how seriously Dream thinks these issues are. It's all worth it for a funny joke that won't appear for longer than a minute on a several hour long stream train, one viewed by tens of thousands of people live and hundreds of thousands more via vods and clips in the 12+ hours that have passed since.

You'd think that Dream would know better with a platform this size and with a fanbase as unique as what his used to be, but I guess not. Critical thinking is vital in this industry, whether you're a fan or a creator. Do I think he meant any harm in this? No, I think he's just a moron. A terrible man, yeah, but not for this. For this, he's just a fucking idiot, and he needs to get a PR guy, and he needs to fucking think before he does things for once in his life. Because it could've been funny to some people, including himself, but there is a responsibility to be, well, responsible with yourself and your audience when you're a content creator. It's very easy to send the wrong message out. There's a certain level of critical thinking that needs to be put into place, and that clearly is not a skill that Dream has.

[tanadrin]

Okay, well, final question(s): what is the concrete action? By what legislative method can you stop voters from rallying around fascism? Particularly in the case where a major political party is embracing it.

i do not have a full program handy, but i think you misunderstand the goal here--you're not gonna convince the 15-30% of voters in many countries who are fully aboard the fascism train to get off that train, at least not right now. your goal is to present a clear alternative for people who might be persuaded by far-right attempts to appeal to the center, and to motivate the committed anti-fascists to turn out to elections.

(the extremity of the american two-party system makes this harder because you are genuinely not gonna get the democratic party to adopt a platform that will appeal to an ideological conservative who is not a far-right goon; and ideological conservatives are strongly disincentivized to form their own party bc splitting the republican party even a little bit would ensure conservative parties ceased to be electorally performant on a national level, and probably in many states as well. so the republicans would have to really alienate a very large chunk of their base to cease to be a meaningful electoral force. and anti-majoritarian stuff like gerrymandering and the senate helps keep them viable too. but a lot of ideological conservatives will go, 'well, i hate this trump guy, but at least if he's in power i'll get a little of what i want, versus the zero of what i want if the democrats win.' but i still think concrete actions matter--and there is stuff democrats could do to counter those anti-majoritarian features of politics, like pushing to adopt the NPVIC, propose amendments abolishing the EC--a popular idea in general iirc--and ending the filibuster in the senate. plus state-level reforms like nonpartisan redistricting laws, and adopting non-FPTP voting rules.)

[unforth]

I'm glad your KS problem got solved. Can you please use some time to post about Palestine? People are being killed in your name. Use your platform please. Thank you

Hey anon! So...no, I won't be doing that. What the fuck do you even mean "people are being killed in my name"? Absolutely no one is killing in my name, and I owe talking about it more to no one.

First, I trigger pretty severely to harm to children, which automatically means that a great deal of the coverage of Palestine is very triggering for me.

Second, I think there are plenty of people already blogging about this, that not every single blog needs to become wall-to-wall discussion of Palestine, and that mass-blogging about the conflict is entirely performative.

Third, in general I rarely blog about political events, and when I do it's virtually always US election (FOR FUCK'S SAKE YOU HAVE TO VOTE) and/or things about censorship, because those are the areas that interest me and that I personally feel strongly about.

Fourth, I think the demand that a stranger blog about that one specific event, ignoring all the other ongoing tragedies in the world (the war in Ukraine and the genocide in the Congo, to name two that spring immediately to mind) is honestly heckin' weird.

Fifth, I own and run a business, and it's entirely within my rights to decide to keep that business apart from incredibly divisive current events. The business account (which is entirely separate from my personal account - it's not a side blog, it's a separate log in) - when it interacts with political topics at all - primarily blogs about recent happenings in publishing and related fields (so, legislation about free speech, ongoing strikes, etc.) and about recent happenings related to queer things (positive legislation and negative legislation being proposed or passed). I intentionally do not blog about other political topics, because they have nothing to do with the business. The most political the Press has gotten about the conflict in the Middle East is that we've quietly removed a couple books from rec lists that were written by authors or released by publishers who have managed, by publicizing their OWN views, to become especially controversial (especially on Tiktok) and even that I did extremely reluctantly, I just don't want to get Tiktok cancelled because we spent 5 seconds saying we liked a book by someone they currently hate, because Tiktok is Like That.

As to my own personal views on the conflict, which you are in absolutely no way entitled to know but which I have previously shared publicly so don't mind sharing again, I am a Jew and I was raised to believe that when all the rest of the world turned on us, Israel would always be the one place where we'd be safe, and I clung to that belief over 40 years of watching Israel become increasingly right wing and jingoistic, continuing to believe that the surest path to safety and security for everyone involved was a two-state solution.

As I previously wrote here, in the face of Israel's current actions against Palestine, I no longer believe that. If this is how Israel behaves, I no longer think Israel has a right to exist. I do still think that the best outcome right now is a two-state solution, but one that involves the complete abolition of the current Israeli government and army, to be replaced with a system that isn't, ya know, disgustingly fascist - and that if that can't be done, we need a one-state solution, and that one state shouldn't be Israel. This is my personal opinion.

