Came across this elsewhere, and it seems a good reminder of how the Civil Rights fight was actually won.
Successfully fighting for civil rights requires multiple parallel strategies, *and those "lanes" can't overlap*. Someone who's protecting people, for instance, needs to be squeaky clean, legally, so the baddies don't have a pretext to come after them and the people they're protecting--which means they can't be showing up to disruptive protests in person.
My lane is Protecting People. I work to empower, educate, and protect trans folks from the dangers we all face, which is why I've historically tried to focus on trans science and empowerment in my writing, and why I'm going to be doubling down on that approach going forward.
It's not that I don't see the political realities. I very much do. It's not that I don't believe in our ends, or that I don't believe in the power of protest. I EXTREMELY do.
But those protesters need rest and rhetorical ammunition for their part of the fight. I can give that to them.
The folks inside those civic institutions, who are resisting oppressive laws and fighting to expand our freedoms, need external justifications to represent themselves as reasonable dealmakers who can speak for the community. I can give that to them.
These are just a couple of examples, by the way. There's lots more that people in each lane need and can benefit from in the other 3.
This is why it's critical for us to not eat our own. This is what it means to build community.
None of us wins alone.
Identify your lane. Identify what you need people in other lanes to do to bolster you, and how your acts can bolster them.
If you're clean hands (protectors & institutionalists), *keep your hands clean*. If you're dirty hands (disruptors and organizers), *don't drag people in other lanes into your work unless they step forward*.
We need all four lanes to win.
@Impossible_PhD
People need to drop allegiance to purity.
I will criticize someone one moment, and the next champion and defend them.
We can't afford to lose anyone.
Exactly.
We lack the luxury of internecine conflict especially when that conflict quickly is weaponized by our adversaries.
We can quibble about the differences between us when we don’t have to tapdance backwards in heels through minefields.
@ruthan
Got any links or zines? beyond Neurodivergent Insights https://neurodivergentinsights.com/blog idk where might cover "flexible goal-focused communication with people in a tentative alliance" or similar
Thank you for this.
I too am in the Protect lane.
I used to feel miserable that I was not doing as much as those in other lanes. This helps recontextualize the situation for me, allows me to not only be proud of what I’m doing but give clear definition to my roles and define my operational parameters.
@Impossible_PhD this resonates
from my experience in the Los Angeles area in the late 80s...:
the AIDS walks were new, radical things, and the people who showed up in force were often lesbians, the lowest risk group; women who would not be vilified for having the dread scary disease.
when the clinic defenses were in force against the odious "Operation Rescue", participants would meet in advance and get coaching about how not to engage with the "other side". that was left to ACT UP.
*ACT UP*
@Impossible_PhD I don't know how the hell we got to the point where we somehow require protestors or activists, only on the center or left, to be persons without a personal interest in what's being protested, but there it is.
we should break out of that mindset.
meanwhile your thread fully resonates
@only_ohm Ehh... there are always loopholes, always tricks, and part of the Protect and institution crowd is to take advantage of them.
One example: Say HRT is outlawed for gender dysphoria. A prescriber can instead prescribe for Low Estrogen/Testosterone--a completely legal loophole that allows continuation of HRT.
@Beggarmidas
Okay, doomer.
I don't see a structural reality anything like those situations, and Trump is absolutely no Mao or Hitler or Stalin.
Remember kids, this also means doing the same for your digital selves just as much as your IRL selves, maybe even more so in this brave new world we face.
Parallel everything-- social networks, emails, servers, computers, online identities, the works.
Insulate yourselves, it's just a good practice even if you're just gonna be paying bills and buying stuff online.
And if you're exhausted just surviving, it's okay to take shortcuts in areas where you can't spare energy to perfect every facet of every step. It's ok to do the 80/20 thing
I look at the four lanes and don’t find one that I quite fit in. So I suggest a fifth lane that anyone can drift in to: Habitualize
(Get others accustomed to your trans identity)
This isn’t an option for some people, there is certainly no expectation for people to put themselves in danger by outing themselves.
I am out to ownership but it’s a right to work right to get fired state. So I watch my step.
My work is in a fairly MAGAtistical, industrial field. Even those people who are anti-Trump are probably LGBT-phobic.
Way back after I had surgery (last century) I was scared and stealth. After finding my feet, I outed myself to more and more people at work. Not a lot over the decades, maybe because I have had eight jobs since surgery. It takes time to build up the trust to the point that I felt safe coming out to someone. And is everyone worth telling: why bother telling the person at the other end of the office who I have never had a conversation with?
1/2
Then the election happened. I saw the anti-trans ads. They either helped decide the election or they didn’t. I have no clue and I leave the debate to those with far greater wisdom, expertise, and salary than myself. But what the ads did do was allow the GQP to take the initiative and set the tone on trans issues.
My relative stealth, in its own small way, helped the GQP with that.
The D party turned out not to be an ally to be relied on. During the night of the election I decided that I need to habitualize more. The next day I came out to an anti-Trump guy who is somewhat phobic. The conversation was awkward but not hostile. Since then I have started to talk to him a bit about things like bathroom restrictions or just alluding to my transness. It’s all good now.
The people seeing the anti-trans ad probably don’t know a trans person. If they did, those ads would have had less of an impact on setting the tone.
I think that there’s room for a fifth lane.
2/2
@fivetonsflax @Impossible_PhD @vaurora I strongly suggest learning how many persecuted peoples were able to get out of Nazi Germany due to people in administrative positions finding ways to introduce delays and distractions for the authorities by way of creating various forms of paperwork issues.
I also strongly suggest learning about the concept of malicious compliance.
@fivetonsflax @Impossible_PhD @vaurora Counterpoint 1: In the USA, the very literal facts of The Holocaust aren't exactly taught in much depth outside of specialist university-level courses, and I was offering a historical example of resistance within the bounds of the laws of the land.
Counterpoint 2: I was under the impression that it was a little rude and weird (in the bad way) to research a person's post history in detail for any mention of their lineage prior to joining in a conversation.
@raphaelmorgan but that's precisely the point. The people sheltering Jewish people from the Nazis had to be *scrupulously* law-abiding in every other way, so their homes wouldn't be searched.
That's the whole point.
@Impossible_PhD Remember: Without people obeying and willing to do crimes, Trump will just be a powerless spoiled brat.
Or as I said in the past:
M. Wendel
Doc Impossible
Wendy "Casio" 🏳️⚧️
Aphrodite (recharging)
leading cackle influencer
Mx Verda
Jessamyn
draNgNon
Misuse Case
Dan Hatton
Wandering Star
sabik
Beggar Midas
otto
Lizzie Danger
StarrWulfe 🌟🐺 (JLGatewood)
Ruth O’Day
very normal person
Ben Rosengart
Alexis
Boyd Stephen Smith Jr.
Morgan ⚧️
Kevin Karhan 