#righteous anger

(via Bowyer Bible John's Gospel: The Cleansing of the Temple. John 2:14-15)

I’ve already experienced enough transphobia and even actual brutality from the system as is, I do not need my own community turning against me. This post was made purely with the best intentions in mind. So I’m sorry if it doesn’t come off that way. I really trying to be respectful here. Be kind with your thoughts and I will be kind in return. If you came here for rage bait? Well…. There’s a reason most elder queers are so “mean”.

I’ve just been really angry lately and especially at all this online identity politics discourse happening and it’s got to the point where I can’t stay silent anymore and have to speak up about it. My life (along with so many others…) is genuinely in danger as a trans person living in the US and it’s pissing me off that there’s this trend currently dominating the queer community and it’s not doing anything to help, it only seems to be causing more conflict, confusion, distraction, exclusion, and infighting. My anger is righteous and I won’t listen to anyones bad faith arguments on the matter. I got shit to do as someone who cares about trans rights, and frankly I don’t have time to engage in discourse…

If you don’t believe me that trans lives are genuinely in danger for just existing and being trans…? you need a MASSIVE privilege check…. wake up. I can’t even talk about what happened & is still currently happening to me for legal reasons. But I assure you the enemy doesn’t care that they were transphobic or transandrophobic or transmisogynistic or whatever. They just hate us for being trans. Not only do they hate us, they want us fucking dead.

Apologies if this comes off as disrespectful or dismissive, I am NOT trying to shut down all discussion or telling anyone to stop discussing their feelings. What we’re doing now is great. It’s definitely a start… Unfortunately I think we need a little more than trans visibility & label claiming & term coining right now. What we need is trans liberation. We need revolution.

We need to get angry and start throwing bricks again. No more nice queers. We got to have mass queer solidarity to join together against a common enemy. Why are we fighting in comments?? We are all in this together…

Again, I am not trying to be rude! I am just begging that we get off social media and take this anger to the streets and start fighting the true enemy, in the real world. You may think you’re safe now, but you won’t be safe in the future if you don’t take action against everything that is currently going on.

Just because you feel comfortable with compliance doesn’t mean others are not suffering as a result of your silence.

We cannot continue to hide behind a screen and do nothing to fight for our rights in the real world. We’re living in blissful ignorance. Actions speak louder than words, and all this inaction speaks volumes infinitely louder than all the words online. It really is that bad out there. We need to get off our phones or else more of us are gonna die. I wish I was joking or even just exaggerating but unfortunately I am not. This is really happening. Unless we do something now, the future will have nothing.

+ friendly reminder that acab includes identity police! Stop being so authoritarian unless we all get real chill about it real quick. Unfortunately I don’t think that’s very realistic.

This is not a "breathplay is unsafe" post. It's a "this is bad engineering" post.

FOR ALL MY FELLOW ANGRY WOMEN OUT THERE:

We have countless reasons to be angry, I know. The term "female rage" was coined for a reason. Righteous anger is a powerful thing, a catalyst for change, and the world would be a lot worse without it. But it can eat you alive from the inside sometimes.

Don't forget to take care of your own private life. Take some time to heal and nourish yourself and your loved ones. Don't let injustice and evil destroy your will to live a fulfilling life and be the light you want to see in the world.

Your mental health and sanity need to be preserved if you want to tangibly make a difference for those around you. Sometimes, that difference is just being authentic in ways that defy the patriarchal, capitalist norm. Embrace your natural body, reject beauty standards, boycott evil corporations, take care of local wildlife, protest irl. Do what's morally right, by all means. But don't waste your precious time online engaging in pointless debates about it with people you'll never meet.

The women in your life see you. You may not realize it, but your authenticity and happiness can be enough to inspire a little girl to grow up into their own best version. Or maybe, an older woman might find her own joy again through you.

Unapologetically loving yourself, being happy and living a life you love in the face of a system that wants to break your spirit and make you a soulless machine is more impactful and sustainable than wasting away in the rage and disgust rabbit-hole of online activism.

The internet harms us more than it benefits us. In its current format, it's designed to keep us outraged, overwhelmed and overstimulated. Too exhausted to live our own lives, bc the horrors of the world need our constant attention. To invest so much time and energy in such a dangerous environment for the sake of activism is counterproductive.

The expectation that women need to be seen constantly performing activism is rooted in the misogynistic idea that you, as a woman, need to carry the burden of emotional labor and community maintenance for everyone, in detriment of your own self-care. Let go of that burden. Save your energy for yourself and the women in your life.