Dr. Wizard

Anger is the fire that sparks change.

Anger is the spite in the face of repression.

Anger is conviction.

Anger is more than the dagger that bled me.

You have to actually ACTIVELY unlearn all that shit. You can actually be trans AND hold TERF and racist beliefs, it is in fact very easy.

I started doing it when after brain surgery my husband had trouble forming responses to questions for a while, and realized that the habit was helping my students engage more truthfully with me.

Some examples:

Yes/No: “Did you clean up your room like I told you?”

This/That: “Did you clean up already, or do you still need to do that?”

Yes/No: “Are you going to sit quietly?”

This/That: “Are you ready to sit and do our quiet activity, or do you need some time by yourself first?”

Yes/No: “Are you doing anything fun for your birthday?”

This/That: “Are you having a party on your birthday, or are you going to relax?”

I think many children (and adults!) are averse to telling adults “No,” especially when a command is implied. (“Did you clean your room?” “Are you going to sit quietly?” Hmmm if I say ‘no’ I will be in trouble with the adult.) So they are actually pretty likely to just lie and say what they think you want to hear.

Recent times have drastically increased the aggression and danger faced by other minorities.

Trans folks are one domino in the line. We were not the first to have attention turned on us, and we won't be the last. Cis gays are likely the next. At this time, the eye is heavily fixated on our domino--and that's why we're seeing a sudden jump now in the level of hatred and aggression directed toward us. More openly, by more powerful individuals.

But do not think that this started with us, don't keep repeating "what if it happens here" isms about people being taken from their homes, detained, or even killed for being part of a marginalized group. It is already happening on our soil and has been. Whatever awful thing might (and likely will) happen to trans people has been happening to others, and after it's commonplace for us (white) trans folks, it'll become commonplace for the next minority group.

We are a domino.

Yes, trans folks are being persecuted and it's a terrifying thing to face. Most of us see the writing on the wall (it's not subtle) and have realistic fears of being ripped away from our homes by means of "metal health crises," possession of unlawful HRT, being accused of sex offenses for existing in public, and outright killed by extremists and hate crimes. It could happen to us, and we should talk about that.

Gray Long-Tongued Bat (Glossophaga leachii) get a little drinky, family Phyllostomidae, Nicaragua

Many, many people celebrated Pulse. We were told we deserved it. That it was God’s punishment for our sin of loving the same sex. We are sent messages like these I received in 2018:

We in the community often call the victim count 49+ to include the survivors who couldn’t live with the pain.

The event was never officially declared a hate crime or targeted homophobic attack and is rarely listed as one in databases.

At our vigils for those slaughtered, Extremist Christian groups showed up to protest, holding signs like this:

ID: Me kissing a woman I was casually seeing in front of an angry looking man with a “Sodomy is Sin” sign.

Please understand how much more than just a mass shooting this was. We are still to this day harassed and told we deserved it by some.

Can you do that without any help?

Think of how long it would take to simply meet each person, let alone convince them to give you money. If you could meet a new person every second, and started from the day you're born to the day you die, and took zero breaks, it would take you three to four lifetimes to meet everyone.

The task is laughably impossible. The only way you're going to come close to accomplishing it is if you had an entire society built for the purpose of helping you with it.

see the Type of creechur you

gravitate towards