#tourette's

It's awful Michael b. Jordan and Delroy Lindo heard that shouted while they were on stage, and it's ridiculous the BBC didn't edit it out but were able to edit out someone shouting "Free Palestine" in post. We should be able to hold space and acknowledge that hearing that while on stage and having to move past it takes extreme strength and grace that Black people are forced to have and I feel awful they and anyone else had to hear that and believe both Davidson and BAFTA should issue an apology to Jordan, Lindo, and the Black community.

The way the media has centered the situation around allowing Davidson grace instead of empathy and upset for Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo, as well as lack of outrage at BAFTA for not adequately preparing for this scenario by a longer delay to have time to censor. (Though they were able to censor someone saying free palestine)

I only want people to understand that people with tourettes can't control our tics. People with coprolalia do not tic what we are thinking. Coprolalia (offensive tics) often cause the person to say what they fear saying the most. This can look like shouting "I have a bomb" in the airport, or saying "fuck the queen" while meeting the queen of england, something John Davidson has done. Tourette's is involuntary and forces us to say words we would never choose to say. I tell my partner to "kill themself" almost daily. They know I do not mean it, I say it because that's my biggest fear. I am certain that mechanism is the reason John shouted the N slur when he did. If you're asking "how is that in his vocabulary," nearly every white person at some point hears that word and is hopefully told to never use it. This exact scenario is what can create a coprolalic tic.

Tourette's makes you say things you would normally never say, and do things you would normally never do. It does not mean he is secretly thinking it. It does not mean he is racist and is faking it. It does not mean tourette's is just a fake disorder used as a racism excuse.

figured i should finally introduce myself properly

Fresh's magic would still catch it (doesn't matter if it's involuntary. it's still a swear. it'd still be censored in like. a family friendly show.)

and yeah, since it's physically making the person actually make like. a beep or quack noise or something instead of the swear. it would be uncomfortable. forced to make the wrong noise. it would likely cause the tic to keep trying to come out. keep trying for the way it's meant to come out.

and Fresh being the ass he is, wouldn't care. he may not try telling the person ticcing not to swear like he usually would, because he know's it's involuntary. but he might get a kick out of their discomfort.

This whole situation has been frustrating because so many official Tourette’s organizations respond with, “we ask for grace and understanding.” And yet, this has happened multiple times: a White man with Tourette’s gets in trouble over coprolalia or copropraxia in a situation where his tics negatively impact people who already face significant systemic barriers.

As a Filipino trans man with Autism, ADHD, Complex PTSD, and Tourette’s, diagnosed late in life, this is something that deeply frustrates me. Looking back, I rarely saw learning and developmental disorders diagnosed in People of Color. Many of us grew up with our tics unacknowledged, often framed as a moral failing or a lack of effort.

People of Color with Tourette’s often had to learn how to redirect or manage our tics early on, because simply explaining that we have Tourette’s does not afford us the same grace that White people with Tourette’s receive.

I think we need to understand the difference between intent and impact. A tic may not have intent behind it, but the impact can still be immediate and harmful; especially if it makes someone feel unsafe. We’re told about CBIT and medications to manage tics, but when someone with privilege has coprolalia or copropraxia, suddenly it becomes framed as completely uncontrollable and beyond discussion. If People of Color are not given the same freedom to tic as White people, maybe we need to reexamine whether tics that negatively impact others’ sense of safety should simply be allowed to continue without accountability or mitigation.

Growing up, most people I knew with tics experienced painful punishment that pushed us to hide or suppress them; often before we even understood they were neurological and beyond our control. I was used to seeing people step away or take breaks when their tics were affecting others.

When I became a 2024 Unsung Hero for the Tourette Association of America, it was the first time I was in a space full of people with tics who had grown up with the freedom to tic openly. I’ll be honest; I felt jealousy toward people whose Tourette’s caused them to throw or hit things without experiencing punishment. It took me months to stop the complex tics I unintentionally picked up at the gala. I was constantly apologizing for the tics I picked up, and it made me wonder whether the people I picked them up from ever apologize when their tics negatively impact others. I don’t know. But I worry that things may become even harder for minorities with Tourette’s.