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mademoiselle-red · 7 months

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Reading the Renault fandom dissertation, part 6: the conclusion

An academic, Jui-an Chou, wrote about us, online fans of Mary Renault’s works, as part of her phd dissertation in 2018 at Duke University. As the subject of her research, I have a few thoughts.

(Here is part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, and part 5 of my series of posts on this TC fandom study)

“Like slash and BL, Renault’s historical fiction is a fantasy that looks to and appropriates an elsewhere for an erotic ideal that is absent from a century that went through the medicalization and criminalization of homosexuality, the rights movements, and the political struggles that are still happening today. […] The unexpected affinity between Renault and her millennial fans provides clues to how an author such as Renault can be read in an academic context. Slash/BL provides a mode of desire so deeply intertwined with appropriation and distantiation that it bypasses the problem of identity in gay and lesbian studies and queer theory altogether. The cross-gender desire for homoeroticism shared by slash/BL and Renault is homophile without concerns for gay rights, denies identity without political radicalism, and indulges in the scene of desire without involving the self.”

I identify with Laurie’s struggles because I’m also queer. I like reading about queer people struggling with the same issues I face. I like reading about queer people falling in love. My self is very involved in my reading of the novel, thank you every much.

“It is this romantic fantasy about pure love in an exotic setting that appeals to both Renault’s contemporary gay readers and her millennial fans. While gay readers today no longer find identitarian empowerment in Renault’s cross-writings, slash/BL fans continue to read her works as fantasies that do not correspond to identity categories and their political consequences.”

Apparently, the gays only read for “empowerment”, while the millennials only read for pleasure. 🙄🙄🙄

“From Achilles/Patroklos, Alexander/Hephaistion, Ralph/Laurie, to Renault as author, and then to her 21st-century fans, desire and identification in and for Renault’s writings are always directed towards an elsewhere that can never be reached nor determined. Within the serial longing for alterity, what is missing is always a concern with the here and now, with what one is and represents—the front and center of identity politics. Renault’s contempt for contemporary politics and fantasy’s departure from the familiar converge to create a narrative that strips the last residue of politics from both gender and sexuality and turns them into mythical ideals, forever on the horizon and never to be attained.”

Ironically, The Charioteer is precisely about a protagonist who nearly misses out on love, belonging, and happiness in the here and now because he was too preoccupied with a fantasy of the past! And the novel also features two political speeches (from Ralph and Alec) about the chasm between the ideals of gay love in Ancient Greece that many in the community look towards and their present reality of living under criminalization and blackmail. It really makes me wonder how carefully Chou read The Charioteer before undertaking this analysis of the novel and its reception.

“While Renault’s works have inspired and then disillusioned her contemporary gay readers and her lesbian feminist critics successively, they have also found an unlikely affinity in slash/BL fans in recent years. The centrality of the “boy” in both Renault’s homoerotic romance and Boys’ Love is anything but a coincidence: the figure of the boy signifies a temporality outside of gender, sexual, and political definitions, and in both Renault and slash/Boys’ Love, the love for and of the boy constitutes a romantic narrative detached from identitarian agendas.”

It is astonishing that Chou attributes the centrality of the “boy” figure to Renault and Boys Love but does not mention its origins in the writings of Plato & other authors of antiquity who valorized the “boy” figure and influenced all those that came after. The ideal of the “boy” has played a central role in gay art, literature, and culture for millennia, shaping those very “gender, sexual, and political definitions” that Chou claims it eludes.

“The reason why fantasy is a better context to understand this serial desire for otherness than queerness is because queerness is antithetical to fantasy: despite its diverse strategies to challenge identity constructions including its own, queerness is defined as a radical political project. Disidentification as a mechanism of BL fantasy, on the other hand, is a rejection of an identity through which political agendas can be exercised. Reading Renault and the desires within and without her works in terms of fantasy provides an opportunity to examine her very rejection of possibility: by insisting to remove the self from the here and now, Renault’s works construct a sexuality that has no future but amorously beholds an infinite number of pasts.”

The notion that queerness is antithetical to fantasy is utterly baffling. Show me one radical political project that did not begin as a fantasy! Political action, in my opinion, is what turns fantasy to into reality, but first, one must dare to dream. Queerness is radical because it dreams and acts on fantasies deemed unacceptable by cis-heteronormativity.

And that concludes my read-through of Chou’s dissertation. Thanks for listening to my rant.

I might do an extra post where I discuss Chou’s reflections on how her personal experiences and shame associated with being a lesbian and a BL fan brought her to write about this topic for her dissertation. I found those parts interesting and surprising because she hardly factors lesbian, bisexual, and queer women readers’ identification with gay male characters and masculinity in her analysis of Renault’s “millennial” online fans, despite the large contingent of queer women in these spaces.

#the charioteer #fandom writes back #mary renault

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helpmeimblorboing · 9 months

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Transphobes when they see a trans person in media : OMG THE TRANS AGENDA IS EVERYWHERE. OMG MUH CHILDREN (rapidly packs up abused and beaten children in a blanket) MUST PROTECT MUH AMERICAN RIGHT TO FREEDOM AND FREE SPEECH!! (quickly takes down Confederate flags hanging outside).

Transphobes when they meet a trans person : OMH NO ONE BELIEVES YOU'RE ACTUALLY TRANS !! 43 % !!(harasses a teenage child to suicide) YUR WEAK !! JK ROOLING WILL SUE YO ASS !!

In their eyes, trans people are simultaneously overwhelming and pathetic. As Umberto Eco once said in his essay "Ur Fascism", "Followers (of fascist movements) must be convinced that they can overwhelm the enemies. Thus, by a continuous shifting of rhetorical focus, the enemies are at the same time too strong and too weak." Transphobia is literal fascism, by definition.

"Fascist groups often appeal to these individuals by offering a simplistic and seductive worldview that blames certain groups for their problems and presents a vision of a powerful and homogeneous community that can restore order and greatness."

A simple idea of how fascist groups attract new recruits

Sound familiar ? It should. That's exactly what GCs (Gender Criticals, or as I like to call them, Genital-obsessed Creeps ) do to attract new recruits, blaming the "trans agenda" for everything

"Another factor that can contribute to the adoption of fascist beliefs is a sense of fear and anxiety about the future. This can be exacerbated by real or perceived threats to one’s security, such as economic instability, social unrest, cultural change, or terrorism. Fascist movements often exploit these fears by offering a strong and authoritarian leader who promises to protect and defend the community from perceived enemies, both internal and external.

In addition, fascist ideology often relies on a narrative of victimhood and a sense of historical grievance, which can appeal to individuals who feel disempowered or marginalised in some way. This narrative portrays the group as having been unfairly oppressed or humiliated by other groups or forces, and seeks to restore a sense of pride and dignity by reclaiming power and status.

Finally, the process of radicalization into fascist beliefs can be facilitated by socialisation and exposure to extremist propaganda, whether through online forums, social media, or face-to-face interactions with other members of the group. This can create a sense of belonging and solidarity, as well as reinforce the group’s ideology and worldview."

Again, all things actively used by TERFs to spread their worldview. A common fear is seen in them. A fear that is perpetuated by the more obsessed amongst them, who were once homophobes, who simply shifted gears, and changed the word "gay" to "trans". A fear that was last seen during the anti-gay crusades, peddled by priests and Christians, and is seen again today. This fear is often fueled by media coverage of cases of violence or abuse perpetrated by individuals who identify as trans, and by the portrayal of trans activism as a totalitarian movement that seeks to silence dissent and impose a new orthodoxy. A lie, but one that is widespread (Again, setting the stage for recruitment)

"This can lead to a sense of moral superiority and a willingness to use extreme tactics, such as harassment, doxxing, and censorship, to silence opponents and defend their views."

All things TERFs have done and are doing

I rest my case

Additionally, a message to any TERFs reading this

A common thread in fascism is that it is never about the message itself. The message is merely a cover for self-glorification. The original Fascist movement was not there for the reasons they claimed. It was there to glorify Mussolini, with everything they did playing to that end goal. The same with Nazism, and the same with TERFs.

Please remember, we are not your enemies. We do not want harm to befall you. We do care about you, but your leaders don't

TERFs do not care about women. TERFs care about hatred

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dfroza · 6 months

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“For we haven’t approached you—or anyone else for that matter—with some error or impure motives or deceitful agenda”

Today’s reading of the Scriptures from the New Testament is the 2nd chapter of the letter of 1st Thessalonians:

Brothers and sisters, you yourselves know that our coming to you was not a waste of time. You remember how we had just suffered through brutal and insulting attacks in Philippi; but because of God, we boldly stepped into the open to tell you His good news, even though it would likely mean more conflict for us. For we haven’t approached you—or anyone else for that matter—with some error or impure motives or deceitful agenda; but as we have been approved by God and entrusted with the good news, that’s how we are telling the world. We aren’t trying to please everybody, but God, the only One who can truly examine our motives. As you know, we didn’t sandwich the truth between cunning compliments—we told it straight—and before the eye of God, we never conspired to make a single cent off of you. We didn’t come seeking respect from people—not from you or anyone else—although we could have leveraged our position as emissaries of the Anointed One, the Liberating King. Instead, we proved to be gentle among you, like a nursing mother caring for her own children. We were so taken by you that we not only eagerly shared with you God’s good news, but we also shared with you our own lives. That’s how much you’ve come to mean to us.

Don’t you remember, my brothers and sisters, how hard we worked and struggled? We worked day and night so that we wouldn’t be a burden to any of you and so that we could continue to proclaim to you the good news of God. Both you and God can confirm how well we treated the believers: we were always holy, just, and blameless. As you know, we comforted and consoled each of you as a father soothes his own children, encouraging you to live lives worthy of God—of the One calling you into His own kingdom and into His glory.

So we have good reason to give thanks to God without pausing. For you have taken into yourselves the word of God we brought to you and received it as a message from God—not just something whipped up by someone like you or us—and that word is at work in you who believe. And, brothers and sisters, you even became imitators of the churches of God in Jesus the Anointed that gather in Judea because you were willing to suffer at the hands of your own countrymen as they suffered from the unbelieving Judeans. These are the same people who killed the Lord Jesus, as well as the prophets, and continued attacking until they drove all of us out. They don’t just offend God; they are clearly hostile to the rest of the people because they are trying to silence our life-saving message to the nations; and as a result, their sins are always filling up and overflowing. But in the end, they will face God’s wrath.

Brothers and sisters, we are like orphans, separated from you for a short time (in presence, yes, but not in heart); and we desperately desire to see your faces again. However, as much as we wanted to come to you—I, Paul, assure you we tried again and again—Satan thwarted our plans. For what is our true hope, our true joy, our victor’s crown in all this? It is nothing if it isn’t you standing before our Lord Jesus the Anointed at His arrival. You are our glory! You are our joy!

The Letter of 1st Thessalonians, Chapter 2 (The Voice)

A note from The Voice translation:

It’s only by the leading of the Spirit that these first-generation church planters find themselves in this most disagreeable city (although it seems there’s no place Paul can go without causing a commotion). Likewise, it is neither by chance nor by any human power that these people are drawn out of their comfy old habits into a radical new way of living. A miracle really takes shape when, by trading in their old ways of living, believers take to heart the message of Jesus, and their unshakable faith shakes up conversations everywhere.

Kingdom work begins at the surrender of life, by giving yourself away and expecting nothing in return. Real change is then ushered in by the loving touch of the Spirit, moving out from people living transparently faithful lives even in the middle of commotion.

Today’s paired chapter of the Testaments is the 52nd and closing chapter of the book of Jeremiah:

Zedekiah was 21 years old when he became king. His reign in Jerusalem lasted for a total of 11 years. His mother was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah (not the prophet of Anathoth). Zedekiah committed evil in the eyes of the Eternal, just as Jehoiakim had done. All that then happened to Jerusalem and Judah took place because of the Eternal’s anger. He finally forced them out of the land and away from His presence. It was then that Zedekiah foolishly rebelled against the king of Babylon.

