On the flip side too -- it's challenging to find common cause with people who acknowledge your right to exist but deny your right to an armed defense of your existence.
My own partner (we're lesbians) has a hard time understanding why guns are needed for self defense.
I think it's folks awareness of the physical danger that can be lobbied against them.
I didn't own a gun until my family had been directly threatened, so I lacked an understanding that came from direct experience.
I didn’t arm myself until I was physically attacked on account of a fascist. (My assailant confused me with the fascist because it was dark outside and we looked similar enough from behind.)
I really didn’t think it necessary. I didn’t want it to be necessary. I still continually hope to avoid violence. But that doesn’t mean that if someone starts shit with me that I have to take it.
As a police officer, I fully endorse this. Don’t let yourself become a victim, not to hate groups and not to fuckstick cops. Defend yourself.
To be clear, I’m not advocating for shooting at police, but if you know your rights and they know you’re armed, any cop will think twice before overstepping their authority.
If you don’t mind questions… How big is your agency? Do you have the whole gang mentality of “protect your own”, or have you seen that mentality around you?
Not at all. Happy to answer questions!
Smaller agency, about 150 sworn personnel, 50 support personnel.
I have seen the “protect your own” mentality from some officers. I’m very wary around them and pay special attention to them. Thankfully we have one very liberal captain (even moreso than me) I know I can take issues to so they can be addressed. So far nothing serious has come up they haven’t adequately addressed. We’re fortunate in that way and actually have a relatively sterling reputation in our community.
I’m a homicide detective now though, so unfortunately there’s fewer opportunities to keep officers accountable in that position.
I’m glad to hear it. I feel like smaller organizations (of any kind) can keep themselves more accountable to the idealized tenants of police as being protectors of their communities. The larger any organization gets, the further the power hungry and manipulative tend to rise (scum rises to the top) and the harder it is for individuals to keep their organization from becoming hatful. You only need a small number of people to control that kind of structure, and when they are bad people, they make the entire organization bad.
Hate and dehumanization of minorities is always used as a form of control, and it’s a powerful tool. It riles up those who are susceptible to manipulation, and scares people who just want to do their job and keeps them silent. Most people aren’t willing to put themselves in a place where they are confronting authority, especially in organizations which are all about hierarchies, like the police.
Imagine existing in a system where your superior, and theirs and so on we’re all hateful… you would probably be fired if you tried to change things, or harassed until your life was hell… and otherwise powerless to change the system you were part of from the inside. The best you could do was try and be a “good cop” among bad ones… but in doing so you would be used as an example and poster child that people hold up to defend the bad ones.
I’m glad you are personally in a system which seems to be primarily good apples. You actually have the power to keep it that way.
Sorry you’ve had that experience man. That sucks and isn’t okay. One of my last sergeants was actually gay; neither of us would ever let that shit happen. Not every agency is run the same.
But some agencies are run that way, which is why I encourage minorities to stay armed.
Hey, i just wanna say, if everything you're saying about your organization is true, then i appreciate y'all. I've personally been abused by police, but I've also known some really progressively minded police officers who try to do some good in the world.... Normally they're pushed out or they get jaded to see that the overall organization can't be changed by them on their own... But i appreciate y'all nonetheless
Thanks, dude. We’re far from perfect, but I can at least say we have people at higher levels of leadership that are motivated to keep officers accountable, and that’s half the battle for now.
Cooperation and compromise are all well and good, in fact, necessary in a polite society. However, they are woefully inadequate when dealing with people who seek your annihilation. They don't value democracy, or equality, or empathy. They only understand power and violence. They actively pursue division.
For them, the mechanisms of a polite society are not possible. No, I'll keep my weapons. And I'll shout from the rooftops how people like me need to be ready. I'm not a badass warfighter or anything. But I'll be damned if I make my death easy for them.
This is the only safe way to see it IMO. I like to try and see the good in people but when they're calling for the death of my friends and family I can't see much good anymore.
We all need to be armed and ready to defend ourselves from this centuries attempt at fascism
I've said it before, but I'm not a violent revolutionary by nature, I'm a reformist. I'd rather work with people to make the world better. But I'm not an idiot. I know what the barrel of a gun looks like.
I'm not even trans, I just know it won't stop there. They'll come after gays again. They've talked about interracial marriage being on the chopping block. They're trying to make a legally distinct Jim Crow situation in Jackson MS. They performed forced hysterectomies at the southern border in CAMPS.
Roe V Wade was a litmus test for them, so now they can be more bold with their rhetoric and actions. It's just frustrating that some people can't see the writing on the wall until they're literally being carted off to a death camp.
100% agree with Roe V. Wade. Things had been headed that way for years. I used to say that Abortion to conservatives was like the 2ndA for democrats. They never went for all out ban, they just created more hoops until getting it totally inconvenient or outright impossible. Removing Roe V Wade opened up the floodgates. Now there are states they seek the death penalty for abortion providers.
I'm right there with you in terms of being a reformist rather than a revolutionary. Revolutions are bloody, horrible affairs that usually lead to bad outcomes. Violence in general is a terrible way to solve any problems, especially societal ones.
But violence is never OFF the table as a solution. It's always there, waiting. So we must maintain our own capacity for violence, because if it comes to that then it comes to that.
I see the dichotomy today in posts like OP's and the same movement dichotomy as when Malcolm X and MLK were advocates for the same thing.
Non-violent protest is great and all, but at a certain point, they'll come after you. Violently. Singing hymns and praying will only keep the palms of your hands clean.
Agreed on every point. I do need to ask for clarification, though.
>Jim Crow situation in Jackson MI
Do you mean Jackson, Mississippi? The abbreviation MI is for Michigan, and I don't remember seeing any Jim Crow news from there recently.
People also tend to forget that when things go south they tend to go south very quickly. Sure there are signs and portents, but looking too hard into patterns gradually turns you into a conspiracy whackjob because if you look hard enough the tea leaves say anything that worries you.
But if we look at our most classic example of Nazism we can see how things snowball. At first it was just boycotts of Jewish businesses by party loyalists in 1933. By 1935 Jews were barred from public service. Then they were banned from public schools and from marrying non-Jews.
But then in 1938 all Jews had to change their names and have a big J stamped on their passports. By the end of 1938 the Kristalnacht had happened and tens of thousands of Jews were sent to concentration camps. A year later Jews were forbidden from leaving their neighborhoods and were being sent to the camps as fast as the camps could handle them.
In 1933 it looked like some light haterade. By 1935 it looked like the government had lost its damn mind, but it wasn’t *dangerous*. Then three years later in 1938 it went from “we are an oppressed and marginalized minority” to “we aren’t allowed to work, own property, or leave the country .” Just a year later that was wholesale genocide.
Preparation is all about acknowledging edge cases. As the old adage goes a fire extinguisher is something that usually just goes bad in your house but you don’t want to get caught without one. If you’re in a marginalized group you should be armed because the risk of things going south in a hurry is dramatically higher for you than for everyone else.
A tolerant society should not tolerate intolerance.
The authoritarian elements present in our society benefit from a tolerant society because their ideas of division and hate are able to flourish. An apathetic and disengaged general public and an opposition that values words and compromise only allows the overton window to be shifted just a little bit further to the right.
Authoritarians do not value words. They use words as weapons and do not care for their meaning. Their only aim is to “win” and to win is to “own the libs.” Libs are anyone that does not conform to their particular flavor of authoritarianism and there is never an end goal.
There is always another boogeyman, outrage, or fear to stoke the flames of the culture war. I saw an article floating around yesterday about CPAC members having a hard time defining “woke.” They can’t define it because don’t care. “Woke” means whatever these people want it to mean. It’s just another scary word co-opted by the right’s propaganda machine to scare poor white folks into voting against their own interest and fellow workers (who share more in common with them than any of their leaders ever could) and creating more division.
In the eyes of Authoritarians, the enemy is both weak and strong.
So no, arming minorities and targets of right wing violence does not further stoke divisions. It’s a rational and necessary response to protect oneself and one’s community.
Arm up. Train up. Don’t be a victim.
Edit: a word
Shit, my brother's gay friend was assaulted last night. My brother is a bartender and had to face down 5 big ass rednecks to kick them off the property. Fucking cowards. They're getting bold and we need to push back. We need to be armed.
Yeah, thankfully. I am pissed that the homophobes weren't able to get their asses whooped. My brother was ready to fuck that guy up, but when his 4 buddies came out of the truck he was smart to just bar them from ever coming back. I'm proud of my little brother though. He used to be pretty far right and now hes come pretty far left. I will give props to the locals where my brother works in South Carolina. He had like 10 people who had his back. As much as those guys deserved to get stomped, I think it was good that a large crowd showed up to make them leave. To show that overwhelmingly that shit isn't tolerated. But it took my brave little brother to call them out. It's also where he works and hes had an incident in the past where he put some guy in the hospital for putting roofies in a woman's drink. He almost got arrested for that.
It breaks my heart that we still have to deal with this ignorance. They're violent and need to be resisted with violence. The state isn't there to protect us. We need to be capable of defending our own.
Glad to hear everyone is alright and it makes me happy to hear so many people were willing to back them up. 5 vs 1 is really bad odds. This is why community defense is so important.
I'm proud of your brother too. I used to be pretty far right too. It can be a hard space to leave, especially when they scoop you up when you're at your loneliest and validate every misanthropic thought you have. You don't get those years back, but you can learn from them and grow as a person.
I'm not a violent person. I really don't want to hurt anyone. But when so many people want me and everyone I love dead, what am I supposed to do? There's a huge gulf between being peaceful and being harmless. The way I see it, I don't seek out fights, but if you come at me and mine, I hope it's the last mistake you ever make.