However, I also acknowledge that for many Jews, this is an incredibly loaded, difficult topic, and I would never align my business to an official position like this because I have no desire to alienate people who I know feel as conflicted and complicated about this as I do myself. I take it as a matter of simple real fact that I respect my friends and colleagues enough to accept that they may reach different conclusions than I have about this, and I don't want them to feel unwelcome in a space that I've created because I on an individual level have reached a different conclusions about what I believe to be the best ending for this conflict than they have. We also do not allow political conversations of this stripe in our server for the same reason.

No matter how much people on both sides keep trying to paint this conflict as black and white, right and wrong, with one-and-done magic single-switch solutions, it's not that simple, never has been, and never will be, and the reality on the ground of ways to resolve this are also not that simple. Now, to be clear, I think it IS simple and accurate to say: the killing needs to stop i.m.m.e.d.i.a.t.e.l.y. That's a given and I think I'd be hard-pressed to find anyone in the circles I travel in who'd disagree. But what should happen AFTER that? That's where I think reasonable people can still disagree about what should happen next to that land and the people living on it.

Anyway.

I should probably stop talking before, in my effort to be nuanced and balanced, I say something that leads someone to think I should be canceled. I am against the genocide 100% and this conflict has turned me from reluctantly vaguely okay with zionism to anti-zionist, but I also am tired of seeing people act like big problems have easy solutions, and I'm tired of the suggestion that anyone who isn't performatively outraged about this specific situation 24/7 is a bad person with wrong opinions.

Like, I think you need to take a look in the mirror and ask yourself why you thought this was an appropriate ask to send a stranger. I'm genuinely disgusted that you'd try to turn a conflict that has nothing to do with me into something I'm personally responsible for because it's being done "in my name." Honestly, what the fuck is wrong with you? Antisemitic much? I'm a Jew, but that doesn't and never will mean that the Israeli government speaks for me or in my name. Fuck you.

[pillowfort-social]

Pride Month 2023

Hi everyone. As you likely know, June is Pride Month.

We’re aware many people in recent years have become wary of corporations that participate in  ‘Rainbow Capitalism’ – i.e., showing nominal support for the LGTBQIA2S+ community during Pride month as basically a marketing tactic, but otherwise failing to stand by the LGTBQIA2S+ community in substantive ways– sometimes even donating to anti-LGTBQIA2S+ organizations and politicians behind the scenes, or walking back their support in the face of opposition. As such, we want our community to know that our commitment to supporting and defending the LGTBQIA2S+ community is sincere and borne of conviction, not just a marketing ploy.

We have seen a dramatic increase in anti-trans legislation in the United States– and even legislation more broadly targeting anyone expressing non-traditional gender norms. Many are rightfully terrified by what is occurring. Make no doubt about it: these attacks are part of a larger attack on the LGTBQIA2S+ & LGTBQIA2S+ BIPOC community, a reactionary response to the progress & freedom that queer & trans people have achieved in recent decades. This legislation has made it difficult for trans and queer people to access healthcare, education, and employment. 

Furthermore, harassment and discrimination seems to be at an all time high because other social media platforms are continuing to allow hate speech and fascist thought freely. Trans and queer folks are having their voices silenced, or simply overridden by algorithms that boost bigoted rhetoric. As a result, we feel it is more important than ever for us to affirm our stance as unequivocally pro-LGTBQIA2S+ and pro-BIPOC. The need for us as a social media network to continue to stand by our LGTBQIA2S+ and LGTBQIA2S+ BIPOC members is obvious; we must be the counterbalance to all that prejudice and bigotry.

Pride Month is certainly a time to celebrate the trans and queer community, but it is also a time to remember the work where it all started. The first Pride was, in fact, a riot in response to systemic brutality against queer and trans people. We encourage you to learn more about the 1969 Stonewall Riots. 

And that’s why we won’t participate in ‘Rainbow Capitalism’. What we say here is from the heart. Our support isn’t a gimmick. 

Pillowfort.social doesn’t allow hate speech. We do not condone hateful rhetoric. We absolutely do not tolerate racism, homophobia, or transphobia. And fascism does not belong here. 

We love and support our LGTBQIA2S+ & LGTBQIA2S+ BIPOC community 365 days a year. Not just one month out of the year.  Pillowfort.social will continue to be a safe space for our trans and queer communities today, tomorrow, and forever. 

A final note: Now more than ever the LGTBQIA2S+ & LGTBQIA2S+ BIPOC Community needs your help to stand up to this wave of attacks. They need allies in the active, not passive, sense– people to stand up toward the danger they are facing. Be an accomplice. That means speaking out against anti-trans, anti-queer, and racist legislation. That means listening to trans, queer, and BIPOC voices. It’s so much more than 30 days of wearing rainbows. You might, if you can be safe doing so, look into participating with your local member groups such as the Equality Federation or the Human Rights Campaign. Organizations such as The Trevor Project are also in need of funding. 

We encourage anyone who wants to promote a local, national ,or international organization working for queer & trans rights to do so in the comments of this post. All hateful comments will be removed. The best first step to oppose anti-LGBTQIA+ legislation is to let the politicians who are promoting these measures know that there are a lot more people fighting against them than they bargained for.

Are you a trans or queer community member in need of aid? Also leave a comment here or here and link ways other users can support you. 

This month find joy in the midst of the storm. Live your life truly out of spite. Don’t let those bastards get you down.

