[ID: a cropped screenshot of tags from tumblr user the-lady-general on a white background. the tags read: #sorry for derailing op but #wrt getting angry at paramount is there like a letter writing campaign you need help with? #i’d like to help. End ID]
@the-lady-general Please don’t apologise! In fact, thank you so much for bringing this up, because you have inspired me. I didn’t have anything planned beyond the mutual aid post, because I have never organised something like a letter writing campaign before. But it would be absolutely incredible if together we could actually get the message about how Hemmer’s death has affected the disabled community and the wider Trek fandom to Paramount and SNW directly. Like I said, I’m fully inspired, so I say we do it.
I would be happy to write out a protest email template that anyone can copy, paste, and send, if someone else is able to find out who to contact and how to contact them. It would also be nice to have a few other writers so that we have a variety of templates to send, so that these emails aren’t all the same.
To my followers or to anyone who happens to be in the Star Trek tag, would anyone else be willing to help with this? Does anyone have direct experience running a letter writing campaign like this, who might be able to offer help or guidance?
By my estimation, we would need:
- Someone who is able to track down the contact information for relevant parties—my thinking would be Alex Kurtzman, any of the writers or producers, whoever’s in charge of Trek at Paramount, etc. I’ll go looking as well of course.
- A handful of writers to type up various professional-sounding statements expressing our disagreement with Hemmer’s death (and possibly by extension, any of New Trek’s poor treatment of its trans characters and characters of colour) that can be sent to the aforementioned relevant parties
- As many people willing to send these emails at possible
- Possibly some individuals willing to send physical typed letters as well
- Someone willing to spread this campaign to Twitter or other platforms, once the emails have been written (no credit to me necessary, just spread the info so the wider Trek fandom can participate if they wish to)
I will open my DMs for anyone who wants to discuss this further one-on-one. At any rate, if you are interested in joining this campaign, please at least bookmark this blog somehow or keep a tab open for further updates. You can also track the tag #JusticeForHemmer which I will start using for posts on the subject.
I think that even if absolutely nothing comes of this, even if Hemmer stays dead and New Trek goes on writing its disabled or otherwise marginalised characters poorly—we will have at least expressed our discontentment to the powers that be at Paramount. They will at least be aware. And that matters for something, at least.
Remember, this isn’t just about a fictional character—this is about media representation of disabled people, particularly from a piece of media that leans so heavily on its “diversity” for advertising. If Paramount is going to advertise diversity in Star Trek and then fail to deliver, then we are more than justified in telling them what we think.
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