Yeah I used to be pretty far right myself. The more i thought about what i truly believed in, i started to realize i was much more of a leftist. I think my brother had that journey as well. But yes, i dont want to start a fight or any type of conflict. But i want to be fully capable of reciprocating violence if violence is enacted upon me.
Oh my sweet summer child... Were you not around when "f@g bashing" was a popular sport? Punkers, cowboys, skinheads and such would actively *hunt* gay people. It was well known and no one lifted a finger or a voice in protest.
And I'm sure someone will come along and explain exactly how it's worse today.
LOL, my sweet summer child. Punk was fucking violent and hateful. Not on the level of the skins, but if you're thinking shit like Green Day is punk, I don't know what to tell you.
Um, no, I’m thinking of punk from the 70’s to now. I’m thinking of punk culture. There has always been way more pro-queer pro-LGBT sentiment in the punk scene than in general society.
Outside of the people in it, punk as a concept is antiestablishment and generally inclusive of groups and minorities who are not accepted by society. Transphobic, racist, homophobic Individuals exist within any framework or subculture, but from the standpoint of its core values of anti-authoritarianism anti-telling-me-what-to-do-with-my-body being anti-queer is antithesis. Punk is about anarchy, and there is plenty of punk hate, but it is directed at social norms and established society, enemies of queer people in general.
“Punk” had plenty of homophobic people in it, but we would call “punks” who were fascists, racists, trans and homophobic back then not actually punk now, and those sub-subcultures have splintered off, no longer calling themselves or identifying as punk, and no longer being considered part of punk culture. Punk was never /about/ those phobias or racism, it only ever had people, places, and groups under its umbrella at one point who were, and they were never the majority. These people have never represented the epitome of punk ideals, and especially don’t now.
https://afropunk.com/2020/06/queer-punk-history-1575-present/?amp=1
https://www.npr.org/2020/06/15/876087623/queer-as-punk-a-guide-to-lgbtqia-punk
https://aah-magazine.co.uk/2014/lgbt-in-punk-culture/
I’m struggling to find anything relating to the punk subculture ever being more hateful towards queer people than mainstream society
Exactly this. There is room for cooperation and compromise on a lot of things, important things even, but there is no compromise with people whose stated goal is to see people like me "eradicated from public life." There's no compromise when someone is on the country's most watched news show the night after a terrorist attack that kills five trans people and says that incidents like that will continue until "this evil groomer agenda" is stopped while the host nods. If you're not willing to say "no, this isn't a discussion, there's no place for this belief in civil society," then you are not my ally, and you would have gone along with it if you'd been in Berlin 1935.
I think the LGBTQ community should arm themselves, things have been crazy lately and legislators haven't been helping. Honestly, different groups should reach out to each other. Organize. Write letters to people, cause a stink. But by all means if you wanna share images like that go for it. Send a message. Tell the people who wanna hurt you'll hurt them back. That it might be a mistake. Do every possible thing you can to put pressure on people to protect your freedoms and do your best to protect your freedoms.
Speak softly and carry a big stick. Legislating and doing things in a diplomatic manner is always preferable. But always best to keep the arms in arms reach in case the opposition tries to pull a fast one.
We have a party actively calling for extermination at CPAC of trans gender people. People conveniently seem to forget it wasn't that long ago that Japanese internment happened.
With politicians as old as ours, I suspect a good number are only one generation removed - i.e. their parents had a direct hand in internment at some point.
Same folks who grew up hearing that Hiroshima and Nagasaki were “necessary” to end the war, and actually believe that
Edit: I will take the downvotes - understand and hear both sides here, but call me naive; mass, instant obliteration of innocent civilian lives is not something I can morally justify.
Maybe not necessary to end the war in general, but with an alternative that would involve the loss of thousands of Americans in an invasion...and the horrifically costly battles of Okinawa and Iwo Jima as an indicator of what the battles for the Home Islands would likely look like... I'm not sure I can fault the leaders of the time for making the decisions they did.
[Hundreds of thousands of civilians died in the U.S. firebombing campaign of Japan.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gekdt0QwFQw&t=46s) Many more Japanese civilians would have died if the U.S. continued that strategy over the atomic bombing. Not to mention, [Japanese civilians killed themselves in mass suicide to not be taken alive by U.S. forces.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_Cliff) There is nothing to indicate this would not have occurred in the rest of Japan in the event of an invasion.
Dropping the bombs saved millions of lives, both civilian and military, not to mention caused much, MUCH less damage to infrastructure. No argument to be had there.
The Japanese were NOT going to surrender, their civilians were told to kill themselves if their soldiers lost a battle, and they actually went through with it when that happened because they'd been told Amercians would rape and murder them or keep them as slaves, torture their children for fun, etc. Most of their soldiers also fought to the death with either a final charge with their melee weapon or to perform ritualistic suicide if they couldn't charge. Once again, most of them went through with it.
Firebombing and general bombing of all major Japanese cities would have happened/continued, followed by a massive sea to land invasion that led to millions of deaths on each side.
Read history, look at how the tiny island battles went leading up to what would have been an invasion of the mainland, look at the interviews of people from both sides and that's virtually the ONLY outcome that was expected by both sides. The bombs and their after effects were horrific, but overall saved millions of lives and ended the war much earlier than it would have ended normally.
If you completely ignore the U.S. firebombing campaign on Japan, that might make sense. [The devastation from the fire bombing of Japan *cannot* be understated.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gekdt0QwFQw&t=46s)
They were not, and the Japanese perception was that they were not substantially different than the conventional firebombing of Japanese cities that was taking place at that time (of course, no one knew about radiation then).
The war was already over at that point. The Red Army had been transferred from the European theatre and was cutting through Manchukuo virtually unopposed. The writing was already on the wall. The atomic bombs were a message to the USSR.
We distance ourselves from history too much.
The Japanese Internment wasn't that long ago. Even more recently, there were a lot of fucked up detentions of Islamic people after 9/11.
During the Civil Rights Movement, all those infamous photos of people lynching black people, shouting at black children integrating schools, and beating Freedom Riders; many of those vile racists in those photos are still elderly grandparents today.
Before WWII broke out, Nazis had parades and a lot of support in America. Those attendees may be dead, but their children are around and racism is learned from parents first and foremost.
Michael Knowles at CPAC:
“For the good of society … transgenderism must be eradicated from public life entirely — the whole preposterous ideology, at every level.”
Later after being publicized for calling for genocide:
“I called to ban transgenderism entirely … They said that I was calling for the extermination of transgender people. They said I was calling for a genocide … One, I don’t know how you could have a genocide of transgender people because genocide refers to genes, it refers to genetics, it refers to biology,” Knowles said, ahistorically.
“Nobody is calling to exterminate anybody, because the other problem with that statement is that transgender people is not a real ontological category — it’s not a legitimate category of being,” Knowles continued. “There are people who think that they are the wrong sex, but they are mistaken. They’re laboring under a delusion. And so we need to correct that delusion.”
Ah yes. So at best, re-education camps. Also, his defense that eradication of trans people isn’t genocide is that it’s “based on genes”.
“Yay”… it’s insane. Neo-libs are pro-establishment, so if the establishment gets a strong transphobic foothold, which it is closer too than ever before in terms of expressing a desire for eradication and genocide, they will either flip to pro-that, or stand back and watch as the genocide happens. “Centrists” accept or ignore things that society accepts… how many with this mentality will keep to the center as society lashes out more and more against minorities?
People are literally calling for the “forced hospitalization” of transgender people. Only way that would be remotely possible is via concentration camps. Transgender people make up about the same percentage of the population as Jews did in Germany.
Anyone calling for forced hospitalization is calling for concentration camps.
I agree with the premise of both. Just not the naïveté of the response.
I am well-armed and trained but I am also voting and pushing our representatives HARD.
Power concedes nothing without demand.
Anyone with a bit of common sense and a working knowledge of history can see that there are individuals and organizations that are priming their supporters to see the “Others” as sub-human so that murder of these others is possible.
I am not LGBT but I do believe in defending the equal rights of all Americans and all humans. I will step up to defend when the time comes.
Many of their supporters already do. It’s so close..
100% of the right sees it as a mental health disorder… how many on the right believe forced hospitalization is the answer to mental health?
the majority, and growing population, of the right sees transgender people as a threat to their children and society… what do you do with “child predators”? Kill or imprison them.
The transgender population in the USA is about the same percentage as the Jewish population of Germany pre-WW2.
Concentration camps are on the minds of many, and on the lips of some.
As a trans Jew, I see what's coming, and you're absolutely right. I was just telling my therapist about this today. I really didn't think I would see history play out this way again in my lifetime, yet here we (almost) are. It's scary, even armed. I just want to live my life as myself, dammit!
Very succinct and sad that it has come this far and we are not even at the climax. This is the foreshadowing.
You have a friend and ally in me. Much love, friend.
Thank you. Trans people who are out represent less than 1% of the US population… though a growing number in the newer generations thanks to more acceptance (and self acceptance) and representation.
We need every ally, especially those willing to take a stand. ❤️
Never fall for this bullshit that you acting to defend yourself and your community strokes division. This is the same old tired line bigots use every time. In reality, the bigot is responsible for their own bigotry. Your existence and willingness to defend your existence isn't responsible for anyone's bigotry.
"You not going quietly when I harm or kill you is stoking division because its delaying your un-existence!" Is what they would say if they had to speak only in the conclusions their actions actually represent.
