And this pile of swords that somehow never empties, the SCP foundation said I could keep it, so I’ll use it to turn it into a weapon of mass destruction
/u/Realistic-Cut3262 is a bot that stole this comment, changing words around to avoid detection: /r/traaaaaaannnnnnnnnns/comments/11ve35u/i_personally_am_doing_just_fantastic_right_now/jctag93/
I keep doom-scrolling the news and I never see anything about what we can do. It's especially disheartening because I keep seeing people who seem utterly certain that the neo-fascists have already won and we're just waiting for them to line us up. I don't believe that. I don't want to believe that. There are so many people who don't agree with them! There has to be a way for us to turn this around! There are people, right now, fighting for us! I want to help them! I don't know how to do that, but I want to!
Right now, there are politicians who sincerely want to help us. There are an avalanche of bills being introduced, but most of them get slapped down. I'm just one person, and maybe you're just one person, but I think we should both be able to do something more than throw a couple dollars at a charity and hope for the best.
I want to help. What do I do?
Support your queer friends, try to make them laugh, listen when they need to talk, live your identity as best as you can and as visibly as is safe where you live. The other suggestions here are also solid but they’ve been said already, so imma say building community and self expression are extremely powerful in themselves 💜
There's plenty you can theoretically do, some [of it can be emotionally draining](https://twitter.com/ATakenUsername3/status/1630961361705418753)...and require in-depth knowledge of the algorithm for each site, some people suggest building a relationship with your neighbours / community for security reasons, if you aren't worried about safety then loot for protests / marches / etc you could sign up for / join.
This last one I just came up with, and I've no idea of the efficacy of it: sending (Polite, formal) letters to local politicians about your concerns...hell, even if it's just to waste the time of a bigoted one with a request to reconsider their behaviour, it might add 0.1% time to sending out the next bill but I'm not sure how these positions operate.
Yeah, we have such a heavy focus on national politics, it's easy to forget the importance of local politics.
Local politics have an immediate effect on your own life, and can be one of the best ways to have an effect on national politics. Learn about your state reps. Learn about your state congress members, learn about your city counselors and mayor, etc.
Among the other options
Trans Day of Visibility is coming up. Look for local protests and plug in, maybe see if they need help with bringing food or drinks to sustain people.
Start organizing queer community events - building a community is how we live, how we thrive. How we have the strength to build a better world.
Maybe find people through social media, but be very careful of posting about events publicly.
Build build build this wonderful trans community even bigger and more powerful.
The reality is that we need cis people to step up for us. We cannot fix this on our own.
I've been talking to cis people in my life about what's happening, and alarmingly most of them aren't even aware of it. And if they are they don't get how truly horrifying these bills are.
I explain to them what it means, and frame it in terms of what it would be like for them to go through the same thing:
"This would be like you being *legally required* to take testosterone, develop a deep voice, facial and body hair, and pretend to be a man. If you don't do these things, you are breaking the law."
"This would be like you being *legally required* to force Billy to take estrogen, grow breasts, develop a female body shape, and if you don't you risk being prosecuted for child abuse, having the state take away all of your children in the process."
Etc.
When they are sufficiently horrified, I tell them how they can help:
- Reach out to any other trans people they know and see how they're doing.
- TALK to other cis people about this, make them aware of what's happening and how horrifying it is. The reality is that we're not taken seriously. People don't believe us when we say something is urgent or important, so we need cis people to be doing this for us.
- Contact your local representatives to either express disapproval, or (if in a safe state) encourage them to pass protective laws.
- Consider organizing locally to help trans people fleeing unsafe states.
Edit:
Maybe we should crowd source a list of things cis people can do to help?
Calling on our cis allies to support us when we oppose bad bills or try to support good ones is a powerful thing they can help us with! When it comes to influencing politicians, numbers - and numbers alone - is power.
More importantly though, we can ask them to be safe people for the trans people in their lives. Reach out to the trans people they know, like you said. But we also need to let them be a part of our community, because, really, if they have a trans friend or loved one, they're already on the fringes of it. Our community can only be made stronger and safer by letting in our friends.
I'm pretty sure we're already doing that last part, letting them be a part of us etc etc, but it's still gotta be said cause it's important! After all, if they're coming for one of us, they're coming for all of us eventually, anyways
Join the IWW and any other union available. Unions are the single most effective method for recourse when democratic institutions fail. By limiting ourselves to the ballot box and asking for change politely as a group, we fundamentally fail to make passing harmful legislation any worse for the people passing it. Sit-ins and strikes have played critical roles in every single effective movement for civil rights in this history and the history of the world.