King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon brought his entire army to surround Jerusalem. On the 10th day of the 10th month, during the 9th year of Zedekiah’s reign, the mighty army of Babylon was camped outside the city and built siege mounds around it. This siege lasted 18 months, well into the 11th year of Zedekiah’s reign. By the 9th day of the 4th month of that year, the famine had become so severe inside the city that no one had anything to eat. Panic was setting in as people feared starvation. When a section of the city wall was breached, all the warriors of Jerusalem escaped through a gate between the two walls near the king’s garden. Even though the Chaldeans had the city surrounded, these warriors escaped the city under the cover of night and fled east toward the Jordan Valley. But the Chaldean army discovered this and chased after Zedekiah, catching him on the plains of Jericho. All of his soldiers had scattered, and he was alone when they captured him. They took him to the king of Babylon, who had set up his command post at Riblah in the land of Hamath. It was here that the king pronounced judgment on Zedekiah. Zedekiah was forced to watch as his own sons and the nobles of Judah were butchered in front of him in Riblah. This was the very last thing he saw, because after this Nebuchadnezzar blinded Zedekiah’s eyes. He was then placed in bronze shackles and carried off to Babylon, where he remained in prison until his death.

About a month later, on the 10th day of the 5th month, Nebuzaradan (the captain of the imperial guard and trusted advisor of the king) arrived in Jerusalem. This was during the 19th year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign in Babylon. He systematically destroyed the important structures of the city. He set fire to the Eternal’s temple, the king’s palace, and all the houses of Jerusalem. All of the Chaldean troops that had accompanied the captain then tore down all the walls surrounding Jerusalem. The capital was now in ruins. Then Nebuzaradan, the captain of the imperial guard, gathered together those still living in the city, including some of the poor and those artisans who had not been deported earlier. He put them with the deserters who had fled to Nebuchadnezzar and forced them all into exile, far away from their homeland. But he left the remaining poor people behind to care for Judah’s vineyards and fields.

Before the Babylonian army burned the temple, they proceeded to take everything of value. They took the bronze pillars at the entrance of the temple and the stands and bronze sea that were inside the Eternal’s temple. After breaking them in pieces, the Chaldeans took the bronze back to Babylon. They also took the pans, the shovels, the snuffers, the bowls, the dishes, and every bronze utensil that was used during the temple rituals. The captain of the guard also took the various sacrificial bowls, firepans, pots, lampstands, dishes, and anything else made of gold or silver. The weight of bronze from the two pillars, the sea, the 12 bronze bulls under the sea, and the stands was so great that it could not be accurately measured. These items were very old, for they had been crafted for the temple of the Eternal in the days of King Solomon. The bronze pillars were 27 feet high and had a circumference of 18 feet; they were hollow, but the bronze walls of the pillars were about 3 inches thick. The bronze capital atop each pillar was 7½ feet high and covered with latticework and pomegranates—all made of bronze—circling the entire capital. There were 96 pomegranates on all sides of the capital, 100 total in the latticework around the top.

Nebuzaradan, the captain of the imperial guard, took Seraiah (the high priest) and Zephaniah (next in line to be high priest), along with 3 officers in charge of the gates. Of those still in the city, he took the officer in charge of the army and 7 of the king’s advisors. He also took the army commander’s secretary, who was in charge of enlisting people into the army, and 60 other men. Nebuzaradan, the captain of the imperial guard, took this entire group to the king of Babylon, whose command post was in Riblah in the land of Hamath. Nebuchadnezzar had them all beaten and killed. This is how Judah was taken from her land and sent into exile.

This, then, is the number of people Nebuchadnezzar took captive during 3 deportations: In the 7th year of his reign: 3,023 Judeans; in the 18th year of his reign: 832 citizens of Jerusalem; and in the 23rd year of his reign: 745 people were taken into exile by Nebuzaradan, captain of the imperial guard. In all 4,600 people were taken captive.

On the 25th day of the 12th month during the 37th year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, Evil-merodach, king of Babylon, ascended to the throne and showed mercy to Jehoiachin and released him from prison. Babylon’s new king was good to Jehoiachin and gave him a place of honor higher than the other nations’ exiled kings in Babylon. And so it was that Jehoiachin exchanged his prison clothes for new clothes, and for the rest of his life he dined regularly at the king’s table. The king of Babylon even gave him a daily allowance on which he lived until the day of his death.

The Book of Jeremiah, Chapter 52 (The Voice)

A set of notes from The Voice translation:

Jeremiah’s words are often not “his” words. Early in life, his mouth is touched by God, and from then on the prophet is God’s mouthpiece to the world. Jeremiah thinks with God’s mind and speaks with God’s voice when the world around him is crumbling (1:9–10). In many ways, he sees the world as God sees it and then shares those visions, no matter the cost. His ministry spans five kings of Judah, few of whom bother to listen to him. He survives public ridicule, loneliness, and attempts on his life. He witnesses his beloved Jerusalem fall just as he predicts. But he knows the faithfulness of God. The Eternal has promised to sustain him through a difficult life, and so He does.

Years later, during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar’s son, Evil-merodach (562–560 b.c.), hope emerges. The exiled king Jehoiachin is shown kindness; it seems God has not forgotten them.

A link to my personal reading of the Scriptures for Sunday, October 22 of 2023 with a paired chapter from each Testament of the Bible along with Today’s Proverbs and Psalms

A post by John Parsons about thought:

How we think about things matters. Our thoughts determine how we see, feel, interpret, reason -- and choose. In a sense, our thoughts express who we really are: they are “inner verbalizations” that reveal our character. And since our thoughts lead to feelings that are inevitably expressed in actions, our actions ultimately express what we believe (at least at any given moment in time). To change undesirable behavior, we often need to back up and detect erroneous assumptions that underlie and justify our choices. Often these assumptions operate on a “pre-conscious” level of awareness. We must slow down and ask ourselves what we are really thinking and believing whenever we consider the choices we are making. But the two are inextricably linked together: our thoughts determine our actions and our actions express our thoughts...

Psalm One stands as a sort of “preface” to the entire Book of Psalms (ספר תהילים) by first of all extolling the way of the righteous (i.e., derekh tzaddikim: דֶּרֶךְ צַדִּיקִים) in contradistinction to the way of the wicked (i.e., derekh resha’im: דֶרֶךְ רְשָׁעִים). It is therefore a foundational Psalm that is intended to encourage us to separate ourselves from the ways and customs of the prevailing godless insanity and culture (2 Cor. 6:17).

Notice that the very first verse of the very first Psalm declares that the happy or fortunate person (ashrei ha-ish) neither “walks” (הָלַךְ) in the counsel of the wicked, nor “stands” (עָמָד) in the way of sinners, nor “sits” (יָשָׁב) in the seat of the scornful: "Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the way of sinners, nor sit in the seat of the scornful" (Psalm 1:1).

Although King David used parallelism in this verse, we note that the verbs “walk,” “stand,” and “sit” mark an unmistakable progression -- or rather a regression away from the upward walk of the righteous to a place of murky despair, cynicism and bitterness.... Looked at from the reverse perspective, the ungodly first heed wicked counsel and then walk in its doctrine and presuppositions. This causes them to slow down and “stand” in a sinful state (i.e., to dwell/abide in a state of ignorance). The sense of life’s urgency is lost to them: there is no place to “go,” no development, no “goal” or purpose to life... Finally, the wicked decide to “sit” down, or “dwell” in their misery with an abiding scorn.

Note that the righteous - the tzaddikim (הַצַּדִּיקִים) - do not “walk” in the “counsel of the wicked.” In other words, since they live by a different set of axioms, they realize that the thoughts of the wicked are grounded in fallacious assumptions about reality. And since thought ultimately determines action, the repudiation of the assumptions of the wicked inevitably leads to a different lifestyle or “walk” for the righteous. This is the collision of faith between the righteous and the world system I’ve written about elsewhere.

Second, since the righteous man walks according to a different set of principles (i.e., the counsel of the godly), he will not be found “standing” in the way of sinners. Since the “way of sinners” (דֶרֶךְ חַטָּאִים) is essentially one of ignorance (i.e., sin [חֵטְא] “misses the mark”), the righteous soul actively discerns and walks by the truth about reality. Such discernment often means rejecting the status quo and therefore standing apart from the crowd. This is suffering “outside the camp” of the world, the lonely place of faith that leads the righteous to separate themselves from the "groupthink" and self-deception of the crowd.

Third, because the righteous walk differently - away from the crowd - they will not be found “sitting” with the scorners. The word translated “sits” (יָשָׁב) can also be translated as “dwells.” The word translated “scorner” is leitz (לֵץ), a cynic who mocks (yalitz) everything in a show of superficial superiority. The leitz is unteachable and arrogantly considers himself as better than others. The Book of Proverbs (ספר משלי) regards him as an incorrigible fool. The way of the righteous is one of humility and genuine love for others created b’tzelem Elohim (in the image of God). Sanctified speech upbuilds others and expresses good will.

We depart from the way of the righteous whenever we heed of the counsel of the wicked -- whenever we begin making their words our own by uncritically listening to them.... When we attend to various news reports from the mass media, or when we unthinkingly accept the prevarications of politicians, for example, and passively accept their distorted versions of reality, we are “taking counsel of the wicked.” The same can be said regarding heeding the messages of the advertisers, of television shows, movies, popular music, medical “experts,” and so on. Often the messages are subliminal and attempt to cajole us to accept alternative versions of reality... Is it any wonder that television is referred to as “programming”? Advertisers, politicians, educational psychologists, sociologists, social engineers, etc., all understand that manipulating how people think determines what they will eventually do... Getting you to uncritically accept their messages is the first step to entrapping you.

If we are not careful, we might find ourselves believing the twisted versions of reality that are passed off as being “true” in the world. If we find ourselves complaining, murmuring, or despairing over things of this world, we are seeing the evil that we are “scripted” to see, and therefore we become wicked ourselves. The “counsel of the wicked” is assimilated into our thoughts, our words, and our actions... Whom we listen to is of vital importance!

The way of the righteous is “faith, hope, and love” (1 Cor. 13:13). Hakarat tovah (הַכָּרַת טוֹבָה) is a Hebrew phrase that means “recognizing” or “receiving” the good, i.e., gratitude. Hakarat tovah is one of the middot ha-lev (qualities of heart) that should mark the lives of those who are grace-based and focused. Gratitude is the product of joy (i.e. chara: χαρα) obtained from the gift of being conscious of God's grace (i.e., charis: χαρις). Faith accepts that all things work together for good - gam zu l’tovah (“this too is for the good”) and therefore rejects assumptions that create bitterness and anger.

The sages note that Psalm 1:1 could have been written as, “Cursed is the man who walks in the way of the wicked, who stands in the way of sinners, and who sits in the seat of the scornful,” but King David took a healing approach by stating positively what needs to be corrected in our lives. Positive criticism focuses on the potential for good we see in others. Using harsh words of rebuke leads to pain and misunderstanding. Our speech needs to be sanctified -- edifying and building up hope in others (Eph. 4:29). The essence of Torah is mercy, and therefore we should always judge others (including ourselves) in the best possible light. Hakarat tovah means recognizing the good in others and choosing to see with ayin tovah (עין טובה) a “good eye.”

Focusing on God - elevating our thoughts - delivers us from the path of the wicked to the realm of divine happiness. God has told us that we can escape from the pervasive counsel of the wicked by finding delight (חֵפֶץ) in the “law” (i.e., Torah, תּוֹרָה) of the LORD: "But his delight is in the Torah of the LORD, and in his Torah he meditates day and night" (Psalm 1:2).

The truly happy person - ashrei ha-ish (אַשְׁרֵי־הָאִישׁ) finds delight in the Torah of the LORD. Note that the Hebrew word asher (אָשֵׁר) means to go straight, to walk or press on, or to make progress. Pressing on in righteousness leads us to true happiness, a state of blessedness. The “happy man” represents the ideal man of God who is not ensnared by the ways of the wickedness that surrounds him. His victory over the world is found in his faith (1 John 5:4). The way forward is the Torah-perspective.

Note further that the word “delight” is linked with the use of our tongues, which is of course directly connected with the words that verbalize our thoughts... מִי־הָאִישׁ הֶחָפֵץ חַיִּים אהֵב יָמִים לִרְאוֹת טוֹב׃ / “Who is the man who is eager for life, who desires days of good?” נְצר לְשׁוֹנְךָ מֵרָע וּשְׂפָתֶיךָ מִדַּבֵּר מִרְמָה׃ / “Guard your tongue from evil, your lips from deceitful speech” (Psalm 34:12-13). Again, our thoughts/words determine our character, which in turn are expressed in our actions. Listening to the truth, filling our hearts with God’s word, setting our affections on heavenly reality, thinking on worthy things -- all are remedies for the clamor and chatter and fallacies so prevalent in our world today. Consciously heeding to the message of God’s truth elevates us from the morass of disinformation, propaganda, and deception that is used to control and manipulate the crowd.