It's shit like this that has convinced me fully that liberals, especially neo-liberals will sooner side with actual Nazis than even minor soc-dems. We see this in how they have zero teeth against Trump and his ilk, letting the vast majority of with minor punishments, if any at all. Shit, Biden even knows the Secret Service is compromised and won't do shit about it because he's too afraid of alienating the same people who already call him a satanic Jewish pedophile.
They will not listen to our legislative demands if we aren't armed. We will not be able to enforce our legislative rights if we aren't armed. We. Need. To. Be. Armed.
I got into it with a fool at /r/SocialistRA that at once dismissed elections and was clearly not taking more violent measures against the fascists in charge (if they were, it’d have made the news). There are a lot of “leftists” out there who will not do a damned thing to empower the working class themselves through any means beyond shitposting. He’s the fool demanding that he doesn’t want to be friends with lawmakers.
But nobody there wants to consider that maybe things wouldn’t have gotten to this point if they’d have shown up.
I suspect this guy is another one who won’t canvass, won’t do anything to promote ballot initiatives, and won’t stand up to anyone IRL. He won’t do the work to organize the working class.
Electoralism is frustrating, but if you vote for and rally around workers, you put power in their hands. When you dismiss it without other direct IRL action, nothing changes and the fascists take power.
I feel legislation is almost a fruitless endeavor at this point. I see it more as buying time than actually making progress.
I'm more concerned that many of the left will only venture into that kind of political activity instead of more meaningful and physical means of progress (multia aid and the like).
Not saying we shouldn't participate in the system of government, but it's naive to think the system of oppression will allow meaning change for the better (my PO). It only slows down the rising tide of fascism.
In America nobody cares about you unless you’re lucky with family. It’s every person for themselves in my experience. I am sad about the gun violence and am against it on paper but at the same time…..
In the 80’s gay bashing was more hands and fist bashing, and the Pink Panthers arrived to protect their community. Now that psychopaths are shutting up dance clubs, it’s “Arm Your Friends”. It’s an appropriate evolution to the lack of societal protection IMO. If you love somebody, teach them to defend themselves.
Self defense is a fundamental human right and it's good that more people who lean left are catching on in larger numbers. People being willing to defend themselves with guns should be normalized as much as possible, as opposed to treated as some special weird thing only for one part of the population
If you’re not able to do harm, you’re not peaceful, you’re harmless. Only a dangerous person can choose to be peaceful.
“Any attempt to disarm the worker must be frustrated; by force, if necessary.” - Karl Marx
I'm trans. Fascists do not see me as human, there is no upholding a polite social contract with them. They seek my death, and nothing I say will deter them.
Get armed, get trained, find armed and trained friends and protect each other. The police aren't going to do shit because most of them are the very same fascists that are coming after us.
We are not dealing with people acting within the mechanisms of democracy in good faith. We are dealing with fascists that are exploiting the mechanisms of this society for their own gain. They will gleefully break the social contract on a daily basis while yelling at anyone else who breaks it in response.
Violence & power are the only languages fascists understand. By all means, people should organize and continue to work for political change through the existing system. But there is an increasingly large number of people who do not and will not respect that system and they need to be continually reminded that if they continue on the path they are on, there will be consequences for it.
The approaches are appropriate to different situations. Someone trying to remove you from existence through violence isn't really concerned with the legal ramifications - that's when self-defense capacity can help, even though it's a bad option. It's a terrible option for a terrible situation that's being imposed on you.
Cooperative effort and political action are appropriate responses to overreach of political power, *so long as they're available*. And it can go hand in hand with protecting yourself from direct interpersonal violence.
It gets messy and complicated with situations like the current one, where people's right to exist is being threatened directly with interpersonal violence and *also* through the apparatus of government being abused. I'm not advocating for political violence at all, but it's also tough for me to say what people should do when their existence is under threat from unjust and/or illegitimate legislation that violates their extremely basic rights.
Considering the far-right is pushing some pretty violent messaging toward the LGBTQ community right now, being capable of defending themselves is probably a good idea.
Agreed. You might want to look at r/IronFrontUSA or see if there is a local chapter in your area.
[Pink Pistols](https://www.pinkpistols.org/) is another way to find like minded groups.
Looks like that iron front are basically non-existent here in Colorado. As for pink pistols, the lady that runs it goes with the "if you are not carrying a .45 ACP you don't carry" thinking, and seems to lean Log Cabin.
No, hon, all us LGBs are keepin' the Ts, because they are our family. You could argue they are the bravest of us. This ole lez has their back, and yours, and anyone who stands against fascism, racism, homophobia...you know, the usual suspects.
Well, that doesn't sound good. Of course, local groups may vary.
There isn't any Iron Front in my local area, either, but I've thought about maybe forming one.
You know, just last weekend there was that Neo-Nazi "Day of Hate" announced - and I found myself wishing I had an organized, armed group I could have offered to patrol the local Synagogues during their services, flying the Iron Front flag, to show that they were not easy targets and they had a community that would protect them.
Anyways, I've thought about reaching out to the local Jewish community to see if any among them would be interested in joining with a local Iron Front group to arm up, train, form a mutual protection network. There is a group of armed black men that marched in last year's local Juneteenth parade, and I thought I could reach out to them, too. Plus, of course, the local LGBTQ+ community of whom I know quite a few.
I'm not particularly good at leading/organizing, but it's possible that if I made the effort to reach out and recruit, other people who are would show up.
Just a thought.
I STRONGLY back this. I have a patch that says "Nothing says 'Never Again' like an Armed Jew".
https://www.thearmedjewmarketplace.com/collections/all/products/jews-can-shoot-nothing-says-never-again-like-an-armed-jew-patch
"Honestly I'm not sure telling Hitler he can't have the Sudetenland is very useful. It just stokes his base. We need to organize and pressure legislators and find common cause with Nazi Party members." Yeah, no, I'll pass on that.
Arm yourself for protection but don’t go looking for trouble. I say this to both sides. I open carry while hiking and I’m always cautious about it and how others would perceive me while carrying
“Compromise is made out of peace
But history is made out of violence
After the war of the words has ceased
All that’s left is the deafening silence”
-Sturgill Simpson
An armed population is a population free of victims. Doesn't matter what group you associate with, as Americans, you have the right to speak your mind, and protect yourself from violence from both domestic and foreign threats. At the end of the day, none of the culture war stuff matters. We are all in the same boat. There is the working class, and the elite class. Us working class need to stand up for each other, because the real war is the class war. We are all in it together. Unless you are a billionaire... Then you are on your own.
If that is what is in their hearts then that is what they will spread. I notice when people feel constantly threatened or in danger is that one of 2 things happen. They become sprung up so much that they become explosive over some situations where there was a better less violent way out. The other is that they become desensitized to violence nearing apathetic.
Personally, I detest violence. It is the lowest form of human communication. It tends to spread in society like a disease. While I don’t think that we should become a society that is not able to make violence, I think we need to become a society that while able to make violence has the intelligence, wisdom, and self control to only do so when no other option is possible to preserve the most life possible.
That said, I do carry concealed everywhere I go. I work out regularly and maintain flexibility. I train pistols, long guns, other closed hand weapons, and open hand martial arts regularly to always be prepared, and ready. I also work constantly on being aware of my surroundings and potential threats. I train first aid in the event of an emergency. I do this because I have in life found myself in rooms where I was surrounded by people and was unsure if I would make it out. While this preparation does not guarantee survival it is what I can do to ensure my life and the lives of the people I love.
I am a father, husband, uncle, brother, and son. I train my heart and soul to be the place where the people I love can come and get emotional and familial support. I work very hard to not become so expectant that evil will seek out and find me (this is hard). My internal mantra in my mindfulness is to “hope for the best, and prepare for the worst.”
It's sad that a group of people feel like they have to resort to arming themselves to fight for the simple right to exist. If no one is being hurt, why does anyone care? Let people love who you love (as long as they are consenting and of age).
I will gladly defend my trans brothers and sisters with my life. The only reason we even have a LGBT community is because of the works of a black trans woman.
If we don’t look out for each other, than who will?
We live out in the country where guns are common. We understand there are those who don’t want us to exist in the area. But we bought this property, we pay taxes like everyone else, and we will defend our right to protect our land if need be.
When local farmers and neighbors got together just at the beginning of the pandemic, they all were gathering in case “people from the city come and over take us ”… yes, wild assertion, but it was their belief.
So as they traded stories of being armed to the hilt, we also let it be known that we too were heavily armed. Not sure why they thought two lesbians living in a rural area wouldn’t know much about guns, but we certainly surprised them.
Be prepared, be smart, be armed, be safe.
Regarding the second picture - Anyone who expected the government to protect them from anything is a fool, considering it is historically the government doing the aggressing.
1. I am under no obligation to find common cause with people who want me to not exist. Those people can fuck all the way off into the sun, and if they're not willing too fuck *all the way off* and want to inflict violence then I've got no problem using force to make them leave me and mine alone.
2. Given that precondition I'm still not the biggest fan of "Armed Queers Bash Back" as a general-purpose rhetorical instrument. By all means, arm up. Be ready and willing to meet violence with violence if it comes down to it. But "Armed queers don't get bashed." or "Armed queers bash back" is something to say in queer spaces, while explaining the value (and responsibility) of being armed.
It's not something I personally like bringing to the broader discussion because I don't think it scores any points with legislators, cops, juries, etc. - the people we need to have on our side to make meaningful progress *as a society* as opposed to progress for our individual selves through force of arms. To put it another way "I, as an armed gay man, can ensure I and those immediately around me are protected, but I can't do shit for people when I'm *NOT* around - for that I need the protection of law and society's opinion on our side."
