#why continue to support the racist and bigoted ones

[housesunstone]

Wtf is it with nostalgia bait and shitty authors who do shitty things and a resurgence of their shitty work

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Jay Kuo at The Status Kuo:

There’s a strange phenomenon occurring with the terminally online right. Ever since Vice President Kamala Harris announced that Gov. Tim Walz would be her running mate, many of the right have acted with fury. They’ve attempted to “Swift Boat” his 24-year service record in the Army National Guard. They’ve called him a racist for talking about “white guy tacos.” And they’ve dredged up a nearly 30-year old DUI—for which he took accountability and after which he stopped drinking altogether—to prove he’s somehow not so perfect a role model.

What they haven’t been able to do is make any of this stick. And yet, Walz continues to draw fire, which could otherwise have been directed at Harris. In other words, Walz is turning out to be a shrewd pick. At net 11 points positive favorability in polls, Walz is immensely more popular than his counterpart on the GOP ticket, JD Vance, who is underwater by nine. And as they continue to rail against him, the right keeps making his fundamental point about them: They are just really weird. In today’s piece, I explore some theories about why Walz brings out the worst impulses of the right just by being who he is. Then I’ll lay down some political tarot cards and prognosticate about where I think this leads.

Politico Uno Reverse

By most identity measures, Walz should be one of the MAGA right. He’s a midwestern white dude in his late 50s. He loves to hunt and is a sharpshooter. He served for decades in the military and achieved the highest enlisted rank of Command Sergeant Major. He was a football coach who helped lead his team to the state championship. And yet, despite all these identity markings, Walz in an unabashed progressive. He is for reproductive rights and an ally and protector of gay teens. And there isn’t a bigoted bone in his body. It’s as if when Harris picked him, she played, as writer Anna Gifty Opoku-Agyeman succinctly described it, a “political uno reverse.” The Walz card threw it right back at them, as if to say, “I’m a guy just like you, but without any of the weird baggage.” The MAGA GOP’s base is supposed to include white guys like Walz. But here is living evidence that they don’t have all of them or the best of them. That’s why they’re so eager to discredit him, because if they don’t, as psychologist Julie Hotard notes, then Walz will stand instead as a model of what is possible. On many levels, an appealing, white, male Democrat is a far bigger threat to their sense of identity than even a biracial woman candidate for president.

[...]

Attacking Mr. Nice Guy

For the past two decades, the GOP has shifted markedly toward being a party of cruelty, of “owning” the libs and drinking their tears, and of being as unpleasant and in-your-face as they can be. That kind of behavior has been rewarded with appearances on Fox and other right wing media, fundraising dollars from the MAGA base, and a spot at the side or in the tweets of the ex-president himself. As author Patrick S. Tomlinson observed, Walz represents what shouldn’t be an extraordinary notion: that you can be a nice guy, supportive of women, embracing of gay people, and still be all the coded masculine ideals of soldier, football coach, hunter and father that the MAGA right believed it had a lock on. Plus, you can be all those things without ever asking weird questions about menstrual cycles, chromosomes and genitalia. The right even tried to make a big deal about Walz’s efforts as governor to ensure free tampons were available to girls in school. Rumors circulated that schools had been required to also put tampons in boys’ bathrooms, but those claims turned out to be untrue, while demonstrating how off kilter the right becomes over sexuality and gender. The “Tampon Tim” moniker didn’t stick. On the contrary, there are probably many moms and dads grateful for a governor like Walz who is thinking about their daughters’ needs.

Jay Kuo explains the real reason why the right is being driven crazy by Tim Walz: The fact that he has a profile that would typify a MAGA voter (football coach, military service, loves to hunt) yet is a progressive white dude (solid LGBTQ+ rights ally before it became fashionable among Democrats).

[ticklepinions]

Everyone should read the following. If we are a community you need to understand a few things.

Are you entitled to say anything you want due to "free speech"? Hell yeah!

Should you? Absolutely the fuck not!

The blatant racism, anti-queerness, transphobia, misogyny and fatphobia I have seen is down right abhorrent. And if you display any of these ideologies or opinions, you simply do not belong here. You shouldn't be comfortable making a safe space for yourself as you make this lovely community unsafe for the rest of us.

There is nothing political about human rights. But unfortunately that's where we are in this life. I'll try not to be biased but certain political leanings tells me all I need to know about you. POC conservatives will always make me laugh. You are nothing but a pawn for the cis/hetero/whites who don't give a shit if you live or die. Nothing but a slur, a body to dispose of. You may share their views but they are not sharing the power and privilege they have with you.

Let's talk about certain individuals who act so tough under the "big strong amurican sharing their views just to get shitted on, fucking snowflakes". Why do you want to be oppressed so badly? Why do you purposely antagonize people and then when they defend themselves you try dismissing them by saying how they're wasting their time... The irony of it all. The sheer ignorance.

I feel sorry for you people. Truly, I do. But I'll be damned if I let any of you try to tear any of us down for having opinions and ideologies (hint hint see the irony?) that fight for the rights of people who don't have them.

And let me get something clear- from the river to the sea. We all should not stop fighting till all of us are free. There are so many resources out there to educate yourself, yet you choose to remain ignorant. You do not belong here. You act as though you are better than everyone else because you have "edgy" opinions, opinions that literally call for the deaths of the marginalized and oppressed. You do not belong here. You have the gall to tell people they are wasting their time, when their sheer existence alone is putting them at risk for isolation and death (by the same bigoted people you support). You do not belong here.