Psalm One closes with a great prophecy: כִּי־יוֹדֵעַ יהוה דֶּרֶךְ צַדִּיקִים וְדֶרֶךְ רְשָׁעִים תּאבֵד / “For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked is doomed” (Psalm 1:6). Who we listen to matters; how we think matters. Many of us have become so conditioned and influenced by the world that we don’t even realize we are under its spell! Refuse the counsel of the wicked; do not heed the propaganda and messages of those who attempt to instill fear within you. There is no fear in God’s love, and God’s love and glory fills the earth (Isa. 6:3)! Take every thought captive to the obedience of Messiah. Walk in His love (Eph. 5:2); stand in His truth (Eph. 6:14), and dwell in His promises (Eph. 1:20; John 15:4-10). For the LORD is our Teacher and we are his students. So let us work hard to obtain a Torah perspective on life! Amen v’amen!

[ Hebrew for Christians ]

Psalm 1:1 Hebrew reading:

https://hebrew4christians.com/Blessings/Blessing_Cards/psalm1-1-jjp.mp3

Hebrew page:

https://hebrew4christians.com/Blessings/Blessing_Cards/psalm1-1-lesson.pdf

10.21.23 • Facebook

from yesterday’s email by Israel 365:

Rampant crime, looting, and the breakdown of sexual boundaries are endemic problems sweeping the US and European nations alike. At the same time, we see heavy-handed censorship that demands uniformity of speech and thought coupled with Communist-style promotion of the all-powerful state as the only path to survival. Tragically, this has become the direction of the current US government in cooperation with media and corporate elites who seek to limit personal freedom and undermine traditional Biblical values. The flood and the tower are both alive and well in 2023.

Today’s message (Days of Praise) from the Institute for Creation Research

October 22, 2023

Carest Thou Not?

“And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish?” (Mark 4:38)

There are times when we have great problems and God seems to ignore our prayers, and finally we begin to wonder if He cares about us at all. There is no need to wonder. God cares about the sparrow, and He surely cares about His own dear children. If there is not some clear reason why He fails to answer (such as sin in our lives), then perhaps it is simply (as in Job’s case) a test of our faith.

When the disciples thought Jesus didn’t care, He rebuked them thus: “Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?” (Mark 4:40). Mary and Martha sent word that their brother Lazarus was deathly ill, but then Jesus “abode two days still in the same place where he was” (John 11:6). When the sisters complained about His delay, He replied: “Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?” (John 11:40).

One day a woman of Canaan cried out to Him for mercy on her for her demon-possessed daughter, “but he answered her not a word.” He seemed not to care, but she kept calling on Him and worshiping Him, until He finally said to her: “O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt” (Matthew 15:23, 28).

The disciples, the sisters of Lazarus, and the Canaanite woman all wondered at His seeming lack of concern, but He did care. He finally calmed the storm, raised Lazarus, and healed the daughter. His delay was in order to test and strengthen their faith.

Can He not also test us, “that the trial of your faith...though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:7)? HMM

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realhankmccoy · 11 months

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Ted Nugent on Facebook in 2017 declaring LGBT Forever:

LGBT FOREVER!

You would have to be a soulless creep to think for a second that I don’t support allthings LGBT.

Anyone paying even the slightest attention to my nonstop media vaportrail over the past 50 years knows of my utmost respect and my relentless to support for allthings LGBT. You would also know that I’ve been fighting for LGBT rights ever since Rosa Parks taught me to never surrender my seat to any self-righteous punkthug.

All my family and friends support LGBT rights. It surely numbers in the thousands of people I have met face-to-face over the years and encouraged them to also fight for LGBT rights. Tens and tens of millions more have heard me on the radio excoriating those who don’t support LGBT rights. Yet, I’m still called a radical, an extremist, a bigot.

Everywhere I go — from the grocery store to the hardware store to rock and roll gigs— people come up to me and thank me for standing up for LGBT rights, issues, and supporting those politicians who also support LGBT issues. It literally happens each day. It puts a smile on my face every time.

It’s important to periodically remind people about the importance of LGBT, lest you get complacent. Complacency and apathy are cancerous to not only LGBT rights but to other rights that our forefathers risked their lives, fortunes and sacred honor for us to enjoy, respect, and continue to fight for.

L stands for liberty. Without the blazing beacon of liberty everything else is lost. Liberty is the tip of the lance of this unique & sacred experiment in self-government. All good and decent Americans know the essence of liberty is that less government, not more of it, is the way forward. Liberty cannot achieved with the heavy, regulatory boot of Fedzilla standing on our necks and suffocating the producers while rewarding the bloodsuckers. Liberty cannot be achieved by restricting the liberties of the good guys and gals while essentially giving evil a green light to rape, brutalize and slaughter good people. That isn’t liberty, but rather state-sanctioned barbarism.

G represents guns. Yes, I’m the gun guy, the guy who has tirelessly promoted all things guns for almost 50 years. I have opened the door of gun-related truisms and logic to untold millions of Americans and others around the world who have been manipulated and lied to by politicians who have an anti-freedom and anti-logic agenda that smells, looks and sounds exactly like the stench of other gun-grabbing commies, socialists, tyrants and despots. Any politician who states they support “common sense” gun laws is a politician not worthy of the position of dog catcher. Citizens dust more punks than the good guys and gals in blue. Yes, more guns equal less crime. Know that when seconds count, the cops are just minutes away. It is your right, duty and responsibility to defend you and your loved ones. Fill evil with big, gaping holes. Aim center mass. Let good defeat evil. Be an NRA warrior for freedom.

B stands for bullets. Indeed, guns are worthless without ammo. Buy lots of it and shoot it often. For those who believe their lives and the lives of their loved ones matter, I recommend practicing with your weapon of choice by shooting at least 100 rounds a week. Get comfortable with your weapon. This includes loading it, handling it, cleaning it, and shooting it often. Your weapon must become part of you. If its anything less, you have some familiarity issues you need to overcome. Yes, ammo is expensive. But your life and the lives of your loved ones are worth every penny you spend on ammo. "I have too much ammo..." no one ever said. Ted Nugent Ammo is best.

T represents Trump. We’ve conned by both professional republicans and democrat politicians forever. Trump represents a long overdue, defiant, status quo crushing breath of fresh air. He’s bold, unpredictable, understands profits and losses, unapologetic and knows the old way of playing politics is the funeral drum for America. I’ve been waiting for decades for an outsider like Trump to enter the political fray and work to drain the stinky, stale varmint infested swamp of Washington DC where from allthings Fedzilla emanates. Trump gets it. I had dinner with him. He’s engaging, listens intently and is passionate about limited government. My kind of guy. He’s also the first president since President Reagan to address the NRA at their annual meeting. That took mettle and conviction. That’s called leading from the front.

So, there you have it. My unapologetic support for LGBT. I highly recommend you get onboard or get out of the way of those of us who remain convinced that America is still a shining city on a hill. We shall overcome.

#ted nugent

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damindfuljedi · 1 year

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My Journey of Self - Dec 1, 2022

The Things I am Grateful For...

To wake up and enjoy the 1st day of the new month

To see the joy on my kiddos' faces as they get a 3 day weekend from school

To end the day in good spirits

The Highlights of the Day...

It was a busy day. I had an agenda to complete before getting my boys from school. So off I went to pick up food and treats for the dogs and ran over to Target to get some items.

I was short on time so I made my way over to get Noah. Afterward, I headed over to UPS to drop off an Amazon return.

Finally then picked up Nathan, grab some fast food for the boys, and headed home. They were very excited about their 3-day weekend. I was happy that I could sleep in because it is the start of my weekend from work.

My birthday is coming up, on January 7th and I don't celebrate it like I should. I always think back to when I realized my ex was cheating on me, which was around my birthday and I internalized the shit out of that episode. My son Malcolm has a birthday on the 31st and she was not even there for that.

Even now this is hard to go back and relive those events. That and the events that went on were the lowest points of my life. I don't wish that kind of hardship on no one. Right now I have small tears of rage, frustration, and failure in my eyes.

I mentioned it before, but I came across a term that may allow me to get past this pain of mine - Radical Acceptance.

Radical Acceptance - Radical acceptance is a skill used to reduce unnecessary suffering and increase our ability to navigate through difficult situations. The “radical” part of radical acceptance is the full acceptance of reality with your mind, body, and spirit. It is accepting completely and totally that reality is unfolding the way it is. It is acknowledging that an injustice or painful situation cannot be changed without a full acceptance that the event has happened in the first place.

In short that I must learn to realize that I cannot change those moments or choices in my life that have harmed me or other people in my life. So even if I did go through a raw experience, there is not I can do to rectify that episode but learn from it, let go, and move on.

But it is hard...

The only thing I requested from my family is to just be around me when my "special" day arrives. I know my little guys will enjoy it as I will allow them to play hooky from school!!!

My journey continues...

"Every failure is a gift. Every pain is an opportunity." - Maxime Lagacé

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hjohn3 · 2 years

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Apologia

How Keir Starmer Silenced his Critics and Set Out Labour’s Route to Power

By Honest John

I WAS WRONG about Keir Starmer.

My recent blogs have been filled with frustration with, and criticism of, what I perceived as an over cautious approach by the Labour leader, seemingly unable to grasp the zeitgeist of an inflation wracked post Brexit, post Covid Britain, which was bored with Conservative non delivery of twelve years’ worth of promises, and craving again an active state, welcoming the collective endeavours of the pandemic response, the Queen’s funeral and even industrial action. Infuriated by Starmer’s obsession with the internal workings of the Labour Party and a wearisome war on the left; by his constant proclamations of what was “ruled out”; by his refusal to have anything to do with any policy ideas from the Corbyn era and his seeming belief that the pre crash and pre Brexit neoliberal status quo could somehow be retrieved from the dustbin of history, I saw weakness, indecision and a lack of vision. Needless to say I was not alone. However, Starmer’s speech to the Labour Party Conference on 27th September caused a complete revision of this assessment. The speech was not just a statement of sloganistic aspirations, as had hitherto been the Starmer norm: this was the enunciation of a set of values and a programme for government. This blog is therefore an apologia to Keir.

Starmer was of course helped by the extraordinary and alarming “mini budget” unleashed on an unsuspecting public (and, it seemed, an unsuspecting Tory Party) by Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng that sought to introduce a wide range of tax cuts, funded by £48bn of borrowing to advance a Reaganite agenda of trickle down economics in an implausibly termed “Dash for Growth”. The severe response of the financial markets to the fiscal hole announced by Kwarteng brought the value of the pound tumbling and forced the Bank of England to raise interest rates to shore up the currency. In just a few days, new Prime Minister Liz Truss seemed to have completely trashed the British economy. Any Labour Conference speech in this context would appear an exercise in moderation and economic common sense in comparison. So inevitably Starmer led with a series of anti government attack lines, but these were well formulated politically, reminding the audience, which was as much the British public as it was the Party faithful, of how in twelve years, the Conservatives had continually promised prosperity after austerity, after Brexit, after Covid and now, it seems, after the Growth Plan, but the prosperity delivered only ever seemed to go one way: towards the wealthy.

Anti Tory rhetoric however is cheap - and easy when faced with the extreme right wing grotesques populating the Truss front bench. What made the speech remarkable, given Starmer’s unambitious positioning to date, was its coherence and its radicalism: it described a programme that was placed firmly on the left and rooted in Labour government history. Even the term “working class” was used liberally by Starmer without awkwardness or irony, reflecting a new confidence to use the terminology of class to describe the reality of Tory Britain.

The key component of the speech, on what the whole programme pivoted, was the Green Prosperity Plan: an unequivocal intention to double onshore wind capacity; treble solar power; quadruple offshore wind provision, and to invest across the full range of renewables. This was Corbyn’s Green New Deal given numbers, political intent and a strategic framework. Starmer described a “reundustrialisation” of Britain that would see the insulation of 19m homes; the development of green steel production, and the construction of a low cost sustainable energy policy that did not rely on Russian gas or carbon fuel. Starmer’s speech in a few concise sentences described a vision of an alternative economic model, offering a new future of employment and investment for the deindustrialised areas of the former “red wall” (many of whose towns were cleverly referenced) and a stark contrast to the low wage, fracking dependent and environmentally retrograde statements of Truss. The speech probably effectively ended the requirement in British representative politics for the Green Party, while describing a practical non ideological means of securing growth, again in sharp contrast to the assertions of Trussonomics.