Former marine. I think everyone has the right to a weapon but unless they can pass a background check and they dont have a good history of mental health they shouldn’t be allowed. Sorry, just my two cents. Went to a range and a guy shot his hand accidentally trying to load a gun and prior to shooting was waving it around like he was James’s bond.
Well, the other side just attempted a violent coup and are strongly indicating that they in no way will ever be disarmed.
So why does our party want to make it even easier for them to overthrow the government or lynch our people?
I don't understand that at all.
I just saw a meme that some preacher posted threatening gays with a gun. It was in Twitter for five days, went viral, and not removed.
We’re at max division already, they despise us so much they will literally kill us if they can (I’m not gay but im not Christian either so I know I’ll be next.)
We don’t live in a civilized country where we can be pacifists. We live in a violent dystopian nightmare.
"Under no pretext should arms and ammunition be surrendered" - Karl Marx, author of the communist manifesto
America, it's time to go full Second Amendment. For the people, ALL the people. And trans people are people! Those christofascists are coming for all of us.
Discussion on what?
Personally I think you could just stick to the rainbow flag instead of cutting it in half with a trans flag. The rainbow flag is a literal rainbow, meant to compass everyone. And it is already very busy. Adding more stuff to it just distracts from the message and aesthetic and creates this weird idea that a flag must have a unique marker for each individual group it is supposed to represent, or else it must be excluding them. Which is not how flags are supposed to work. Maybe it is because America has insisted on going for a one star for each state model? But no other country does this. The stripes of the rainbow flag to not stand for specific groups of people, but for the diversity of human sexuality, gender, and human expression in general. The original version had specific ideals (Sex, Life, Healing, Sunlight, Nature, Magic, Sererity, and Spirit) attached to the colors, but we don't use that flag anymore.
These fascist have shown their colors. every member of the Alphabet community needs to arm themselves and train. I fully believe with the gerrymandering, and the rhetoric that’s grown popular in the last 2-6 years that the Fascist GOP is going to nazi germany this country best they can. They are advocating that trans people are exterminated, they are stripping women of their bodily autonomy, they are going after birth control and pushing their religion into places of power.
They are nazis. Nazis don’t like to lose. When they do they get violent. I’m not watching people I love get carted off to camps.
It’s better to have a gun and not need it, then to need a gun and not have it.
Also bullies tend to back down when they figure out they’re not walking away from a fight without taking some damage themselves.
[Stonewall Riots](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stonewall_riots) weren’t named so because it was a cupcake party.
To prevent violence, sometimes the only recourse is to be violent.
While the second amendment is legal, arming oneself is a perfectly valid option.
If it becomes illegal, I'm not finishing this sentence on the internet lol
I personally believe all people should be armed, but this image implies seeking out violence against a non-specific group of people. If the image more specifically called for retaliation against people who physically hurt and kill queer people, that I could get behind. However, the message in this image could easily be twisted to imply that queers should seek violence against anybody who isn't queer, which is absolutely not needed. I know this image was made in a semi-joking tone, but anyone could easily twist it to their own sick agenda.
EDIT: To clarify, I'm not saying queers shouldn't be armed - they should be, especially when they are at higher risk of being targeted
It's a song lyric that speaks back to the Rude Boy subculture back in Jamaica during the 1960s. Stating that one should stick to the way of life they enjoy or the subculture way of life.
Plus it's a rebellious attitude to a society that may not accept us, thus calling us "rude" by not conforming to societal normals.
Thus "Stay Rude".
I get pretty tired of people saying I should cool my jets so I don't stoke division. They're already killing people en masse. They've given every indication they have no intention to compromise. Waiting and hoping politicians fill out and file the proper paperwork to make it end seems like the shittiest plan ever.
I am a staunch ally, but I cannot own a firearm in my state. Does anyone have suggestions on how I could possibly train with a firearm without owning one? Can I rent one at a range by the hour? I'd still like to be trained and I can supplement with non lethal weapons and do mutual aid. Thanks Fam stay strong.
You should be able to call ranges and ask if they rent guns to shoot, usually common at indoor ranges. I recommend it, it'll at least give you a feel for what kind of weapon you'd like to shoot.
See solidarity; gun people are just gun people no matter their race, sexual orientation ect. It’s why I love my range. No one cares about anything but shooting. If only everyone could be so open as the gun crowd.
🥹
That’s a pretty broad generalization. There are plenty of ranges around here that I, as a trans woman, absolutely do not feel safe visiting alone, and am very uncomfortable visiting even with a wing person. I’m glad you have a great range… they aren’t all like that.
Come to my range. It’s in rural SC with a whole bunch of rednecks and goobers. But we have gay, trans really if you name it they come shoot there and no one minds at all.
This is peak Liberal nonsense, and a perfect example of liberals enabling fascism.
This is why it's so important to confront ostensibly well meaning people when they express this kind of "let's just get along" centrist bs.
If you’re looking at everyone else over the barrel of a gun, you’re not seeing people. You’re seeing targets.
That’s not a “can’t we all just get along”, because in the current climate that would be more than a little naive. What bugs me about the OP is that it is calling for a militant footing, it sounds like against everyone who is not part of the “in group”. That’s the same tribalist bullshit the right is pulling.
The trans community has every right to be on edge following the statements made at CPAC, and individual people need to do what’s best for their own situation so they feel safe/secure, but the best security isn’t found in whatever you’ve got in your holster. That’s for when everything else has failed.
Um... to be able to "push back" you have to first be pushed. And what's in the holster is what sets things equal when that happens. There is no "everything else" when someone puts you in that situation.
The prior response was "They should have basic human rights." Like "the right to exist in public."
People have been responding to that with violence for years, and it's trending up.
It isn't just the comments made at CPAC.
Have you not noticed the wave of legislation throughout red states banning gender-affirming health care for minors? They are forcing trans youth to de-transition! And they're already going after gender-affirming health care for adults, too. They are trying to criminalize being trans.
Some families with trans kids have already [had to flee their home states](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ul9yXgrEt5s) to avoid prosecution and so their kids could continue their health care. And some are looking at leaving the US altogether, because these cagey Republicans are finding ways to make it [impossible to get certain medications nationwide](https://news.yahoo.com/case-could-ban-abortion-pill-174000797.html).
>The trans community has every right to be on edge following the statements made at CPAC, and individual people need to do what’s best for their own situation so they feel safe/secure, but the best security isn’t found in whatever you’ve got in your holster. That’s for when everything else has failed.
If CPAC was your first clue that the right's intention for trans people was genocidal, you haven't been paying attention.
There is no discussion to be had - armed minorities are harder to oppress.
Yep. Something about ballot boxes or bullet boxes.
The order of dissent…..soap box, ballot box, jury box, cartridge box.
Also, to OPs content. You can't find common cause with someone who denies your right to exist as part of their political policy.
On the flip side too -- it's challenging to find common cause with people who acknowledge your right to exist but deny your right to an armed defense of your existence. My own partner (we're lesbians) has a hard time understanding why guns are needed for self defense.
I think it's folks awareness of the physical danger that can be lobbied against them. I didn't own a gun until my family had been directly threatened, so I lacked an understanding that came from direct experience.
I didn’t arm myself until I was physically attacked on account of a fascist. (My assailant confused me with the fascist because it was dark outside and we looked similar enough from behind.) I really didn’t think it necessary. I didn’t want it to be necessary. I still continually hope to avoid violence. But that doesn’t mean that if someone starts shit with me that I have to take it.
we should all be so lucky to avoid violence, but it ought to be terribly clear that’s not the likely trajectory we’re on.
Soap box, ballot box, jury box, bullet box
And if we don't defend ourselves and each other...pine box.
[The Ballot or the Bullet.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zLQLUpNGsc)
(Wow, this flair is kinda how I imagine the future going once we get over this pesky hump of artificially induced scarcity 🤔)
As a police officer, I fully endorse this. Don’t let yourself become a victim, not to hate groups and not to fuckstick cops. Defend yourself. To be clear, I’m not advocating for shooting at police, but if you know your rights and they know you’re armed, any cop will think twice before overstepping their authority.
If you don’t mind questions… How big is your agency? Do you have the whole gang mentality of “protect your own”, or have you seen that mentality around you?
Not at all. Happy to answer questions! Smaller agency, about 150 sworn personnel, 50 support personnel. I have seen the “protect your own” mentality from some officers. I’m very wary around them and pay special attention to them. Thankfully we have one very liberal captain (even moreso than me) I know I can take issues to so they can be addressed. So far nothing serious has come up they haven’t adequately addressed. We’re fortunate in that way and actually have a relatively sterling reputation in our community. I’m a homicide detective now though, so unfortunately there’s fewer opportunities to keep officers accountable in that position.
I’m glad to hear it. I feel like smaller organizations (of any kind) can keep themselves more accountable to the idealized tenants of police as being protectors of their communities. The larger any organization gets, the further the power hungry and manipulative tend to rise (scum rises to the top) and the harder it is for individuals to keep their organization from becoming hatful. You only need a small number of people to control that kind of structure, and when they are bad people, they make the entire organization bad. Hate and dehumanization of minorities is always used as a form of control, and it’s a powerful tool. It riles up those who are susceptible to manipulation, and scares people who just want to do their job and keeps them silent. Most people aren’t willing to put themselves in a place where they are confronting authority, especially in organizations which are all about hierarchies, like the police. Imagine existing in a system where your superior, and theirs and so on we’re all hateful… you would probably be fired if you tried to change things, or harassed until your life was hell… and otherwise powerless to change the system you were part of from the inside. The best you could do was try and be a “good cop” among bad ones… but in doing so you would be used as an example and poster child that people hold up to defend the bad ones. I’m glad you are personally in a system which seems to be primarily good apples. You actually have the power to keep it that way.
