LGBTAitp 27: Of Shoes, and Ships, and Sealing Wax

[SiuiS]

In other news, this is pretty neat. (Well, the policy, not the complaints. :s )

That's interesting, but I dislike that the blog takes the exact same stance as the group they protest against. "LOok at them, disparaging an ignoring our statistics and proof, while assuming their own proof is perfect and don't need to explain it. They are totally being the jerks here and we should shun them, am I right?"
There's something wrong when the only difference between two factions is which buzzwords go where.

Personally, I would like to sit down with the folks from the church and have a discussion. Ask them to not focus on swaying crowds and simply try to understand from the other side for a bit. Even Christians are people (sound familiar, other oppressed groups?) and tend to be reasonable. And hey, agreeing to disagree is fine, after you make the attempt to connect.

I might agree, but I'm not certain how I feel about censorship. *Shrug*






~Bianca

It's not censorship. Allowing only one group of people to use a certain word is censorship. It is inherently disallowing any other group those words.

No, I'm talking about equal consequence. The word "tranny" offends me. It doesn't matter if the person saying it is trans and I appear not to be. I will ask politely not to throw it around. I will then tell them to stop. And then, if they continue to spite me and I'm in a bad mood I will act on it. It doesn't matter what the word is or who says it. Asking for special dispensation because you're gay/straight/black/white/trans/Cis/curious/religious/agnostic is fine, because it's a request. People are allowed to make requests. Creating a price large for yourself and forcing it on other people is not fine. Even If that privilege is being able to refer to yourself via slurs by changing the 'Eric' at the end to an 'a'.

So much to read @.@ And lots of people needing hugs...

*hugs all round*

I've been having some weird and quite upsetting dreams recently. Most of them involve me becoming a shapeshifter (yay), but somehow getting trapped in the form of something I don't want to be in a rapidly shrinking room.

Sitting down and thinking (a cat on the lap helps) made me kinda realise something. My dreams were pretty much the perfect metaphor for my life. I'm overweight, I'm doing nothing and I can change that. So from now, trying to lose the weight, be happier with myself. Make it so I can look like the 2 people I want to be (male and female me).

Any advise on hair styles? :3

Long! Long hair is pretty.

And I've got a question on allyship. What would you guys say the core principles are that all allys should support? I know an ally doesn't have to agree with everything in a movement, but what would you say makes someone an ally?

Idislike the concepts behind ally. It's a title, it gets a capital letter, it has requirements, and suddenly it's a merit badge. Honestly, I'm surprised the community didn't see this whole thing coming. You tell people they are special an part of a thing because you ave them an Officla Title, writ and seal, Nd ten when they get comfortable the community freaks out.

Requirements are by their nature limiting. don't limit your friends, limit your enemies. Label, brand and disseminate info on how to be a dingus! Spread fliers ot that say 'how to be an Ally' but instead 'Don't be a wanker'. Make the ba people easy to identify, that way you don't get ba people mixed up in your friends. Ally creates an artificial third category of fence sitters, who are viewed as Not-Allies. That's bad. If you reverse it, then everyone who isn't a jerk ends up de facto on your side. Align yourself with society, and society aligns with you.

Yeah, and it's bad phrasing in an equal society but it's a classic. I think you can get far with simple reciprocity - treat people like they treat you. And stand your ground with defending your values, even if you are not directly threatened by someone. So if they attack LGBTA people, stand up for your values of equal treatment (which leaves the problem of people who treat everyone like crap, but this is a rule of thumb).

I am still of the Man=Human side of things. All homosapiens and relevantly intelligent cognates for their environment and time culture are worthy of a minimum amount of respect as living things with souls.

Any reason for this shameless cephalpoid discrimination?

Don't make me get the dysphoric seasick squid comic out again.

Is it bad that I really don't think about any of that sort of stuff at all? I just come here because I like you all. I don't really think of it as being an ally or anything else. My thought processes are usually "Kender, Lix, Mystic, Arachu, etc are all really sweet people and I enjoy talking with them." The LGBT stuff is usually an afterthought.

No, it's awesome. Thank you!