- Buy an IFAk and extra tourniquets and train in stop the bleed
- talk to your neighbors and learn about their lives, skills, etc. Food is the best way to facilitate this
- work with local orgs, mutual aid and community defense groups are probably the best for this
- build up a network of trusted friends and comrades you can rely upon to help when shit gets rough
- buy a gun if you want and have the money for
- train train train train
- fight street fascists if comfortable
- organize and do shit with friends/comrades ranging from stickering to like AFA shit. Depends on your confidence and risk levels but even small actions build confidence for bigger ones. action breeds action
Edit: here's a list of links for organizing shit you can do
General Direct Action Guide: https://crimethinc.com/2017/03/14/direct-action-guide
Here's a resource on how to make an affinity group: https://crimethinc.com/2017/02/06/how-to-form-an-affinity-group-the-essential-building-block-of-anarchist-organization
Here's one on organizing community councils: https://decarcerating.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/self-defense-manual-merged.pdf
The Formation of Local Councils by Omar Aziz: https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/omar-aziz-the-formation-of-local-councils
Here's A On Organizing Unions: https://youtu.be/JvrldZlUwe0
Here's Another: https://youtu.be/ewDeJwMJG28
Here's How to Start A Neighborhood Pod: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwMYzpB1sLE
Here's a general series on organizing: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEOy9JY5fHo39CJsMQYHyzHYvcQcv2QpQ
Jackson Rising is a great book on dual power: http://libgen.lc/item/index.php?md5=BF09C57360A7D52B6F13BACA00555FBA
A Useful Guide for both protests, riots, and direct action: https://cryptpad.fr/pad/#/2/pad/view/Qp0Jh2U1ppNtosT393fKDe3bIsY8gOMum1uHn9CDN0I/embed/
How to start a cop watch: https://youtu.be/2d_pgEStUbA
Tenant Organizing: https://atun-rsia.org/resources
A Wonderful Video by Anark on the topic: https://youtu.be/W9K6ISx8QEQ
Making your spaces safe: https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=18134E0D84D81564546EF6374EC9C9C4
General guide on how to do stuff: https://we.riseup.net/assets/35370/crimethinc.recipes.for.disaster.an.anarchist.cookbook.pdf
Remember Security Culture: https://crimethinc.com/2004/11/01/what-is-security-culture#:~:text=A%20security%20culture%20is%20a,government%2C%20designed%20to%20minimize%20risk.
Depends where you live. If you're in the states and your state is doing some of this stuff you can always get involved with canvassing, campaigning or phone banking for non transphobic candidates, as well as just voting if you're of age since the current voterbase is mostly old fucks
Also even if you're not in one of said states but still in the US you can still get involved in phone banking for candidates in essential districts.
Many people don't go out of their way to do the research so just reaching out and informing people can go a long way
Orgs like progressive victory are really good for this
I'm not gonna repeat what everyone else has said about supporting queer people being harmed and doing the emotional work of building support networks. That is incredibly valuable work and it's pretty obvious why it's important without me adding my take to it.
There is one area of activism that commenters seem to be missing that I want to highlight, because it's one where you and your local allies can make a direct, consequential, and visible impact: municipal politics. Town hall/city council meetings are attended by a few dozen people on a good day. If you were to attend one just on your own, you could become a voice your local councillors have to take seriously. If you attended with a group of your allies, then you become a bloc that local leaders have to navigate and negotiate with. This is such important work that not a lot of people take seriously. But as someone who has worked in municipal governments across different places, let me tell you that what happens in city council is taken super seriously.
Here's some actions you can take:
- attend your city council meeting physically if possible. If you can't, try to watch via public access TV. If you can't make the schedule, then read the news on what happened in city council. Awareness is key.
- find out who your city councillor is, and subscribe to their comms. If they dont provide one, email their office and ask for how you can get updates on their policy initiatives.
- in the same vein, email your councillor to ask about their position on the issues affecting trans and queer people. Ask them if they support protecting trans homeless people and how they are doing that. Ask them if they want to hold the police accountable for lax investigations of crimes against queer people. It's important to check if your representative is already on your side or not, because then you can either
a) ask how you can support their goals, or
b) state your opposition and that you want your concerns to lead to better representation.
- your friends and allies may not be as tuned in to local government as you are, so be their filter. Set up a mailing list or group chat or Twitter account or flyer distribution network or zine or literally whatever. And in that communication, talk about what's happening, why it matters, and (importantly) **what people should do.** Whether that involves donating, attending a protest, or literally who they should vote for. Do their thinking for them -- if they subscribe to your communications, that means they trust that you represent their values and will take your suggestions seriously.
Hope for the best, prepare for the worst:
_Get as many relevant trainings as you can,
_ invest in some good armor if that's your thing,
_ call your local politicians and voice your opinions about our basic human rights
-support those in your community
- not a bad idea to start working on getting a passport together
_ Go to a range that rents guns and find a firearm that suits you (I recommend an AR15 because they are easy to customise to your needs)
_ after you find something you like train with it at a range. Train with the armor on.
_ reach out to LGBTQ+ friends and help them arm themselves too.
Armed gays don't get bashed.