If an elephant (Israel) has it's foot on a mouse's (Palestine) tail, tell me which one is truly the one at risk. There is a gen0cide going on. If Israel is trying to reclaim it's "land" why bomb it? Why destroy it? With a military with their degree they should be able to eliminate all these "terr0rists" with minimal to no "collateral damage" (aka the 30,000 innocent Palestinians, 2/3rds of which were woman and children, with countless injured, orphaned, homeless and starving). Why bomb hospitals, mosques, sacred places? Standing with Palestinian people is not antisemitism, it's anti gen0cide and war crimes (a multitude of which Israel has shamelessly committed).

And I'm not on anon. I stand for the people of Palestine. I stand for justice. I stand for equity. I stand for the freedom of all oppressed people.

And I implore everyone who follows me to educate themselves. The right path does not lead you to discriminate against the marginalized. Continue to fight my friends, continue to amplify the voices of those unheard, continue making this community and those you belong to, safe for all and unsafe for those who think otherwise.

For you @knismosexual + @littleonelee

I hope you truly reflect on how your actions impacts this entire community and the communities you live in. Until you learn how to act right, unfortunately this community isn't for you. You shouldn't feel welcome here. You shouldn't feel like you belong here. DMs are wide open if you have any thoughts. But again I say, supporting transphobic, racist, anti-queer, misogynistic, discriminatory views is not simply an "opinion" or personality to adopt. You are hurting real people, accepting the deaths and harassment that plague them every single day. You have no place in this community.

[moonshine-009]

This fandom though smh all the people wanting to stick up and support Ryan while being an anti Eddie this or a pro Eddie that, but hate getting called out for being a hypocrite... I'm tired of seeing them "separate the actor from the character," when they're more than willing to bash every other transphobic, racist, sexist, homophobic, ageist, misogynistic, ableist, fascist, anti vax, etc, remark or topic, but still have positive post about Ryan Guzman. They aren't "protecting their peace." That's not how it works. They're choosing to ignore what he's doing because it'll disrupt their fantasy of the show. Seriously, why are they posting about current anti transphobic topics and then the next post it's "Ryan's dumb mustache 😍🥵🫠" as if he didn't just get exposed AGAIN for having transphobic ties this past week????

They don't want to hear that Ryan is the problem. Everybody, fan or anti, still calls out Lou, and everytime they admit and drill that he is at fault, but Ryan ALWAYS gets a pass, and we should move on because he gave a disingenuous apology all the non bpocs accepted on our behave or it was "so long ago???" Make that make sense... Also, no one wants to bring up anything else he's done either! But even so they're not advocating for anything in the fandom with only "Lou is racist," when they won't even accept that what Ryan did wasn't just as bad, it was worse than what Lou did, they both were wrong but let's be real Ryan has more to make up for than Lou but yet Lou isn't unforgivable???

How can people still say, "It's his upbringing, and he was taught that way" only for Ryan? They really want to compare Ryan and Lou's family situations? Seriously? Which one of them is estranged from their abusive bigot father, and which one is still surrounded by his ignorant friends/family who he proudly stuck up and admitted were all racist like him? (Also, which one of them did people have to fake and edit hate material because there wasn't anything new? 👀)

And they need to stop saying everyone who calls out Ryan is racist. I'm very familiar with all the excuses he made, and just as I've said to my White/Latinx family and friends, all of what was said IS absolutely racist. He doesn't get a pass because of where he lived, and everyone around him said it, and the more they deny it, the worse it is. Everyone who accepted his apology should understand he was willingly stating his ignorance.

These stans though... They're just as phony wanting to play both sides and have no consequences. They can't stand by what they're voicing. Saying "anti *** BUT I don't tolerate any hate towards (actor)" when that actor is still problematic as of today...

Nearly everyone has said/done something awful in the past, but there's only a few that still are choosing to continue that behavior. Many of the 9-1-1/LS cast/crew/company "should've been canceled" for things they've done. Most acknowledged their wrongs, sincerely apologized, stopped and grew up and changed their views and redeemed themselves. That's the difference. Ryan is still the same Ryan. Fans forgave after one forced apology, and now they ignore that he's still actively messed up because what he's attractive or he's a part of their favorite ship or his hate doesn't personally affect them???

*But yes, let's only call out Lou's issues and keep posting about how wonderful Ryan is and talk about wanting to bring back Ronda, Cocoa, Edy, Rockmond, etc. back because they were also soooo unproblematic* 🙃

Yes, call it as we see it, Lou did some messed up shit. But for them to say Lou is worse for 10+ year old post, but stay quite when Ryan continuously talks/posts/likes disgusting views to this very day 😒 That's the thing, Lou's past caught up with him, his PAST. Ryan gets exposed every week because he's still updating his accounts with that stuff.

(and you don't have to post/reply to this if it might get backlash but 👏🏾 big sigh)

me being a white person I don't get to say if I expect Ryan's "apology " or not. Some other white people in the fandom on Twitter really had the audacity to say why people still hating on Ryan and he apparently has changed?!! It's not our place to say !!