The second key element comprised the British Sovereign Wealth Fund, again repurposing and renaming one of the best ideas in Labour’s 2017 Manifesto, that of a National Investment Bank. This policy recognises, in a way that the Leave extremists and market fundamentalists currently running the Conservative Party do not, that leaving the EU meant that the British state would have to start actively managing and planning the British economy. This is not a political statement or wish: if a country is no longer within a trading bloc, particularly one which assumes much of its members’ sovereignty as the EU, then active state involvement in the economy is a necessity. If regional redistributive action is to be taken, then government must have the means to stimulate inward investment and to work with industry, both foreign and British, to stimulate that investment, through loans, underwriting of business costs and infrastructure development - economic, service and cultural. The Sovereign Wealth Fund could be the motor and the means of this process and ensure “levelling up” moved from being a dishonoured slogan to lived reality for the populations of the northern and Midlands towns destroyed by Thatcher and Major and ignored by Blair, Brown and Cameron.

The policy announcement that received the biggest cheer at Conference was that of the establishment of Great British Energy - a publicly owned company to enter the energy markets, give people a choice of a non privatised utility to provide their gas and electricity supplies, but which would also, crucially, promote research into sustainable solutions and, through government investment, be in a position to drive down bills. This policy was subtle, practical and a surprising rebuttal of Starmer’s own unguarded “ruling out” of public ownership just one month before. One could see GBE quickly becoming a market disrupter, a provider of last resort and a Trojan Horse that could acquire those energy companies that could not compete within the new green policy framework, and fold. Although not mentioned, this very twenty first century version of nationalisation could easily be extended to the water industry by a Labour government. At last a future could be glimpsed in which the short sighted scandal of privatising the essentials of life - a monetarist experiment no other advanced economy has carried out to the extent done in the U.K. - might at last be coming to an end.

Starmer covered traditionally strong Labour policy areas by announcing significant planned expansion of training numbers of junior doctors, trainee health visitors and student nurses, but even this was thought through. This was not a Johnsonian pledge of increased numbers on the wards here and now; this pledge addressed the need to grow a British workforce for the British NHS as part of a long term workforce plan - a far more effective way of securing success long term than simply creating more paper jobs. He also entered Tory turf, stating an ambition to secure 70% home ownership as part of a growth agenda, hinting that a “Help To Buy” scheme may be stolen from the Tories but with landlords and second home owners explicitly excluded, in a deft move which seemed to talk simultaneously to both right and left populism. And, at last, Brexit was finally mentioned - Starmer for once articulating the disaster of the hard exit the Farageist and Johnsonian right drove the country to: a Brexit characterised by supply shortages, delays, workforce deficits, higher prices and Tory promises to attack workers’ rights and reduce safety standards. He reprised one of his few good slogans - Labour would pursue a Brexit that works.

Like any Conference speech many questions were left unanswered - what about debt reduction, fiscal policy, macro economic management? Apart from broad statements about “prevention” there was little indication of what health or crime policy may consist of and education was not mentioned at all. Crucially immigration and the obscenity of the government’s Rwanda policy received no reference, despite a resetting of Britain’s mendacious, puerile and racist debate on immigration and asylum seeking being an essential priority for any reforming left of centre government. Electoral and constitutional reform was also left for another day. However, as a rebuttal to critics (including me) who claimed Starmer’s Labour was a policy and values free zone with a Blairite nostalgia complex, this programme could not have been more complete. Clear dividing lines between Labour, probably now representing a broad consensus across all U.K. parties except the Conservatives and the DUP, with the small state, low wage, low tax aims of the ERG-dominated Tories, have now been unequivocally established. Labour now offers a break with the past and a vision of the future.

Starmer has succeeded defining his own brand of progressive democratic and environmental socialism (and the influence of Ed Miliband cannot be underestimated here) that may well propel Labour into office, possibly even with a small majority. But far more important than the political calculus is the contribution which may become the defining recollection of the 2022 Labour Party Conference: Keir Starmer has given the country hope.

6th October 2022

#british politics #keir starmer #labour

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nothorses · 3 years

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do you know where I can learn about baeddels from an accurate point of view?? everything I've found seems to be strangely contradictory and fitting certain agendas, and I'd like to understand better what's going on there.

I don't know if there's one condensed source on Baeddels, but I can help fill in some gaps to the best of my knowledge.

"Bæddel" as a term comes from an Old English slur meant to target "effeminate"/gnc men, people we would now understand as transfeminine, and intersex people. It is the root of the word "bad", quite literally. This was interpreted by some transfems around 2014 to mean that society hates trans women more than most/any other group, and the term was reclaimed as a way of communicating a transfem-centric, transmisogyny-centric worldview and ideology.

So Baeddel ideology is about "centering transfems", but it goes a little deeper than this:

[From this article on Baeddelism, written by a self-described Baeddel in 2017]

Baeddels believe that transmisogyny is under-discussed (which is true) and extrapolate from this two major and deeply dangerous ideas:

Transmisogyny is under-discussed because other trans people, namely transmasculine people, are taking up too much space. Transmascs are their oppressors, and they get away with it.

The only people transfems can possibly be understood by, or safe around, are other transfems.

The first point is problematic because, well, transmascs do not hold the institutional and systemic power necessary to oppress anyone. We are not granted privilege nor power for being trans men.

We can and do participate in transmisogyny, which is absolutely a problem (and it's one I do my best to address in these conversations), but this is lateral aggression. It absolutely causes harm; but it neither aids in, nor benefits from, the systemic oppression of transfeminine people.

Acting as if transmascs are uniquely privileged or are otherwise oppressing transfem people contributes to the existing oppression of transmascs (and again, this is lateral aggression when coming from transfems). In fact, trans men and AFAB nonbinary people face higher rates of lifetime sexual assault and suicidal ideation than any other group- which stems from oppression that is erased and under-discussed, allowing it to continue in the shadows.

The second point is problematic because it very quickly leads to a re-hash of lesbian seperatism, something Baeddels are happy to admit to:

To the extent that “no… young trans women [are] espousing transfeminine separatism” - its true only insofar as it was never transfeminine separatism but lesbian separatism (people get this twisted - it wasn’t necessarily exclusive of cis women & there were cis women who contributed to the theory back in the day) and if we aren’t espousing it its because we’ve implemented it with sufficient success. I, at least, still uphold lesbian separatism [...]

[From this post on Baeddels from one of the original Baeddels, written in 2019]

Lesbian separatism, for those who don't know, is an extremist radical feminist movement that states that women cannot have contact with men without endangering themselves. Solutions to this range from simply interacting with men as little as possible (often including political lesbianism), to forming self-sufficient communes devoid of men, to literally killing all men.

Lesbian separatism is a proto-TERF movement, and something many TERFs still advocate for today. Slapping trans paint on these ideologies does not make them less dangerous, because the problem with TERFism isn't just that they hate trans people: it's that they are a violent and cultish group founded on fear, hatred, and bigotry.

The Baeddel movement largely imploded around 2016/17 when there was some drama and fallout, and one of them was revealed to be fairly abusive (iirc). Still, they left an impact. This post is a compilation of (genuinely horrific) anti-transmasc sentiment found largely on Baeddel tags and self-described Baeddel blogs on Tumblr, all of which is no older than 2018, and largely from more recent years.

If you'd like to dig deeper, the sources I linked provide a lot more information on all of this. It is genuinely fascinating, and it's genuinely important to be able to identify these ideas and why they're dangerous.

I want to leave this off by stressing that Baeddels were a relatively fringe group, and in no way represent all transfems. They caused damage to transfem communities as well as transmasc and trans-androgynous nonbinary communities, and transfems as a whole are our allies in addressing the mess they left behind.

#baeddel #baeddels #trans #transgender #transphobia #feminism #transandrophobia #nothorses

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sanktyastag · 3 years

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What you said about Aleksander not telling her what happened and why he left and I'll add to that not telling her how the fold was an accident etc is so blatantly a narrative mistep, there is no way to logically conclude "oh he didn't tell her because" what? it's entirely because her knowing those things would make her side with him or at the least understand his pov or worse make the whole "darkling is evil incarnate" while my kind is being murdered hunted and experimented on from 4 sides(cont)

[(cont) And it makes the fact that the hill these writers chose to die on is the fold which was accidental and then the only thing preventing even more atrocities to grisha used by the only person doing anything at all about it including their heroes who instead choose to support an absolutely corrupt monarchy who's done nothing but use an abuse them in numerous ways and then leave said minority even worse than they found them make even less sense than it already does.]

Oooh now here's a spicy take. I agree with you, anon, I feel like there's quite a bit of dissonance between how the show wants the characters to feel about the events that take place on screen, versus what it wants the audience to feel about those same events. Which wouldn't, necessarily, be a problem, except it never resolves the disparity between those two viewpoints, so we're left feeling disconnected from the goals of the protagonists.

I'm going to write an essay now, so it's going under a cut, lol.

The pitfall of SaB, I think, is that it often feels like the writers are trying to address and flesh out areas that the books themselves aren't really concerned with, whilst simultaneously staying true to the story as it's written on the page. And normally a show fleshing out an underdeveloped book concept would improve the story being told, except for the fact that the books are... almost wholly reliant on those things never being addressed in order for the events to take place the way that they do. The showrunners chose to engage with those dropped characters elements, so we now have conflict between the characters as they're presented to us, and the actual story being told.

Which is funny, because they had two different directions they could have expanded on Aleksander's character, and I feel like the show accidentally expanded on the wrong ones? I mean, I sure like what they had to say, but it doesn't really fit the story that they're trying to tell.

Because here's the thing. The books actually want Aleksander to be a sympathetic and well-intentioned character. The issue is that he's so disenfranchised with life that he's turned to extremism. He's caught up in this idea of saving his people, but "people" have become an abstract concept to him. He's looking at the long game so intently, he's blind to the real people in front of him who are suffering for his actions. And that's an interesting narrative to play with! It's so niche to the circumstances of having a character live through centuries of conflict, and distancing himself from the people he's trying to save as a defense mechanism to the endless trauma he's facing. Unfortunately, the books have no interest in engaging with that belief, so it's presented as an immutable fact of his character, rather than a flaw to be challenged, which renders it... much less interesting to read about.

So the weirdness lies within the show, then, expanding on the sympathetic aspects of Aleksander's character, instead of his flaws. They actually made him more involved with the lives of the Grisha he commands, they gave him more reason to attack Novokribirsk, by establishing Zlatan's army. They removed the layers of calculation and distance his book-self had, and made him very human and emotional, but then they continued to treat him as if he still had those book traits of being manipulative, ruthless, and amoral. Which is... disorienting.

Like, if they wanted to make him sympathetic while simultaneously demonizing his character, all they would have had to do was rearrange some scenes. Make it so that Aleksander's backstory is him explaining the creation of the fold to Alina. Throw the events into doubt by having it be told through an unreliable narrator (Aleksander himself), and bam, now it can be both backstory, and a way to manipulate a girl into feeling sorry for him. Same with the assassination attempt. Have him explain what happened and also have him use it as a way to engender trust with Alina, by instilling it with an us vs them agenda.

And then, just... let them have a full conversation. Instead of having Alina say that he's a monster beyond saving without ever discussing anything with him, give Aleksander a chance to explain, have Alina disagree with his methods, and have him force her to go along with them anyways. Bam. There's the story they wanted to tell, wrapped up in a neat little bow.

Of course, all that that fixes is the contradictions in their own story, not actually the quality of the story itself, imo. That's still a storyline that's only engaging with Aleksander's points at the most shallow, baseline level, which would allow them to tell that bland "radical freedom fighter is correct, but also burns down orphanages, so unfortunately we're going to have to side with the right-leaning centrist alternative" narrative that every corporation-run television show is so fond of these days.

But I mean. At least then I could consistently disagree with the story that's being told, instead of being left staring at my screen, trying to figure out if they want Aleksander to be redeemable or not, lol.

