The Space Between

The American government is a genocidal machine built upon the deaths of millions of Black and Brown people, both in America and oversees, but white people on tumblr would rather joke about burning it all to the ground instead of talk to the people whose land it belongs to and actively work on involving them in their activism.

Like, I don’t talk too much about my politics here, but the landback movement is my main point of activism (not just in America, but in every country across the world) and unfortunately, this tankie-led website always gets suspiciously quiet whenever indigenous people in their own country want to talk about restoring their land, because it doesn’t really fit into their (originally white European) idea of destroying everything from the ground up and turning it into some communist utopia.

last month my brother, a life long touchscreen hater, had to get his first smartphone because he couldn't pay his rent without one since his bank website no longer allows him to use his personal card reader (given by his bank) to make payments. most public transports outside the main city Require that you use the App to get tickets. the other day I went to a brunch place that wouldn't let me order food without going through the App.

"Will you free my Palestine"

the FIRST figure skating backflip was performed by this guy Terry Kubicka

now Terry landed his flip at the Olympics in ‘76 and in ‘77 the backflip was quickly deemed illegal in this level of figure skating as it was considered dangerous and, some argue more crucially, couldn’t be landed on one foot, as is the required landing for all other figure skating jumps

Fast forward to 1998 at the Olympics once more and French skater Surya Bonaly.

It is widely discussed and disputed as to whether Surya was historically underscored by American judges. She won five straight gold medals in the European championships from ‘90 to ‘95 but couldn’t break past 4th place at two Olympics during this period of time. It was at her 3rd Olympic Games she pulled out her backflip and crucially landed it on one foot.

The one foot landing was seen as the big obstacle in the way of the backflip being legalised. That and its danger level. In the time between Kubicka and Bonaly however many skater had already added two foot landed flips to their performance routines (ie not scored competitions)

Some people see this as the moment the backflip should had been legalised in competitive figure skating. Many skaters had executed it safely and Bonaly proved she could accomplish the one foot landing. Bonaly placed 10th at this Olympics, incurring harsh deductions for the illegal backflip. The backflip was at no point considered in contention for legality despite Bonaly’s accomplishments, (one of which being the first female skater to land a quad jump at the Olympics). Her Olympic backflip was seen as a middle finger to Olympic judges and the stringently unprogressive nature of the sport. There were more moments than this throughout her career such as her initial refusal to mount the second place podium at the ‘94 worlds for reasons unclear. There are rumours of her ‘throwing tantrums’ or being ungrateful, and while this may be true, it’s not an uncommon sight in the world of figure skating, and given how black women are still treated in sports today, especially those that take physical appearance and body lines into account, it is undoubted that Bonaly faced racial bias during her professional career.

Surya Bonaly continued to preform her now signature one footed backflip in performances. And the backflip remained illegal in competition.

Within the conversation about Olympic figure skating backflips, there is one skater who may well be the most overlooked. The one who got the committees to legalise it! And that would be this guy, Adam Siao Him Fa

At the 2024 worlds he told himself if he skated his routine clean he would finish with a backflip, a move he had been practicing with his coaches despite it still being an illegal move. Fa did skate clean, and did preform his backflip, and so incurred the mandatory penalty of a 2 point deduction for the use of an illegal manoeuvre.

In a figure skating full circle moment, one of the judges on the panel for that competition, was Terry Kubicka himself. Almost 50 years on from his backflip he has since commentated on the irony of seeing the move he began in the 70’s and being required to deduct points for it. This two point deduction wouldn’t stop Fa from still claiming the gold medal that year. He preformed an illegal move at the end of a perfect routine and took the gold. Mere months after this at a scheduled review the backflip was removed from the group of illegal moves. It would not be granted any technical points like other jumps but would no longer incur a two point deduction.

Today at the Olympic Games in 2026, Ilia Malinin, thanks to these three (and many more performance skaters) before him has landed the first backflip at the Olympics since it’s legalisation.

So to wrap up.

First backflip (two foot) - Terry Kubicka - move made illegal

First backflip (one foot) - Surya Bonaly - move still illegal

Legalisation turning point - Adam Siao Him Fa - move made legal

First fully legal backflip - Ilia Malinin - flip still does not score points

In the future personally I hope to see the flip be utilised by more and more skaters, be given a score, and personal creativity to be more welcomed into the sport, because really we could have had 50 years of Olympic Backflips at this point.