And saying he has changed after what he is sharing on Instagram is honestly really laughable.

And they also say Oliver would hate Lou for things he was posting a decade ago this is why he doesn't want to work with him. So they basically saying that he is totally fine working with Ryan ???

When a ship is more important than having morals.

They always protect Oliver and Ryan and don't call them out.

It just makes me so mad seeing Ryan posting all that shit. And people posting him all over Instagram even the cast is hanging out with him.

People are so comfortable being openly transphobic and homophobic, racists these days without any consequences.

They said when the actress who plays Marisol was posting that transphobic shit, why would they want a cast member in a show with LGBTQIA+ storylines. These same people are really quiet right now about Ryan.

So they totally fine with what he shares on Instagram? ???

[cupcraft]

At the end of the day, dreams behavior towards his fans is gross and he encourages unhealthy parasocialism.

In the lead up to his video he said deeply awful and victim blaming things. He made that inappropriate joke with the tik tok/miners shirt. He has leagues of history lying, being racist, bigoted, and recent history continually being misogynistic. His fanbase makes me deeply uncomfortable and unsafe with the amount of shit that is said. He never truly stops his fanbase from doxxing ppl, even when he "says its bad". The way he deflects blame onto other people really shows how awful he is. The way the video is framed to not just address serious allegations tells you all you need to know about him (like why eas the dsmp in there brother). The way he'll accuse fellow friends of causing his family's doxxing just because he didn't answer his text and Dream was the only one causing drama. He's said leagues of inappropriate things to Tommy who was a minor at the time during the dsmp days. Dream is a liar, and he can never take accountability for his actions. He can make this video, but it doesn't erase what he said about potential victims leading up to it. Dream is bigoted and it's clear with that recent tweet where he victimizes himself he doesn't care about that either.

Lastly, I will never apologize for supporting potential victims ever. I will always support victims no matter what as a victim myself and because I know how disgusting the justice system is in preventing justice for victims.

And im ending this post saying fuck dream. And I think after this whole ordeal im done posting about him as much as I've been doing so. It's a lot and stressful and seeing the things his supporters say that are wildly anti victim is so harmful to me. Its not to say ill never comment on anything but I think im.done and i just need to focus on the things and ccs i enjoy.

[enbycrip]

So given the Rowling stans crawling out of the woodwork to say they are still allies - or worse yet, community members - while still plastering Potter stuff all over their online presence by saying they “separate the art from the artist” after the latest acknowledgment that she is trying to swing Labour in an even more transphobic direction, a short primer on what “death of the author”, which is the origin for that less provocative phrase, actually means.

“Death of the author”, in extreme brief, is an academic construct that was developed at a time when the author as the sole arbiter of meaning in a text was very privileged in the discourse to help people understand that any interpretation of a work is valid *as long as it can be supported by textual evidence*. Your interpretation of a text, as the reader, is as valid as the author’s *if* you can produce just as much, or more, evidence from *within the text itself* that supports your interpretation.

This is particularly useful for students within an academic context.

It is *not* in any sense a reasonable justification to say that one is not *actively supporting* a living artist/author/creator, particularly one who has gained huge cultural influence and financial wealth, by buying and actively promoting their work.

Genuinely, I wouldn’t engage with work from a dead very bigoted artist without acknowledging their bigotry.

If I write about or produce a story set within the Cthulhu Mythos, you had better bet that I am acknowledging Lovecraft’s horrific and pervasive racism and misogyny and the effects of that within the Mythos.

If I write about or do some sketches that acknowledge Degas as an influence, you can bet that I am acknowledging his rampant racism and antisemitism and the fact that his familial wealth which allowed him to have the financial freedom to create the art he did was built on plantation slavery in the Caribbean.

If I write about or paint something with Klimt’s ethereal goldwork as an influence, you can bet I’m writing about his deeply abusive sexual relationships with the women he drew and painted, that he used sapphic eroticism in his work while sexually abusing working class sapphics he paid to model for him, and acknowledging that he had the freedom to produce that work because he got the women in his family to tend to his every whim and perform all his domestic labour for him.

That’s the basic acknowledgment you undertake while engaging with the work of someone deeply bigoted - *even* if they are not directly benefitting from your engagement with their work because they are deceased. The material conditions around how a work is produced and consumed are *always* relevant to that work, because otherwise we miss why, for example, privileged people have the time, resources and cachet to create art and have it be consumed *as* art, while other people never have the resources to do so or have the work they create relegated to categories like “domestic crafts” if it is acknowledged at all.

So just saying “I can separate art from the artist” while financially supporting a living bigot who continues to use your money and the cultural cache you are giving her by doing so to wreak genuine damage on the queer, especially trans, community - that’s basically both completely meaningless and incredibly disingenuous. Particularly when said bigot is *actively* attempting to parlay that financial and cultural influence into making an already very transphobic, racist and disableist political party who are, according to current polls, likely to be running the U.K. shortly, into supporting more actions that *will* materially harm trans people.

[gauntletqueen]

the italian boxer isn't a cop, isn't 100% white, and was crying because of her dead dad. she's come out in support of the other boxer people are using her as a weapon against to be racist. the way the olympics and the media is treating both boxers is really fucked up, i do not think the italian woman did anything wrong, she's just a useful tool of oppression people are utilizing against her will

Okay you're part right, part wrong. I've done some more looking into it and I'm glad I did cause it's Nuanced~ Not here to prove you wrong, just gonna list it all out clearly so we can all understand the situation better.

