Shyra “Tech Ambrosia”Jan 20

I have an ... abnormal ... request.

I'm in my 40s, have a decent job, and generally have survived to become what the baby gays think of as an "elder queer."

But I've had it so much easier than these kids are going to have it, and that those who came before me had it.

So I ask: are there some true "elder queers" out there who could proffer up some advice for the generation that's coming into their own in these dark times? I'd really appreciate it, and I think they would too.

🏳️‍🌈

Show threadChris PetrilliJan 20

@shyra not enormously older (50s) but came of age at the height of the AIDS crisis, ACT UP, and a government that was at best indifferent to our dying, and in many ways quite happy to see the body count.

Three things:

1. Find joy and family where you can. It is what gives us the strength when nothing else can.

2. Protect everyone. Protect those more vulnerable than you. We are stronger as a group, but far too many will think that “surely it won’t impact me”. It will, directly or indirectly.

3. Cede nothing. Far too much blood has been spilled and lives lost getting to this point to surrender anything. There can be no pre-emptive compliance.

Show threadChris Petrilli
@shyra people like Anita Bryant, may she burn forever in torment, gleefully bathed in the blood of so many. There are more like her, but they are not the majority. The problem is, the majority will keep its head down, hoping it will not come for them. Content that it’s going for the “other”, and failing to recognize that, to those of this cruel bent, everyone is other as is convenient.
Jan 20 at 3:29amWeb
Show threadAlex@rtnVFRmedia Suffolk UKJan 20

@petrillic @shyra a couple of years ago there was a Trans Pride march in Clacton-on-Sea, a coastal town in Essex, England which is a culture war frontline (it has an MP from hard right party Reform).

In spite of all this, the whole streets were lined with seniors (average age 70) in *support* of the marchers, this was all over the local media and was a powerful image (also even the bigots who choose violence generally won't pick on seniors)