[qqueenofhades]

Ignoring his inflammatory rhetoric, do you think Bernie's *POLICIES* are actually that extreme? I've read them over and, if he had a softer approach, they seem like they'd be sound policies to me

The problem with Bernie is that it's hard to know, in actual practice/reality, what his policies are. Yes, on paper, everyone knows what they are, and it's not a week if he's not writing yet another op-ed in the Guardian about Workers' Rights or Climate Justice or whatever. But like.... what good does that do anyone? Everyone who reads the Guardian probably agrees with those things already, and that includes me -- I read it, I financially support it, etc., but it's not where I come for policy actions or where I want to see US senators spending all their time. (Like, Bernie, aren't there other people you could be talking to, who could actually do something about this?) It's the definition of preaching to the choir, where he's regurgitating a boilerplate piece of progressive ideology but not actually doing anything about it or attempting to reach an audience who doesn't already agree with him. (Plus the Guardian, unfortunately, is always also willing to let his ex-campaign manager, David Sirota, bash the Democrats for something, but never mind that.)

Likewise, Bernie's actual voting record in the Senate isn't always a match with the things for which he has (very loudly) advocated, and he's a multi-millionaire old white man from Vermont (one of the whitest states in the Union) who has often seemed interested in preaching socialism for everyone else but resisting any scrutiny or participation in that for himself. He has gotten a lot of mileage and built a disproportionately influential political career out of championing so-called leftist progressivism/socialism, but as I keep saying about him, he never seems to do anything about it. "Tax billionaires" or "save the planet" are extremely broad-brush statements that everyone in the liberal camp can mostly agree on. And no, I wouldn't say those positions are particularly extreme; they're pretty much mainstream Democratic ideology at this point. Indeed, I think Bernie gets unwarranted traction out of positioning himself as the "radical" alternative to the Democrats, when most of the things he says are now basically part of the party platform and have been adopted or explored in some shape or form. Just because they can't actually be implemented at the moment, whether due to legislative roadblocks or otherwise, doesn't mean that they're not moving in that direction.

Likewise, Bernie's favorite hobbyhorse of Medicare for All is often used by his fans to irrationally bash the Democrats, as if we don't have universal healthcare -> quod erat demonstrandum, Democrats Are Neoliberal Shills. I've written many posts about the state of the healthcare debate in America and how passing even a much-watered-down Affordable Care Act cost Obama control of Congress for pretty much the rest of his presidency. So if Bernie and co. want to offer a roadmap for how to pass another major healthcare reform/overhaul that goes even further than the ACA -- trust me, everyone's listening and wants to know how to do that. That is neither extreme nor particularly, at least among Democrats, controversial in the way it was in 2009, when we still had Blue Dog Democrats in red states like Nebraska and South Dakota. But a) we have the united fascist bloc of Republicans who would object and obstruct it on principle, and b) we DON'T have enough Democrats to just pass it by fiat and have that be the end, because that's not the way things have worked in the history of anything.

So basically: if progressives want to endlessly harp on the Democrats for not magically pulling Medicare for All out of a hat, they're welcome to do that if, and only if, they can produce a credible policy/platform/program of action to actually get it passed that the Democrats could be following and aren't (and "they don't care enough about this and could fix it if they wanted!" is not that). That way, they could actually show that the reform is empirically possible and the Democrats are not carrying it out. But flatly ignoring all the political realities and blaming them for not producing a miracle in an extremely adverse legislative and political climate does not count as good-faith engagement and isn't directed toward any constructive end. It's just performative gesturing to show that they are Better Than The Establishment, something something something, and Bernie is usually one of the chief offenders in this regard, despite actually being part of the Establishment for decades.

I will give Bernie credit for two things: he has voted for all the major Democratic legislative packages with the relative minimum of selfish hostage-taking/sabotaging such as that carried out constantly by Manchin and Sinema, and he quickly shut down any talk of running (yet fucking again) in 2024, in order to support Biden's re-election bid. But as far as policies go, he's still not shown me that he either has a concrete plan to carry them out, that he knows what they are aside from broad-brush, vague and general talking points, or that he will put in the work to get them achieved, so yeah.

[socialjusticeinamerica]

Trans state representative banned from state house for simply being trans. Nobody even cares. Did the tv press even mention it? Only a few left-leaning print/websites covered it. Red states are the majority now (even though a numerical minority reside there). Soon they will hold a Constitutional Convention to write a new fascist leaning constitution and we will all suffer. The Koch and Walton families have been buying state legislatures for decades while we ignored them.

Their fascist lawyers have been actively planning and drafting copies of a new corporate/Christo/fascist constitution. They will deliver it through a red state stooge like Rafael “Ted” Cruz. They will make a call for a convention where red state lawmakers will rubber stamp it and America the land of the free will be ended. They are only a few red states away from this. They are already speaking openly of returning to the old selection method of choosing the president to the House of Representatives where they will be able to ignore the voices of the people.

Cruz, Gosar, Boebert, Gaetz, Jordan’s, Greene, etc aren’t just kooks spouting nonsense. They are the harbingers of the oligarchs who are floating trial balloons and prepping the base for the oligarch takeover. They may seem comical with their clumsy ham fisted deliveries but they are spewing the talking points and desires of the right-wing oligarchs.