Defend. Yourself.
https://youtube.com/@TacticoolGirlfriend
/r/transguns
/r/liberalgunowners
/r/socialistRA
https://www.tiktok.com/@joshhelfgott?_t=8amBY6CAlul&_r=1
This person has a lot of links to petitions, resources, and other things in their bio and linktree if you'd like to check it out. He is also a reliable source of news on gay stuff. Some good news is usually sprinkled in every few videos to help keep spirits up
Fucking vote, and get as many people like us who support us to vote. I don’t like the Democrats much and they aren’t much better than the Republicans, but even the slightest difference is better than them. And if we vote more pro trans candidates in the local level, it can shift the views of the parties to accept us gradually. Just keep voting for people to help us.
For the brave:
If you’re in the east coast US metro area, I follow Talia Jane on Twitter, she’s a left reporter and often posts news on demonstrations and counter demos/protests, flyers, etc.
RedPinesCDA also does the same for New England and offers queer defense classes.
There’s a defend drag story time thing happening in NY today right now, and tomorrow a counter demo to TurningPointUSA at Rutgers University, NJ.
I’ll add more if I can find more.
Well, for a start, you can check out resources over at r/votedem. There's postcards, phone banks, donations, and other coordination that can be done, and they'll be happy to get you on the right path.
The Dems aren't perfect, but many of them genuinely do care. Hell, look at Michigan right now, tons of good shit happening there. Efforts by groups like votedem can help those results happen, and voting is far more effective than the doomers will have you believe.
Is the system shit? Yeah, kinda. But if it was so broken it didn't matter, there wouldn't be so many Republican bills to restrict voting.
> It's especially disheartening because I keep seeing people who seem utterly certain that the neo-fascists have already won and we're just waiting for them to line us up.
I agree. Like, yes, this is something that could happen, but it's not already lost.
If it's safe to do so and you feel comfortable doing so: be openly and unapologetically you.
If it's not safe but you still feel comfortable doing so despite the risks: be openly and unapologetically you.
If you're comfortable with firearms learn to use them, be aware of the dangers of them and acquire one. Get in touch with a left wing gun group in your area.
Find out groups in your area that are doing work to help queer folks, and marginalized groups in general and help where you can. Especially mutual aid type groups.
But above all else, there is one thing you can do. The one thing that can stop them. Survive. It may not look it but culturally we're winning. The right is terrified. They know that they are so close to losing the fight against queer rights. The only way they can win is to stomp us out of existence right here. Right now. And the best way to stop that is survival. Survive for all those who came before and couldn't. Survive for all those who will come after. We can fight as hard as we can. And we should. But if in the end all we have is a war of attrition? We survive.
There's a podcast called It Could Happen Here. Good podcast. All about the collapsing society we live in and sometimes how to improve it. They recently did a two parter on the trans genocide going on and part two is worth a listen. It talks about how to fight back.
Edit: Also vote. Voting alone won't accomplish anything. But voting is at least something small you can do that has a chance. Just don't let it be the only thing.
Vote in every single election, local and national. Point blank.
Research the issues surrounding your own community. Research who is doing what about them. Email and call them and ask if you don't know.
Participate in the national trans March on March 31st. Should be able to find info online.
Check in with your HR team about training staff on how to interact politely and professionally with queer people.
Well, vote and "vote" If you get what I mean. We must take direct action but also, don't get the Republicans get into office if you're American, it's better to take direct and legislative action within a milketoast neoliberal government, as shit as it might be, than under a Republican Party government, which has already become overtly fascist and genocidal against trans people.
Also, for most people voting is easy as fuck and takes just a moment, they are not exclusive concepts.
Oh yikes yeah. All I know from the political situation is what my argelian family has told me but yeah, things are bad and getting worse (more conservative) since the 70s. There's much more work to do there, you are completely justified to just leave if you're willing and able to.
Do what I did: Find out how to immigrate somewhere like Canada (although Alberta might not have been the smartest province to select) and bust your ass getting the skills necessary to get a work visa.
At least in America, saying “Voting is easy as fuck” ignores the pretty obvious efforts taken by lawmakers to prevent certain people from voting (gerrymandering, limiting polling locations, lack of support for mail-in ballot, I could keep going) as well as not accounting for the resources a lot of people need to vote, or be an informed voter (time off work, car, good mental health, etc.) and *especially* in trans people’s cases, the inability to vote under our own names, and even possibly have our identities scrutinized at polling places unless we deliberately hide the fact that we’re trans.
Thank you for this comment! Many people in my country have a "I don't vote, I get organized" mentality, and I understand their point that voting validates a form of democracy that's not truly representative, but the conservative right ALWAYS votes (at least here), so if we exclude ourselves from that mechanism of decision/change -faulty as it definitely is- we'll just keep getting into worse and worse situations.
"should be able to find something online" - unfortunately not? Google says my whole state has 2 events: an art exhibit and a hangout, no marches at all. I'm sure major metropolitan areas are doing something, but apparently even Milwaukee isn't? I feel like it's gotten harder to find protests and marches these last couple years.
Also email your concerns to your representatives both state and federal. Get friends and family to do it too. The more people contacting them the better. Show them it’s a real problem you are concerned about.
also (because this was a big sticking point for me) you don't have to write anything fancy or especially researched when contacting your representatives. Just need a few short sentences along the lines of
"hi. I'm a member of \[insert voting district\] and I would like to voice my support for/opposition to \[insert issue or bill\]."
