Mastodawn

Elodie chaos 🐉🐝🏳️‍⚧️

From the Anti-Authoritarian Playbook;

“The targeting of trans people - and specifically trans youth and trans women in sports - is not a policy agenda. It is a strategic operation. Understanding it as policy produces the wrong response. Understanding it as strategy produces the right one.

Jason Stanley, in How Fascism Works, identifies the targeting of vulnerable minorities as a core mechanism of authoritarian consolidation. The function is not primarily to harm the targeted group, though that harm is real and intentional. The primary function is to test the solidarity of potential opposition coalitions, to find and exploit the fracture lines, and to establish a precedent: that some members of the coalition can be sacrificed when the political cost of defending them is judged too high.

Every successful authoritarian project has done this. The question it is always asking of the opposition is: is there anyone in your coalition you will abandon to protect the rest? Because if the answer is yes, we know exactly how to proceed. We find that person. We make defending them as costly as possible. And we watch the rest of the coalition either hold together or fracture. If they fracture, we learn where the next fracture line is, and we push there.

The targeting of trans people is not the end of this strategy. It is the test. And what the test is measuring, in real time, is whether LGBTQ organizations, progressive coalitions, and pro-democracy movements will sacrifice their most vulnerable members when the pressure is sufficient.

@Elodie_lyra this is an eye opening summary. I already knew parts of it but this fills the blanks for me. I now understand better why it's always perfectly harmless groups, which do no harm to none, who get singled out and target of hate campaigns.

Nicole Parsons Apr 15

@rhold @Elodie_lyra

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/why-is-the-gop-escalating-attacks-on-trans-rights-experts-say-the-goal-is-to-make-sure-evangelicals-vote

We see this same playbook happening in real time as Leonard Leo funds attacks on Somali immigrant communities in Maine.

Out of the blue, suddenly a small visible yet vulnerable group, it gets targeted by bigoted propaganda.

https://theintercept.com/2026/04/08/maine-wire-conservative-news-leonard-leo-somalis/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonard_Leo

https://apnews.com/article/leonard-leo-desert-island-maine-supreme-court-42c43a9da87fbde92170f06601519ce7

Why is the GOP escalating attacks on trans rights? Experts say the goal is to make sure evangelicals vote

The recent blitz of anti-trans bills may not align with what many Republicans believe, but party lawmakers pursue them on behalf of their most important interest group.

PBS News

@Elodie_lyra This is also why TERFs and 4channers have been pushing the “queer is a slur” idea until young or inexperienced people start repeating it. It pairs with shit like “LGB Drop the T” by splintering communities into individuals who have nowhere near the same power as the original communities did in the selfish but vain belief that they deserve acceptance before others do.

This is why I firmly identify as queer, because umbrella terms cover everyone in community.

Ceridwen 🇨🇦🍁🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️Apr 15

@WhiteCatTamer @Elodie_lyra good for you. As a woman who became non-binary (female to non-binary; F to X) if they dropped the T I’d still be an L, G and a B. So it’s good to push back on this nonsense in the Q.

Sam Chavez (she/they/he) 🌈🤠Apr 15

@Elodie_lyra such an important note and one I see missing in many organizing spaces! Thanks for sharing

We go together or we all fall.

Vincent Sparks Apr 16

@rootschange @Elodie_lyra "Where we go one, we go all" is a nasty right wing slogan but it's not bad advice for any movement.

Ben Munson Apr 15

@Elodie_lyra yup. Saw this when people I know who were formerly staunchly liberal started sliding into radicalization when confronted with anti-trans content. They don’t call them wedge issues because they love salad.

@Elodie_lyra It's classic divide and conquer. The same "technique" is used in both the macro and micro, and so easy to see and understand if you have knowledge and experience with domestic abuse.
It's very particular human behavioral characteristics of a certain mindset that are imposed outwardly onto others and the environment. Often in domestic situations being unconscious, rather than conspired, but in both cases still mostly derived from insecurities and inadequacies, with the need to control others and the environment.