For years I’ve been delivering warnings and all those warnings have either come true or are about to. Many of you follow this as closely as I do and know what’s going on behind the Republikkkan curtain and who’s pulling the strings. The problem is that the general public has little idea of the Republikkkan end game. This isn’t something cyclical that will resolve itself. Never in history has there been such a tidal wave of anti-democratic legislation being passed so broadly and do rapidly. They’re not playing games or biding their time anymore. They are making their move to seize control of American government and make it a tool of the right-wing billionaire oligarchs and their corporations.

Guns, religion, and culture wars, are the tools they are using to radicalize the poor southerners, westerners, and rural folk to vote against their own best interests. It’s the French Revolution in reverse, where the poor have been conditioned to support the tyrannical aristocracy (kleptocracy). It’s about money and control over government to foster a society where businesses can run rampant while the citizens are stripped of all basic rights and forced into favelas like in Brazil. Favelas being the slums for the poor/working class on the edges of cities where there are little to no government services and crime and disease run rampant. Fascist militias (private paramilitary armies) will become death squads exacting revenge on progressives and executing anyone who demands reform. Militarized police will maintain order and protect business at all costs. The actual military will fight wars for oil and invade nations for other resources.

It shouldn’t sound dramatic it has been happening all around us as authoritarianism has been sweeping the globe. Escape from this along with climate change is what is driving so many migrants to our borders. Do something to stand up to the right-wing while you still can, before you have to live through an actual “ Purge” night.

[fiendishneko]

An Over Written Post About Hilary Cass

Hey, so chances are, you folks have probably heard about something in the UK that cam out recently called the Cass Report. Named after the woman behind it, Hilary Cass, the report purports to provide a thorough, impartial evaluation of trans healthcare in the UK, with the intention of being used a guidance going forward.

Now, if you've already heard about the report, you've probably also heard how this this thing has more holes than swiss cheese and seems to be held together by spit, safety pins and seething hatred for us uppity queers. For example, you probably heard how Cass chose to disregard 50 out of 51 studies that support the current model of trans health care, on the grounds that they didn't utilize a "Double Blind study group", something that is recognised by medical professionals to both unethical and untenable in this situation, whilst accepting as evidence four studied that suggested trans healthcare had negligible results, all four of which ALSO did not make use of a double blind.

She also believes the toys children play with are biologically pre-determined. Seriously. Boys like trucks, girls like dollies, basic biology, simple as.

But this overly long post isn't about the report, it's about Hilary Cass the person. Who is this totally impartial, fair and balanced individual?

Well, this exact same Hilary Cass has personally warned the Conservative Minister for Equalities (this is actually very funny, trust me), Kemi Badenoch, of the "risks" of any kind of ban on conversion therapy.

In addition, Hilary Cass is a follower and supporter of far-right anti trans hate group, "Transgender Trend", an astroturfed UK group that was one of many found to have been the receipient of vast amounts of dark money from US Conservative groups such as the Heritage Foundation and Alliance Defending Freedom.

"But wait Neko!" I hear you cry, "Us poor Yanks are feeling all left out, is there anything she's done over on our side of the pond?" Well, my hypothetical American reader, there is, how astute of you.

Cass has also worked very closely with Patrick Hunter of the Catholic Medical Association as a consultant on potential anti-trans and anti-LGBT legislation to be implemented by Govenor Ron DeSantis. The CMA is an overtly anti-LGBT organisation and Hunter himself is purportedly part of a group of anti-trans activists working across the United States to undermine and undo LGBT rights, for which he was hand picked by Ron DeSantis for his role in the "Florida Review".

So yeah.

Hilary Cass: A fair, balanced, impartial, hate group following, conversion therapy supporting, fascist policy advising writer of the Cass Report.

[canyouhearthelight]

Nihilus Rex, Ch. 36: Truth and Consequences

Trigger warning on this chapter for emetophobia. Because shit just got very very real in the previous chapter, and we are not going to pretend our girl is a stone cold badass yet.

Shoutout to @baelpenrose for tag teaming this chapter with me so we could get the right balance with all the characters while keeping this very much from Lash's POV.

Hey young blood, doesn't it feel like our time is running out?

I'm gonna change you like a remix

Then I'll raise you like a phoenix

Wearing our vintage misery

No, I think it looked a little better on me

I'm gonna change you like a remix

Then I'll raise you like a phoenix

“Phoenix”, Fall Out Boy

Lash

I bolted out of the office we were using and onto what had been the sales floor before vomiting.  A part of me in the back of my brain was very proud of that, but the rest of me was horrified.

Children.  Children had died as a result of our gamble.

When my stomach was mercifully empty, I started looking for cleaning supplies, numbly thinking through everything.  Nils had warned me several weeks ago that I couldn’t do this and keep my hands clean. And I had ordered the deaths of the men who had fire-bombed the coffee shop, killing my family and maiming more of them. My hands aren’t clean, I kept reminding myself as I tried to clean up the evidence of my emotions.

“Lash.” I heard Nils over my shoulder, and held a hand up to stop him.

“Back up. I’m cleaning up sick. It smells awful, but I’m almost done.”

“Lash.”

“I’m getting it together, just give me a minute.  And don’t bother telling me not to act like this in front of Gray, clearly I know that or I wouldn’t have bolted from the office.”

“Nah, he’s busy on something else. He’s not paying attention to us.” Nils’ voice was sickly detached. “He’s a frighteningly good tactician, we picked well. I was impressed by how quickly he picked up command and control of the firefight around the church.” His voice sounded distracted. “As an aside, I hope you didn’t get too far into cleaning up because I may throw up in a moment.”

