I have a new piece up at Colin Wright’s Substack. (Incidentally, the comic Christina Buttons and Colin designed to accompany this article got him suspended from Twitter for hate speech… and I came back from a walk only to learn that my writing had become the
Another good one. I just finished writing something about how so many labels and diagnoses seem to be used to garner compassion and understanding from others and "trans" is certainly among those. I focused on the individuals seeking out labels and diagnoses but I also think it's important to focus our scrutiny on the people at the top. I just finished doing some "light" reading on the eugenics movement in California which is a sobering example of harm perpetrated under the guise of a social good. Eugenics was promoted by rich philanthropists who had ties with the University system. Far from being unpopular, it received bipartisan support in the legislature at the time and was considered a progressive issue.
It makes me wonder how the very human need for compassion is being exploited by people who lost touch with their own humanity a long time ago. The rhetoric is "be kind/compassionate", the tone is "these demands are so reasonable, who would question them?", but the reality is complete erosion of women's human rights and sterilization of gay kids. Unquestioning support and promotion by powerful players (celebrities, government, doctors) and the framing of "trans rights" as a humanitarian cause are blinding people to harm.
Why do T people need a separate flag now, if their rights and activism coincide with LGB people, as the LGBTQ+ hodgepodge of letters suggests? Who is represented by +?
Another good one. I just finished writing something about how so many labels and diagnoses seem to be used to garner compassion and understanding from others and "trans" is certainly among those. I focused on the individuals seeking out labels and diagnoses but I also think it's important to focus our scrutiny on the people at the top. I just finished doing some "light" reading on the eugenics movement in California which is a sobering example of harm perpetrated under the guise of a social good. Eugenics was promoted by rich philanthropists who had ties with the University system. Far from being unpopular, it received bipartisan support in the legislature at the time and was considered a progressive issue.
It makes me wonder how the very human need for compassion is being exploited by people who lost touch with their own humanity a long time ago. The rhetoric is "be kind/compassionate", the tone is "these demands are so reasonable, who would question them?", but the reality is complete erosion of women's human rights and sterilization of gay kids. Unquestioning support and promotion by powerful players (celebrities, government, doctors) and the framing of "trans rights" as a humanitarian cause are blinding people to harm.
Why do T people need a separate flag now, if their rights and activism coincide with LGB people, as the LGBTQ+ hodgepodge of letters suggests? Who is represented by +?
Spicy Straights.