○ Step one is distraction - shifting the focus of the cause of a problem away from the perpetrator / abuser to somewhere else.
○ Step two is division - turning groups against each other, or an individual against friends / family.
○ Step three is isolation - keeping groups or individuals ignorant, and controlling the information they receive in order to shape their belief system - making them more malleable and controllable.

That testing (mentioned in the original post) which is a part of this process, is the same as how a domestic abuser constantly tests their partner, and which is also a part of classic conditioning - which is why the testing is continuous and punishable, until the subject(s) automatically respond in the desired manner, where they are then rewarded.

The bottom line though is that humans are just shit.

Nicole Parsons Apr 15

@shye @Elodie_lyra

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/trump-energizes-conservative-christians-with-religious-policies-and-assaults-on-cultural-targets

https://dvcc.delaware.gov/background-purpose/dynamics-domestic-abuse/

https://safelives.org.uk/about-domestic-abuse/what-is-domestic-abuse/psychological-abuse/

There's a lot of overlap between domestic abuse techniques and the Leonard Leo- style "divide & conquer" political playbook for fascism.

Both are motivated by psychological dysfunction & moral rot to exploit & control people.

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2022/09/it-didnt-start-with-trump-the-decades-long-saga-of-how-the-gop-went-crazy/

https://bridgeusa.org/tactics-used-to-divide-us/

1/

Trump energizes conservative Christians with religious policies and assaults on cultural targets

President Donald Trump has repeatedly delivered for the conservative Christians who form the bedrock of his Republican support.

PBS News

Nicole Parsons Apr 15

2/

Any of these seem familiar when it comes to Trump and his fascist billionaires?

1. Economic Abuse
2. Coercion And Threats
3. Intimidation
4. Emotional Abuse
5. Isolation
6. Minimizing, Denying, Blaming
7. Using Children
8. Using Male Privilege

It's the classic paradigm of Domestic Abuse

@Npars01 I've had a strong interest in psychology for decades, but this is from reading and analysis, rather than formal training / education - so I'm not exactly very confident in educating others or putting it into practice (though I'm moving into social care as a career now and going for accreditation over the next few years and will be doing volunteering work). I've also been on the receiving end of abuse for half my life, and so (unfortunately) also have those direct experiences to draw from.
I've seen a lot people mention the gaslighting coming from the Trump admin, right-wing groups, right media, etc, but I feel that's just one small aspect of it, with the parallels between fascism / far-right and domestic abuse being so strong, it is the exact same thing, by the exact same types of people, but on a larger scale.
When it comes to domestic abuse, the only way to truly escape it is to completely cut that person out of your life, which can be difficult enough, and may even mean the sacrifice of moving away, hiding, and removing all ability for contact - before you can even begin to start dealing with the consequence of everything, physically and emotionally. But, then being able to recognize and avoid those types of people in the future.
But when it is a nation being abused, the abuse doesn't stop if some individuals run away to another country, as it's about the collective whole.
It seems to me though, that the way is educating others, and giving others those mental tools for being able to see it, understand it, operate opposite to it, and stand tall, together, over these small people that are so desperate to pull everyone else down below themselves.
Thank you for the links / info. Take care.

Carmilla DeWinter Apr 15

@Elodie_lyra Yes.
Also, targeting trans women reinforces a certain image for women to the point where even cis women are policed if they don't seem female enough. Which will probably hit Black women hardest. Handmaid's Tale like uniformity and lack of reproductive freedom for cis women is possibly the last logical step in this fascist progression. With an extra of good old segregation.

punIssuer Apr 15

@carmilladewinter @Elodie_lyra funnily enough, the cartoonishly exaggerated feminine features of some trans women and common in drag are actually their beauty standard...
https://youtu.be/6dbF5eub05o

MAGA Face Explained!

YouTube

Ceridwen 🇨🇦🍁🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️Apr 15

I keep referring to this mother Jones over and over and over this year

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/11/gender-ideology-mother-tongue-keyword-judith-butler-trump-terfs/

How the right uses "gender ideology" to blame trans people for everything

MAGA learned from global autocrats the language needed to push fear.