I haven't personally seen any racism coming into the controversy so I don't understand why you're bringing that up, or that Angela Carini isn't fully white. The most I can see is a few mentions of Italian politicians using the situation to try and earn some brownie points by standing behind Angela Carini, but even then they're also latching onto the narrative that Imane Khelif had an unfair advantage, due to her being transgender. She isn't, btw. She's a cis woman,another case of transphobes jumping at any opportunity to try to push their bullshit, even when the target isn't trans, and nobody had even accused them of being trans before that point.

While I can't find definitive proof that Angela herself is a cop, she was raised by cops and is a member of the boxing division of one of Italy's police forces. I can't figure out if that means that she is also an actual cop but that's probably where the assumption comes from.

"she was crying because of her dead dad" is true, but oversimplifying it. Specifically, she's said that her brother and late father were boxers before her, and taught her the sport. She wanted to honor them in the olympics, but the tension, stress and expectations got too much for her in the match against Imane, who it seems fought much harder than Angela was used to. This caused her to have an emotional breakdown. That's all extremely reasonable honestly I can't imagine having to handle to pressure of representing your country At The Olympics, especially not when there are also such big personal stakes. Supposedly she was cited as shouting "it's not fair!" as she left the ring. This is what got transphobes like JK Rowling and Musk to co-opt the story into their bigotted narrative that Imane must be transgender, as transphobic women in the past have blamed their losses on the fact that a transgender woman Was Involved.

It's likely that they might also have used Imane's disqualification from participating in the 2023 IBA Women's World Boxing championship. The organization had declared her testosterone levels to be too high, which supposedly "proved they had XY chromosomes". Since then, the International Olympic Committee has removed the IBA as the organizers of boxing at the olympics due to "continuing irregularity issues in the areas of finance, governance, ethics, refereeing, and judging" So. Perhaps they are a bad judge of chromosomes. Because again, Imane is a cis woman.

Anyway. Angela has stated (translation taken from Wikipedia, the original italian article is behind a paywall) "I want to apologize to her and everyone else. I was angry because my Olympics had gone up in smoke. I don't have anything against Khelif. If I were to meet her again, I would embrace her"

So yeah, she's done nothing wrong, she just cracked under immense pressure, and might be a cop or cop-sympathetic, but that doesn't seem to really have anything to do with the situation. The important thing is that rightwing bigots jumped at the chance to make her a martyr against her will, as you said.

[themindarchive]

Why is allyship being dictated by our media consumption?

Lately, I have been seeing this growing pattern on my dash of people essentially saying, "If you don't follow this 20 step process and engage with these specific types of media everyday then you are not an Ally. You are in fact biased against *insert minority group here* and that also means your ultimately racist/bigoted/ homophobic etc."

It's been bothering me because it feels like some of the more actual bigoted discourse out there but just in reverse.

Now, I may be taking things too literal here, I do have the tism, but the most recent post in particular was a post that was actively saying, "If you don't go out of your way to read/watch/engage with BIPOC media on purpose but still actively search out any other type (That may or may not feature or be about BIPOC people anyway) your heavily biased at minimum or racist at worst."

This bothers me because it feels like these types of people are demanding that you bend over backwards and restructure everything you like to fit within their rules of being an ally.

Like, I understand the basic part of being an Ally which is, don't be a dick just because they live or look differently than you, if someone else is and it's safe to do so, call them out on that shit and treat people as you yourself want to be treated.

Super simple, right?

But lately, especially around the BG3 sphere, more of the above has been cropping up, especially around one of the companion characters Wyll, which the post was about.

The post went on to imply that the same people who agreed and vocally supported fixing the problem's with his character but then would immediately go back to engaging with the character they preferred afterword instead of engaging with him, weren't true allies.

It was almost as if they didn't understand, or didn't care, that people who have different preferences regarding the same piece of media, can still agree on the same thing in regards to a different aspect of the same media even if they don't usually engage with it.

They continued in saying that in order to be a real ally that you must go actively searching for media regarding the BIPOC community, which Wyll happens to be a part of, in order to prove your a real ally.

This sentiment has come up along side the "If you don't like Wyll it has to be because he is BIPOC and no other reason." that is also prevalent in these circles.

Now personally, Wyll is not my favorite companion in the game by far.

That honor goes to Halsin.

But it feels like no matter how i would explain my reasoning, even if it was just as simple as the cheesy hero stuff is funny and sweet but it just doesn't do it for me, that it wouldn't matter.

The simple fact that i am the color of winter snow would automatically have me pegged as racist just because his personality isn't super interesting to me.

In my late teens to early twenties? I would have slurped him down like a cup of my favorite coffee.

But as a jaded AuDHD 37 year old? I'm gonna go with the bear.

But it brings up the point of, what do these types of people want us to really do?

I myself have consumed BIPOC media in the past but only because it was of interest to me.

Like most people that exist, I have specific themes, genres, topics ect that I like to engage with for no other reasons than it brings me that sweet sweet dopamine the ADHD needs to function or it piqued my curiosity.

And on occasion, those interests have aligned with media that is BIPOC centered, created or both.