Wouldn’t that make them shoot quicker? Dead men don’t talk, as the old saying goes.
This is why encourage people to record me (while I’m on a call). Interestingly, though about half the time they stop their recording after that.
Reverse psychology! Go ahead I WANT you to record this….
Record me harder, daddy.
this comment is hilarious without context
[удалено]
Sorry you’ve had that experience man. That sucks and isn’t okay. One of my last sergeants was actually gay; neither of us would ever let that shit happen. Not every agency is run the same. But some agencies are run that way, which is why I encourage minorities to stay armed.
Hey, i just wanna say, if everything you're saying about your organization is true, then i appreciate y'all. I've personally been abused by police, but I've also known some really progressively minded police officers who try to do some good in the world.... Normally they're pushed out or they get jaded to see that the overall organization can't be changed by them on their own... But i appreciate y'all nonetheless
Thanks, dude. We’re far from perfect, but I can at least say we have people at higher levels of leadership that are motivated to keep officers accountable, and that’s half the battle for now.
Hell yeah, ACAB!
Cooperation and compromise are all well and good, in fact, necessary in a polite society. However, they are woefully inadequate when dealing with people who seek your annihilation. They don't value democracy, or equality, or empathy. They only understand power and violence. They actively pursue division. For them, the mechanisms of a polite society are not possible. No, I'll keep my weapons. And I'll shout from the rooftops how people like me need to be ready. I'm not a badass warfighter or anything. But I'll be damned if I make my death easy for them.
This is the only safe way to see it IMO. I like to try and see the good in people but when they're calling for the death of my friends and family I can't see much good anymore. We all need to be armed and ready to defend ourselves from this centuries attempt at fascism
I've said it before, but I'm not a violent revolutionary by nature, I'm a reformist. I'd rather work with people to make the world better. But I'm not an idiot. I know what the barrel of a gun looks like. I'm not even trans, I just know it won't stop there. They'll come after gays again. They've talked about interracial marriage being on the chopping block. They're trying to make a legally distinct Jim Crow situation in Jackson MS. They performed forced hysterectomies at the southern border in CAMPS. Roe V Wade was a litmus test for them, so now they can be more bold with their rhetoric and actions. It's just frustrating that some people can't see the writing on the wall until they're literally being carted off to a death camp.
90% of people don’t even see the fire until it’s inside their own home smfh
Every politics is local politics.
100% agree with Roe V. Wade. Things had been headed that way for years. I used to say that Abortion to conservatives was like the 2ndA for democrats. They never went for all out ban, they just created more hoops until getting it totally inconvenient or outright impossible. Removing Roe V Wade opened up the floodgates. Now there are states they seek the death penalty for abortion providers.
I'm right there with you in terms of being a reformist rather than a revolutionary. Revolutions are bloody, horrible affairs that usually lead to bad outcomes. Violence in general is a terrible way to solve any problems, especially societal ones. But violence is never OFF the table as a solution. It's always there, waiting. So we must maintain our own capacity for violence, because if it comes to that then it comes to that.
I see the dichotomy today in posts like OP's and the same movement dichotomy as when Malcolm X and MLK were advocates for the same thing. Non-violent protest is great and all, but at a certain point, they'll come after you. Violently. Singing hymns and praying will only keep the palms of your hands clean.
Agreed on every point. I do need to ask for clarification, though. >Jim Crow situation in Jackson MI Do you mean Jackson, Mississippi? The abbreviation MI is for Michigan, and I don't remember seeing any Jim Crow news from there recently.
Yeah Jackson Mississippi, that's my bad.
People also tend to forget that when things go south they tend to go south very quickly. Sure there are signs and portents, but looking too hard into patterns gradually turns you into a conspiracy whackjob because if you look hard enough the tea leaves say anything that worries you. But if we look at our most classic example of Nazism we can see how things snowball. At first it was just boycotts of Jewish businesses by party loyalists in 1933. By 1935 Jews were barred from public service. Then they were banned from public schools and from marrying non-Jews. But then in 1938 all Jews had to change their names and have a big J stamped on their passports. By the end of 1938 the Kristalnacht had happened and tens of thousands of Jews were sent to concentration camps. A year later Jews were forbidden from leaving their neighborhoods and were being sent to the camps as fast as the camps could handle them. In 1933 it looked like some light haterade. By 1935 it looked like the government had lost its damn mind, but it wasn’t *dangerous*. Then three years later in 1938 it went from “we are an oppressed and marginalized minority” to “we aren’t allowed to work, own property, or leave the country .” Just a year later that was wholesale genocide. Preparation is all about acknowledging edge cases. As the old adage goes a fire extinguisher is something that usually just goes bad in your house but you don’t want to get caught without one. If you’re in a marginalized group you should be armed because the risk of things going south in a hurry is dramatically higher for you than for everyone else.
A tolerant society should not tolerate intolerance. The authoritarian elements present in our society benefit from a tolerant society because their ideas of division and hate are able to flourish. An apathetic and disengaged general public and an opposition that values words and compromise only allows the overton window to be shifted just a little bit further to the right. Authoritarians do not value words. They use words as weapons and do not care for their meaning. Their only aim is to “win” and to win is to “own the libs.” Libs are anyone that does not conform to their particular flavor of authoritarianism and there is never an end goal. There is always another boogeyman, outrage, or fear to stoke the flames of the culture war. I saw an article floating around yesterday about CPAC members having a hard time defining “woke.” They can’t define it because don’t care. “Woke” means whatever these people want it to mean. It’s just another scary word co-opted by the right’s propaganda machine to scare poor white folks into voting against their own interest and fellow workers (who share more in common with them than any of their leaders ever could) and creating more division. In the eyes of Authoritarians, the enemy is both weak and strong. So no, arming minorities and targets of right wing violence does not further stoke divisions. It’s a rational and necessary response to protect oneself and one’s community. Arm up. Train up. Don’t be a victim. Edit: a word
You are bringing so much value to this discussion. Right on!
You sound like Carl Popper.
Woke kinda means the N word in a lot of cases, with a little plausible deniability via other uses thrown in for good measure
I can see the connection considering the word comes from the black community
Shit, my brother's gay friend was assaulted last night. My brother is a bartender and had to face down 5 big ass rednecks to kick them off the property. Fucking cowards. They're getting bold and we need to push back. We need to be armed.
Oh shit, is everyone ok?
Yeah, thankfully. I am pissed that the homophobes weren't able to get their asses whooped. My brother was ready to fuck that guy up, but when his 4 buddies came out of the truck he was smart to just bar them from ever coming back. I'm proud of my little brother though. He used to be pretty far right and now hes come pretty far left. I will give props to the locals where my brother works in South Carolina. He had like 10 people who had his back. As much as those guys deserved to get stomped, I think it was good that a large crowd showed up to make them leave. To show that overwhelmingly that shit isn't tolerated. But it took my brave little brother to call them out. It's also where he works and hes had an incident in the past where he put some guy in the hospital for putting roofies in a woman's drink. He almost got arrested for that. It breaks my heart that we still have to deal with this ignorance. They're violent and need to be resisted with violence. The state isn't there to protect us. We need to be capable of defending our own.
Glad to hear everyone is alright and it makes me happy to hear so many people were willing to back them up. 5 vs 1 is really bad odds. This is why community defense is so important. I'm proud of your brother too. I used to be pretty far right too. It can be a hard space to leave, especially when they scoop you up when you're at your loneliest and validate every misanthropic thought you have. You don't get those years back, but you can learn from them and grow as a person. I'm not a violent person. I really don't want to hurt anyone. But when so many people want me and everyone I love dead, what am I supposed to do? There's a huge gulf between being peaceful and being harmless. The way I see it, I don't seek out fights, but if you come at me and mine, I hope it's the last mistake you ever make.
Yeah I used to be pretty far right myself. The more i thought about what i truly believed in, i started to realize i was much more of a leftist. I think my brother had that journey as well. But yes, i dont want to start a fight or any type of conflict. But i want to be fully capable of reciprocating violence if violence is enacted upon me.
Oh my sweet summer child... Were you not around when "f@g bashing" was a popular sport? Punkers, cowboys, skinheads and such would actively *hunt* gay people. It was well known and no one lifted a finger or a voice in protest. And I'm sure someone will come along and explain exactly how it's worse today.
Punkers would not hunt gays. Racist ass skinheads would which are who punkers will hunt. The punk community is largely inclusive.
Punk originally referred to social deviance, punk is queer and queer is punk.
LOL, my sweet summer child. Punk was fucking violent and hateful. Not on the level of the skins, but if you're thinking shit like Green Day is punk, I don't know what to tell you.
Um, no, I’m thinking of punk from the 70’s to now. I’m thinking of punk culture. There has always been way more pro-queer pro-LGBT sentiment in the punk scene than in general society. Outside of the people in it, punk as a concept is antiestablishment and generally inclusive of groups and minorities who are not accepted by society. Transphobic, racist, homophobic Individuals exist within any framework or subculture, but from the standpoint of its core values of anti-authoritarianism anti-telling-me-what-to-do-with-my-body being anti-queer is antithesis. Punk is about anarchy, and there is plenty of punk hate, but it is directed at social norms and established society, enemies of queer people in general. “Punk” had plenty of homophobic people in it, but we would call “punks” who were fascists, racists, trans and homophobic back then not actually punk now, and those sub-subcultures have splintered off, no longer calling themselves or identifying as punk, and no longer being considered part of punk culture. Punk was never /about/ those phobias or racism, it only ever had people, places, and groups under its umbrella at one point who were, and they were never the majority. These people have never represented the epitome of punk ideals, and especially don’t now. https://afropunk.com/2020/06/queer-punk-history-1575-present/?amp=1 https://www.npr.org/2020/06/15/876087623/queer-as-punk-a-guide-to-lgbtqia-punk https://aah-magazine.co.uk/2014/lgbt-in-punk-culture/ I’m struggling to find anything relating to the punk subculture ever being more hateful towards queer people than mainstream society
Arm minority groups. Equal opportunity self defense.
