you have to consciously unlearn racism and continue to watch for it because it will come out without realizing. because so much of society is structured around it. shrugging and going "i dont care" or "i dont know how else to say it" means you are okay with being racist and hurting other people with how much you dont give a shit about them.
Actually, no, I don't think that friendships dropping like flies in your late 20s and early 30s because no one has time for that between overwork and family obligations and marriage and kids and partners and the ritual of the time slayer is normal and ok. No I don't think deep conversations and spontaneous adventures being replaced with a tired coffee every six months is a normal part of growing up. I don't think that emotional intimacy and soul bonds disintegrating in the face of practical inconvenience is a fact of life. I think that means something is deeply deeply wrong with our society and I will never forgive it for the friends I've lost
friend of mine recommended a video essay that's like 5 hours long about why it's currently a whole Thing for fascists to claim they only eat meat and demonize vegetables etc etc, and it's genuinely quite well researched in many places and contains some fascinating history and has made me feel very weird about my status as an adult who enjoys drinking milk. but I've not finished it and I genuinely don't know if I will because at one point the ol' "you can't say you care about animals and also eat animals" chestnut got dropped by the white vegan essayist and it put such a bad taste in my mouth that I had to leave instantly
like idk man it just feels genuinely parodic to dedicate hours to analyzing how foodways have frequently been used as white supremacist propaganda and then casually toss out an argument that pretty invariably demonizes indigenous hunting practices with 0 regard for traditional knowledge and land stewardship guiding those practices
Every time I hear a white vegan say that I want to throw the rubble of the Klamath Dams at them.
The largest dam removal in U.S. history. So successful that the salmon that haven’t run freely in the river for literally over a century came back the next year. Not steady progress over a decade as expected, the very next salmon run they came home. No one alive saw salmon in that river outside the hatcheries kept by native’s tribes and the Department of Fish And Wildlife scientists desperately trying to save them. One of the activists who helped bring the suit spoke of their dying grandmother making them promise to bring the fish home, and they didn’t know how that was possible, but they spent decades doing it.
The legal basis for successfully suing the power company who owned the dams was Indigenous treaty rights to eat the fish. Eating the fish was the one thing in a century that succeeded in being a clear and legally binding right that superseded the desires of white capital and industry. I have been going to the public interest environmental law conference off and on for 20 years where a lot of organizing for Undam The Klamath happened. I’ve heard updates about every legal tact they tried as they happened, and they tried everything.
There are healthy, thriving salmon, trout, and lamprey in a rewilding and recovering Klamath River right now as a direct result of Indigenous people eating them. Of their legally binding right to eat them. They sure as fuck care more about those fish than any white vegan ever could. They are salmon people that the Creator sent Salmon to feed, while charging the People with protecting and stewarding them. It’s not possible to learn about salmon and trout in the Pacific Northwest without learning this, and it’s unambiguously racist to dismiss this symbiotic relationship.
The white vegans are trying to get all hunting and fishing banned in Oregon, and that’s quite possibly the single most catastrophic thing that could be done to the animals here because we killed off all the major predators of creatures like deer and without anything hunting them their numbers will explode, eat all the vegetation, destroy the ecosystem, and then die along with everything else in that failing ecosystem. Controlled hunting of deer is vitally necessary for the deer to survive. This is something Native people know, but patronizing racist savior-complex white people refuse to listen to.
I have a whole collection of Oregon’s Public Broadcasting’s documentaries about Klamath River or the larger story of fish and people in the region. If you watch nothing else, watch Klamath Dams Are Coming Out, First Salmon Ceremony, After The Dams, and First Decent (Native made). It could not be clearer that the salmon are being protected and nourished by the people who eat them, and that stewardship is a massive part of their creation myths. But it contradicts political vegan dogma so they don’t listen.
#also do you have any idea how much conservation is funded by people who want to eat those animals#at least in the us anytime someone buys ammo or hunting equipment or hunting licenses that money goes directly to state wildlife agencies
The anti-vax and anti-science propaganda is very real - and also, frankly I think doctors and nurses would've had an easier time getting people not to fall for it if they spent less time treating people like fucking shit
When that is such a prevalent stance, that white people are persecuted by Black people in leftist spaces, I think we can safely say “klanfems” and “klanmascs” refers to a very real phenomenon and you can’t claim it is some kind of transphobic canard.
There’s this weird trans exceptionalism where past LGB issues with racism are considered a ‘gay thing’ thus not potentially applicable to their own actions as trans people or are simply not analyzed.
“You’re only calling me racist because I’m a gay man/lesbian.” Was very much a problem white gays had with criticisms of racism. But we paint some trans colors over it and suddenly it’s not the same bullshit argument from only so many years ago?