Did i care that it was about, made by, or included BIPOC people? Nope. Did i in fact watch it because i read the premise and was like "That looks intersting/cool/fun let's do that."? All the damn time.

So why does it matter whether or not i watched it specifically because of the BIPOC presentation? Why do I have to actively engage with a source of media that i may have no interest in just because BIPOC people are in it so i can prove my ally ship to literal strangers?

Like what is the point?

What do you get out of it?

Wouldn't you rather people engage in your media because they want too and enjoy it, instead of feeling obligated and possibly resenting it?

Because just as with any piece of media, some shit just isn't for some folks.

And it has nothing to do with the color of other people's skin or what minority group they are apart of.

People like what they like and that's it.

So why does it matter?

Honestly, why?

[icereader12]

I know I'm either preaching to the choir, or screaming into the void about this, but I feel the need to say it anyway. The phrase "from the river to the sea" is antisemitic. Full stop. Don't like it? Disagree? Unfortunately reality disagrees with you. And in a fight over information, reality should always win.

Let's start with origins. The phrase first gained traction, or general use, in the 1960s. It was co-opted by the PLO in 1964. The PLO was a group of Palestinian liberation groups, hence the name. Throughout the 1960s - the 1990s, they launched terrorist attacks around the world, but mostly in the Middle East. (Brittanica, Nov 16, 2023) The US designated them a terrorist organization, and their first leader, who brought the phrase "from the river to the sea into the limelight, repeatedly called for the destruction of Israel using this phrase (University of Michigan). The PLO claimed to represent Palestinians, and was a fighting force in the Arab-Israel war of 1967, which was declared by the Arab, and lost by them. When the PLO and Arab nations lost, the PLO rallies, and began attacking Israel with guerilla warfare. So the phrase originally referred to the desire to destroy the only majority Jewish state in the world.

History of the phrase continued.

When the PLO decided to recognize reality and acknowledge a two-state solution might be a good idea, many more radical groups in it refused to follow along and broke with the PLO. One of those group was Hamas. Hamas, widely recognized as a terrorist organization, uses the phrase in its charter. Hamas, also in their original charter, states that there will be no peace in the region until all the Jews in said region have been killed.(translation done by Federation of American Scientists). For those who can't connect the dots, that's a call to genocide. By putting that phrase next to their stated desire for genocide, Hamas confirms that that phrase, to them, is a call for genocide. (Business Insider, Nov. 6, 2023) So, in more modern day, it is still a call to genocide.

How the phrase is treated today.

Many who march for Palestine, including Palestine-American Representative Tlaib, say the phrase has changed meanings to them, and that they do not use it as a call for Jewish genocide. (Washington Post, Nov, 2023.) However, most Jewish organizations still regard the phrase as antisemitic, both for its origins, and for how people use it. This includes the ADL, AJC, Jewish Journal, etc. all of whom provide in depth analysis on why the phrase is bad to use. Most of it has to do, as previously stated, with the continued use of the phrase by terrorist organizations such as Hamas and PLEP to call for genocide. While some Palestinians argue that phrase has been commandeered by extremists, but it's okay if they use it because they aren't, that is an horrible argument. The extremists didn't take the phrase from them, they took it from the extremists (see above proof). You'd think, since many pro-palestinians claim to not support the extremists like Hamas, they wouldn't use the same phrases, so as to distance themselves from the crazies. Instead, they embrace the rhetoric.

Nevertheless, the real problem with continuous use of the phrase is that, when a minority group collectively says "that phrase is harmful to our community, please stop saying it", we oblige. When Black Americans said, "stop using the n-word, it's hurtful", we listened, because they were the community being hurt . And soon enough, we as a society realized those still using that word were racist. When the disabled community asked, "stop using the r-word, it's hurtful", we listened, because they were the community being hurt. And soon enough, we as a society realized those who kept using the word despite the harmed community's wishes were bigoted. The phrase "from the river to the sea" has been continuously used, both in the past and now as a rallying call for destruction of an ethnic group on the grounds that those calling for said destruction didn't like having to share land with said ethnic group. It has been used to kill people and incite violence. That's not up for debate, that's a historical fact. It is still being used to incite violence and get people killed. That is also fact. Marginalized communities are allowed to reclaim hurtful phrases for themselves. But the phrase "from the river to the sea" wasn't and still isn't used to hurt Palestinians, it's used to hurt Jews. Therefore, the only ones allowed to reclaim it are the Jews.

I don't care some Palestinians claim to not be using the phrase as it was originally meant. They are still using the rhetoric of an extremist group that uses that rhetoric to call for Jewish genocide. And when people use that same rhetoric for the same cause (liberating Gaza/ Palestine), they are saying, intentionally or not, that they agree with the rhetoric and actions of the terrorists who use that phrase to call for genocide. We can't read minds. Intention means very little when people call for hate. Whether they "mean it" or not, they are still calling for hate. It's the same cause, with the same words. If pro-palestinians insist on using the same phrases used by terrorists, they need to stop getting mad when we confuse them for supporting terrorists. The is nothing wrong with calling for a two-state solution. There is everything wrong with supporting a terrorist organization that calls for genocide. If you use language that could mean either but has historically meant the latter, people will think you are the latter. Calling for the death of all the Jews in a region is antisemitic. The phrase "from the river to the sea" has historically been used, and is currently being used to call for the death of all Jews in Israel. No one cares if you think you're using it differently. To the community still being hurt by that phrase, it is one and the same. Either pick a different slogan or stop being upset that you are being called an antisemitic terrorist supporter.

