My last post, which featured on that awful anti-transgender ad in Houston depressed the hell out of me.
The droll comedian in me, however sees a bit of humor in how anti-gay groups and their spokespeople demonize the transgender community. In the nine plus years which I have run this blog, they have gone from claiming that transgender men and women want to corrupt children in the classrooms:
to claiming that transgender women want to invade women's bathrooms and locker rooms:
My guess is that they will be soon claiming that transgender women will be wanting to inject pregnant women with some type of formula which will make their infants come out of the womb as transgender.
However, one thing won't change. The anti-gay will continue to smear transgender women as predators as long as they can get away it, just like they attack gay men the same way. There is that fear tactic about a "man victimizing a woman" that they cling to. And it depresses me because I have to remember that no matter how many times I work to refute it, there is still work to do.
I have to remind myself not to be so naive to think a transphobe will read my post and suddenly boom! Clarity and open-mindedness will grip him or her. It would be nice, but it doesn't work that way. Nothing ever does. Not only me, but the entire lgbt community and our allies would do well to remember that. We may have won nationwide marriage equality, but we still have continuous statewide battles to fight where the fear tactics and the lies do work.
And they work because we continue to take them lightly. We laugh at these lies and stereotypes until the other side uses them to knock us on our asses, then we scramble with anger to combat them when we should have been combating them without waiting for times when they are used against us..
What I am proposing and have always proposed is that we start taking these types of demonizations seriously. That we be aggressive and start calling anti-lgbt groups out from the get-go and demanding a public conversation from everyone about the years of anti-gay lies thrown at us. Let's start the battle for a change instead of waiting for them to strike the first blow and then hoping that a three hour march or sit-in will solve the problems best resolved through strategic planning and ruthless aggression.
Images like above aren't going away and I for don't think they deserve to be treated lightly. What do you think?
One more thing for all of those turkeys who didn't understand why the Southern Poverty Law Center designated certain anti-gay organizations as hate groups - THE ABOVE IMAGES ARE WHAT THEY PEDDLE! THAT IS WHY THEY ARE HATE GROUPS!!
The droll comedian in me, however sees a bit of humor in how anti-gay groups and their spokespeople demonize the transgender community. In the nine plus years which I have run this blog, they have gone from claiming that transgender men and women want to corrupt children in the classrooms:
to claiming that transgender women want to invade women's bathrooms and locker rooms:
My guess is that they will be soon claiming that transgender women will be wanting to inject pregnant women with some type of formula which will make their infants come out of the womb as transgender.
However, one thing won't change. The anti-gay will continue to smear transgender women as predators as long as they can get away it, just like they attack gay men the same way. There is that fear tactic about a "man victimizing a woman" that they cling to. And it depresses me because I have to remember that no matter how many times I work to refute it, there is still work to do.
I have to remind myself not to be so naive to think a transphobe will read my post and suddenly boom! Clarity and open-mindedness will grip him or her. It would be nice, but it doesn't work that way. Nothing ever does. Not only me, but the entire lgbt community and our allies would do well to remember that. We may have won nationwide marriage equality, but we still have continuous statewide battles to fight where the fear tactics and the lies do work.
And they work because we continue to take them lightly. We laugh at these lies and stereotypes until the other side uses them to knock us on our asses, then we scramble with anger to combat them when we should have been combating them without waiting for times when they are used against us..
What I am proposing and have always proposed is that we start taking these types of demonizations seriously. That we be aggressive and start calling anti-lgbt groups out from the get-go and demanding a public conversation from everyone about the years of anti-gay lies thrown at us. Let's start the battle for a change instead of waiting for them to strike the first blow and then hoping that a three hour march or sit-in will solve the problems best resolved through strategic planning and ruthless aggression.
Images like above aren't going away and I for don't think they deserve to be treated lightly. What do you think?
One more thing for all of those turkeys who didn't understand why the Southern Poverty Law Center designated certain anti-gay organizations as hate groups - THE ABOVE IMAGES ARE WHAT THEY PEDDLE! THAT IS WHY THEY ARE HATE GROUPS!!
It seems that we should be holding these liars accountable through the local and national media (TV primarily) by insisting that they expose the lies, misinformation and hate. The average person doesn't read blogs or the liberal newsfeeds on the internet. Even most of my gay friends couldn't be bothered to stay informed other than by watching CBS or NBC nightly news. On the other hand most people are not exposed to the propaganda of the hate groups via network news either.
ReplyDeleteI'm an ally, but I often think "Ally? How are YOU helping anyone!?"
ReplyDeleteWhen I had more money I used to send some to GLAAD and similar groups, but I can't afford to do that anymore. If I catch someone spreading homophobic/transphobic nonsense I'll call them out, but I don't think I've changed any minds. Any counter evidence I provide can easily be interpreted as "I'm brainwashed" or "I'm attacking you." or "I'm a self righteous pain in the ass!" Not the message I'm trying to convey, of course, but that's what is 'heard.'
Jennifer, what I've learned is that you have to still call out the bullshit. If you don't you leave it unchecked. At least when you call it out, you put the truth in someone's mind. Slowly but surely, minds are changing.
ReplyDeleteJennifer, I remember when I first saw the statistics on support for same sex marriage go above 50%. The year before it had been something like 46% . My first thought was this was too much of a shift to just be the younger generation coming of age. It could only happen if people who had been apposed, or on the fence about it changed their minds. That kind of support didn't come just from LGBT people marching, and filing petitions. It happened because people who supported us said so enough that those who didn't had to think. There's a reason why the religious right tries to say people like you can't be real Christians, or your as bad as gay people. It's because you are a real threat to them. You're one comment may not have changed their mind, but the 30 others along with you did. Don't ever think you don't do anything. You are VERY important to this fight. You make people question, so when we do speak out, they will listen.
ReplyDelete