Support Thread for Marginalized Groups in the US

[Jwb]

The problem was singling out Lexi to make her a target of the shit heads.

Otherwise the fact that you apologized is ridiculous while others that did come here with back handed comments are playing victim over the backlash.

the problem was not just singling out Lexi but making a thread which centers the entire election cycle around catering to her and her plight in what I think comes across as an attempt to signal his paternalistic virtue and how much he cares.

When early on i pointed out that some of the sentiments on display were catastrophizing and alarmist, he just brow beat me based on a lazy appeal to my identity and the fact that I'm not trans. Yet he's the one who decided on the framing that since Trump is basically going to be the Hitler of trans people, non trans people should basically keep their mouths shut on any of their naive cis skepticism they might still be harboring.

It's clear as day that he doesn't even really know about the issue he's gatekeeping acceptable opinions on.  He's demonstrated repeatedly he has no card to play but to chastise you for not being trans.  Then, if you happen to be a woman and you complain about it he then immediately apologizes out of instinct, without even understanding what he's done wrong,  knowing only that the optics of weaponized identity are no longer on his side. I see nothing genuine in that, personally.

Did I target Lexi? I mean I said a few things that were insulting, I don't particularly think I went out of my way to target her. The nature of this thread that I find it hard not to ridicule sort of intrinsically involves trollheart treating her like some kind of pity project. So when i see people saying oh why bring that up in the trans thread... I can't help but be the asshole who points to the title and says this ain't the fuckin trans thread lol.


For whatever it is worth,  I don't dislike either TH nor Lexi personally. But it's my firm belief that this thread needed a brave mujahid to fly a plane into it.

[Guybrush]

My two cents is.. we're on an internet forum. We're a good range of various people, but our ratio of people closer to the fringes of society is probably higher here than in the general representative random societal group. I think we have more representation from LGBTQ, but (in a ratio sense) maybe also more from fringes of working society or mental health.

What I'm getting at is forum goers as a whole is a weirder bunch. Now I love weirdos. I aspire to being authentic in my own weirdness in my everyday life.

When I look at Trollheart, I see a fellow weirdo and one who's probably weirder than I am. He writes absolute walls of text and cares about so many things, but certain things fly under his radar, like about Steph's sexuality or being able to guess that Lexi probably didn't want to be singled out in the title of a support thread.

What I love about TH is he has a heart of gold and even though he still gets picked at for not getting everything right (something I would never expect him to anyways), he is still brave enough to try. Plus he is actually great at owning up to and apologising for his mistakes. All this matters so much more to me than the ability to perfectly navigate this social maze of unwritten rules and hidden mines.

I'm not as brave as Trollheart so one of the reasons I don't put my foot in it as often is I'm simply too scared to put myself out there.

So TLDR I accept that people are weird and don't get everything right, but that's okay with me as long as the intention is good. I want people's best sides to thrive. While feedback is fine, too much social control can stifle. In this respect, I wish people were a little more generous, a little more kind. What's so good about nitpicking at behaviours instead of looking at the bigger picture of what people are trying to achieve? What sort of environment does that help create? Do we get more honest expression or less of it?

I realise writing this may also be putting my foot in it a little bit. If so I'm sorry, @Trollheart, but I mean well ❤️

[degrassiknoll]

Could we stop bringing up my sexuality? Subject was only brought up because I had to prove myself worthy of having an opinion but would prefer to not be used as an example..

[Trollheart]

Thanks for that Guybrush. I must admit (sniff) I never (sniffle) in my life ever dreamed (cough, wipe tear) that I would aspire to be ... weird! It's been (snort) my life's (sob - sorry sorry) my life's ambition and to (HONK!) sorry - and to know that you people think me (snuffle) weird is, is, well, it's all a bit (sniffle) too much. Thank you. Thank you all.

[Weekender]

Why is it always white people talking about fleeing the country? Smdh.


Viva la révolution, coños. There are so many people with less doing more.

This was the post I thought was a little distasteful.