[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.

[spacebunniezzz]

I wanted to take a moment to talk about something that has been really bothering me in my personal life because I am so tired of holding in all of the anger and disgust. I know posting about this is very different from my regular content and what I'd prefer to post but I just can't get this off of my mind.

On Facebook I follow a lot of leftist pages but ever since I have I have also been getting recommended a lot of anti LGBTQ, racist, anti feminist content, for every one leftist page I get recommended I get at least about maybe five or so right wing pages and groups recommended to me. This has been kind of detrimental to my mental health, and again I don't follow any page or group that is conservative but every day on Facebook I'm bombarded with seeing hateful and disgusting individuals on my feed.

I have gotten recommend Candace Owens, Brett Cooper, Michael Knowles, Matt Walsh, Ben Shapiro and a ton of meme pages dedicated to bullying people or very hateful stuff, hell yesterday I got recommended a manosphere/incel page and I am constantly seeing men have absolute shit takes on FB. I have had to block at least near ninety pages.

The most I ever do is maybe like a comment that is going against conservatives or bigoted individuals but other than that I block every account I see or hide the groups because for some reason I can't block a group but can hide them.

I am absolutely disgusted that facebook keeps pushing these groups on me. Why would I support a group and pages full of hateful men that hate my existence and why would I support groups and pages that hate minorities? And most importantly why tf do these pages and groups even exist? I guess people could say it's their freedom of speech but I think freedom of speech is a bullshit excuse to go out to harass people because others are uneducated and would prefer to spread misinformation rather than listen to minorities and educate themselves.

I like Facebook because I have come across a lot of really awesome groups on there but I'm just so tired of feeling mentally drained when I see these pages and groups that are spreading hate speech because yes I fully believe these pages and groups spread hate speech and I honestly don't give a flying F U C K if its "fReE sPeEcH" to me its just an excuse to be an absolute pos.

Also I guess this is me saying that people like this are not welcome to my page. Just because I can't stop seeing bs on FB doesn't mean I'm going to let that bs slide here and for Facebook: fuck you.

With all of that said and done with all of that ranting I will be continuing to post my regular stuff.

[ticklepinions]

Just wanted to say that being able to see past someone's views and ideologies (which is usually a euphemism for bigotry, hate and ultimately harmful to the marginalized), is not the flex you think it is. It's not mature, it comes from a place of sheer privilege and is actually pretty ignorant.

To be able to ignore ones hateful views is to be able to say this doesn't impact me so why should I care.

And I'm tired of trying to educate people while being gaslit to believe I'm wrong for wanting my circle to have views that, idk won't cause harm to people that are oppressed??? Apparently that doesn't make me a free thinker, aw shucks.

And it's funny that most, if not all, people who say they can "look past" different view points tend to be cishet white people.

If someone calls you a racist, homophobe, transphobe, fatphobic, ageist, misogynist, bigot, etc. Maybe your first response should be listening. Maybe it shouldn't be rushing to defend yourself because you think someone is overreacting or you can't see the harm you've caused (no shit sherlock you're not the one being impacted). Like seriously... We have grown adults pretending to hold this "maturity" when it couldn't be further from the truth.

I'd love to say anything the tickle community should be inclusive. But it shouldn't. Some people just don't belong here. And that includes anyone who supports this narrative of being able to "look past" things and those who actively promote hate and ignorance.

I mean you can choose to be friends with these people, that's your prerogative. But to go as far as calling those who have less of a tolerance for those types of people, immature and close minded, is going too far.

If I had a non-black friend saying the n-word all the time, I would drop the friendship; others might try to educate them. There's some naunce of course but to continue to be friends with that person is a privileged position to be in.

Let's go back to when differing views were more about if pineapple should belong on pizza rather than should oppressed people have rights good fuck

[apocalypse-gang]

to be honest I don't understand why everyone feels so entitled or even assumes everyone needs to have the same sentiments. You have to deal with the fact not everyone wants to fights others' battles. There are people with their own problems and bigotry they're dealing with to care about a wizard's game.

It's not entitlement, it's an ask. It's begging. It's an ask to not financially support a multi-millionaire who uses her royalties to give money to organizations that are successfully trying to dehumanize and strip the rights of trans people. It is an ask not to support a game that entire premise depends dangerous and dehumanizing Jewish stereotyping, that was put into this fictional world by JKR herself.

My frustration is that people are actively claiming to be allies and even acting morally superior, for buying a game that trans and jewish communities have been begging people not to buy. You are not an ally if you buy this game. If you know what Joanne is doing is wrong, and you know how she uses her money, yet they are ignoring it for their own interests and nostalgia. You are not an ally. Allyship doesn't fluctuate when it's convenient for you, and you can't buy back your allyship or forgiveness if you donate to charities. It's selfish.