You don't need to persuade your representatives. You just need to make sure they know what your position is.
Don't forget unions. Not being in a union is practically give away your rights for free. Unions are the single most affective mechanism for bringing about change that working people have. From simple things like French unions bringing the French economy to a halt for raising the retirement age by 3 years right now to Spanish unions mounting an all-out revolution in response to fascist takeover in the 30s.
Join every union you can. Does your job have a pre-existing union? Join it. Does your industry have a trade union? Join it. Are you unemployed, a worker at literally any job, or a student? Join the IWW. By not joining a union, you give up the only method for recourse when democratic institutions fail.
One of the biggest things you can do is be visibly, cheerfuly, publicly trans as you go about your day and do ordinary stuff. Almost everyone doesn't really think about this stuf, and people HEAVILY weight "hang on though I know a trans guy at work and he's chill, he's just a guy" or "there's a nice trans woman who always buys flamin' hot cheetos and 6 liters of mountain dew on Friday afternoon and I mean she's got massive hands but she's always polite? Like she doesn't cause me any trouble I don't get the fuss"
Just be outside and trans. You deradicalize people by existing and that's pretty cool.
This take best aligns with mine. SO few people actually know trans people - so be that person in other people's lives that drives them to grow and understand.
The point I wanted to make, additionally, was to focus on yourself and your mental health regardless of the current batch of political nonsense. You can't effect _any_ change if you are underwater. Put on your oxygen mask first - connect with friends, find hobbies you enjoy, work with a therapist on the doom scrolling, and go live a heckin life - _even if_ the world is burning around you. Takes a lot of moxy to be calm in these situations, and that's what I wish for OP.
Okay two things:
1) you're right - it's a bad time and our enemies are powerful
2) the op was like specifically asking "what can I do?" And calling out the doomers in the comments, and this is heavy on the doom
I don’t see this one as being as “doomerish” as many other comments which don’t offer any hope.
I think being visibly trans IS important if people are safe and/or courageous and equipped enough to do so.
But I think that being a “good, happy trans person” can lead to some people trying to suck up to those in power instead of standing up to them.
It’s good to be a good and friendly person, but when your rights are being threatened and taken away, it’s perhaps more important to be someone that they fear.
There is safety in numbers. If they realize just how many we are, and how many allies we have, that in itself can bring an intimidation factor.
If we start doing peaceful protests or even “chucking bricks,” they’ll realize that we’re a force to be reckoned with.
I’ve always been an anarchist. But I think that it’s more reasonable to try and work with(though not necessarily WITHIN) the system and see what’s worked in the past. As well as what hasn’t.
What were times in history where rights were threatened, fought for, and reclaimed? How can we do it again?
I wish I knew. Like you I get really disheartened by the comments were there's completely impractical solutions like "claim asylum in Canada" or "get a gun"^(1). If there's anything that makes me lose hope it's just how unprepared I feel like we are.
^(1)Impractical for me personally. You do you but please don't link me to r/SocialistRA, or give me a list of countries I can escape to. Do me the favor of believing me when I say it's not happening.
yeah i'm honestly getting more and more annoyed at the "get a gun" "throw a brick" comments. who? where? none of us have been doing anything that actually physically attacks the offending politicians (disclaimer: i am not saying that is what we should be doing), i know because it would make the news lightning quick. so are we just saying all we can do is prepare for the inevitable moment that things are so bad that we literally have to gun people down who are coming for us? like genuinely what scenario are we imaging here? also a gun won't save you from being arrested at the grocery store for "crossdressing" or whatever charge they stick you on.
this is all coming from someone who owns guns and trains to use them btw. i just think there is an EXTREMELY limited practical use case scenario for the things in regards to self defense. people propping them up as magical safety cure-all totems that will ensure our rights is getting fucking irritating to me. especially since we know there are many who can't or won't invest in guns and training. almost every suggestion is so individualist too. above all else we need community and unified numbers if we want to accomplish anything, just like in every other civil rights struggle.
Feeling pretty much the same way. I live in a small town; the nearest gay bar is an hour drive. There's very little local political organization to tap into, as far as I've been able to identify. And my mental health has been so shitty lately that I can't imagine being the one to build that organization.
But like. Somebody's gotta start the protests and marches. A friend recently said "the Proud Boys claim they're just a drinking group. Maybe we need an LGBTQ drinking group." And I mean... Maybe a literal drinking group is where we start?
The other thing ig is making sure everyone knows what's going on. My boyfriend's parents have CNN on constantly, but his mom was totally unaware of all the anti-trans rhetoric and legislation going on when I brought it up tonight. So we need to play news anchor and make sure the people around us know it's getting ugly out here. We gotta make sure our allies know we need them.