#me getting down on one knee in front of this ask: anon will you... go on rants about the potential this story had with me #if it hadn't been railroaded by a book series that had very little interest in exploring it's own worldbuilding #in favor of being a teen romance moonlighting as a girlboss action/adventure novel?#writing this out has simply reminded me that the best version of s&b is the one that lives in my mind rent free #where radical political overhaul is central to the protagonist's storyline #and the conflict is more than one over the top final battle per book #anti leigh bardugo #anti the showrunners too a bit tbh #but that's simply because i disagree with corporate media <3 #darklina

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crossdreamers · 3 years

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Lesbians support transgender people

Lesbian trans-exclusionary “radical feminists” are claiming that transgender culture is erasing lesbian identities. Given all the noise they make, you may get the impression that most lesbians share their beliefs. This is not true.

In fact, my own experience from Norway tells me that most lesbians embrace the T in LGBTQA, and see that transgender people and lesbians face the same kind of oppression: Attacks from reactionary people who believe the cisgender/heterosexual gender norm should apply to everyone.

The lesbian erasure narrative

Over at Advocate the lesbian writer Sarah Fonseca (photo above) takes a look at Abigail Shrier’s transphobic book Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters, and touches upon the the “lesbians are going extinct” narrative.

She writes:

Naturally, the assertion of Shrier that lesbians, tomboys, and lesbian tomboys are going the way of the dodo bird seeks to create pandemonium among queer girls who identify as such.

And Irreversible Damage dares to inflict this very damage at a critical moment when lesbian social spaces that weren’t already shuttered are suffering due to national lockdown, and our community’s women — sociable, tactful, and independent of others’ transitions — are left to their own devices...

As a lesbian reader of sound gender, I still find it enormously unpleasant to be repeatedly told that I do not exist or that my gender and sexuality will inevitably shift, all because of a societal trend and its societal pressures; it is all too reminiscent of the comments foisted upon many of us by heterosexuals upon coming out.

Fortunately, Shrier lacks two pieces of vital information. First, the lesbian is the mistress of silently and confidently auditing her own gender. She continues to exist because she abides by no one’s stringent rules...

We are hardly obsolete. If anything, we are just getting started. Our first mission? Disavowing Irreversible Damage. Our second? Taking care of our trans siblings. Our third? Reversing the damage that Shrier has done to lesbian reputation. The fourth? I do not know, but I hope it involves dancing and queers of every stripe, imagined and yet to be.

Abigail Shrier, who is a privileged white, straight and cis woman, is using the lesbian extinction scare to create a split in the queer community, not because she care about lesbians.

Enriched by trans people

In an article in the British Independent, Carrie Lyell puts it this way:

I don’t recall a plethora of columns offering solidarity from heterosexual “feminists” before so many latched on to lesbians as a way to push their agenda on trans issues. There was no faux-concern from our “straight allies” on any of those occasions, no calls to celebrate my swashbuckling swagger. Straight women were often the first to tell me to grow my hair, shave my legs or be more “ladylike”.

Instead I found comfort in the LGBT+ community and learnt resilience from those around me. While the world tried to box me in and crush my queer spirit, I was lifted up by lesbians, gay men, bi people and, yes, trans people.

Lyell (photo from twitter above) is the editor of DIVA, a queer magazine. She writes that she has never met a trans person who has tried to convert her.

“Not for one minute have I felt erased by trans people,” she writes: “If anything, I feel enriched.”

The great majority of lesbians feel this kind of kinship with trans people, and support them.

They used the same tactics against lesbians

In another article Fonseca points out the similarities found in the way the cis/heterosexual majority used to invalidate and attack lesbian women:

Queers and trans people have historically witnessed our bodies be weaponized in pursuit of the same old Cis American Dream by those on both sides of the political divide.

In the sensational Women’s Lib text The Feminine Mystique, Betty Friedan was quick to distance herself and her movement from lesbians, writing them off as “disruptors” and members of “extreme left groups.” ...

Unsympathetic to lesbian concerns about child custody and sexual liberation, she referred to the burgeoning group of dykes seeking representation in the larger women’s movement “the lavender menace.”

The same tactics were used against gay men and lesbian women as the TERFs are using now: the sexual predator tropé, the mental illness narrative and the “stupid people seduced by extremists” invalidation.

All the leading lesbian magazines support the trans community

Remember that back in 2018 the world’s leading publications for lesbians came together to send a message of support and solidarity to the trans community. They wrote:

DIVA, Curve, Autostraddle, LOTL, Tagg, Lez Spread The Word, DapperQ, GO Magazine and LezWatch.TV believe that trans women are women and that trans people belong in our community. We do not think supporting trans women erases our lesbian identities; rather we are enriched by trans friends and lovers, parents, children, colleagues and siblings.

We strongly condemn writers and editors who seek to foster division and hate within the LGBTQI community with trans misogynistic content, and who believe “lesbian” is an identity for them alone to define. We condemn male-owned media companies who profit from the traffic generated by these controversies.

We also strongly condemn the current narrative peddled by some feminists, painting trans people as bullies and aggressors – one which reinforces transphobia and which must be challenged so that feminism can move forward.

We are really concerned about the message these so-called lesbian publications are sending to trans women and to young lesbians – including trans lesbians – and we want to make in clear this is not in our name.

Photo of Sarah Fonseca from Posture Mag.

See also: “Lesbians Turning On Elliot Page Is Not An Isolated Event, And We Need To Talk About It.”

#lesbian #lgbt #lgbtqa #trans #transgender #nonbinary #enby #lgbtqi #glbt #terf #terfs #gender critical #transphobia

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drabbles-mc · 3 years

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Protective Detail (4/?)

Nestor Oceteva x Reader

Warnings: language, violence, blood, guns, mild injuries, Nestor being a goddamn thirst trap

Word Count: 3.6k

A/N: This chapter is a liiiiittle longer than the others have been but hopefully that’s not a problem. Did I do a deep-dive on Gino Vento’s google photos to be able to know what his body art situation is?? You betcha. Enjoy! xoxo

Chapter Index

Protective Detail Taglist: @masterlistforimagines @sillygoose6969 @mydaiilyescape @lovebennycolon @the-radical-venus @gemini0410 @garbinge @slutformayansmc @paintballkid711 (as always, if you want to be on my taglists feel free to let me know!)

Despite the fact that the only thing on your agenda for the day was going to the grocery store, you still came into the kitchen in the morning to see Nestor sipping coffee in yet another button-down shirt and pair of slacks. You wondered for a moment if the man even owned just a pair of casual blue jeans.

“I don’t know where the Galindos shop,” you said with a laugh as you poured a cup of coffee, “But the grocery store I go to doesn’t have a dress code. I thought you knew that.”

He shook his head but you could see the smirk pulling at his lips, “This is just how I dress, Y/N.”

He didn’t use your name often, but each time he did you felt your entire body turn into jello for a few moments before you regained composure again. You took your time getting ready, loving that you didn’t feel rushed or like you were on a schedule. You told Nestor that he could drive, pretending that you just wanted the extra space in his car for shopping purposes. But you were also testing a theory that if you let Nestor have his way more often, he would let you know a little more about who he was as a person. Plus, you had to admit, you didn’t really mind his driving too much. Even if he did drive without the radio on.

Having Nestor with you while you grocery shopped was nice because you got to leave him in charge of pushing the cart while you perused the aisles and picked things out to eat for the next few days. You’d shove produce in his face and ask him if he thought it was fresh, and he would begrudgingly help you out, rolling his eyes at how terrible you were at telling if cantaloups were ripe.

The two of you were walking down the cereal aisle and he was shaking his head at you while fighting back a smile, “You’re like a child with access to a credit card.”

“Listen, Nestor,” you stood on your tip-toes to try and reach towards the back of the top shelf, “Coco Puffs have no age limit.”

He reached over you with ease and grabbed the last box from the back of the shelf and placed it in the cart, not saying a word as he continued pushing onward. You smiled to yourself for a few moments before snapping back to reality and speed-walking a few steps to catch up with him.

He was helping you bag items at the self-checkout and if you were honest with yourself, every now and then you would forget that he was with you to keep you from getting shot or kidnapped. Sometimes you even felt like friends, as much as someone like Nestor would let a person be friends with him.

Once you were out on the road and heading home, you looked over at Nestor with puppy-dog eyes, “Can we stop at Starbucks?”

He looked at you, shaking his head the second he saw the way you were looking at him, “The lines are always ridiculous. The ice cream will melt.”

You sighed, knowing that puppy-dog eyes most likely weren’t going to work on him but it was worth a shot anyway. You leaned back in your seat and scrolled on your phone, wanting desperately to play music to break up the silence.

Nestor passed the street that you normally turned off to get home. You looked over at him and saw how tense his body was. You sat upright, putting your phone back in your purse, “What?”

He nodded towards the rearview mirror, “Car’s been following us since we left the store.”

Your stomach knotted and you tried to take a deep breath but it didn’t help to calm you down at all. You instinctively reached for the glove compartment like it was your own car, and you were expecting Nestor to stop you, but instead he reached and opened it for you, not having to take his eyes off the road to dig around and get the gun out for you.

“You shouldn’t need to use it,” he placed the weapon in your hand and his lingered for a moment, “But just in case.”

He did his best to stay on busier roads, hoping it would be a deterrent, and also hopefully make it easier to lose whoever it was that was tailing them. You felt your heart pounding inside your chest—you had been hoping that your father had dealt with everything and that Nestor really was just an unnecessary precaution, but that wasn’t the case.

Somewhere along the way, the road went dead. Nestor was white-knuckled on the steering wheel and you were trying not to let your hands shake. He had been steadily increasing your speed, but even so the car had kept up and pulled up alongside you. You tried to get a good look at the people who were inside, but before you could, Nestor slammed on the gas and tried to speed ahead of them in one last burst to lose them.

Before he could successfully get in front of them, they swerved and hit the back driver’s side corner of the car. With the speed that Nestor had picked up they hit you hard enough to send the car spinning. By some miracle the vehicle didn’t roll, but you swerved off the road and slammed into an embankment, trashing the front of the car and pinning Nestor’s side. Even if he wanted to open his door and get out, he couldn’t. It all happened so fast, you don’t think you would’ve been able to explain exactly how the two of you ended up in that position even if someone tried to pay you to.

The other car pulled up, opening their passenger door. You had already undone your seatbelt and you instinctively shot the gun in your hand, busting the glass window. You fired off a second bullet and got the man who was coming towards you in the leg, causing him to drop. You were getting ready to fire off a third shot when a third man jumped out of the car and dragged him back throwing him in the back seat, the only sound in the air was a slew of curses of the man who was bleeding. You froze up, unable to take an easy shot that would take someone’s life.

“Just fucking go!” the man yelled as he barely got his accomplice into the back seat.

The car started peeling away before the back door was even completely shut. Clearly, they hadn’t been planning on you being armed at all, let alone ready to shoot. You took a shaky breath as you put the safety back on the gun. You turned to Nestor, who had a harsh burn along his neck from his seatbelt, as well as a cut and a welt on the side of his forehead from where his head slammed against the window while you were spinning out. You unclicked his seatbelt and gently tried to wake him without shaking him, not knowing how hard he had slammed his head.

“Nestor?”

He groaned in response, “Fuck.”

“Oh thank god,” you let out a sigh of relief.

“How many?”

“At least three,” you gently and slowly turned his head, trying to get a better idea of his injuries. You had a feeling that it was nothing serious—he was just going to be bruised and sore for a few days. His side of the car got slammed pretty bad when you went off the road. You pressed your lips together for a moment, “Still got feeling in all your limbs?”

He laughed, although it was weighted with sarcasm, leaning back against the headrest, “Yea.”

“Good,” you sighed, letting your body sink back into your seat as well, “All things considered, this could’ve gone a lot worse.”

He looked over at you, “Looks like we’ll be using your car for a few days.”

You slowly shook your head, “The ice cream is definitely gonna melt.”

His next laugh was genuine, despite the pain he was in, “You have the worst priorities in the world.”

“Hey, I checked to see if you were alive, didn’t I?”

After a few phone calls made to your father and some of his connections, you had a tow-truck and a temporary replacement car there in no time. It was convenient, the only thing you weren’t thrilled about was the fact that your father was the one who delivered it.

“What happened?” he ran to you and wrapped you in a hug

“They followed us out of the grocery store,” you said, taking a slight step back when he finally released you from his embrace, “Nestor noticed right away. They never saw my house.”

He nodded, “That’s good at least,” he held you gently by your upper arms, “How are you? Are you hurt?”

