This news probably came as a surprise to you. After all, you haven’t done anything pedophilic that you know of. Yet here you are, accused of being a pedophile.

It doesn’t matter whether you’ve been diagnosed with POCD or not, whether you’ve sought out material or not, even if you’ve been vocally opposed to pedophilia in the past. What matters right now is that YOU are a pedophile. Someone said it was true, and that’s what matters to most people.

Don’t worry, it happens to a lot of us, especially if you’re queer and ESPECIALLY if you’re transfemme. Hell, it’s happened to me before:

For some people, they become more vocally opposed to pedophiles to prove they aren’t a pedophile. Others develop radical compassion.

This is gonna sound like an unhinged comparison at first, but hear me out.

This whole “discourse” around ISFF has had me thinking over and over again about how Paul Robeson was blacklisted from being a prominent face of the civil rights campaign despite being possibly the most globally well known Black person from the US, bc he was a communist in a time it wasn’t just unacceptable socially but legally dangerous and would’ve brought even heavier crackdowns on the civil rights movement.

The result was an incomplete liberation because it was only uplifting the “acceptable ones” within a capitalist framework rather than uplifting the baseline total rights regardless of belief/existence.

The point there being is that so long as there are categories of human we view as unacceptable we cannot achieve total liberation. All trannies and faggots are pedophiles, addicts, bums, rapists, whores, etc. to those who see it convenient to get rid of us, and refusing to address this issue will only result in an incomplete liberation because we cannot leave behind those who are seen the worst by society when we ARE them too by default.

“But communist and pedophile is an unhinged comparison” they’ve been calling communists that, perverts, sexual deviants, etc. since McCarthyism anyway so.

We cannot be truly liberated until even those viewed as “the worst of society” have the same basic rights and ability to survive in society as everyone else. As humans, they deserve that much. If you cannot accept that, consider that all any of the rest of us need to become one of them is to be accused of it. Proof doesn’t matter. Reality doesn’t matter. You are a pedophile. You will become a pedophile as soon as it is useful for someone to make you into one.

There is no option but acknowledging they are still human and cannot be simply removed from society, because as long as there are stigmatized demographics, we will be able to remove the basic rights of anyone.

~~~THRIVE Lifeline: text “THRIVE” to +1.313.662.8209 from anywhere, 24/7 [UPDATE: LIMITED HOURS]. Text-based support, by and for multiply marginalized people. ~~~Trans Lifeline: call 877.565.8860 in US or 877.330.6366 in Canada, Mon-Fri 10a-6p PT. Peer support and crisis hotline for trans people. ~~~BlackLine: call or text 1.800.604.5841 in US, Mon-Fri 6a-8p, Sat-Sun 5p-9p PT. Crisis support with a Black, LGBTQ+, and Black Femme lens, and a safe line to report police brutality. ~~~Wildflower Alliance Peer Support Line: call 888.407.4515 in the US, open 4-6p PT Mon-Thurs, and 4-7p PT Fri-Sun. Lived experience with psychiatric diagnosis, trauma, addiction, etc. ~~~Project LETS: text 401.400.2905, Mon-Sat 7a-1p PT for urgent support with psychiatric incarceration / involuntary hospitalization in the US. ~~~Don’t Call The Police: A database of local and national community-based alternatives to calling the police or 911 has been broken down by major US cities. https://dontcallthepolice.com/

The Twin Cities metro is under siege. Footage is being suppressed online, so I can forgive you for not knowing the full extent of what’s going on.

Right now, DHS has kidnapped thousands of Minnesotans - regardless of citizenship status - and is injured and assaulted thousands more. 4 days ago, a man was beaten to unconsciousness in a gas station parking lot before being cuffed and dragged to a concentration camp. 7 days ago, three registered members of the Oglala Sioux tribe were kidnapped from a homeless encampment and taken to Fort Snelling, the site of the single largest slaughter of Indigenous people on “American” soil in history (Dakota 38+2), and are being held political hostage. 24 hours ago a Venezuelan man was shot in the leg after a 40 minute car chase, and a six month child was tear gassed so badly he stopped breathing.

But there’s hope.

Or, more accurately, there is action. Communities are showing up. No matter where ICE turns up, community members show up with whistles, car horns, shouting, and drive ICE out. Local businesses are shutting down operations and transforming into mutual aid distribution hubs, feeding hundreds of families sheltering in place. Communities are setting up round the clock patrols, shielding preschools and daycares, sharing resources and trainings and motivation. Minnesotans are showing up for each other.

And you can, too.

If you don’t live in Minnesota, you can help financially by donating to MIRAC, CANMN, and organizations like Smitten Kitten and Twin Cities Leather, to help operate community safe spaces and aid distribution. You can act in your communities, by finding or hosting ICE watch and stop the bleed trainings. You can read up on de-arresting and protest tactics. Show up at your local DHS, FBI, DEA, or Federal building and protest there.