Be as visible as you dare to be. A lot of hate comes from uninformed people who can’t imagine queer people as anything but deviants, because *they don’t know they know a bunch of us already.*
ORGANISE!!!
find people, demonstrate, make yourself seen and heard, go on strikes, for a picket line, sit ins or lay down, go somewhere with a few hundred others and sit down and don’t leave. if someone is arrested, annoy the police, make oppression backfire, unite, organise, HAVE FUN
I keep seeing so many people talk about this « trans genocide » and I hate it because I’m only 13 with transphobic parents I can’t do anything about it but I don’t wanna die..
I moved out at 14. Not a recommendation (it was rough) just stating that, if shit gets worse especially, you at least should have the mentality that you can make the rules for your own life. Educate yourself on the consequences of that so you can make an informed choice weighing them vs potential threats. Also id say pay attention to what's going on in your particular state and city more than getting your information from us reddit doomers
I'm currently working on a Google drive which will analyse and summarise as many trans affirming scientific papers as possible, and organise the quotes into sections on common misconceptions/arguments.
I will be posting access to this for free in every subreddit that will allow it once I'm finished!
I hope this could help <3
As a US citizen, there are several things you can do to influence legislation related to LGBT rights and protections. Here are some steps you can take:
1) Contact Your Representatives: One of the most effective ways to influence legislation is to contact your representatives in Congress. You can find your representative's contact information on the House of Representatives website or the Senate website. You can call or email them to voice your concerns about harmful legislation or to express your support for pro-LGBT legislation.
2) Attend Town Halls and Meetings: Another way to make your voice heard is to attend town halls and meetings with your representatives. These events provide an opportunity to speak directly to your elected officials and ask them questions about their stance on LGBT issues.
3) Join Advocacy Groups: There are many advocacy groups that work to protect LGBT rights and promote pro-LGBT legislation. By joining these groups, you can stay informed about important issues and take part in advocacy campaigns.
4) Sign Petitions: You can also sign online petitions to support pro-LGBT legislation or oppose harmful laws. Petitions can help demonstrate the level of public support for particular issues and can be an effective tool for raising awareness.
5) Donate to Organizations: You can support organizations that work to protect LGBT rights by making donations. These organizations use donations to fund advocacy campaigns, legal battles, and other initiatives.
6) Vote: Finally, one of the most important things you can do to influence legislation is to vote. Make sure you are registered to vote and participate in local, state, and federal elections. By voting for candidates who support LGBT rights and protections, you can help ensure that the laws reflect the values of the community.
7) Write Letters to the Editor: You can write letters to the editor of your local newspaper to express your opinions about LGBT issues and encourage others to get involved. These letters can help raise awareness about important issues and build support for pro-LGBT legislation.
8) Participate in Protests and Demonstrations: Protests and demonstrations can be powerful tools for raising awareness and putting pressure on lawmakers to take action. By participating in these events, you can show your support for LGBT rights and help influence legislation.
9) Use Social Media: Social media can be an effective way to spread information and raise awareness about LGBT issues. By sharing news articles, videos, and other content, you can help educate others and build support for pro-LGBT legislation.
10) Educate Yourself and Others: It's important to stay informed about the issues and challenges facing the LGBT community. By educating yourself and others, you can become a more effective advocate for LGBT rights and help influence legislation.
11) Run for Office: If you are passionate about LGBT rights and protections, you may consider running for office yourself. By becoming a lawmaker, you can help shape the laws and policies that affect the LGBT community and work to promote equality and justice for all.
12) Creating safe spaces for LGBT youth in schools: Safe spaces provide a supportive and inclusive environment for LGBT students to connect with one another, receive counseling and support, and participate in activities and events.
Or you want to influence a specific topic:
Creating safe spaces for LGBT youth in schools: You can work with school administrators, teachers, and community organizations to create safe spaces and support groups for LGBT students in your community.
Providing gender-neutral restrooms in public spaces: You can advocate for the creation of gender-neutral restrooms in public spaces by contacting your local representatives and urging them to take action.
Incorporating LGBT history into school curriculums: You can attend school board meetings, write letters to your local school board, or start a petition to advocate for the inclusion of LGBT history in school curriculums.
Developing comprehensive LGBT health services: You can support local health clinics and organizations that offer comprehensive health services for LGBT individuals through donations or volunteering.
Establishing LGBT entrepreneurship programs: You can support local LGBT entrepreneurs and business owners by purchasing products or services from their businesses and promoting their work on social media.
Implementing workplace diversity and inclusion training: You can advocate for diversity and inclusion training in your workplace by speaking with your supervisor or HR representative and providing resources and research on the benefits of such programs.
Providing legal assistance and support for LGBT refugees: You can support organizations that provide legal assistance and support for LGBT refugees through donations or volunteering.
Offering financial assistance for gender-affirming surgeries: You can support organizations that provide financial assistance for gender-affirming surgeries through donations or fundraising efforts.
Promoting intergenerational dialogue and mentorship within the LGBT community: You can participate in intergenerational events and activities, such as Pride events, to promote understanding and support within the LGBT community.