I constantly live with the fact that no one fights others' battles, and I'm still frustrated by it. We were put on this earth to protect our fellow man, and people just won't. I know we can't all constantly fight for ourselves and others' 24/7 while also living ori day to day life. Our world is too big for that. But this is not people choosing not the fight. It's people consciously choosing to give money to the ones harming people. I constantly live with the fact that people aren't fighting our battle for and with us because no one actually cares about trans people. Most of the world doesn't care about us, and people are trying to destroy us. And here we have "allies" who throw get frustrated they feel guilty and people dont like that they are knowingly put their money into a influential, multi-millionaire bigot's pockets. Those that are mad that people don't want them to play the Blood Libel slavery simulator game.

It's literally asking people to not buy a video game. That's all people are asking. It's an inaction. No one's asking people to vote, no one's asking people to wave flags or sign petition, people literally asking you not to spend money on a game. Its a gesture. The bare minimum. It was doing nothing and people couldn't do that. That was it. People couldn't do even do nothing for the Jewish and trans communities.

For the people with their own problems and bigotry they're dealing with, a video game isn't going to fix it. A video game isn't going to save them. And if they are someone who is maganalized, it is very, very likely JKR doesn't care about them either. Her work and her views are extremely racist, xenophobic, fatphobic, even things having misogyny and homophobia, and things she claims to dislike. Her and her posse are willing to align with whit supremacists in order to continue their cause. Her bigotry will only get worse with time. So why financially support someone who is only going to harm marganalized groups. You are knowingly putting your wants above real people who will be harmed. If you buy the game, you have to accept that fact. You can't work your away around it, or try to donate away your guilt.

No one needs a Harry Potter game. No one will die without getting the game. The game won't fix any of your problems.the game won't stop the bigotry you deal with personally.

All people asked for was literally nothing. Do nothing. It's not spending $70 dollar on a video game and not playing it. It's a symbol of support, showing you won't support someone so cruel. All people asked if people would do nothing when a game came out. Why is it so controversial to ask that of people? Why is it so controversial to be upset about when people don't do it?

Why should i not be frustrated with the injustices of the world? Why should I settle for apathy?

[sophieinwonderland]

While we're not your biggest fans by any means and do feel bad for what happened with kipandkandi it really feels like they dug their own grave there.

If they had trauma from slander perhaps they shouldn't have went on a hate campaign against your blog for ages to the point of spamming their positivity blog with it for a week. It feels hypocritical at best and outright two faced at worst.

We hope they recover well, but if they can't handle what they themselves serve they probably shouldn't be interacting with a space as inherently toxic and agressive as syscourse, especially when they did worse.

I really wouldn't be cavalier with phrasing of "dug their own grave" right now.

But, yeah... I feel the same sentiment.

Everything about their posts on this are just filled with hypocrisy and projection.

Warning: what's about to follow is a very angry vent.

They accuse me of having a "vendetta" against their alters. I've literally only talked about them a few times over the past few days due to everything happening. Meanwhile, my name has been continuously mentioned on their syscourse blog since the start of the year.

They accuse me of talking about them behind their back. I was blocked during the entire period they attacked me since around, I think, April to July 17th when they unblocked me to try to get me to read their document. They tried again on July 18th. And I blocked them right after.

They accuse me of block-evading, but their whole defense of why they @'d Eeveecraft is because they claim that they thought tagging them would still send the message to the account that blocked them.

This also means, by extension, that when they @'d me in May with a post calling me bigoted and transphobic, they intended for that post to be sent to my notifications despite having me blocked at the time.

They also said that they plan on remaking their post on their main because Eeveecraft doesn't have them blocked there... which... is still block evading. If somebody blocks you on one account, don't try to contact them on another.

They consider me mentioning them a few times without tagging them block evasion. Which... I genuinely don't think is true. Blocks aren't gag orders. As long as you aren't encouraging harassment or trying to contact a user, I don't think there's a rule against talking about people. But if it was block evasion, then they've clearly done much worse between both their syscourse blog and the positivity blog. (And for that matter, I think most of their friend group has made posts about me by name while having me blocked.)

And as I said in the other post, @'ing somebody you have blocked is bad because it links potential harassers directly to the blog of the other person. Don't @ them.

And immediately after reading my post explaining that @'ing doesn't send notifications to the blocked users and that all it does is make it easier for harassers to get to them, they @ my blog and link to two of my posts "for transparency". Which since they read and comprehended my previous post, I can only possibly interpret the @'ing as them trying to get me harassed.

There's no other explanation, is there?

It's the only possible reason to do that after it's explicitly explained that there's no other advantage to @'ing blocked accounts.

Block Evasion ✅

Talking About People Behind Their Back ✅

False Accusations ✅

Spreading False, Targeted Rumors ✅

Personal Vendetta ✅

After calling me an asshole, a proud racist, a transphobe, a zoophilia supporter, a bigot, telling me to get banned, and so much else on their blogs... I said "reporting someone seems like something they would do since they told me to get banned, but there are a lot of other suspects who are just as likely who could have done it too so IDK 🤷‍♀️" and I said them saying people are being incredibly racist is an "attack."

These are the things they refer to as "slander."

I legitimately believe them when they say I hurt them. Because their continuous, almost-obsessive attacks felt very personal for some reason. But like you, I feel that if getting a tiny fraction of what they dished out back caused them this much distress, they really should have stepped away a long time ago for their own health.

I sincerely hope that they can find healthier coping mechanisms. And, for the love of the gods, stop tagging people who have them blocked!