Mother Jones

@Elodie_lyra @idren nice summary for people who don't want to read Butler's whole book. Which I do highly recommend, though!

Ceridwen 🇨🇦🍁🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️Apr 16

@scatty_hannah @Elodie_lyra this assignment from this lesson should definitely be Butler and bell hooks

✊💜

@Elodie_lyra omg thank you. This is literally what I've been ranting about for years. It's nice to see it worded better lol

Brain Bug Apr 15

@Elodie_lyra
Deshalb ist es um so wichtiger, bei hohem Druck zusammenzuhslten

dimamord Apr 15

@Elodie_lyra Out of the blue? Everything happens out of the blue no? When one believes they are the victim they don't see the causes of the backlash or other things that one's opponent sees as an upfront to them, when you take a position of "I am holier than though" the cycle of hatred just continues. One day you will be successful and then continue on with what you think is right and then they will win and they will continue what they think is right. What a lot of historians who study history both political and world history is when one side demonizes the other, it just a constant cycle. And you know what? That is how people in power like it. Think about it for a moment, and once you do you may see what actually is working and not working. But I'll probably be called names by either side and be dismissed as usual.

Henryk Wójtowicz Apr 15

@Elodie_lyra can I share it outside fediverse? I find it quite well-explanatory of why those attacks are essential.

@Elodie_lyra Thank you

> is not a policy agenda. It is a strategic operation.

This is also the framing to understand every decision, law, and PR piece put out by fascists, racists, Republicans, and others where the goal has already been decided and the only question is what strategy to use to get there. Every time I hear someone frame a decision as if it is a policy, or pointing out the hypocrisy like it would change anything: 🤦

Stephen Bannasch (316 ppm)Apr 15

Here’s a guess for another reason their leaders find a strategic value in cruelty.

When cruelty becomes an essential aspect of state power and coercion it’s always applied to folks with less power.

I think one underlying purpose for this performative cruelty is to solidify political control by getting more of the “right” folks to hate together. This is very similar to tactics cults use.

My last Twitter post four years, more context in alt-text

@Elodie_lyra 100%.

Transparently so!

Steve Holden Apr 15

@Elodie_lyra The Israeli playbook in a nutshell.

The Sleight Doctor 🃏🍉Apr 15

@Elodie_lyra This explains it so beautifully, I've saved a copy.

Thanks for sharing. 🙏🏼

Oberst Enzian Apr 15

@Elodie_lyra And the answer is always “we’ll sacrifice all of you happily.”

@Elodie_lyra I suspect a different but related test already happened with the pandemic. People with disabilities and immunocompromised folks were already abandoned because taking any precautions at all was too hard and hurt “the economy.” Now most of these humans are not even safe visiting their doctors.

Rose, The Sword Vixen Apr 15

@Elodie_lyra And the Democrats are falling for it.

sleepfreeparent Apr 16

@threetails @Elodie_lyra there isn't a single group that democrats wouldn't throw under the bus as soon as it became even moderately politically expedient to do so.

Well, aside from the rich

@Elodie_lyra After we proved through fact and scientific study, that trans women perform worse on average than their cis counterparts due to the difference in available testosterone after hormone treatment (specifically GnRH blockers)

Any argument against trans women in sports today no longer has a basis in anything else than exclusively hate and bigotry.

@iamada @Elodie_lyra
I think its mostly telling how the idk like, 3 trans girls who actually manage to perform sports at a high level are used as such a political weapon to dehumanize all trans people because.... I guess it makes for easy arguments.

Yenn dc ☂️Apr 16

If I may ask, do you have links to the study/studies at hand?

I'm well aware of results showing there's no advantage; not so much about ones definitely showing a disadvantage. Would love to take a look at them, at least.

@yenndc i don't remember what I had for breakfast most days

akko_fingerguns

Yenn dc ☂️Apr 16

Fair enough. x)

The Book of Kels Apr 19

Amazing that only days after you post this, the new head of Stonewall UK announces that they're only too happy to sacrifice trans people and is Tuesday good for pushing them under a variety of large vehicles.