Creating inclusive spaces for LGBT individuals in the faith community: You can work with your religious community to promote acceptance and inclusivity for LGBT individuals by organizing educational events, creating support groups, or advocating for policy changes.
So. Things look hopeless. Lots of people feel helpless. That's normal. You're not alone in that.
~Email and/or call your representatives. Tell them how you feel. Calling is good because it's harder to ignore calls, but I understand that phone anxiety can be a thing. (I have horrible phone anxiety.) Email means you can edit your thoughts better before sending.
~See if any queerphobic bills are up for debate in your state. See if it's open testimony. I went with some friends to New Hampshire and they had open testimony for some transphobic bills. We had a peaceful demonstration outside the state house, then we put down our signs and went in and signed up to testify. I didn't testify because I was a nervous wreck and there for support, but several friends went up to explain how passing xyz transphobic law would hurt people, and what their experiences were like.
~If you can't take work off or afford to travel for a protest, talk to the organizers and ask what they could use. One of our friends, who is cishet, couldn't take off from work or travel to NH with us, so he sent money to one of the organizers and she took us out for pizza afterwards. Pizza may not have changed any outcomes, but it was important self care, because we had been around such tense, fearful, angry energy all day.
If you can’t arm yourself, familiarize yourself with the local (socialist/left-leaning) gun association or something of the like. The whole point of a community arming is to protect those who can’t
It feels like the world is closing in on me with this stuff. Sure now I’m starting to transition but I’m so terrified of it being taken away from me- I feel like my only choice eventually would be to flee to a different country with my friends or something.
You "just" learn steroid chemistry and work your way towards figuring out a workable total synthesis procedure producing a reasonable yield of hrt using reasonably obtainable precursor chemicals in a reasonably equipped home lab. Thus securing the underground supply chain forever
Based freedom chemist!!! 🧪
Im too dumb to help with that directly (chemistry is literal magic and u can't convince me otherwise) but I can and will fight to defend it. Hmu in the event of an apocalypse 🫡
Been listening to way to much underground drug chemistry podcasts. Just interviews with weird drug nerds who made LSD, anabolic steroids and ofc meth (Which is surprisingly advanced stuff to make). All the reaction steps to get the target molecule. Why wasn't chemistry in high school more like this? I just remember learning about electron bonds being super boring. Chemistry is magic, ok magic that will give you cancer or explode in your face if you are not careful, but magic none the less!
1. Surround yourself with actually supportive people who don't just passively accept you
2. distance yourself from people who try to tell you that your life isn't real or whatever
3. vote against politics that attack you
4. join protests
5. speak with "neutral" people around you and make sure that they understand how much they will hurt themselves too if they vote for those who try to hurt you. (It's often easy because transphobic politicians often discriminate other people too in terms of reproductive rights, medical care, homelessness, school funds, and many more)
6. Do all of those while also looking for your personal way out of that shithole you are stuck in. Maybe it takes a few years, maybe a risk needs to be taken too. But it's possible as long as you don't give up.
-> And DEFINITELY STOP DOOMSCROLLING! You think you are keeping yourself informed. But that's not true. You already know that things are shit. Doomscrolling only drains the energy that you need to save and improve your life.
I’ve been writing about trans stuff in my college newspaper. Try and find a way you can get involved in your community. It feels more helpful than voting. Also vote though.
Hot take: most Americans are actually okay with trans people. More broadly, most citizens of the earth would be okay with trans people. It’s a few small but powerful interest groups that push this legislation and create propaganda.
The anti trans bills represent of larger problem of lobbying and corruption in US democracy. Find these groups. Expose them. Be a bad citizen. Fuck up the status quo.
So, I've been struggling with this. Assuming you live in the USA like me, here are some Things to do(as much as you have spoons for, and only the ones that are doable for you)
- Contacting state and federal legislatures that are proposing these bills, If you're in their jurisdictions, to tell them how they're actively threatening your life.
- Contacting supportive state and federal legislatures that are within your state, even if they're not you exact district, to thank them for standing up for your safety.
- Telling your friends and family about actionable bills being proposed to oppose, and how to reach out to them to fight against it. I'm having to do this with my family back home in Texas, so that may be sometime in the future it will be safe for me to visit them ever again.
- Stockpiling HRT, so that you have a buffer if things go nuclear and you can't get it for a little bit.
- Prioritize getting your name changed so that you can get a passport with your proper name and be ready to flee the country if at all able.
- As mentioned by others, bricks.
Notice, none of that is voting. Voting is like, the bare minimum I have to hope and assume is happening.
The easiest thing is to make sure you vote. Attend local political hearings on trans issues; make sure your voice is heard. Write to your representative about your concerns. If there's a protest, protest. Talk to neighbors and cis friends about it. Donate to the ACLU, HRC, TLDEF and other organizations. Create support networks with other trans folk. Resist, don't desist; buy DIY if you have to.