You shook your head, “Neck is sore from getting spun out, but I’m alright. I should probably get Nestor home so I can get his cuts cleaned up.”

“You have things to take care of him?”

You nodded, “Yea of course.”

“Is there anything else I can get you?”

You shook your head, “No, I think we’ll be okay. I just wanna get home.”

He nodded understandingly, “Okay. I love you, mija, you know that right?”

You smiled, “I know. I love you too,” you hugged him, “I’ll talk to you later and give you a full download of the situation, alright?”

“Alright. Please, drive safe.”

“I will,” you kissed his cheek, “Te quiero.”

“Te quiero,” he walked over and shook Nestor’s hand, “Thank you for keeping her safe.”

He nodded, feeling like there wasn’t much to thank him for in this situation, “Your daughter is a very capable woman.”

“She is,” with a final nod and one last look over at you, your father went back to his own car and took off.

You and Nestor waited for the tow truck to finish loading the SUV before finally piling into the car your father had brought for you. It was pretty reminiscent of Nestor’s SUV and you knew that was probably by design. In the back of your mind you knew your father probably wanted it to be your car so he could finally give you what he considered to be a real car. Truthfully you hated driving bigger vehicles, but you weren’t about to hand the keys over to Nestor.

“I’m sorry,” he said one you were both in the car.

“What’re you sorry for?” you asked as you buckled in.

“It never should’ve come to that, to you having to use my gun.”

You shook your head, “Don’t do that. You were unconscious. Not even you are cool enough to be able to pull that off while knocked out. Thanks to you, I get to sleep in my own bed tonight. So don’t beat yourself up,” you waited for him to meet your eyes, “Self-pity is the only thing that doesn’t look good on you, so knock it off,” you offered a small smile as you started the car.

He smiled as he settled into his seat but he didn’t say anything. The drive passed in silence, and for once you weren’t itching to turn the radio on. Part of you wanted to reach over and cover Nestor’s hand with your own, but you fought the urge. He somehow managed to keep his eyes open the whole ride home.

Once you started getting what was left of the groceries out of the car, Nestor asked for the house keys so he could do a check. You told him not to bother, that there would be no way a second threat would be lurking in your house after what just happened, but he insisted. It wasn’t a battle you were going to pick, so you handed over the keys.

The house was quiet, and you didn’t make any comment on it as you started unpacking the groceries. Nestor was sat on the couch, staring up at the ceiling, and the look on his face made your heart feel heavy. You texted your father, asking for one small, very ridiculous favor, hoping that he would grant it to you.

Once all of the groceries were put away, you went and grabbed your first aid kit from the bathroom and sat down next to Nestor on the couch. This time, he didn’t look annoyed about the closeness you shared.

“C’mere,” you motioned for him to lean closer to you so you could start wiping and cleaning out the cut on his forehead. Neither of you said anything while you tended to him. He cringed slightly when you used the alcohol, but he remained silent. You told him that after he showered you would put a bandage on it just as a precaution, but the gash wasn’t really that deep. It was more to make you feel better about it. You wiped down the burn across his neck with an anti-bacterial rub, but there wasn’t a whole lot else that you could do for it.

“How’s your side?” you nodded to his side that got slammed into the door of the car when you hit the embankment.

“It’s fine,” he wasn’t looking at you.

“Can I see it?”

He stood up, ready to go shower and wash the day away, “I said it’s fine.”

“Well if it’s fine then there’s no reason not to let me see,” you weren’t yelling but it was a firm tone that you hadn’t used with him before.

He sighed, not having the energy to put up a fight. He untucked and un-buttoned his shirt, pulling the one side out so that you could see his chest and ribcage. There were a few bruises starting to come in, but it didn’t look terrible. You tried to stay focused on the real reason you wanted to look at him, but you had to admit that you let your eyes linger a little longer than medically necessary. You hadn’t been expecting to see so much ink on his skin.

“Can I go shower now?”

You nodded, “Yea. Thank you.”

You didn’t have the energy to go and get changed, so instead you melted into the couch, pushing the first aid kit to the floor. You heard the shower turn on and then, for the first time, he put music on. Your eyes went wide, thinking for a moment that you must’ve hit your head at some point too and were hearing things. After a minute went by, you finally let yourself relax, not even wanting to turn the television on and risk drowning out the melodies drifting out of the bathroom. You didn’t know what kind of music you were expecting Nestor to listen to, but what he was playing was much more mellow than you thought it would be.

You were resting with your eyes closed when there was a light knock on the door. You got up, smiling because you knew what it was. You opened the front door, smiling at your father’s newest assistant who looked like he was only a couple weeks out of college. He stood there with a smile as he held out a brown paper bag to you.

“Your dad said you needed these?”

You smiled and nodded, “Yes, thank you so much,” he nodded and went to walk away when you caught his attention again, “Hey, I never caught your name.”

“Ricardo. You can call me Ricky.”

“Thank you, Ricky.”

“You’re welcome, Y/N. Have a good night.”

You shut and locked the door and put the bag in the freezer, grinning over the fact that your father was still willing to indulge you in silly things like this even after all this time. You snapped back to reality when the sound of the shower and the music both shut off. The door creaked open and you fought the urge to peak into the hallway.

After a few minutes went by and Nestor didn’t reappear in the living room, you took it upon yourself to go to him. You grabbed the bag out of the freezer and two spoons before making your way down the hall.

You knocked lightly on the door, not used to it being shut. His voice was quiet on the other side, “Yea?”

You opened the door and fought to not let your jaw hit the floor. Nestor was lying on his bed, eyes closed, fingers pinching the bridge of his nose. All you could think about, though, was the fact that he was lying there with no shirt on, just a pair of sweatpants. You truly couldn’t believe the number of tattoos that the man had. His chest, stomach, and arms were completely decked out in ink of all kinds. You hadn’t given much thought to him having tattoos—you saw the one on his neck and his hands but other than that it never really crossed your mind. Your quick glance earlier didn’t do his extensive body art justice.

And his hair wasn’t braided—his long, thick curls were thrown up into a messy bun on top of his head. You were certain that there would never be a better look for him than that. You wished it didn’t take such a rough day to get it out of him. You cleared your throat slightly, chastising yourself over how your mind instantly flew to some very unprofessional places.

“I come bearing gifts,” you said as you walked over and sat on the edge of his bed, “Well, gift. It’s just one.”

He opened one eye, smiling as you set the pint of ice cream and spoon on his nightstand, “Which of your father’s assistants had to drive that over?”

You laughed, “The new one, Ricky.”

He forced himself to sit upright, “Poor kid.”

He reached for the ice cream and your eyes were glued to his forearms, figuring it was the safest place for you to study as you digested all of the new ink that you were seeing. You were trying not to gawk but he was making it really difficult for you. You bit down lightly on your bottom lip, unable to force yourself to look away.

He noticed you staring and immediately became very aware of how he looked, “Fuck, sorry. Let me grab a shirt.”

You shook your head, “Stop. This is your home too for now. I don’t give a shit,” you laughed, “After today you can wear whatever you want,” you took a scoop of ice cream out of your pint, “Your hair looks good like that, by the way.”

He smiled, slowly pulling his legs up so he was sitting cross-legged by his pillow, “Thanks. You tell anyone and I’ll kill you.”

You laughed, “Hey, man-buns are in right now.”

He chuckled as he methodically scooped away a layer at a time. You pulled your feet up and sat the same way he was, the two of you facing each other. Neither of you said anything as you ate, and you soaked up the moment.

“Can I put a bandage on your cut?” you asked as you put the top back on your ice cream container.

“It’s really not that bad.”

“I know but it’ll make me feel better.”

He shrugged, nodding, “Sure.”

You gathered up your spoons and what was left of your ice cream and walked out of the room. You tossed the containers back into the freezer before going to grab the first aid kit off of your floor. After thinking about it for a moment, you made a pit-stop in your room and changed out of your clothes, opting for a pair of sweats and a baggy t-shirt.

By the time you walked back into his room, Nestor had put on a t-shirt moved to the edge of the bed, swinging his legs off so his feet hit the floor. You sat down next to him and looked at his forehead. You sifted through the different-sized bandages you had before you found one that was satisfactory. You leaned in, gently applying it to his forehead.

You rested your palm on the side of his face, lightly tracing your thumb over the bandage to make sure it was completely on. Nestor’s eyes were closed, and without thinking better of it, he leaned slightly into your touch and you froze, not wanting to give up the contact. You tried to relax your body, but you couldn’t.

A few seconds later he opened his eyes again, and realized what he was doing. He sat upright and cleared his throat, not sure what to say or do. You forced yourself to break the silence, “Need anything else?”

He shook his head, “No. Thank you. I know I’m here to keep you safe but you definitely saved my ass today.”

You chuckled, “And you can save my ass tomorrow,” your expression grew a little more serious, “But really, you good?”

He nodded, “I’m good.”

“Okay,” you rested your hand on his knee for a moment, “Goodnight, Nestor.”

You went to take your hand away as you stood when you felt his come to rest over it, completely enveloping it, “Goodnight,” he gave your hand a soft squeeze.

You walked out of his room, shutting the door behind you. you turned off all the lights in the house before going to your room and collapsing onto your bed. You stared up at the ceiling, trying to process everything that had happened that day. You traced over the top of your hand where Nestor’s had been and, despite the day the two of you had had, you found yourself smiling.

#mayans mc #mayansmc #mayans fx #mayans mc imagine #nestor oceteva #nestor oceteva x reader #nestor oceteva x you #nestor oceteva imagine #nestor oceteva fanfic #my writing #drabblesmc #protective detail #multichapter #chapter 4

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trans-advice · 3 years

Text

Excerpt from “Transgender History” (2017) by Susan Stryker (“Chapter 3: Trans Liberation”)

[...]

Stonewall:

Meanwhile, across the continent [from San Francisco, California, USA], another important center of transgender activism was taking shape in New York City [New York, USA], where, not coincidentally, Harry Benjamin maintained his primary medical practice. In 1968, Mario Martino, a female-to-male transsexual, founded Labyrinth, the first organization in the United States devoted specifically to the needs of transgender men. Martino and his wife, who both worked in the health care field, helped other transsexual men navigate their way through the often-confusing maze of transgender-oriented medical services just then beginning to emerge, which (despite being funded primarily by Reed Erickson) were geared more toward the needs of transgenderwomen than transgender men. Labyrinth was not a political organization but rather one that aimed to help individuals make the often-difficult transition from one social gender to another.

Far overshadowing the quiet work of Martino’s Labyrinth Foundation, however, were the dramatic events of June 1969 at the Stonewall Inn, a bar in New York’s Greenwich Village. The “Stonewall Riots” have been mythologized as the origin of the gay liberation movement, and there is a great deal of truth in that characterization, but—as we have seen—gay, transgender, and gender-nonconforming people had been engaging in militant protest and collective actions against social oppression for at least a decade by that time. Stonewall stands out as the biggest and most consequential example of a kind of event that was becoming increasingly common, rather than as a unique occurrence. By 1969, as a result of many years of social upheaval and political agitation, large numbers of people who were socially marginalized because of their sexual orientation or gender identity, especially younger people who were part of the Baby Boomer generation, were drawn to the idea of “gay revolution” and were primed for any event that would set such a movement off. The Stonewall Riots provided that very spark, and they inspired the formation of Gay Liberation Front groups in big cities, progressive towns, and college campuses all across the United States. Ever since the summer of 1969, various groups of people who identify with the people who participated in the rioting have argued about what actually happened, what the riot’s underlying causes were, who participated in it, and what the movements that point back to Stonewall as an important part of their own history have in common with one another.

Although Greenwich Village was not as economically down-and-out as San Francisco’s Tenderloin, it was nevertheless a part of the city that appealed to the same sorts of people who resisted at Cooper Do-Nut, Dewey’s, and Compton’s Cafeteria: drag queens, hustlers, gender nonconformists of many varieties, gay men, lesbians, and countercultural types who simply “dug the scene.” The Stonewall Inn was a small, shabby, Mafia-run bar (as were many of the gay-oriented bars in New York back in the days when being gay or cross-dressing were crimes). It drew a racially mixed crowd and was popular mainly for its location on Christopher Street near Sheridan Square, where many gay men “cruised” for casual sex, and because it featured go-go boys, cheap beer, a good jukebox, and a crowded dance floor. Then as now, there was a lively street scene in the bar’s vicinity, one that drew young and racially mixed queer folk from through the region most weekend nights. Police raids were relatively frequent (usually when the bar was slow to make its payoffs to corrupt cops) and relatively routine and uneventful. Once the bribes were sorted out, the bar would reopen, often on the same night. But in the muggy, early morning hours of Saturday, June 28, 1969, events departed from the familiar script when the squad cars pulled up outside the Stonewall Inn.