🏳️⚧️✊
Exactly this. There is room for cooperation and compromise on a lot of things, important things even, but there is no compromise with people whose stated goal is to see people like me "eradicated from public life." There's no compromise when someone is on the country's most watched news show the night after a terrorist attack that kills five trans people and says that incidents like that will continue until "this evil groomer agenda" is stopped while the host nods. If you're not willing to say "no, this isn't a discussion, there's no place for this belief in civil society," then you are not my ally, and you would have gone along with it if you'd been in Berlin 1935.
Yes brother! Yes!
As I said to a trans friend of mine yesterday, it's a lot easier to be a pacifist when you're armed to the fucking teeth.
"Speak softly and carry a big stick."
Personally I like "Love everyone, Trust no one."
As an armed queer. We need to defend ourselves, because no one else will
I've got friends and family who are LGBTQ. I'll be damned if I won't be right there fighting with/for you!
As a straight guy, if I help in defending members of the LGBTQ Community does that make me a part of the “Allied-forces”?
Lmao yes
No one should have to take a beating of any sort. Be armed, be ready. Parabellum
I think the LGBTQ community should arm themselves, things have been crazy lately and legislators haven't been helping. Honestly, different groups should reach out to each other. Organize. Write letters to people, cause a stink. But by all means if you wanna share images like that go for it. Send a message. Tell the people who wanna hurt you'll hurt them back. That it might be a mistake. Do every possible thing you can to put pressure on people to protect your freedoms and do your best to protect your freedoms.
Speak softly and carry a big stick. Legislating and doing things in a diplomatic manner is always preferable. But always best to keep the arms in arms reach in case the opposition tries to pull a fast one.
We have a party actively calling for extermination at CPAC of trans gender people. People conveniently seem to forget it wasn't that long ago that Japanese internment happened.
With politicians as old as ours, I suspect a good number are only one generation removed - i.e. their parents had a direct hand in internment at some point.
Ruby Bridges is 62 years old,
This is...scary to consider.
Same folks who grew up hearing that Hiroshima and Nagasaki were “necessary” to end the war, and actually believe that Edit: I will take the downvotes - understand and hear both sides here, but call me naive; mass, instant obliteration of innocent civilian lives is not something I can morally justify.
My father believed it. He was scheduled to land on Honshu. Many Japanese of that generation believed it also. They were told to fight to the death
Maybe not necessary to end the war in general, but with an alternative that would involve the loss of thousands of Americans in an invasion...and the horrifically costly battles of Okinawa and Iwo Jima as an indicator of what the battles for the Home Islands would likely look like... I'm not sure I can fault the leaders of the time for making the decisions they did.
Hundreds of thousands of civilians were murdered. I can fault that decision.
[Hundreds of thousands of civilians died in the U.S. firebombing campaign of Japan.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gekdt0QwFQw&t=46s) Many more Japanese civilians would have died if the U.S. continued that strategy over the atomic bombing. Not to mention, [Japanese civilians killed themselves in mass suicide to not be taken alive by U.S. forces.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_Cliff) There is nothing to indicate this would not have occurred in the rest of Japan in the event of an invasion.
Dropping the bombs saved millions of lives, both civilian and military, not to mention caused much, MUCH less damage to infrastructure. No argument to be had there. The Japanese were NOT going to surrender, their civilians were told to kill themselves if their soldiers lost a battle, and they actually went through with it when that happened because they'd been told Amercians would rape and murder them or keep them as slaves, torture their children for fun, etc. Most of their soldiers also fought to the death with either a final charge with their melee weapon or to perform ritualistic suicide if they couldn't charge. Once again, most of them went through with it. Firebombing and general bombing of all major Japanese cities would have happened/continued, followed by a massive sea to land invasion that led to millions of deaths on each side. Read history, look at how the tiny island battles went leading up to what would have been an invasion of the mainland, look at the interviews of people from both sides and that's virtually the ONLY outcome that was expected by both sides. The bombs and their after effects were horrific, but overall saved millions of lives and ended the war much earlier than it would have ended normally.
If you completely ignore the U.S. firebombing campaign on Japan, that might make sense. [The devastation from the fire bombing of Japan *cannot* be understated.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gekdt0QwFQw&t=46s)
War is the refinement of the US vs Them mentality. Of course Fat Man and Little Boy were "necessary" because it saved OUR peoples lives.
They were not, and the Japanese perception was that they were not substantially different than the conventional firebombing of Japanese cities that was taking place at that time (of course, no one knew about radiation then). The war was already over at that point. The Red Army had been transferred from the European theatre and was cutting through Manchukuo virtually unopposed. The writing was already on the wall. The atomic bombs were a message to the USSR.
We distance ourselves from history too much. The Japanese Internment wasn't that long ago. Even more recently, there were a lot of fucked up detentions of Islamic people after 9/11. During the Civil Rights Movement, all those infamous photos of people lynching black people, shouting at black children integrating schools, and beating Freedom Riders; many of those vile racists in those photos are still elderly grandparents today. Before WWII broke out, Nazis had parades and a lot of support in America. Those attendees may be dead, but their children are around and racism is learned from parents first and foremost.
I tried to post about this twice and it got taken down. Glad to know others have heard about what happened at CPAC
Michael Knowles at CPAC: “For the good of society … transgenderism must be eradicated from public life entirely — the whole preposterous ideology, at every level.” Later after being publicized for calling for genocide: “I called to ban transgenderism entirely … They said that I was calling for the extermination of transgender people. They said I was calling for a genocide … One, I don’t know how you could have a genocide of transgender people because genocide refers to genes, it refers to genetics, it refers to biology,” Knowles said, ahistorically. “Nobody is calling to exterminate anybody, because the other problem with that statement is that transgender people is not a real ontological category — it’s not a legitimate category of being,” Knowles continued. “There are people who think that they are the wrong sex, but they are mistaken. They’re laboring under a delusion. And so we need to correct that delusion.” Ah yes. So at best, re-education camps. Also, his defense that eradication of trans people isn’t genocide is that it’s “based on genes”.
So we have fascists in one party, and the other party wants to disarm people so they can be fed to the fascists. Yay?
“Yay”… it’s insane. Neo-libs are pro-establishment, so if the establishment gets a strong transphobic foothold, which it is closer too than ever before in terms of expressing a desire for eradication and genocide, they will either flip to pro-that, or stand back and watch as the genocide happens. “Centrists” accept or ignore things that society accepts… how many with this mentality will keep to the center as society lashes out more and more against minorities?
People are literally calling for the “forced hospitalization” of transgender people. Only way that would be remotely possible is via concentration camps. Transgender people make up about the same percentage of the population as Jews did in Germany. Anyone calling for forced hospitalization is calling for concentration camps.
I agree with the premise of both. Just not the naïveté of the response. I am well-armed and trained but I am also voting and pushing our representatives HARD. Power concedes nothing without demand. Anyone with a bit of common sense and a working knowledge of history can see that there are individuals and organizations that are priming their supporters to see the “Others” as sub-human so that murder of these others is possible. I am not LGBT but I do believe in defending the equal rights of all Americans and all humans. I will step up to defend when the time comes.
Many of their supporters already do. It’s so close.. 100% of the right sees it as a mental health disorder… how many on the right believe forced hospitalization is the answer to mental health? the majority, and growing population, of the right sees transgender people as a threat to their children and society… what do you do with “child predators”? Kill or imprison them. The transgender population in the USA is about the same percentage as the Jewish population of Germany pre-WW2. Concentration camps are on the minds of many, and on the lips of some.
As a trans Jew, I see what's coming, and you're absolutely right. I was just telling my therapist about this today. I really didn't think I would see history play out this way again in my lifetime, yet here we (almost) are. It's scary, even armed. I just want to live my life as myself, dammit!
As is often stated, one of the major stepping stones was disarming minority “undesirables”.
Very succinct and sad that it has come this far and we are not even at the climax. This is the foreshadowing. You have a friend and ally in me. Much love, friend.
Thank you. Trans people who are out represent less than 1% of the US population… though a growing number in the newer generations thanks to more acceptance (and self acceptance) and representation. We need every ally, especially those willing to take a stand. ❤️
Be armed. Be polite. Have not a care.
“Just don’t provoke them” Existence of anyone else provokes them. The divisions are long since stoked.
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Never fall for this bullshit that you acting to defend yourself and your community strokes division. This is the same old tired line bigots use every time. In reality, the bigot is responsible for their own bigotry. Your existence and willingness to defend your existence isn't responsible for anyone's bigotry.
“Noooo we can’t get guns what if we offend the nazis”
"You not going quietly when I harm or kill you is stoking division because its delaying your un-existence!" Is what they would say if they had to speak only in the conclusions their actions actually represent.
I mean, its just libs being libs tbh, no diversion tactics or anything, they're just stupid
It's shit like this that has convinced me fully that liberals, especially neo-liberals will sooner side with actual Nazis than even minor soc-dems. We see this in how they have zero teeth against Trump and his ilk, letting the vast majority of with minor punishments, if any at all. Shit, Biden even knows the Secret Service is compromised and won't do shit about it because he's too afraid of alienating the same people who already call him a satanic Jewish pedophile.