The caretaker part of my brain took over and I pointed at the bucket I had not yet tossed the rags in. “Puke in there, please. I just started bleaching so we don’t invite ants.  Don’t worry, I plan to toss the rags in there and take the entire thing to the nearest dumpster.”  My automatic reactions kicked in after a second and I realized my flaw. “Third closest dumpster… I don’t want the people living here finding that when they go diving.”

I listened to the noises Nils made for a few minutes, and when they seemed to have paused, I sighed, not even lifting my forehead from where it was propped on a knee. “Nine kids… what have we done?”

Nils took a breath. “Drove a wedge between the chaos fascists and the iron-edged boot of the state.” His voice was rattled, uncertain. “I hate it, Lash. But what we just did was…it’ll save more lives in the long run. How many kids in your community get shot by cops for being a little on the darker side? Or…adjacent communities? How many die in school shootings? Whatever the fallout of what we just did, it’s going to do something about one of those problems. Either it’s going to brutalize the police and limit their ability to continue attacking communities of any kind, or it’s going to actually defang the gun lobby enough to limit mass shootings. We can’t undo what we just did. All we can do now is make it mean something.” 

I couldn’t tell if he believed himself, or if he was trying to convince himself as much as he was trying to convince me. Given that I had promised not to rip into him when we had a difference of opinion, I just sat in silence with my thoughts. Realistically, the more vocal political public would bend over backwards to explain why this was different, why this one mattered more than the others.  And maybe some change would come from it, but it wouldn’t happen on a legislative scale - but in public opinion this was the time to go all in.

I stood with a heavy breath. “That bucket is ten gallons. I’m going back before Gray gets suspicious.”

“Lash - “

“No. You get it out out here, behind the scenes, just like I did. I will be on my best behavior. Swear.”  I didn’t even wait for a response before I returned to the room we were using as our base of operations, slipping my headset on with a professional tone.

“Gray, talk to me.”

“Conflict is managed, Phoenix. Bishop says you and Nihilus are going to begin planning a ground game to move support among those shocked by this tragedy.” The last word lilted slightly, sardonically. “Begin creating a ground swell for our movement. By all accounts your speciality is more prepared for that than my own.”

Closing my eyes, I resigned myself to making a deal with the devil. “You would think, but I need you, specifically, for the next part.  Pick or create a personality, I don’t particularly care. But start drawing comparisons to shootings on black and brown communities. We need more people, and if we want to avoid suspicion, we are going to need some who aren’t already in the far right pipeline.  I know that is the last thing you want to hear, and I get it, but we need to court both sides if we want to stay under the radar.” As much as I disliked Gray, he could argue with himself online better than anyone we had on hand - or even than I had offhand.

“No, Bishop implied something about this to me. No, I have…communications with some black nationalist groups who arm themselves against police. I will start with them - that persona is probably the easiest to work with. Begin networking with your type, at your end,” Gray’s voice was almost bored. 

My heart stopped. My type? We had been careful not to connect Elaskhi with the Phoenix Queen.  The blood in my veins ran like ice.

Before I could say anything, Nils stepped back into the room and tapped his headset. “Good planning. Bishop can help Phoenix coordinate with the more relief-focused organizations that lean more independent and less politically-radical, but anti-establishment. I’ll be checking in with all three of you. Gray, maintain your communication with the right wing gun activists and begin building bridges with black nationalist gun rights groups. Emphasis: the state and corporations are the enemy, all our differences are secondary.” He slapped his headset off again and turned to me. “We’ll figure out what the hell he meant by ‘your type,’ in a minute.”

I re-ran the conversation in my head. Applying the most charitable perspective I could make up to it, I tried to mollify Nils. “He could mean brown people, or he could mean climate and health activists. The ‘hippy dippy’ crowd.  The sooner we know which he meant, the better.” Deep down, I was praying to every deity I believed in that it was the latter.  If Gray had figured out who I was, this was much more serious than we’d thought.

I bit the bullet and unmuted. “Gray… In the year of our lord 2017, what the hell do you mean by ‘my people’?”

“Pakistani-Indian, second or third generation immigrant to the US. Don’t worry, your security was flawless, your accent is just readable. I did human intelligence, remember? Accents are something I had to get really good at distinguishing. And hey, can’t be all bad - your ancestral land is what, second most populous in the world? Clearly you’re doing something smarter than we are.” 

Trying to avoid giving Gray any ideas, I bit back the automatic response about lack of reproductive care and sexual assault rates. “That doesn’t necessarily mean I know everyone or anyone in either India or Pakistan.”

“Don’t insult my intelligence. Immigrant communities in this country stick together, and we haven’t gone international yet. Odds are, there’s people in your community that have ties to further-flung Pakistani or Indian immigrants. And your activism definitely gives you ties to other groups you can talk to.”

I wanted, very desperately, to deny his suggestion.  However, that would involve a big fat lie that literally no one would believe.

Bishop cut in when he saw Nils open his mouth. “To some degree. Not, perhaps, to the degree you imagine. Getting broader community support following this - especially given the backlash that will follow, both official and unofficial, will be a lift, but not impossible.” 

