growsomethinggood

Gerrymandering and other structural means of disproportionate representation in federal government are big parts of it

I think the progress pride flag is an acknowledgement of the unfortunate inequality present in our community specifically. LGBTQ+ has made huge strides in acceptance since the start of the gay rights movement, but most of those benefits have gone to cis and/or white members of the community, while trans people and POCs are the ones putting their bodies on the line for those rights disproportionately. I like seeing the progress flag out and about as a promise that we see those sidelined groups and we will champion their rights as hard as we champion our own. I hope there's a day when we don't need to make that promise explicitly, but I fear it may be a long time coming.

I think this is generally a good policy, but I'm going to add a tiny bit of nuance if that's alright. Language is changing and evolving constantly and nonuniformly: what might have been a slur decades ago is now a proper academic term ("queer") and what would have been lightly negative schoolyard insult is now pretty heinous in most circles (r* slur).

I think the important takeaway here is that you can't reclaim slurs for groups you are not a part of, full stop. If someone from a group requests to be referred to by something that sounds disrespectful to you (it/its pronouns is a huge one), it's not up to you to decide better for that person, you know? But you shouldn't also extrapolate that to other people of that group without confirming with individuals either.

For a quick example, when I came out to my mom she was horrified that I would use queer to describe my sexuality and my community, because she had only ever known that word as a slur. But we talked it out and she understands now that you can say queer with pride instead of hate, you know?

So I'm okay getting outpaced by folks who want to feel empowered by language that has been used to put them and their community down in the past (and I think little shits making people feel bad by saying they're reclaiming something they don't have a claim to should be told to fuck off and grow up).

This is only the beginning of a long summer. If you can get out there, do it! There are more of us than them. But remember that this isn't going to be the last occasion either. We need to be ready to stand up and say no many more times. Progress is slow, build community support now. Stay safe, be brave. ♥️

"Let my people piss" -trans Moses

I mean, it's not that far off:

In a different interview, a reporter asked Trump what crime Newsom committed, and Trump’s answer is chilling: “He ran for governor.”

Not a solve-everything solution, but I enjoy blocking every user who is even slightly a shit. My experience of slowly curating out the dumbasses has certainly made my experience a better one!

Bisexuals aren't exclusively attracted to men and women, nonbinary and agender folks are largely included. Common interpretation of the bi=2 prefex is including 1) same- (homo) and 2) different- (hetero) gender sexuality. Colloquially the difference between bi and pan is usually described as bisexuality allowing for preference for certain genders but not exclusively so, while pansexuality is attraction regardless of gender. A given bisexual might be attracted to twice as many women as men, but that doesn't mean their attraction to those men isn't real, you know? Meanwhile a pansexual could have attraction to the exact same people but wouldn't ascribe it to gender, just individuals. Largely the difference between the two is therefore personal preference in how someone experiences their sexuality.

Are there not enough cat pictures on the internet, that we have to generate them with AI? I'd rather see a real cat any day

Assigned Woman By Internet

For real, I'd much rather have a trans-friendly community that sometimes forgets cis people exist than one that excludes trans people!

That's fair! I've definitely gotten both. Some people take internet forums as their own personal debate club and I'm gonna side-eye what they choose to devil's advocate, you know?

Are we prepared to talk about the subtle (or sometimes unsubtle) misogynist (plus intersections of transphobia, homophobia, and racism) streak on the Fediverse? I've gotten the weirdest pushback for relatively mild takes with such frequency I've come to expect it. I am not afraid to block anyone who is being a prick, but if anything I post gets a modicum of attention I have to avoid my inbox like the plague or be sealioned to death. I don't remember it being this bad on reddit (but I think communities self-sorted better with a larger userbase).