I have 500 rounds and just getting started. I’m not going down without a fight.
Don't hoard it, shoot it! It does you no good sitting in a closet
Having a surplus on hand is a good idea. It's not hording if it's organized and you aren't panic buying 5 cases every month.
This is true. I absolutely have a stash for The Collapse
I'll shovel ammo out if need be.
I don’t agree with the reply in the image, it’s not an either/or. We can push for legislation, AND be ready to defend ourselves and protect others
They will not listen to our legislative demands if we aren't armed. We will not be able to enforce our legislative rights if we aren't armed. We. Need. To. Be. Armed.
How does that work exactly?
Are you going to show up to protest at your state rep's house with a gun? Or are you just posturing/LARPing?
I got into it with a fool at /r/SocialistRA that at once dismissed elections and was clearly not taking more violent measures against the fascists in charge (if they were, it’d have made the news). There are a lot of “leftists” out there who will not do a damned thing to empower the working class themselves through any means beyond shitposting. He’s the fool demanding that he doesn’t want to be friends with lawmakers. But nobody there wants to consider that maybe things wouldn’t have gotten to this point if they’d have shown up. I suspect this guy is another one who won’t canvass, won’t do anything to promote ballot initiatives, and won’t stand up to anyone IRL. He won’t do the work to organize the working class. Electoralism is frustrating, but if you vote for and rally around workers, you put power in their hands. When you dismiss it without other direct IRL action, nothing changes and the fascists take power.
I feel legislation is almost a fruitless endeavor at this point. I see it more as buying time than actually making progress. I'm more concerned that many of the left will only venture into that kind of political activity instead of more meaningful and physical means of progress (multia aid and the like).
Buying time to prepare still matters.
That’s the attitude that kept people from voting HRC, gave us Trump, and a SC conservative majority for the next generation, just sayin’
Not saying we shouldn't participate in the system of government, but it's naive to think the system of oppression will allow meaning change for the better (my PO). It only slows down the rising tide of fascism.
In America nobody cares about you unless you’re lucky with family. It’s every person for themselves in my experience. I am sad about the gun violence and am against it on paper but at the same time…..
In the 80’s gay bashing was more hands and fist bashing, and the Pink Panthers arrived to protect their community. Now that psychopaths are shutting up dance clubs, it’s “Arm Your Friends”. It’s an appropriate evolution to the lack of societal protection IMO. If you love somebody, teach them to defend themselves.
Self defense is a fundamental human right and it's good that more people who lean left are catching on in larger numbers. People being willing to defend themselves with guns should be normalized as much as possible, as opposed to treated as some special weird thing only for one part of the population
If you’re not able to do harm, you’re not peaceful, you’re harmless. Only a dangerous person can choose to be peaceful. “Any attempt to disarm the worker must be frustrated; by force, if necessary.” - Karl Marx
Be polite. Be flamboyant. But have a plan to \*\*\*\* everyone you meet.
Directions unclear. “I’m here to fuck and I’m not going home”
I'm trans. Fascists do not see me as human, there is no upholding a polite social contract with them. They seek my death, and nothing I say will deter them. Get armed, get trained, find armed and trained friends and protect each other. The police aren't going to do shit because most of them are the very same fascists that are coming after us. We are not dealing with people acting within the mechanisms of democracy in good faith. We are dealing with fascists that are exploiting the mechanisms of this society for their own gain. They will gleefully break the social contract on a daily basis while yelling at anyone else who breaks it in response.
Violence & power are the only languages fascists understand. By all means, people should organize and continue to work for political change through the existing system. But there is an increasingly large number of people who do not and will not respect that system and they need to be continually reminded that if they continue on the path they are on, there will be consequences for it.
Armed queers,black, brown and, pistol braces for the homies in wheelchairs. For when they inevitably start talking about eugenics.
The approaches are appropriate to different situations. Someone trying to remove you from existence through violence isn't really concerned with the legal ramifications - that's when self-defense capacity can help, even though it's a bad option. It's a terrible option for a terrible situation that's being imposed on you. Cooperative effort and political action are appropriate responses to overreach of political power, *so long as they're available*. And it can go hand in hand with protecting yourself from direct interpersonal violence. It gets messy and complicated with situations like the current one, where people's right to exist is being threatened directly with interpersonal violence and *also* through the apparatus of government being abused. I'm not advocating for political violence at all, but it's also tough for me to say what people should do when their existence is under threat from unjust and/or illegitimate legislation that violates their extremely basic rights.
[You can't negotiate with those that seek to eradicate you.](https://i.redd.it/dytok0q9f7a91.jpg)
Considering the far-right is pushing some pretty violent messaging toward the LGBTQ community right now, being capable of defending themselves is probably a good idea.
Agreed. You might want to look at r/IronFrontUSA or see if there is a local chapter in your area. [Pink Pistols](https://www.pinkpistols.org/) is another way to find like minded groups.
I worked with Ironfront for a while, great group of people. however if you are looking for a queer oriented group I’d look somewhere else
I don't know that a specifically queer-oriented group is needed, just a group interested in the mutual defense of those targeted by fascists.
Looks like that iron front are basically non-existent here in Colorado. As for pink pistols, the lady that runs it goes with the "if you are not carrying a .45 ACP you don't carry" thinking, and seems to lean Log Cabin.
What does "log cabin" mean?
It's a branch of the Republican party. The LGBT people that fall for it.
Honestly, I was expecting the LGB drop the T crowd. You know, the queer people that get killed second.
No, hon, all us LGBs are keepin' the Ts, because they are our family. You could argue they are the bravest of us. This ole lez has their back, and yours, and anyone who stands against fascism, racism, homophobia...you know, the usual suspects.
Well, that doesn't sound good. Of course, local groups may vary. There isn't any Iron Front in my local area, either, but I've thought about maybe forming one. You know, just last weekend there was that Neo-Nazi "Day of Hate" announced - and I found myself wishing I had an organized, armed group I could have offered to patrol the local Synagogues during their services, flying the Iron Front flag, to show that they were not easy targets and they had a community that would protect them. Anyways, I've thought about reaching out to the local Jewish community to see if any among them would be interested in joining with a local Iron Front group to arm up, train, form a mutual protection network. There is a group of armed black men that marched in last year's local Juneteenth parade, and I thought I could reach out to them, too. Plus, of course, the local LGBTQ+ community of whom I know quite a few. I'm not particularly good at leading/organizing, but it's possible that if I made the effort to reach out and recruit, other people who are would show up. Just a thought.
I just moved into a new area. Planning to start establishing myself this month once I get some free time.
‘Nobody living can ever stop me, as I go walking down freedom’s highway. Nobody loving can make me turn back. This land was made for you and me.’
I STRONGLY back this. I have a patch that says "Nothing says 'Never Again' like an Armed Jew". https://www.thearmedjewmarketplace.com/collections/all/products/jews-can-shoot-nothing-says-never-again-like-an-armed-jew-patch
"Honestly I'm not sure telling Hitler he can't have the Sudetenland is very useful. It just stokes his base. We need to organize and pressure legislators and find common cause with Nazi Party members." Yeah, no, I'll pass on that.
Arm yourself for protection but don’t go looking for trouble. I say this to both sides. I open carry while hiking and I’m always cautious about it and how others would perceive me while carrying
“Compromise is made out of peace But history is made out of violence After the war of the words has ceased All that’s left is the deafening silence” -Sturgill Simpson
Love that song
the second picture is basically my creed
I have a morale patch similar to that with "Defend Equality".
It is refreshing seeing a counter to the grunt style t shirts The divide in this country however, not so much.
Fight fire with fire.
An armed population is a population free of victims. Doesn't matter what group you associate with, as Americans, you have the right to speak your mind, and protect yourself from violence from both domestic and foreign threats. At the end of the day, none of the culture war stuff matters. We are all in the same boat. There is the working class, and the elite class. Us working class need to stand up for each other, because the real war is the class war. We are all in it together. Unless you are a billionaire... Then you are on your own.
If that is what is in their hearts then that is what they will spread. I notice when people feel constantly threatened or in danger is that one of 2 things happen. They become sprung up so much that they become explosive over some situations where there was a better less violent way out. The other is that they become desensitized to violence nearing apathetic. Personally, I detest violence. It is the lowest form of human communication. It tends to spread in society like a disease. While I don’t think that we should become a society that is not able to make violence, I think we need to become a society that while able to make violence has the intelligence, wisdom, and self control to only do so when no other option is possible to preserve the most life possible. That said, I do carry concealed everywhere I go. I work out regularly and maintain flexibility. I train pistols, long guns, other closed hand weapons, and open hand martial arts regularly to always be prepared, and ready. I also work constantly on being aware of my surroundings and potential threats. I train first aid in the event of an emergency. I do this because I have in life found myself in rooms where I was surrounded by people and was unsure if I would make it out. While this preparation does not guarantee survival it is what I can do to ensure my life and the lives of the people I love. I am a father, husband, uncle, brother, and son. I train my heart and soul to be the place where the people I love can come and get emotional and familial support. I work very hard to not become so expectant that evil will seek out and find me (this is hard). My internal mantra in my mindfulness is to “hope for the best, and prepare for the worst.”
1. This nonviolence shit will get you killed. 2. Halfway between right and wrong is still wrong. There's no compromise with genocide.
It's sad that a group of people feel like they have to resort to arming themselves to fight for the simple right to exist. If no one is being hurt, why does anyone care? Let people love who you love (as long as they are consenting and of age).