I’ve watched carefully for the past couple of years as the battle has played out online, in internet chat rooms, and on mailing lists. I’ve read statements from individuals and organizations that have taken a stand on the issue. I’ve received press releases and announcements from one camp or another; a battle of media propaganda that would make the veterans of the Cold War proud. And through it all, I’ve tried to be a rather casual observer, if one can be casual as they watch some of the best and brightest of their community consumed in an internal battle that threatens to tear the entire community apart. Of course my being a casual observer hasn’t stopped a few folks from demanding to know where I stand. I’ve been pulled aside at conferences and been given “information,” primarily innuendo and accusation, so I am up to speed on the situation. I’ve been directed to websites that were little more than character assassinations in badly laid-out HTML. And I’ve been emailed privately and off-list by those concerned I was going to make the “wrong choice.” Want to know what my answer to these people is? Okay, here it is — I really don’t care. That’s right. I DON’T CARE. You see, I believe almost everyone entangled in this controversy is acting in what they believe are the best interests of the community with which they feel most closely aligned. I believe they’re doing the best they can with what they have. I believe mistakes have been made by everyone involved, that the personal has become political in the most destructive of ways. I also believe in change and evolution; that even organizations that have had to be forced to listen to me and to consider my issues can learn from their mistakes and realize they must make a seat for me at the table if they are to truly realize the dream of civil rights for themselves and for others. But most of all, I believe in hope. I was asked point-blank whose side I was on. This is my answer: I am on the side of whoever has the guts and initiative to end this thing and make a real effort to move our community forward out of this debilitating and destructive conflict. I’m on the side of anyone who is more interested in healing the wounds than in proving who is right. I’m on the side of those who have the ability and the willingness to put aside their personal and political animosities and seek some way to bring together everyone involved to begin a healthy dialogue, one without finger-pointing and name-calling. Until that happens, I guess I’m on the side of those who are the most negatively affected by this dysfunctional family feud. In case anyone needs a refresher course as to who those folks are and the issues they are dealing with, allow me to introduce just a few of them. The transsexual FTM who has lost custody of his child when he began transition; the butch lesbian who lost her job because she refused to wear makeup or shave her legs; the crossdresser whose wife is seeking a divorce and custody of the children he adores; the effeminate gay man beaten to death and crucified on a fence on a lonely Midwestern plain; the 17-year-old MTF doing tricks in the back alleys of San Francisco because her parents kicked her out when they found “him” wearing dresses; the FTM who died of uterine cancer because he couldn’t get insurance approval for a hysterectomy after he had completed sexual reassignment. Ultimately, it is these transgender, transsexual and gender- variant people who have the most to lose if someone doesn’t step up to the plate to end this.

Alexander John Goodrum (1960–2002) was a Black trans male activist, writer, and educator from the US. He was bisexual, disabled, and low-income. He founded TGNet Arizona which became a major force for transgender activism in the state. He was the author of "Gender Identity 101: A Transgender Primer," which became a highly utilized resource for transgender issues.

Alexander died by suicide in 2002. As many of my followers already know, trans men broadly have some of if not the highest rates of suicide in the community; the 2015 USTS found that 45% of transgender men (the highest of all groups looked at) had attempted suicide at least once in their lives. The same study found that Black trans people were the third likeliest ethnic group (behind Native and mixed) to attempt suicide at 47%. And it also found that rates of attempted suicide amongst disabled trans people were at 54%.

Alexander, a disabled Black trans man, sat squarely within all three of these groups.

Alexander wrote the above a year before he ended his own life. I do not know what his personal motivations were. But I find that, after two decades in a world without him, his words on infighting remain extremely relevant and vital to our community. And the final words of the speech, especially in the context of his own tragic death, deserve repeating over and over until it gets into our collective head:

I guess I’m on the side of those who are the most negatively affected by this dysfunctional family feud. [...] Ultimately, it is these transgender, transsexual and gender-variant people who have the most to lose if someone doesn’t step up to the plate to end this.

Don't try to crack an egg unless their gender is your business. But if their gender is your business, you have an obligation to bring it up in a way specifically tailored to helping them self discover one way or another.

When is someone's gender your business? When they have a personal relationship with you and they trust you.

you have taken our only glass of water and drank it.

though,

i mustn’t blame you.

i pushed that water towards you,

i gave you a chance to quench your hydration;

i told you that i was not thirsty,

i had said to you to drink it.

i wish we could have split that glass;

my throats now dry,

but now you’re hydrated,

and that’s all that matters.