[Source text Inserts “Sidebar: Radical Transsexual” here]

A large crowd of people gathered on the street as police began arresting workers and patrons and escorting them out of the bar and into the waiting police wagons. Some people in the crowd started throwing coins at the police officers, taunting them for taking “payola.” Eyewitness accounts of what happened next differ in their particulars, but some witnesses claim a transmasculine person resisted police attempts to put them in the police wagon, while others noted that African American and Puerto Rican members of the crowd—many of them street queens, feminine gay men, transgender women, or gender-nonconforming youth—grew increasingly angry as they watched their “sisters” being arrested and escalated the level of opposition to the police. Both stories might well be true. Sylvia Rivera, a transgender woman who came to play an important role in subsequent transgender political history, long maintained that, after she was jabbed by a police baton, she threw the beer bottle that tipped the crowd’s mood from mockery to collective resistance. In any case, the targeting of gender-nonconforming people, people of color, and poor people during a police action fits the usual patterns of police behavior in such situations.

Bottles, rocks, and other heavy objects were soon being hurled at the police, who, in retaliation, began grabbing people from the crowd and beating them.Weekend partiers and residents in the heavily gay neighborhood quickly swelledthe ranks of the crowd to more than two thousand people, and the outnumberedpolice barricaded themselves inside the Stonewall Inn and called for reinforcements. Outside, rioters used an uprooted parking meter as a batteringram to try to break down the bar’s door, while other members of the crowdattempted to throw a Molotov cocktail inside to drive the police back into the streets. Tactical Patrol Force officers arrived on the scene in an attempt to contain the growing disturbance, which nevertheless continued for hours until dissipating before dawn. That night, thousands of people regrouped at the Stonewall Inn to protest. When the police arrived to break up the assembled crowd, street fighting even more violent than that of the night before ensued. One particularly memorable sight amid the melee was a line of drag queens, arms linked, dancing a can-can and singing campy, improvised songs that mocked the police and their inability to regain control of the situation: “We are the Stonewall girls / We wear our hair in curls / We always dress with flair / We wear clean underwear / We wear our dungarees / Above our nellie knees.” Minor skirmishes and protest rallies continued throughout the next few days before finally dying down. By that time, however, untold thousands of people had been galvanized into political action.

Sidebar: Radical Transsexual

Suzy Cooke was a young hippie from upstate New York who lived in a commune in Berkeley, California, when she started transitioning from male to female in 1969. She came out as a bisexual transsexual in the context of the radical counterculture.

I was facing being called back up for the draft. I had already been called up once and had just gone in and played crazy with them the year before. But that was just an excuse. I had also been doing a lot of acid and really working things out. And then December 31, 1968, I took something—I don’t really know what it was—but everything just collapsed. I said, “This simply cannot go on.” To the people that I lived with, I said, “I don’t care if you hate me, but I’m just going to have to do something. I’m going to have to work it out over the next couple of months, and that it doesn’t matter if you reject me, I just have to do it.”

As it was, the people in my commune took it very well. I introduced the cross-dressing a few days later as a way of avoiding the draft. And they were just taken aback at how much just putting on the clothes made me into a girl. I mean, hardly any makeup. A little blush, a little shadow, some gloss, the right clothes, padding. I passed. I passed really easily in public. This is like a few months before Stonewall. And by this point I was dressing up often enough that people were used to seeing it.

I was wallowing in the happiness of having a lot of friends. Here I was being accepted, this kinda cool/sorta goofy hippie kid. I was being accepted by all these heavy radicals. I had been rejected by my parental family, and I had never found a family at college, and now here I was with this family of like eight people all surrounding me. And as it turned out, even some of the girls that I had slept with were thinking that this was really cool. All the girls would donate clothes to me. I really had not been expecting this. I had been expecting rejection, I really had been. And I was really very pleased and surprised. Because I thought that if I did this then I was going to have to go off and live with the queens. And I didn’t.

Stonewall’s Transgender Legacy:

Within a month of the Stonewall Riots, gay activists inspired by the events in Greenwich Village formed the Gay Liberation Front (GLF), which modeled itself on radical Third World liberation and anti-imperialist movements. The GLF spread quickly through activist networks in the student and antiwar movements, primarily among white young people of middle-class origin. Almost as quickly as it formed, however, divisions appeared within the GLF, primarily taking aim at the movement’s domination by white men and its perceived marginalization of women, working-class people, people of color, and trans people. People with more liberal, less radical politics soon organized as the Gay Activists Alliance (GAA), which aimed to reform laws rather than foment revolution. Many lesbians redirected their energy toward radical feminism and the women’s movement. And trans people, after early involvement in the GLF (and being explicitly excluded from the GAA’s agenda), quickly came to feel that they did not have a welcome place in the movement they had done much to inspire. As a consequence, they soon formed their own organizations.

In 1970, Sylvia Rivera and another Stonewall regular, Marsha P. Johnson, established STAR—Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries. Their primary goal was to help street kids stay out of jail, or get out of jail, and to find food, clothing, and a place to live. They opened STAR House, an overtly politicized version of the “house” culture that already characterized black and Latino queer kinship networks, where dozens of trans youth could count on a free and safe place to sleep. Rivera and Johnson, as “house mothers,” would hustle to pay the rent, while their “children” would scrounge for food. Their goal was to educate and protect the younger people who were coming into the kind of life they themselves led—they even dreamed of establishing a school for kids who’d never learned to read and write because their formal education was interrupted by discrimination and bullying. Some STAR members, particularly Rivera, were also active in the Young Lords, a revolutionary Puerto Rican youth organization. One of the first times the STAR banner was flown in public was at a mass demonstration against police repression organized by the Young Lords in East Harlem in 1970, in which STAR participated as a group. STAR House lasted for only two or three years and inspired a few short-lived imitators in other cities, but its legacy lives on even now.

A few other transgender groups formed in New York in the early 1970s. A trans woman named Judy Bowen organized two extremely short-lived groups: Transvestites and Transsexuals (TAT) in 1970 and Transsexuals Anonymous in 1971. More significant was the Queens’ Liberation Front (QLF), founded by drag queen Lee Brewster and heterosexual transvestite Bunny Eisenhower. The QLF formed in part to resist the erasure of drag and trans visibility in the first Christopher Street Liberation Day march, which commemorated the Stonewall Riots and is now an annual event held in New York on the last Sunday in June. In many other cities, this weekend has become the traditional date to celebrate LGBTQ Pride. The formation of the QLF demonstrates how quickly the gay liberation movement started to push aside some of the very people who had the greatest stake in militant resistance at Stonewall. QLF members participated in that first Christopher Street Liberation Day march and were involved in several other political campaigns through the next few years—including wearing drag while lobbying state legislators in Albany. QLF’s most lasting contribution, however, was the publication of Drag Queen magazine (later simply Drag), which had the best coverage of transgender news and politics in the United States, and which offered fascinating glimpses of trans life and activism outside the major coastal cities. In New York, QLF founder Lee Brewster’s private business, Lee’s Mardi Gras Boutique, was a gathering place for segments of the city’s transgender community well into the 1990s.

#pride was a riot #lgbt+ history #lgbtqia+ history #pride month #pride #marsha p johnson #sylvia rivera #stonewall riots #stonewall #susan stryker #usa centric

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loudlytransparenttrash · 3 years

Note

Check your privilege. You are not on the side of Asians, only the whites who have been supposedly the most affected by this. Says a lot that THAT is what you're worried about.

Yes, I’m sorry, the media, politicians and activists widely condemning an entire race and pinning the racist attacks on them is no big deal and should not be discussed, you are right. You may have a point. In my last post, I did not bring enough attention to the severity and often savagery of these recent attacks against Asian Americans, usually elderly. The victims deserve to be heard and their violent, racist attackers condemned to the fullest. So let’s do that.

On January 28th, 84-year-old Vicha Ratanapakdee was walking in his driveway in San Francisco. A 19-year-old male barreled into him, knocking him to the ground. The male, Antoine Watson, was accompanied by a 20-year-old female. Two days later, Ratanapakdee died of his injuries. In March, an elderly woman was beaten during a robbery in broad daylight in Daly City. The attacker stripped her of her belongings and started to leave, before returning to club her again. In San Jose, on February 5th, a 64-year-old Vietnamese grandmother was getting into her car after withdrawing $1000 in cash in advance of the Lunar New Year. Two males yanked open the car door, grabbed the woman’s purse, keys, and phone and fled.

On January 31st, a 91-year-old man was walking along an Oakland sidewalk when a young male came up behind and pushed him to the ground. As the man’s head hung over the curb into the street, the assailant calmly continued walking off. A 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman were attacked in Oakland’s Chinatown by the same assailant. Seventy-five-year-old Pak Ho was robbed and killed while taking his morning walk near Oakland’s Lake Merritt in March. He hit his head on the sidewalk and was taken off life support for brain trauma shortly after. On February 3rd, a 71-year-old grandmother was walking across an Oakland sidewalk towards her apartment when a young man dashed up and knocked her to the ground. A second male ran up and danced around as the first pulled the woman’s purse from her body, breaking the strap. Both males then ran off with the purse.

On February 23rd, two 19-year-olds and a 20-year-old walked into a San Francisco laundromat where a 67-year-old man was sitting. They kicked him to the ground, dangled him upside down by his legs, twisted him back and forth and beat him while they rifled through his pockets. Finally, they found his wallet and walked out the door. An 88-year-old great-grandmother, Yik Oi Huang, went missing. When her son searched the park next to her home, he saw what he thought was a pile of old clothes next to a recycling bin. It was his mother, beaten so brutally as to be unrecognizable and choking on her own blood. Her pants were down and her belly exposed. The 18-year-old suspect had gone on to burglarize her home, stealing jewelry and house keys before fleeing the area. Huang died. On March 18th, a man yelled “you motherf**king Asian!” as he knocked a 68-year-old Sri Lankan unconscious on a New York subway. The man remains in a critical condition. On March 21st, a 37-year-old woman attending a rally in lower Manhattan against anti-Asian violence was punched twice in the face by a man who took her protest sign and stuffed it in a trash can. In March 2020, four teenage girls assaulted a 51-year-old woman on a bus in the Bronx, hitting her with an umbrella and accusing her of spreading the coronavirus.

On March 30th, a man assaulted a mother on a train heading to Times Square, New York, and began yelling anti-Asian slurs at her and her three children. He then knocked the woman’s phone to the floor and kicked it off the train. On March 27th, a man beat and choked an Asian man unconscious aboard a Manhattan-bound train. The attacker repeatedly punched the man down to the subway seat, he then wrapped his arm around the other man’s neck, putting him in a chokehold for nearly 15 seconds, before the victim’s body falls to the train floor, his head flopping back unconsciously. Also on March 27th, a 37-year-old woman was at a NYC station when she was approached by a man who struck the woman in the face and made anti-Asian statements to her. On March 24th, a 35-year-old woman was riding on a NYC train when a man on board started making racist slurs her. When the victim started recording him on her cellphone, police say he smacked it out of her hand, picked it up, and smashed it on the ground.

On April 3rd, an elderly couple were attacked in Tacoma, Washington by a 15-year-old male, who ran up to them, swinging punches at the man as the woman cries out while others record it and cheer. Another video shows the victim being further verbally abused and assaulted. On April 7th, a 25-year-old female was sitting, talking to a friend, when an individual made anti-Asian statements and slapped her in the face. On April 11th, a 57-year-old man was brutally assaulted on an Oakland street. The perpetrator sat on top of the victim, holding him down physically and landed blows to his face and chest as the victim struggled, screaming for help. On April 13th, a man was walking through the streets of the Upper East Side, ranting about Asians and white people, when he followed after a man who walked into the street to get away before the suspect followed him and body slammed him into a glass storefront. The victim tried to run away, but the suspect chased him until someone intervened. On April 14th, a convicted sex offender was arrested after following a woman into her garage, shouting race-based insults at her and spitting in her face.