Ironically the only ones I see playing the victim are two obviously white individuals pulling an "all lives matter" routine.

[degrassiknoll]

I stand by it *shrug*

[degrassiknoll]

This was the post I thought was a little distasteful.

Ironically the only ones I see playing the victim are two obviously white individuals pulling an "all lives matter" routine.

Why not name names? If you're going to call people out do so with confidence.

[Weekender]

If it weren't already obvious, I thought the quote would remove the mystery. A WWE style call out, while fun,  doesn't seem necessary.

[degrassiknoll]

So as a white person criticizing other white people I am pulling an all lives matter routine?

Genuinely not trying to be obtuse, I just cannot figure out what I did wrong to be so misunderstood, because from my perspective I made a comment about white people sucking and playing the victim but now I'm being accused of playing the victim and being a narcissist etc and I can't figure out out why because no one will speak clearly! Like please, I am asking for clarity because it is not clear to me!

[degrassiknoll]

If it weren't already obvious, I thought the quote would remove the mystery. A WWE style call out, while fun,  doesn't seem necessary.

I mean, it wasn't obvious, which is why I asked. Posting something you found to be distasteful didn't equate to "all lives matter routine" to me.

[Oriphiel]

Lol, the derailing of this thread gives me such MB nostalgia

Btw stay strong all my fellow queer comrades, they can take away our rights but they can't take away our sickass music

[Buck_Mulligan]

The next bi-annual world pride event takes place in DC, May 17, to June 8. One of the sponsors, management consultants and government contractor Booz Allen just pulled out. Wonder why? 

The festival could become controversial as it may become a magnet for the various right wing groups, just like the march in Charlottesville, VA (which resulted in one death and several injuries) was during Trump's first term.

Typically, in DC, there is some form of rally or protest march big or small almost every weekend, and while the city has complicated rules for permitting such events, their hands are also tied by 1st amendment law. A denial of a permit to protest world pride would likely end up in court.
Worth keeping an eye on.
Details and list of sponsors here.

https://worldpridedc.org/sponsors/

[DJChameleon]

Several hundred people with LGBTQ flags rallied at the Stonewall National Monument on Friday, a day after references to transgender Americans disappeared from the U.S. National Park Service website for the New York site commemorating a gay bar where resistance to a 1969 police raid sparked a civil rights movement.
The monument's website was initially altered on Thursday to refer to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, or queer (LGBQ+)" people, deleting the letter "T." Later in the day, the "Q" and "+" were removed, leaving the acronym as "LGB," a usage that was more common in a less inclusive era around 1990.

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-erasure-transgender-references-extends-stonewall-monument-website-2025-02-14/#:~:text=The%20monument's%20website%20was%20initially,less%20inclusive%20era%20around%201990.

[costa_oscura]

Just wanted to say thanks for this thread.  I'm in the U.S. and work in public ed, which I've done for 24 years.  I saw and experienced some atrocities during the first regime, and watched my students live through them, saw some of them get sent away.  And now it's only getting worse.  I cringe in horror at the news every day and seriously wonder how I'm supposed to support my students in marginalized populations.  I can do my best, but sometimes it's not enough.  I don't know how we're going to make it through this - literally, in the case of some of my students.  The first time around, I spent more time than I care to count sitting with trans students in my office who had expressed suicidal ideation because they were afraid of losing gender affirming care, waiting for the school crisis team to arrive.  A senior boy sat in my office in tears because he and his 10th grade sister were being deported 2 months before his high school graduation, and all he wanted to do was graduate in the U.S.  How are we all supposed to live through this and worse again?

[Trollheart]

I feel for everyone affected by this, which is why the thread was created. Probably doesn't do anything or help in any way, but I like to think of it as a sort of refuge where people can go to air their feelings, look for support and/or advice as the next four years unfold. Unfortunately, short of a miracle of QAnon proportions, but in reverse, I don't see how it gets any better before getting considerably worse. We're all here though, for anyone who wants to talk, discuss or ask questions, or just air their fears.