Also, this should go without saying, but please don't send hate to them. Don't harass them. Don't engage with them. I'm angry at the repeated smears and am expressing that, but the last thing I'd want is for anymore harm to come to them.

[aroace-cat-lady]

so uhhhh ahhh long rant incoming sorry~

I'm sure you're aware of this whole Matty situation...

I just need to say that I cannot support Taylor after this, for me, this is absolutely where I draw the line. Personally, I believe that knowingly dating a bigot, a racist for example - this is someone who has unashamedly admitted to watching racist torture p**n, imagine how twisted you have to be to do such a thing - it automatically means that you are also racist, because, as per *my* definition of racism, racism doesn't have to be outright saying racial slurs and actively harassing poc, I definitely classify this indifference and condoning of bigotry as racism too. You *cannot* claim to be an activist and proceed to associate yourself with someone who is against everything you apparently stand for, unless it is of course, purely performative and somewhat for your own benefit. You cannot seriously claim you stand with people of colour, trans people, jewish people, muslims, every marginalised group basically, yet associate yourself with someone who clearly doesn't??

I understand some people are conflicted, I mean so was I for perhaps an hour after it was confirmed, it is hard when someone who you might idolise, who you believed would advocate for you is actually incredibly apathetic, and who has proven that countless times but especially this time, that they didn't truly mean what they claimed... But how can one not draw the line at bigotry? You can't just shrug it off by saying "I love her but this is wr-" that means nothing, you can't seriously call her out for something and say you love her in the same sentence, does that even count as holding her accountable? Equally bad are those who are "looking the other way" so you simply just don't want to hold her accountable and then be held accountable yourself for not doing so.

Additionally, if you're going to date a literal bigot, and you are aware of the colossal platform and influence you hold, why would you do it publicly- oh and with a fanbase obviously including the groups said bigot has openly discriminated against?

Unfortunately, the main responses I've seen to this situation are: swifties who idolise taylor to an unhealthy extent attempting to defend and condone even matty's actions, the performative activists who pretend they care but continue to talk about how much they adore her and basically just shrug it off, those who are fully aware its wrong and look the other way, and the literal minority who hold her accountable. Oh, said minority's feelings tend to be dismissed and invalidated and belittled by the former 3 groups. Oh, and also, said minority is primarily poc. hmmm.

Something particularly annoying that people are doing is attempting to making this about misogyny when it quite obviously isn't ("ofc you guys are blaming a woman for a man's actions"). I swear, I have seen not one person who has even implied that Taylor is to blame for Matty's actions. We are holding them both accountable because they are both shitty. Matty is unquestionably worse, but does that mean Taylor shouldn't be held accountable? Really? People saying this either... have zero understanding of the situation OR just don't want to hold her accountable and want to *out-woke* us or something and I think most of them are guilty of the latter

btw you don't have to comment on this or anything idk I'm just upset lrpekfos;rjdlgi

Oh I'm commenting don't worry about that

Just!!! Ugh!!!

I'm so. Outraged. And disgusted. He's just another privilege white guy who doesn't care at all about making fun or offending ppl that are different from him and that doesn't even try to understand or respect them. He's the worst brand of white bread out there.

And most white fans are being so awful about this. Oh you're just making it about yourself oh she's just not thinking oh he's not that bad oh I actually think he's becoming a better person because of her. Shut up. Shut up. Just shut the fuck up.

I really don't know how to feel about Taylor right now. Like, all I can think about now is how a lot of ppl have said for years she's racist cuz she has never toured on latam. How there's literally no explanation for that. And I ignore all of that cuz, dude, it's Taylor??? She's one of the few ppl that actually try.

But. Is she?? Cuz she isn't trying a lot right now. She apparently doesn't care. Sure, she stands for human rights and say Vote Blue!! and all that, but at the end she doesn't seem to think that being racist antisemitic islamophibic etcetc count as a red flag.

I just hate feeling like this. I've always respected and admired Taylor, but I really just can't respect her right now. But I don't seem able to pull away from her.

I mean, I literally love her songs so much I learned a second fucking language thanks to her. My relationship with my sister got a lot better because of her music. I've met incredible ppl because I started blogging about her.

I guess I'm so disappointed and kind of heartbroken right now. Like, I got this feeling of you didn't just betrayed me, you betrayed all of us and, worst of all, you betrayed yourself

It's just a lot.

[magpie-69]

I'm confused and here's why. You liked a post about the defense of MAGA. It was a video of a black man I thought you were a person who didn't like Trump? A true MAGA is one that follows Trump. Don't be persuaded otherwise. Followers of Trump are cult members. They are racist and bigots. They are closet Homophobes. This Black Man believes in the Constitution and the American Way which is freedom and the right to choose. Not abortion necessarily but, the right to choose how one lives whether one is religious or not. A true MAGA believes that they are Patriots and Democrats are Communists. This is not who we are. This Black Man gets it. He knows what it's like to fight for what he believes in. He came here to better himself which is what our ancestors did and which we will continue to do. Never forget that Trump wanted to put a ban on Muslims. He like many MAGAs believes all Muslims are terrorists.

Hi anon.

I must've made a mistake & I apologise for that. I in no way support Trump or MAGA whatsoever. They truly disgust me.

20/11/22

11/20/22