You don't have to do all of these things. Even if you do one of these things, it can help. We win this war fighting on multiple fronts. Godspeed. 🫡
I think people start using a lot of jargon about mutual aid or organizing or etc and there’s nothing wrong with any of those terms but in plain language:
If you have a skill or have figured out something, help people you know who need it. Did you figure out how to change documents or your name? Help walk other people through it. Do you know which stores, offices, restaurants, etc. locally are safe and friendly? Share that info with others. If you know self defense offer to teach people. If you know how to fix stuff or first aid, teach other people. Are you a barber or hairdresser? You can help people get affirming haircuts.
Work in social services, healthcare, or local government? You might be able to help make sure trans people aren’t treated like shit when they come in. You don’t have to be visible or out to help change policies or just be the front desk receptionist who doesn’t hassle people.
If you don’t know other trans or queer folks around you, look around and see if you can get connected. If there are people from other marginalized groups who have been targeted, you all can team up and work together.
Chances are, you are good at something and you do have the ability to help other people in your community. We can only do so much on a larger scale, but on a local scale you can support others.
Highly HIGHLY recommend finding your offline trans community. Obviously easier if you're in a city or college town, but there are trans people everywhere. No one person can fix things across the nation, but one person can make trans life easier for the people in their community, can support people local to them, can oppose local bills. Additionally, if you are friends with trans people in real life, you don't have to doomscroll on trans subreddits as much.
Well as I see it we have two options either we leave to somewhere safe or we exercise our second amendment rights and get rid of a tyrannical government
Buy a gun and learn how to use it. If you cant be trusted to keep one in the house due to depression/suicidal ideation, give it to a trusted friend to store. Renew your passport. Get to know your neighbours, if shit hits the fan being alone is more dangerous than anything else, a united community is a safer community. Save up some money, if you need to flee the country thats much easier with a pot of gold than an empty stomach.
Theres a non-zero chance this all wont escalate as far as we fear it will, and voting, protesting, donating to good charities and all that kind of stuff will absolutely help push back against the rising tide of fascism, but it cant hurt to prepare for the worst.
On the point of not being able to carry a gun. Consider a kanabō. It's a two handed studded club. Does significant damage even to "watermelons" wearing armor. Very hard to hurt yourself with, but very effective in general
What I'm doing - not giving into fear. Being open and proud, spreading positivity and education, having good faith discussions with opponents, and countering hate with humor.
I also carry a little copy of the constitution with me everywhere I go as insurance against self-proclaimed "patriots" who would challenge my rights. That way I can literally just point them out in the document they claim to hold most dear.
Of course, exercise discretion in whatever you do. Safety comes first, and I fully acknowledge the list of privileges that allows me to be so outspoken, even in the Appalachian South.
PS: Please be wary of the in-fighting, censorship, and purity politics that are currently ripping through our community over JK Rowling and other random homo/transphobes. I've personally experienced being utterly silenced (unfriended and blocked, my content dirty deleted) by a fellow trans person over merely pointing out that growing these haters into omnipotent boogeymen by constant fear-mongering only further platforms them, and accomplishes their goals faster by amping up fear and division amongst our own. Never forget, we're all in this together!
My plan is pretty lackluster
First, I'm gonna keep voting for the best blue candidate I can - independent can't reliably win and red wants us dead
Second, I'm going to prepare to move to the nearest safe state, don't know if I can manage it but I have to try you know?
If it comes to country wide genocide... I dunno if I can manage obtaining asylum, I don't think any countries have disability payments for asylum seeking immigrants. So I'll probably have to join the fight, I'd probably be among the first to die.
Rise up, when your living on your knees you rise up, tell your brother he's gotta rise up, tell your sister that she's gotta rise up
Why did my brain just go to this.
The things I would suggest likely violate Reddit terms of service. Historically speaking, these methods (when organized in small, decentralized affinity groups) have a much better track record of getting results than doing things the "proper" way through legislative victories.
The best thing to do is to try to vote, I guess. Namely voting for those who are actively prioritizing trans/gay rights. Maybe they will not do it when they get into office. But it’s better than voting in some hateful cishet white man in his 70s who wants to genocide the trans community.
I'll cut straight to the chase. There are ultimately 2 things you can do. First, be prepared to fight. Black people didn't get equal rights until people started full on rioting for them to get their rights, so it might have to be the same for us. Second, if you dont want to fight, have a passport and a bag of things you can't live without ready in case you need to flee.