Truly. If you've ever used the word "racistjacketing" you are terminally online and fundamentally fragile in constitution. What the fuck are you doing playing pretend in progressive spaces?
I keep thinking about that REALLY popular post about the digital circus ladt about how the criticism white trans women get (for racism in their art and social circles) is disproportionate to more privileged people behaving similarly on a larger scale or level of malicious intent.
The idea that because Gooseworx operated on a level of ignorance when creating storylines black people might feel erased or othered by should not be discussed at the level of visibility of Asmongold's platform, for just a purely rhetorical example and not true paraphrase, is still a real sentiment that is an absolute farce.
I am using these two people as easy literary reference. I could more aptly compare Ezra Miller and Jared Leto. Ezra's career is finished, their harm condemned ruthlessly, their cult mocked, while Jared Leto's cult and abuse was exonerated. He is still booked and busy in every way.
But it's a fallacy that queer people should exonerate each other of raciam, of misogyny, of fundamental societal harms because "there's levels to this shit." It's a fallacy that these things should be more hushed in trans spaces.
Because we alone define who we are. We alone as shared minority define what is safe community, what is progressive and inclusive art and most importantly we alone define how best to hold each other accountable. That is an imperative aspect of mutual self protection.
To silence such criticism, to water down such discussions, to speak of them only in hushed tones, to admonish those of us speaking passionately against these kinds of typical harm is to allow it in your spaces. Plain and simple. When you could just condemn wholeheartedly.
One of the best piece of wisdom i have ever been given is that you allow what you entertain. You stop allowing harm, you stop receiving pushback from decent people for keeping it so close to home.
Transphobia is being signed into law in the UK. Let's fight it together.
I am begging the UK trans community and its allies to attend the rescheduled Mass Lobby at Parliament, now on Wed Sept 9th, 1pm-5pm, organised by Trans Solidarity Alliance.
The law around trans equality is fundamentally broken. Government inaction is hanging trans people and organisations out to dry - with a con
The new EHRC Code of Practice pushes trans people out of toilets, hospital wards, and community spaces. It normalises gender policing based on appearance and stereotypes. It became statutory guidance in the UK on August 5th, 2026.
Trans people are now legally their assigned gender at birth and must join gendered spaces accordingly, but if they are perceived as their lived gender, they can also be ejected from those spaces. The guidance says: either break the law, or don’t pass too well.
A mass lobby is where you invite your MP to discuss your concerns with you in-person. Our demands have changed. Ask your MP to:
Write to Ministers and Prime Minister Andy Burnham to say they are profoundly concerned by the rolling back of trans rights, and that they believe that it is time for Parliament to legislate to protect equality for trans people.
Ask parliamentary questions focused on protecting trans people’s rights and defending trans people’s abilities to live safe and dignified lives.
Speak up both inside and outside Parliament in defence of trans people’s rights.
Meet regularly with trans constituents to understand their lived realities.
Your MP does not have to be an ally, they do not have to respond to your email for you to show up and greencard them (details below the cut.) What matters is that as many people as possible show up.
I cannot stress this enough: Showing up in person matters. It is much more effective than petitions, emails, and letters.
We have already had some wins because we took action. The 2026 EHRC guidance has already rolled back its most harmful elements because of mass campaigning by individuals like us, and groups like The Good Law Project. This summer, 166 MPs signed the Early Day Motion 240 to reject the EHRC Code of Practice, because of our campaigning. That is 1 in 4 MPs.
It is a horrible, stressful time, and I am so sorry if you're trans and live in the UK. But I was at last year's mass lobby and the line for greencarding alone stretched around the back gates. It was a record breaking mass lobby and made us impossible to ignore. Let's do even better this time. Details under the cut:
Worried about what to say?
Bring your personal worries about transphobia being signed into law, and trans friends being excluded from public spaces. You are a living person who deserves dignity. Remind your MP of that. On the day, you'll get guidance and brochures from Trans Solidarity Alliance that outlines our demands. This is mine from last year.
Here is an online briefing for lobbyists (10 mins read for essential info, 20 mins for details)
Money issues?
Trans Solidarity Alliance provides a travel bursary that you can sign up for via the link.
Got a refusal or no response from your MP?
Come anyway! You can request a same-day appointment with your MP through a process called greencarding. They will come and see you if they’re already in Parliament. Even if they don’t, they’re made acutely aware of your cause because you showed up in person. This is my greencard from last year.
Here is the EHRC Code of Practice in full. It's a tough read, but some highlights are:
Organisations can’t provide trans-inclusive, single-sex services, or they risk being sued for discrimination. e.g. domestic violence support for women including trans women, men’s rugby group including trans men (12.68).