How do I show I’m on “Asian’s side”? I’m allowed to condemn these violent, racist attacks, but I can’t condemn the violent, racist attackers because every single one of them is also black, and I can’t condemn the media and politicians for not only hiding the truth about these violent, racist attacks, but putting all blame and condemnation on an entire unrelated race in order to advance a radical agenda? Since I apparently can’t be “on Asians side” while at the same time condemning the corrupt and distorted reporting and narrative of these attacks, I will not pay attention at all to those who are committing the attacks or those who are using them for profit and gain. That’s how this works, right? Thank you for making me woke like you xx

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dfroza · 1 year

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“For we haven’t approached you—or anyone else for that matter—with some error or impure motives or deceitful agenda”

Today’s reading of the Scriptures from the New Testament is the 2nd chapter of the letter of 1st Thessalonians:

The Letter of 1st Thessalonians, Chapter 2 (The Voice)

A note from The Voice translation:

Today’s paired chapter of the Testaments is the 18th chapter of the book of 1st Chronicles that documents King David’s victories over enemy nations:

After God blessed David’s monarchy, King David conquered the Philistines—defeating them and seizing their capital city of Gath and its towns.

He defeated the Moabites, who were his relatives through his ancestor Ruth, and the Moabites served David and brought him tribute.

He defeated Hadadezer (king of Zobah) as far as Hamath in Aram, extending the borders of Israel to the Euphrates River. From Hadadezer David seized 1,000 chariots, 7,000 horsemen, and 20,000 foot soldiers. He cut the leg muscles of all the chariot horses, reserving only 100 for future use with the chariots. When the armies of Damascus in Aram came to help their kinsman Hadadezer, David killed 22,000 Arameans. Then David built garrisons in Damascus, and the Arameans served him and brought him tribute. The Eternal helped David, ensuring his victory, wherever he went. David seized the golden shields from the servants of Hadadezer and brought them to Jerusalem. He seized large quantities of bronze from Hadadezer’s cities of Tibhath and Cun (which Solomon later used to cast the bronze basin, pillars, and utensils for the temple). When Tou (king of Hamath in Aram) heard that David had defeated Hadadezer king of Zobah, he was overjoyed since he had been fighting with Hadadezer himself. Tou sent his son, Hadoram, to King David to greet him and to bless him with gold, silver, and bronze, for David had fought Hadadezer and had won the victory. King David then dedicated these gifts to the Eternal along with the silver and gold he had seized from these nations: Edom, Moab, Ammon, Philistia, and Amalek.

One of David’s chiefs, Abishai (son of Zeruiah), defeated 18,000 Edomites in the valley of Salt. He built garrisons in Edom, and all the people of that nation served David. The Eternal helped David wherever he went.

David was a just and righteous ruler over all Israel—over his people and the lands he conquered. Joab (son of Zeruiah) led the army; Jehoshaphat (son of Ahilud) was the recorder; Zadok (son of Ahitub) and Abimelech (son of Abiathar) were priests; Shavsha was secretary; Benaiah (son of Jehoiada) governed the Cherethites and the Pelethites. David’s own sons were his trusted chiefs giving him advice.

The Book of 1st Chronicles, Chapter 18 (The Voice)

A note from The Voice translation:

These weren’t just any surrounding nations; these nations each have long histories as adversaries of Israel. Edom, descended from Jacob’s older brother Esau, lost any chance of being God’s chosen people when Esau sold his birthright to Jacob for stew. Moab and Ammon were formed by the descendants of an incestuous relationship between Abraham’s nephew Lot and Lot’s daughters. The Philistines, although not related to the Israelites, were frequent enemies whose military prowess threatened Israelite tribes on many occasions. And the Amalekites, also descended from Esau, were almost constant enemies of the Israelites, employing ruthless tactics in their war mongering. By subduing these nations, David not only secures the safety of Israel, but he reaffirms God’s selection of Israel as His people over all the other nations in the land.

A link to my personal reading of the Scriptures for Saturday, february 4 of 2023 with a paired chapter from each Testament of the Bible along with Today’s Proverbs and Psalms

A post by John Parsons about “clinging” to pure hope:

In our Torah portion for this week (i.e., Beshalach) we learn that the LORD (יהוה יְשׁוּעָתֵנוּ) chose to take his redeemed people along the "longer road" to the promised land, just as we find ourselves still awaiting the completion of our redemption in the world to come. And like the Israelites, we must be on guard, since when things get difficult, our tendency is to go back to what is familiar, even if it is painful. Thank God our Good Shepherd Yeshua teaches us and guides us in the way to go: "And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher (מוֹרֶה) will not hide himself anymore, but your eyes shall see your Teacher. Your ears will hear a word behind you, saying: 'This is the way; walk in it,' when you turn to the right or to the left" (Isa. 30:20-21).

What a beautiful image of our LORD as our Teacher and Good Shepherd, who guides us in the paths of life and delivers us from "right-hand and left-hand errors." And may God keep us upon the path of his righteousness, free from the seductions of the tempter who wants to distract our souls and lead us into fruitless byways and trouble. May we receive grace to behold His face, even in the midst of adversity or affliction, learning from Him the way to go...

"Come, my people, enter your chambers, and shut your doors behind you" (Isa. 26:20). The LORD beckons: "Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known" (Jer. 33:3). And I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, "Come up here, and I will show you what must take place" (Rev 4:1).

[ Hebrew for Christians ]

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Isaiah 30:21-22 reading:

https://hebrew4christians.com/Blessings/Blessing_Cards/isa30-21-jjp.mp3

Hebrew page download:

https://hebrew4christians.com/Blessings/Blessing_Cards/isa30-21-lesson.pdf

2.2.23 • Facebook

Today’s message (Days of Praise) from the Institute for Creation Research

February 4, 2023

Passing Over to the Other Side

“He saith unto them, let us pass over unto the other side.” (Mark 4:35)

After a long day of ministry, Christ commanded His disciples, “Let us pass over unto the other side,“ knowing full well what would come to pass.

The story after this verse is a lesson we should take to heart. We cannot expect everything to be smooth on the waters of life in our journey to heaven. In other words, sickness, loss, and disappointment afflict all His children in this fallen world. But through affliction, we are taught many important lessons.

As the story continues, “there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. And [Jesus] was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish?” (vv. 37-38). Indeed, though we might also be in a threatening place, Christ is right there in the boat with us.

In fact, this situation in Mark’s gospel must have been extremely threatening, because at least four of the disciples were experienced fishermen and had known the Sea of Galilee and its storms from their youth. But, “he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?” (vv. 39-40). By affliction, we are shown our weakness, which we need God to strengthen.

All of our trials wean us from the world, make us long for heaven, and cause us to seek Christ’s help. Psalm 119:71 declares, “It is good for me that I have been afflicted.” JPT

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mthvn · 3 years

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Post-”Chaos Theory”: A Conversation with Flavia Dzodan and Metahaven

Metahaven Flavia, we've been talking about the Chaos Theory script even before the pandemic started. At the time it was a way of finding a voice (as every script is). Our friendship and collaborations have been major encouragements in completing the film the way it did. What do you think about the film now that you've watched it?

Flavia Dzodan I loved it! Chaos Theory made me think of some of Alexander Kluge's ideas about the artist as a seismographer, someone who anticipates what's to come through subtle, almost imperceptible changes on the ground. At the same time, Kluge talks about the artist as someone whose reactions are observed (like one observes a seismographer) to anticipate what is to come. In that sense, I see Chaos Theory as presenting us with a potential future, where the interdependencies are not merely acknowledged but central to the way we relate to one another and to our surroundings and ecosystems. I see the relationships in the film as not just from human to human but also in relation to the outside. To me, this is a film made of textures and invocations, a film about love yes but also about the kind of future we want to build.

Metahaven We've often talked about Tenet (Christoper Nolan, 2020) and its many quirks and features, including the female lead who, whenever it is announced that the entire world population will die, exclaims in despair: "AND MY SON!" Any thoughts? :)

Flavia Dzodan I've been thinking a lot lately about how narrating can often be a distraction from "feeling things." What I mean is that films are sometimes very preoccupied with the narration (i.e., telling a story) but such narration operates as a way to avoid dealing with the emotions or the feelings themselves. Since "feeling" is passé, sincerity has practically become an artefact or a curiosity rather than part of the process of telling a story. I do not think that Tenet is guilty of "ironic detachment"-that would maybe make the film interesting (or at least slightly funnier)-but instead, I believe Tenet is the guy at the bar who takes himself so seriously and will explain to you all the ways in which he is smarter than you. That's what makes Tenet tedious and stuffy and quite honestly, devoid of any kind of emotion. There was a point in the film when I was wishing for this supposed apocalypse to finally take place so that we could be free to go and do something else. I'd love to see Nolan attempt to make a comedy, something that doesn't need to constantly remind us how smart he is. Maybe Nolan shouldn't be so worried about saving the patriarchy via "BUT MY SON!" and instead should worry more about coherent storytelling that doesn't require a dozen forum posts to be understood. Who has time for that kind of sleuthing these days?

In a lot of ways, and I think I've said this to you, I see Chaos Theory as a sort of anti-Tenet manifesto. Not only because there is no son to save from the end of the world but also because Chaos Theory is not structured as a narration to distract from emotions. On the contrary, Chaos Theory lunges at the sentimentality with a refreshing shamelessness. I am sure some might see this as a weakness but at a time when we mourn collective losses counted in the millions, I celebrate emotional sincerity as the only worthy form of engagement. I refuse to continue this pretension that we are objective creatures imbued by rational thinking. Capitalism and, specifically the neoliberal administration of life which is so dependent on budgets and accountancy practices, benefits from our emotional detachment: if we remain cool and ironically detached in the presence of suffering and cruelty, we are less reactive to injustice. Instead, I advocate for a radical sentimentalism that forces us to deal with the immense grief of this collective loss. I need more art that makes me cry rather than art that makes me shrug.

Metahaven What can be redeemed about emotion-and even about sentimentality-in the face of its constant use by conservative agendas?

Flavia Dzodan I don't know if "redeem" is the word I'd use. I believe it's worth making a distinction: not all sentimentality is created equal or is identical (even if the appeal to emotion might a priori appear to be so). Emotions can be evoked to connect us to one another, drawing out our best qualities. They can also be evoked to alienate and exacerbate exclusion. I'd be wary of condemning sentimentality as a whole just because conservatives made better use of its potential. In fact, I'd rather wonder why the more progressive or leftist side of the spectrum decided to eschew emotion and instead, attempt to appeal to a faux neutrality or detachment that are not even such. The problem is not "feeling things," the problem is how those feelings can be manipulated for a political end that is not inclusive or even caring but rather divisive and cruel. Just as much as the right can evoke rancid nationalistic sentiments, we should be able to remind ourselves that shared emotions are what connect us to one another.

Metahaven "The music that you heard, the poetry that soaked your soul, it is in no way ornamental. It is in no way decorative. It ought to be constitutive of who you are," Cornel West has said. How do you feel about these words?

Flavia Dzodan Again, I need to go back to this notion of humans as creatures guided by emotions. Poetry, music, beauty itself, then not as entertainment or distractions but as the core of who and what we are.

--- Amsterdam, July 1, 2021 This conversation was previously published on the Instagram profile of Boilerroom 4:3 It refers to the film work Chaos Theory, Metahaven, 2021

--- Flavia Dzodan is a writer, media analyst and cultural critic based in Amsterdam. She is a senior researcher and lecturer at Sandberg Instituut. Her research focuses on the politics of artificial intelligence and algorithms at the intersections of colonialism, race, and gender. In her research Dzodan examines the ways in which technology is created and deployed to reproduce historical patterns of social control. Her current research about beauty and ethics attempt to understand how cultural analysis may operate vis-a-vis semiotic codes, particularly in regards to teaching machines to identify highly subjective and culturally dependent ontologies such as those surrounding fashion and art. This work is a continuation of her previous research about "the coloniality of the algorithm," which situated Linnaean taxonomies at the heart of both colonial history and contemporary uses of technology. Dzodan is interested in ephemeral forms of publishing: she is the editor of the intermittent blog This Political Woman, where she has written about the rise of the alt-right, Big Data, networks, algorithms and community surveillance. Her work was published at Dissent, The Guardian, and The Washington Post, among others.

#metahaven #flaviadzodan #ChaosTheory

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