Nils nodded. “Then we have at least a start. And we need to have a breath before we do something this high profile again - Phoenix and I have a gambit to get the FBI off our tails coming up, but they aren’t going to be drawn off forever. They’ll come around again eventually. We need to get them officially spouting the line that we’re a series of unrelated events as long as possible and not looking into greater significance until we have the ground work to make a real power grab.” 

I pressed a hand on my upset stomach and forced the words out, knowing it was for the best. “And that includes framing some people if needs be. I’m willing to go down for a cause, but not until it has enough traction to carry on without me.”

Gray surprised me by adding his assent. “That is the only intelligent move, so very much what I expected from someone like you.”

I wanted to object, but Bishop shrugged and nodded apologetically.

Apparently I needed to get braced for racism that expected more of me, not less.

Then Nils, speaking in the persona of Nihilus. “If we are committing, then the situation is this. No one here is expendable until the endgame. We need a few more people to round out the set we’re playing with, and we need to be looking into finding people for that role. Whatever happens - it isn’t going to be pretty. It will involve more of what we’ve already done. But we’ll have the chance to change the world the way we’ve always hoped.” 

I wondered for a moment if he knew how Gray was digesting that information. It definitely wasn’t even close to how I would have wanted. 

[bopinion]

2024 / 23

Aperçu of the Week

"Shut up! I can't stand it!"

(Donald Duck, who so often speaks from my soul, turned 90 years on Sunday)

Bad News of the Week

Germany - and by that I mean society and politics - cannot find a sensible way to deal with extremism. Not with the right, not with the left - and not with religious fanaticism either. In Mannheim, a police officer was killed when he tried to defend the election campaign stand of a far-right movement (of all things) against an attack by an individual. A drama that shocked many. The attacker was an Afghan, who is unsurprisingly a Muslim.

Since then, people in Germany have been discussing whether there is a misguided migration policy or whether Germany has a problem with Islamist parallel societies. Unfortunately, this is grist to the mill of those who complain about foreign infiltration, uncontrolled immigration and a lack of integration. Which is all completely inflated. And of course "deportation" was discussed.

Deportation means that someone who applies for asylum and is denied it (for whatever reason) has to go back to their country of origin. With one exception: if they would not be safe there. For example, if they belong to a religious minority that is persecuted in their home country. Or is homosexual, but this is condemned or forbidden by their state. A few failed states such as Syria or Afghanistan are generally considered too unsafe for anyone to be sent back there.

Now this constitutional (and humanitarian!) principle is being called into question. Even by our chancellor. What I don't understand is the specific facts of the case. If someone commits a criminal offense under our laws - which the killing of a police officer, for example, undoubtedly is - they must be charged and sentenced accordingly by our prosecution. According to our laws. Does anyone seriously believe that an attack on Islamophobes that led to the death of an infidel system henchman would be punished in Afghanistan in a way that even resembles our legislation? Which would correspond to our moral sense of justice? Which could give the victim's relatives, friends and colleagues an equity?

Not me. Anyone who commits a crime in Germany should be charged and sentenced in Germany and serve their sentence in Germany. Even if that costs our tax money. We as a state and society owe that to the victim. To misuse this tragedy as a momentum for an exaggerated discussion about "the fundamentally evil foreigner" makes a mockery of the 29-year-old police officer who lost his life in the line of duty even after his death. He certainly does not deserve that.

Good News of the Week

Last week was a more than significant one for Europe. First of all, it was the 80th anniversary of D-Day. In other words, the day on which 170,000 infantrymen from the USA, Great Britain and Canada landed in Normandy with 5,300 ships and supported by 11,000 aircraft as part of "Operation Overlord" to finally liberate Europe from the fascist scourge of Nazi Germany. A historical event for which not least the Germans are grateful, as it paved the way for a democratic peace process in Western Europe that made the European Union possible in the first place - which absurdly exists today without the UK, but that's another story that not even David Cameron can explain.

Which brings us to the elections of the European Parliament, the democratic institution that represents the most people on this planet - because India (not only) in my opinion does not (yet) meet the criteria of a true democracy. Which, for Germany, actually went exactly as expected. With a clear victory for the conservatives (who are in opposition in the Bundestag), a clear strengthening of the far right (whose voters were hardly impressed by the scandals of the last weeks and months) and a rejection of the federal government (the traffic light coalition of social democrats, greens and liberals).

A few details. The electoral map of Germany is precisely divided into two: the conservative CDU/CSU leads in all western federal states, while the far-right AfD leads in all eastern states. The traffic light parties are losing 20% compared to the 2021 federal election that brought them into government. The Greens lose the most. Young people - including many first-time voters, as the voting age of 16 applied for the first time - vote for either small, progressive parties (high level of education) or the AfD (low level of education). This is a drama in itself, as it cuts off an entire generation from political reality. Voter turnout rises slightly to just under 65%.

But it is not all bad: the EPP (European People's Party, to which the German election winners CDU and CSU also belong) of Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has won in principle. This is good, even if it will be more difficult for her to gain a majority in the future. Because she is an internationally established leader who is taken seriously in global political circles. Or because she is the driving force behind the "Green Deal", which is making the headlines less and less often, but is still fundamentally on track.

And above all, it is good that these elections took place at all. A democratic election for (almost) an entire continent. A continent that has largely understood that constructive cooperation in peace is to the benefit of all. The foundation for this was laid 80 years ago, when countless young men from faraway North America were prepared to risk their lives for the liberation of Europe. Thank you very much.

