It's not just an attack on transgenders. It's an attack on everyone. (a short post)

 

As I write this, federal advice for the Covid-19 vaccines has made them virtually unavailable for most Americans without a prescription.  One problem. The Snowflake's administration has an Anti-Vax'er in charge of the health department.  He's firing people who know what they are doing to protect the health of Americans, and installing crackpots who will end up killing more people by bogus ideas than we lose in car accidents.

It seems like this administration is trying to destroy everything that is good about America.  And even in "Blood Red" states, GOP loyalists are starting to get pissed off at the Snowflake's mismanagement of this country.  He is trying to follow the 1930's Nazi handbook which normalizes abnormal behavior, divides people into the "us" and "other", scapegoats people who do not pledge allegiance to him, destroys the careers of competent people so they can be replaced by loyal and incompetent political hacks, all leading us into a country that looks more like the Germany of the 1930's than America of the 1930's.

Is he making America Great?  No.  He can't even answer why he thinks America is no longer great.  Sadly, we may not be able to wait out the end of his term.  For all transgender people who can go stealth or leave this country, now is the time to do so.  For those that can't, try to blend in.  But for all of us, it's time to read "In the Garden of Beasts" by Erik Larson.  It tells the story of the American ambassador to Germany during the early years of Hitler's reign.  In short, after reading this, one know the chapters of the Nazi playbook the snowflake will try next. 

What does anger and hatred get us?

I read the following in a Facebook post the other day, and it is just as valid now as when it was originally posted:

Feminist News

The question was posed, "Why do people continue supporting Trump no matter what he does?" A lady named Bev answered it this way:

“You all don't get it. I live in Trump country, in the Ozarks in southern Missouri, one of the last places where the KKK still has a relatively strong established presence. They don't give a shit what he does. He's just something to rally around and hate liberals, that's it, period. He absolutely realizes that and plays it up. They love it. He knows they love it. The fact that people act like it's anything other than that proves to them that liberals are idiots, all the more reason for high fives all around.

If you keep getting caught up in "why do they not realize this problem" and "how can they still back Trump after this scandal," then you do not understand what the underlying motivating factor of his support is. It's fuck liberals, that's pretty much it.

Have you noticed he can do pretty much anything imaginable, and they'll explain some way that rationalizes it that makes zero logical sense? Because they're not even keeping track of any coherent narrative, it's irrelevant. Fuck liberals is the only relevant thing.

Trust me; I know firsthand what I'm talking about.

That's why they just laugh at it all because you all don't even realize they truly don't give a fuck about whatever the conversation is about. It's just a side mission story that doesn't matter anyway. That's all just trivial details - the economy, health care, whatever.

Fuck liberals.

Look at the issue with not wearing the masks. I can tell you what that's about. It's about exposing fear. They're playing chicken with nature, and whoever flinches just moved down their internal pecking order, one step closer to being a liberal.
You've got to understand the one core value that they hold above all others is hatred for what they consider weakness because that's what they believe strength is, hatred of weakness. And I mean passionate, sadistic hatred. And I'm not exaggerating. Believe me. Sadistic, passionate hatred, and that's what proves they're strong, their passionate hatred for weakness. Sometimes they will lump vulnerability in with weakness. They do that because people tend to start humbling themselves when they're in some compromising or overwhelming circumstance, and to them, that's an obvious sign of weakness.

Kindness = weakness. Honesty = weakness. Compromise = weakness.

They consider their very existence to be superior in every way to anyone who doesn't hate weakness as much as they do. They consider liberals to be weak people that are inferior, almost a different species, and the fact that liberals are so weak is why they have to unite in large numbers, which they find disgusting, but it's that disgust that is a true expression of their natural superiority.

Go ahead and try to have a logical, rational conversation with them. Just keep in mind what I said here and be forewarned.”

So, what does this mean for the rest of us?  Do we give in to our hatred and anger and become just like these losers?  Or, do we find ways of disconnecting ourselves from them in all ways and let them stew by themselves in their own anger?  I feel sorry for these cult members, but I won't forgive them.  They have choices they can make, and they keep making bad ones.  The best I can do is to put myself in positions where they can do as little harm to me as possible, for as long as possible.  But what do I suggest for civilized people as a whole?