Trans people will have nowhere safe to pee. If you’re a trans man, businesses can't allow you to pee in the men's, and you can also be ejected from women’s bathrooms if you’re perceived as a man. Vice versa for trans women. EHRC suggests a ‘third space’ bathroom, which is discriminatory and unworkable for most businesses. (13.130-133)
Sports organisations must exclude trans people from single-sex competitions (13.73). A women’s only sports competition must exclude trans women because of their biological advantage or face potential lawsuits (13.74), but a trans man who has undergone testosterone treatment can also be excluded based on fairness rules (13.81).
Trans women are stripped of the legal definition of ‘lesbian’, and therefore no longer have legal protections if they’re discriminated against on the basis of sexual orientation. (2.50, 2.92).
Here is the Good Law Project's better explanation of the EHRC Code.
Sign up for the mass lobby and email your MP here, or click the main link above.
If you are not in the UK but want to support the case, please donate to The Good Law Project.
Save the date and book off work!! I will see you there :))
Also it has to be turned off EVERY TIME you stream.
And the ceo apparently said if they made it opt in instead of opt out, no one would opt in. They know and dont care but click that toggle as many times as possible!!!
One major factor that makes the nature of psychiatric treatment intrinsically violent is the fact that the boundaries of the patient is considered an obstacle to treatment. The lack of consent of the patient is considered an obstacle to treatment. These obstacles are abhorred by psychiatry and are considered things that must be broken down. If the patient has a disagreement with the treatment, or objects to it, this is considered a symptom and therefore is seen as something not to be validated or respected. Thoughts, behaviors, beliefs; these are all considered symptoms if they are in opposition to treatment and must be broken down. However, compliance with treatment is almost never seen as disordered or symptomatic, even if the patient is fawning or similarly complying to avoid more harm done to them. The fact that only extreme compliance is accepted by psychiatry is inherently violent and conditions people to accept abuse. Isolation and violence are not vectors of healing.
re-reblogging this with actual advice because sometimes it really isn't that self-evident how to Not Be Mean
DO
celebrate other people's good news (tell them that what happened was great, they earned/deserve it, you're happy for them, elaborate on how it's a good thing and why they deserve to be happy about it)
sympathize with other people's troubles (tell them what they're going through sucks, they did their best, point out that not all is lost (use examples of what they still have going for them) but it can still fucking suck)
react and ask questions related to what people say to you (ask for elaborations or explanations, ask about future plans, ask how things went before, relate the things they've said now to things they've said in the past, use their name sometimes, add your own (positive or neutral) perspective on the events, share related experiences)
if someone is instigating a fight or pissing you off, just walk away -- or, if it's all online, block them (it'll make you look better, i promise)
ask about their day/state and pay attention to what they say, and apply the first three as needed
snark or make jokes/puns, if you have them, and be willing to laugh at other people's jokes/snark/puns
share good events, interesting things, and the things that make you happy/excited (try not to 'qualify' these, i.e. add on reasons why you should be sad about the news, or why the news wasn't actually that great -- it's not the end of the world if you do, but it does defeat the purpose a bit)
share bad events or things you're unhappy about (it's important to open up, and it's unreasonable to expect yourself to be happy all the time; just make sure it's balanced out by the positives as well)
remember that nobody does things that are senseless, and the sooner you can figure out why someone is doing what they're doing, the easier it'll be to deal with and negotiate (common reasons for baffling or harmful actions are: distress, self-interest, misguided altruism, unquestioned biases, peer pressure, thoughtlessness)
keep in mind that everyone (including you) is doing their best at any given time, and sometimes that 'best' just isn't that good
TRY NOT TO
be harsh about or insult yourself (keeping in mind that that is taking side swipes at other people who have those traits, regardless of how you mean it)
point out why people should feel bad about the things they're happy about
ignore all the specifics of what the person you're speaking with is saying
spend a significant amount of time mocking other people (we all need to vent and we all have our moments; the operative word here is significant -- don't make it your personality)
put down to malice what can adequately be explained by stupidity (don't assume someone is being cruel when they could just as well be doing it because they're dumb/oblivious)
dismiss or belittle other people's distress (it's not a competition, and their distress is real regardless)
dismiss or belittle other people's happiness or interest (it's not a competition, and their happiness is something you want in order to Not Be Mean)
(this is both non-exhaustive and not ironclad, simply a list of general things to aim for and skills to practice)
basically, 'people will largely stick by you through pretty dark shit if you make their lives brighter the rest of the time' is super legit and something to lean into
i think if your kid is precociously good at an adult hobby like cooking or sewing or whatever and you try to monetize it by turning them into a three-year-old influencer you should be locked in a funhouse until you change your mind