Before peaking, how much of an ally were you?

submitted by Dravidian from (self.GenderCritical)

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[–]fuckingsealions 14 insightful - 1 fun14 insightful - 0 fun15 insightful - 1 fun -  (6 children)

I was fine with pronouns and trans people in general, and believe in rights for most groups as long as they're law abiding. I'm still fine with adults who are of sound mind doing whatever with their bodies and lives. I was concerned about trans people's safety because I remember Matthew Shephard very clearly.

I live in a liberal city and vote for taxes, parks, and social safety nets. I believe in abortion access and have always been a serious feminist, but have only really turned completely radical in the past couple of years. I had the notion that "letting" tims into women's spaces was akin to sharing space with feminine gay males, not sometimes violent straight men.

The switch was coming out of ignorance of the different "arms" of trans culture. I did not know about the high rate of children being medicated and some minors being operated on. I didn't know about men opting into women's prisons. I didn't know all the hateful things TRAs said about feminists, or that they were sometimes violent with women. I didn't know about AGP. I don't care about AGP, but don't try to flimflam me with your "I've always been a woman."

Mostly what I care about now is protecting kids and hoping that young women in particular will get education and mental health care before affirmation.

[–]MarkTwainiac 14 insightful - 3 fun14 insightful - 2 fun15 insightful - 3 fun -  (5 children)

I was concerned about trans people's safety because I remember Matthew Shephard very clearly.

How is what happened to Matthew Shepard related to "trans people's safety"? Shepard wasn't trans, he was gay.

When you say you remember Matthew Shepard's death very clearly, do you mean you were aware of it and cognizant of all the facts back when he was killed in 1998?

Are you not aware that there's dispute within the "LGB" community about whether Shepard was killed coz of homophobic hate?

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/26/the-truth-behind-americas-most-famous-gay-hate-murder-matthew-shepard

https://www.thestranger.com/slog/2018/10/26/34543412/matthew-shepard-is-the-worlds-most-famous-gay-hate-crime-victim-but-was-he-really-killed-for-being-gay

You say you

have always been a serious feminist, but have only really turned completely radical in the past couple of years

But at the same time you say

I'm still fine with adults who are of sound mind doing whatever with their bodies and lives...

And

I didn't know all the hateful things TRAs said about feminists, or that they were sometimes violent with women. I didn't know about AGP. I don't care about AGP...

This seems contradictory. I'm not trying to be mean or goady, but the contradictions in your statements stand out to me. If feminism and trans rights are concerns of yours, how can it be that you "didn't know" (a phrase you use repeatedly) about the conflicts between the two, or all the abuses kids are being subjected to in the name of "trans rights"? These are not exactly well-guarded state secrets.

[–]fuckingsealions 6 insightful - 1 fun6 insightful - 0 fun7 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Ok. These statements are contradictory, because I'm addressing a "before and after" mindset per OP's question.

[–]WildApples 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Wow. I had no idea of the facts surrounding Matthew Shepard's death. I had only ever heard the hate crime narrative. Thanks for sharing.

[–]jjdub7Gay Male Guest Commentator 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Related, it has been said that Omar Mateen (Pulse shooter), though in a traditional Islamic marriage, was gay on the down-low, and that his mass shooting was not carried out for religious bigotry but because he contracted HIV from someone.

[–]buttbuttinator 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

God, the comments on that Stranger article are just... something else. Holy shit. I don't think that anyone is claiming that gay men can't be and have never been murdered for being gay, but there's good reasons to question whether Matthew Shepard was one of them. Regardless of why he was murdered, his death still catalyzed a much-needed reaction against homophobia and Jimenez, as a gay man, probably is glad that we've seen this shift. But the facts are that McKinney was friendly with Matthew Shepard and was (if not actually gay himself) comfortable with gay men; it's not hateful to point that out.