I suggest total disengagement.  Advocate policies that protect our communities from their hatred, even if it hurts them in the long run.  Let them destroy their states as long as we can protect ourselves from them and their politicians.  Boycott their states, as the Canadians are boycotting America.  If it's easy to avoid doing business with firms such as Hobby Lobby and Chick Fil A, do so.  But this will not always be possible.  Many of the biggest firms are managed by people who benefit from targeting the weakest in our society.  So do business with them as little as possible.  

Right now, I have friends in Texas who I will not visit until their state recovers its sanity.  Since that isn't happening soon, all I can do is meet with them over a Zoom link.  It's not good, but it's better than visiting them as an unauthentic self to avoid persecution in that state.

 

 

A tempest in a teapot, but not without reason.

 

Transgender women in sports.  Much noise has been made regarding this topic, and much noise will continue to be made until we are accepted by society.  Yet, our detractors do have a point that must be addressed.  Without puberty blockers, trans women's bodies will develop differently than cisgender women, and the jury is out on whether this gives trans women an advantage in women's sports.

An article in science.org discusses World Athletics's decision to ban transgender athletes from competing in women's sports. The reason that many give is that there is not enough information on the advantage transgenders may have due to their atypical body development.  Yet, without being willing to gather that information, this becomes a "Catch-22" situation.  We have no data, so we won't collect that data.  AARGH!  Even cisgender females such as Caster Semenya are harmed by the athletic organizations, as she has a natural, but abnormal amount of testosterone in her system. And yet, most of the science-based discussions rightfully focus on fairness in competition, and not on a person being trans or not.

However, things seem to be very different in non-elite competitions, and this is where social prejudice sets in.  The "Redder" the state is, the more likely is it to have laws which hurt trans kids from participating in school sports.  Like their adult counterparts, trans children are the focus of communal hatred, as I believe these laws were passed to prevent trans kids from leaving the closet. But these bans conflict with Federal Title-IX laws, which are meant to give equal opportunity to all without regard to gender.  ESPN's website has an interesting article discussing how young trans athletes are getting caught in the debate on whether trans people should have the same rights as cisgender people - at least in sports.

In the end, "fairness" can never be a "one size fits all" policy.  We need to know how much of an advantage being transgender gives a person before and after puberty.  And we need to know where it doesn't give us an advantage.  So how do we get this information without competition?  Until the sports authorities are willing to collect this information, trans athletes will continue to be hurt as children and as adults.

Settled Decisions?

 

Looking at the picture above, many of you can guess what today's topic is all about.  The symbolism is important, as Roe v. Wade was considered a "settled decision" until now.  With the leak from the Supreme Court, it looks like the radical right is about to go on the offensive against civil rights - and that includes rights previously recognized as also belonging to the LGBTIQ community.

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Although I am pro choice, it is not because I like abortion.  Instead, I believe that people who do not have skin in the game of carrying a fetus to term should not be telling women what to do with their bodies.  There are many good reasons why a woman might choose to abort a fetus, such as Rape and Incest.  Why should a woman carry a fetus to term when she had no authority in the process of getting pregnant?

There are better ways of reducing the number of abortions in the Red States than an outright ban.  Some European nations have lower rates of abortion than we have, as they have better sex education than we have, and reliable birth control is cheap and easy to access - something which has not always been the case in the USA.  The only thing a ban will do is cause middle class women to take "weekend vacations" to "Blue States" for their abortions, while poor women get stuck with all the headaches of delivering unwanted fetuses to term.  Will these women keep the children or give them up for adoption?  I can see a future where White babies are adopted, while Black and Latino babies are left for foster parents to raise until the kids are 18.  Will these unwanted children get adequate love and parenting?  Given what we're seeing today, I think things will be much worse for these children yet to be born.

In the end, the argument about the legality of abortion will always be about when society considers the life potential of a fetus worth protecting.  Christendom once had the idea of the "Quickening".  Islam had the idea of "the Moment of Ensoulment."  Both took place well after conception.  The ancients understood that viable life had to be protected, but they also recognized that protection need not be given until that life (fetus) had proven itself viable.  I respect those women who would carry a fetus to term, even though it is inconvenient for them.  One of those women was a former girlfriend of mine in her childbearing years.  

Given that abortion had already been severely restricted (and otherwise made hard to get) in the Red States, I don't expect to see much change after the Supreme Court makes its decision official.  But what will happen to other "Settled Decisions"  Will Same-Sex Marriage be next?  What about Transgender Rights?  Our rights are relatively new, and easy to undo.  It is time for us to help Cisgender women preserve their rights to control their own bodies, lest the Radical Right gets the ability to aim at us next.