I couldn't care less...

...that there is now an action figure of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro called "Super Bigote" (super moustache). Such a ridiculous cult of personality can't hide the fact that Maduro is closer to a super villain than a super hero.

It's fine with me...

...that Italian opera has been declared an intangible world cultural heritage by UNESCO. As a "Friend of the Italian Opera" (yes, that's a reference), I have a few more suggestions: Parmiggiano, La dolce vita, Vitello tonnato, Ermenegildo Zegna, Aperol sprizz, Vespa, Caffé, Pininfarina, Chianti. And of course that inimitable way of talking with your hands. Viva Italia!

As I write this...

...I can hear crickets chirping. It still feels like April - it's wet, cold and windy. But this sound of nature, which reminds me of vacations as a child, gives me hope that summer will come this year too.

Post Scriptum

Death Valley is living up to its name: temperatures of up to 50 degrees were recorded in the Mojave Desert last week. And 44 in the middle of Las Vegas - never before has it been so hot so early in the year in the south-west of the USA. At the same time, the wildfire season is starting earlier. According to a study published on Friday by the University of California in Los Angeles, air pollution caused by forest fires in California has led to more than 52,000 deaths within ten years. The number of deaths caused by the fires is therefore many times higher than the number of fire-related deaths. Yes, the "consequential costs" of climate change, which are often concealed, also cost human lives.

[evillordzog]

For all my American friends

Consider this: Trump is +40% in the GOP primary. 78% approval rating with GOP voters, 29% of whom are ride-or-die-Trump. Barring an accident with choking on a well-done steak, he will be the GOP nominee, making this platform *the GOP platform.*

Then consider this: winning presidential candidates tend to lift House and Senate candidates of the same party. The current House speaker is a Christian nationalist who was one of the primary architects of Trump's attempt to undo his 2020 presidential loss. The 2024 Senate map has Dems defending most of its remaining seats in red states, with only 2 seats to give, net. You think "MAGA Mike" Johnson and Mitch freakin' McConnell will be a check on a Trump power grab? If so, I have some lofts in Trump Tower to sell you.

The likelihood of a Trump win is the likelihood of 2-4 years of unified government under Trump who does not face re-election, a go-along very conservative legislative branch, and a hard right Supreme Court, which means:

* Abortion outlawed nationally.

* Free speech rights abridged - particularly freedoms of protest and freedoms of the press (see: Thomas' desire to revisit libel laws vs. the media)

* Books banned, nationally.

* Muslim bans and family separation policy, reinstated.

* Military action against Mexico over the border, authorized (it's terrifying how popular this idea is in GOP circles)

* LGBTQ protections, particularly marriage and trans rights, overturned.

* Tax cuts for the ultra-rich expanded and made permanent.

* Union organizing cracked down upon.

* Green energy and environmental protections of the IRA, reversed and the EPA either crippled or dissolved.

* Ukraine, Taiwan, Gaza, all abandoned to their fates.

* and of course, all 91 felony charges against Trump are dropped.

And that's just year one.

This is not scare-mongering: these are the *public, stated policy positions* taken by MAGA and the GOP right now. The Heritage Foundation's innocuous-sounding "Project 2025" is a roadmap white paper on dismantling the federal government under a second Trump term, and you can look it up anytime.

I get Joe Biden is old, and things are not improving quickly enough - maybe you don't feel anything is improving at all. Maybe you disagree with some, or a lot, of the administration's policies. Maybe you want someone younger or more progressive or more willing to fight the system that's failing too many people.

BUT.

Short of some miracle in the primaries, that wishlist just isn't on the table. If you are naive enough to make the perfect the enemy of the good, you'll get neither. You have one simple, stark, choice:

Anything except voting for the Dem candidate -- and that includes abstaining because you think the candidates are just as bad as each other -- is a vote for Trump, and the naked unalloyed evil he brings with him.

That is it, folks. That's the whole game.

The costs of failure here are far too high, for you, your children, your neighbors, your country, and the world the rest of us live in. You CANNOT allow these fascists to win, and that means we must do everything - and anything - it takes to stop them from getting hold of the reins of power. You CANNOT allow a revenge-obsessed narcissist and his fascist little cronies to take hold of the government, where they will absolutely pull the the ladder after them, as they always try to when they gain power. Because as we all know, things that are done in the USA are very hard to un-do, by design. And if you fail here, there's not really much of a USA left anymore.

[oldguardleatherdog]

im begging you to rethink that pinned post. FAT TRANS PEOPLE are begging you to reconsider that post. none of us are telling you to be kinder to trump—we're asking you to be kinder to fat people. we don't deserve to be thrown under the bus for a dig at him that won't even hurt him. there are a million ways to insult him without talking about his weight. his weight is not why he is evil, and we are not evil for being fat. think about why this is even where you want to go with your insults. if the person taking away the rights of trans people was in a wheelchair, would you insult them with ableism? if the person taking away the rights of trans people was not white, would you insult them with racism? why would you fight bigotry with bigotry? WHO does this help?

we ARENT trying to muzzle you, or trying to assimilate. we are asking you not to use your comrades as cannon fodder. calling a fascist a fatass is not some kind of radical protest. the only people who will be hurt by it are the ones you claim are your friends. fat people in your life will hear you and think to themselves that you find their bodies worthy of mockery.

personally, i like to say that i look forward to using his future grave as a gender neutral bathroom. more creative insults are often stronger, anyways.

personally, i like to say that i look forward to using his future grave as a gender neutral bathroom

On that, we agree! The rest... not so much. I'm glad you didn't heap invective on me or tell me I'm a bad person in your reply so I'll share the following with you and ask you to hear me out.