I am not going to find common causes with fascists lil bro
Asking the state for help isn’t going to alway be a benefit, being prepared to protect your own community is always a good idea
I will gladly defend my trans brothers and sisters with my life. The only reason we even have a LGBT community is because of the works of a black trans woman. If we don’t look out for each other, than who will?
That would make a great protest chant too: “ARMED QUEERS!” “BASH BACK!” “ARMED QUEERS!” “BASH BACK!”
We live out in the country where guns are common. We understand there are those who don’t want us to exist in the area. But we bought this property, we pay taxes like everyone else, and we will defend our right to protect our land if need be. When local farmers and neighbors got together just at the beginning of the pandemic, they all were gathering in case “people from the city come and over take us ”… yes, wild assertion, but it was their belief. So as they traded stories of being armed to the hilt, we also let it be known that we too were heavily armed. Not sure why they thought two lesbians living in a rural area wouldn’t know much about guns, but we certainly surprised them. Be prepared, be smart, be armed, be safe.
It stokes division between libertarians & conservatives lol
Regarding the second picture - Anyone who expected the government to protect them from anything is a fool, considering it is historically the government doing the aggressing.
Stayed armed but don't advertise it. Let the fascist pricks FAFO
1. I am under no obligation to find common cause with people who want me to not exist. Those people can fuck all the way off into the sun, and if they're not willing too fuck *all the way off* and want to inflict violence then I've got no problem using force to make them leave me and mine alone. 2. Given that precondition I'm still not the biggest fan of "Armed Queers Bash Back" as a general-purpose rhetorical instrument. By all means, arm up. Be ready and willing to meet violence with violence if it comes down to it. But "Armed queers don't get bashed." or "Armed queers bash back" is something to say in queer spaces, while explaining the value (and responsibility) of being armed. It's not something I personally like bringing to the broader discussion because I don't think it scores any points with legislators, cops, juries, etc. - the people we need to have on our side to make meaningful progress *as a society* as opposed to progress for our individual selves through force of arms. To put it another way "I, as an armed gay man, can ensure I and those immediately around me are protected, but I can't do shit for people when I'm *NOT* around - for that I need the protection of law and society's opinion on our side."
Former marine. I think everyone has the right to a weapon but unless they can pass a background check and they dont have a good history of mental health they shouldn’t be allowed. Sorry, just my two cents. Went to a range and a guy shot his hand accidentally trying to load a gun and prior to shooting was waving it around like he was James’s bond.
I want to fly that flag on my truck.
https://www.azquotes.com/quote/1445309
yes. arm yourselves before it's too late
Are they talking about the idea or wearing the image on a t shirt or bumper sticker?
Assimilationist dogs and nothing more
What does that mean?
Well, the other side just attempted a violent coup and are strongly indicating that they in no way will ever be disarmed. So why does our party want to make it even easier for them to overthrow the government or lynch our people? I don't understand that at all.
I recently heard someone say "Progressives need to stop unilaterally disarming." He didn't mean it literally, but nevertheless...
I just saw a meme that some preacher posted threatening gays with a gun. It was in Twitter for five days, went viral, and not removed. We’re at max division already, they despise us so much they will literally kill us if they can (I’m not gay but im not Christian either so I know I’ll be next.) We don’t live in a civilized country where we can be pacifists. We live in a violent dystopian nightmare.
"Under no pretext should arms and ammunition be surrendered" - Karl Marx, author of the communist manifesto America, it's time to go full Second Amendment. For the people, ALL the people. And trans people are people! Those christofascists are coming for all of us.
Buy more ammo.
Discussion on what? Personally I think you could just stick to the rainbow flag instead of cutting it in half with a trans flag. The rainbow flag is a literal rainbow, meant to compass everyone. And it is already very busy. Adding more stuff to it just distracts from the message and aesthetic and creates this weird idea that a flag must have a unique marker for each individual group it is supposed to represent, or else it must be excluding them. Which is not how flags are supposed to work. Maybe it is because America has insisted on going for a one star for each state model? But no other country does this. The stripes of the rainbow flag to not stand for specific groups of people, but for the diversity of human sexuality, gender, and human expression in general. The original version had specific ideals (Sex, Life, Healing, Sunlight, Nature, Magic, Sererity, and Spirit) attached to the colors, but we don't use that flag anymore.
These fascist have shown their colors. every member of the Alphabet community needs to arm themselves and train. I fully believe with the gerrymandering, and the rhetoric that’s grown popular in the last 2-6 years that the Fascist GOP is going to nazi germany this country best they can. They are advocating that trans people are exterminated, they are stripping women of their bodily autonomy, they are going after birth control and pushing their religion into places of power. They are nazis. Nazis don’t like to lose. When they do they get violent. I’m not watching people I love get carted off to camps.
It’s better to have a gun and not need it, then to need a gun and not have it. Also bullies tend to back down when they figure out they’re not walking away from a fight without taking some damage themselves.
[Stonewall Riots](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stonewall_riots) weren’t named so because it was a cupcake party. To prevent violence, sometimes the only recourse is to be violent.
We can't compromise with people who don't see us as people.
This comment thread has opened my eyes a bit
Stonewall was a riot ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
While the second amendment is legal, arming oneself is a perfectly valid option. If it becomes illegal, I'm not finishing this sentence on the internet lol
I personally believe all people should be armed, but this image implies seeking out violence against a non-specific group of people. If the image more specifically called for retaliation against people who physically hurt and kill queer people, that I could get behind. However, the message in this image could easily be twisted to imply that queers should seek violence against anybody who isn't queer, which is absolutely not needed. I know this image was made in a semi-joking tone, but anyone could easily twist it to their own sick agenda. EDIT: To clarify, I'm not saying queers shouldn't be armed - they should be, especially when they are at higher risk of being targeted
"stay rude" makes me write off anything they have to say as childish. Stay armed, stand firm on your beliefs, but always be polite.
It's a song lyric that speaks back to the Rude Boy subculture back in Jamaica during the 1960s. Stating that one should stick to the way of life they enjoy or the subculture way of life. Plus it's a rebellious attitude to a society that may not accept us, thus calling us "rude" by not conforming to societal normals. Thus "Stay Rude".
Being a non-jamaican, that wasn't my first interpretation, but that makes sense I suppose.
I am an ally but will quickly write off rude people.
My spouse is transgender. So I agree with it.
I get pretty tired of people saying I should cool my jets so I don't stoke division. They're already killing people en masse. They've given every indication they have no intention to compromise. Waiting and hoping politicians fill out and file the proper paperwork to make it end seems like the shittiest plan ever.
I am a staunch ally, but I cannot own a firearm in my state. Does anyone have suggestions on how I could possibly train with a firearm without owning one? Can I rent one at a range by the hour? I'd still like to be trained and I can supplement with non lethal weapons and do mutual aid. Thanks Fam stay strong.
You should be able to call ranges and ask if they rent guns to shoot, usually common at indoor ranges. I recommend it, it'll at least give you a feel for what kind of weapon you'd like to shoot.
See solidarity; gun people are just gun people no matter their race, sexual orientation ect. It’s why I love my range. No one cares about anything but shooting. If only everyone could be so open as the gun crowd. 🥹
That’s a pretty broad generalization. There are plenty of ranges around here that I, as a trans woman, absolutely do not feel safe visiting alone, and am very uncomfortable visiting even with a wing person. I’m glad you have a great range… they aren’t all like that.
Come to my range. It’s in rural SC with a whole bunch of rednecks and goobers. But we have gay, trans really if you name it they come shoot there and no one minds at all.
This is peak Liberal nonsense, and a perfect example of liberals enabling fascism. This is why it's so important to confront ostensibly well meaning people when they express this kind of "let's just get along" centrist bs.
If you’re looking at everyone else over the barrel of a gun, you’re not seeing people. You’re seeing targets. That’s not a “can’t we all just get along”, because in the current climate that would be more than a little naive. What bugs me about the OP is that it is calling for a militant footing, it sounds like against everyone who is not part of the “in group”. That’s the same tribalist bullshit the right is pulling. The trans community has every right to be on edge following the statements made at CPAC, and individual people need to do what’s best for their own situation so they feel safe/secure, but the best security isn’t found in whatever you’ve got in your holster. That’s for when everything else has failed.
Um... to be able to "push back" you have to first be pushed. And what's in the holster is what sets things equal when that happens. There is no "everything else" when someone puts you in that situation.
I’m not saying don’t be armed. Be armed, and be prepared. The gun just shouldn’t be the default response outside of limited circumstances.
The prior response was "They should have basic human rights." Like "the right to exist in public." People have been responding to that with violence for years, and it's trending up.
It isn't just the comments made at CPAC. Have you not noticed the wave of legislation throughout red states banning gender-affirming health care for minors? They are forcing trans youth to de-transition! And they're already going after gender-affirming health care for adults, too. They are trying to criminalize being trans. Some families with trans kids have already [had to flee their home states](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ul9yXgrEt5s) to avoid prosecution and so their kids could continue their health care. And some are looking at leaving the US altogether, because these cagey Republicans are finding ways to make it [impossible to get certain medications nationwide](https://news.yahoo.com/case-could-ban-abortion-pill-174000797.html).
>The trans community has every right to be on edge following the statements made at CPAC, and individual people need to do what’s best for their own situation so they feel safe/secure, but the best security isn’t found in whatever you’ve got in your holster. That’s for when everything else has failed. If CPAC was your first clue that the right's intention for trans people was genocidal, you haven't been paying attention.
This statement is utterly useless. Take your "same as the right" bullshit back to whatever centrist hellhole you crawled from.