This was my reply to a very snarky and very freshly-unwrapped-activist critic on another platform:

I'm not sure why, but many well-intentioned people - well, some of them are well intentioned, a lot of them chimed in to hurl insults and invective at me - have missed the point by an alarming and troubling country mile. You have jumped to the conclusion that my goal here is to somehow annoy Donald Trump, and that this indicates I am a hopeless, horrible, fat shaming thug. I resent that deeply. I grew up obese. I know what this is like. Do you really think so little of me, a lifelong gay activist with 37 years of service to the leather community fighting for our rights, someone you have never even met, that you think you can lob such a high-handed and patronizing sentiment my way with no regard for how I might feel? Check your human decency; you may be a quart low. If you got the impression that the intent of this post was to brigade Donald Trump, I'm not sure where to begin. The point is not about fat. The point is that as I stated, Donald Trump is our murderer. Our community is already suffering. People are fleeing, literally uprooting their life and moving everything in an economy where there is no money to spare, because of this onslaught against us. And you and others have to be so self-involved, so conditioned to respond with boilerplate sloganeering and empty SJW admonitions, that you put the feelings of a hypothetical few ahead of the thousands, the millions of us who are in danger right now? Sorry. I don't buy it, and your stubborn, nearsighted stance makes you and those who share your view complicit with Trump, Libs of TikTok, Chaya Raichik, Matt Walsh, Tucker Carlson, Elon Musk, Moms for Liberty, Gays Against Groomers, and every legislator who's pushing trans bans, drag bans, treatment refusal to LGBTQ+ people, and legislation being drafted RIGHT NOW that will remove ALL of us from participation in civil society. The purity culture that is in vogue in our community today is clearly dangerous to our welfare and our continued existence. As Al Gore once said to Bill Clinton, "You could get with the goddam program." I am not making fat jokes. I cannot say it any more clearly than if I were to tattoo it on my forehead. If you or anyone else is hurt, then grow a spine and thicken your skin. Activists need to be sensitive, not delicate. Neither I nor any other OG activist who marched 10,000 miles through the streets 30 years ago to save ourselves from AIDS is going to mollycoddle you or indulge you. If you're not currently in activist mode, you are wrong. If your priority is to put the potential hurt feelings of a very few ahead of the suffering of the forcibly detransitioned in Florida and the unspeakable plans that are being readied for a vote, you are complicit, along with everyone who holds that sentiment. If "body shaming" is your pet cause, well, enjoy being proud of your body when the Proud Boys show up with automatic rifles and assault weapons at a drag fundraiser in your town, as they have been doing regularly over the past year in Texas, Missouri, and the Midwest. What next? A benefit for Kiwi Farms at the LGBTQ+ Community Center? Spare me. I have no time or tolerance for this.

Soooooo, there you have it. That's not just a Wall O' Text - it's an entire amphitheater with seating for 100,000! And every brick is meant to be dismantled one by one, handed to every queer activist we've got, and thrown with velocity and vigor at the head of Donald J. Trump and all who want to see us beaten down and dead. Make sure your aim is true.

Thank you for writing, for asking, and for reading.

[tomorrowusa]

The “red tsunami” predicted by some pundits turned out to be a “pink trickle”.

Votes are still being counted and results are still coming in. And there may be runoff elections in a few places to determine the final outcomes. But the results tended to be better for Democrats than many dour pollsters and pundits had been prognosticating.

I’ll have more comments over the next few days. But here is a quick take from columnist Moira Donegan at The Guardian.

It was not supposed to be this close. Midterms are always hard for the party in power. In the past, when Democrats have faced a midterm election when they controlled both the White House and Congress, the Republicans had a blowout.

In 1994, during Bill Clinton’s first term, Republicans gained huge margins in the house. In 2010, it was even bigger. Joe Biden has proved to be a president with little of his own constituency and few legislative achievements to show for his first two years of unified government, thanks in no small part to how narrow Democrats’ majorities were in Congress in 2020. Meanwhile, inflation is at roughly 8%. It was supposed to be a blowout night for the Democrats, the kind of humiliation that sent the Biden administration a firm rebuke. It wasn’t.

It’s not that there were no disappointments. There were some painful losses for Democrats: the odious Peter Thiel acolyte JD Vance has won a Senate seat in Ohio; candidates that perennially capture the imagination and hope of national democrats, like Beto O’Rourke and Stacey Abrams, lost.

But Republican margins are narrow, and even when the party had the wind at their back. Trump-backed, election-denying candidates did poorly; so did those who most vocally oppose abortion rights. The Republican party is in disarray, unable to quit Trump, but unable to thrive while anchored to him. If they do end up winning a majority, they will do so weakened and vulnerable.

For now, just one result that I’m particularly happy about. In Pennsylvania a Jewish Democrat defeated a notorious semi-fascist Trump Republican in the race for governor.

Cheers to pro-democracy anti-bigotry voters in the Keystone State! 🍻