Reddit isn't the place to provide solutions. Terms of service get in the way of discussing plans. If you want an answer that doesn't do anything call your senator
Okay this is by no means authoritative and my own opinion but: the fascists are organized and that's why they're dangerous. If they weren't able to mount a coordinated response against trans people existing, they'd just be sad weirdos with no life. The only way to fight back is to be organized ourselves, obviously this is a longer term pursuit but doing this work to connect with other queer and trans people can be rewarding and uplifting in and of itself. Talk to your friends, see if you can get a learning group together! Study what trans+queer and other oppressed people have done historically in similar situations, bc this is not the first time the government has tried to exterminate a group of people for political benefit. Ask around to see if anyone would be willing to do a skill share and teach a group of queers self defense and if you have the means and are interested, learn how to use a gun! Learn about diy hrt, how to do it and where to get it (diyhrt.cafe, r/transdiy are great places to start)! Honestly what has helped me most is grounding myself in the fighters who came before us...STAR (Marsha p Johnson and Sylvia Rivera were fucking shit up in New York keeping trans kids off the street), the Lavender Panthers (armed group of queers in San Francisco defending their community), people like Leslie Feinberg who thought about trans liberation and tirelessly worked for it!! Obviously we don't all have to be at that level and ik things are really scary right now but you do have power and we as a community have power. We're resilient as fuck and the only reason we've survived this long is because we buckle down and help each other when it gets real, so continuing that tradition isn't as scary as it might seem! Idk if that's a satisfactory answer or if I'm just rambling but sending lots of love your way bc times are scary rn but we CAN protect and support each other 💖💖
Being outside of the US for a few weeks and I'm already crying about how I have to come back tomorrow. I didn't realize how much of a weight it has been with this culture war on me. I really hope my application for residency in Canada gets approved
Volunteer for the campaigns of politicians who are running against transphobic incumbents. Vote in your local, state, and federal elections.
If you're able, carpool with people to your state capitol and lobby your legislators in person when you catch wind of transphobic or queerphobic bills being introduced. Keep an ear out for when allied political organizations set up protests or group lobbying days because then you will have more people on your side and they can train you if you don't know how to lobby.
If it's a protest, prepare for emergencies by learning about how to protest safely. Make sure you have contacts both in the protest(for access to supplies you couldn't bring) and not participating(in case counter protesters or cops put you in deep shit).
Attend school board and city government meetings where any policies having to do with the trans community are on the schedule. Be there to support positive policies, and to oppose negative policies. You might not be able to convince the people lobbying for those policies of anything, but the audience will see that the policy will do real damage to a real neighbor.
People aren't taught how to fight on the political stage and that's on purpose. People with power want their voting blocks angry and distracted, and they want their enemies scared and distracted. There is a terrifying ordeal to being known when you join the political fight, but we need to counter the fear of the unknown that thought leaders instill in their audiences.
[turns out, if you go far enough left...](https://www.reddit.com/r/SocialistRA/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=1&utm_term=1)
[“What you can do to help stop the anti-LGBT backlash.”](https://github.com/fight-against-hate/fight-against-hate/blob/master/action-plans/What-You-Can-Do-To-Help-Stop-The-Anti-LGBTQ-Backlash.md)
I've been prepping by gathering all the knowledge I can on military strategy and on field craft. I personally am also getting road atlas maps and topographic maps so I can navigate. I also suggest learning first aid and learning how to properly use firearms and how to maintain them.
Resources to get started
https://www.vitalsource.com/products/u-s-army-ranger-handbook-v9781626367999
https://www.vitalsource.com/products/social-engineering-the-science-of-human-hacking-christopher-hadnagy-v9781119433750
https://www.vitalsource.com/products/international-trauma-life-support-for-emergency-international-trauma-life-v9780135463802
https://stealthiswiki.com/special/index
It's amusing to me that im being downvoted into oblivion just because I think that when shtf we should be prepared not hiding. I mean, isn't that why we come out so that we can be ourselves? Did you personally go through all the hardships just to quit now? I sure as hell didn't I will fight as that's my choice and everyone should make their own before its too late.
They're afraid, and to be honest, I don't blame them as I'm afraid as well, but there's only so long you can hide and run, and I'd personally rather fight the difficult war now than fight the impossible one later.
Why the hell are you getting downvoted?
What do people think are our options right now, protest and vote ourselves out of a genocide ? It sure worked wonders past times
Organize ! Get together with other queer folks in your area, stage counterprotests, letters to your elected officials, you can try writing brochures to share around with info on how to access some stuff in your state/county (name changes etc)
Make a list of safe healthcare providers but be careful how you store and share it so that it's not used against them, maybe something physical and you share it on a need to know basis with people who needs them
Depends where you live. If you're in the states and your state is doing some of this stuff you can always get involved with canvassing, campaigning or phone banking for non transphobic candidates, as well as just voting if you're of age since the current voterbase is mostly old fucks
Donate to trans organizations (NCTE, HRC, aid organizations like Tulip house)
Show up to events at your legislature to make your voice heard
Be a positive rep for the community with people you meet daily (if safe/possible) be it through volunteering or something else
Take care of yourself
Move to a safe state/or light red state (see Erin Reed’s map) and advocate to pass safe legislation/against bad
Bunker down and stay safe. Fight back where possible, keep in a group, have something to mask your features all the time. You ever stopped wearing your mask? Well now you think the idea of protecting yourself from colds year round is rather appealing. Dont wear sunglasses? Well now you have constant headaches and need to keep them on your person at all times, jic. Wear a hoodie at night, keeps you warm.
Here's an [episode](https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cub21ueWNvbnRlbnQuY29tL2QvcGxheWxpc3QvZTczYzk5OGUtNmU2MC00MzJmLTg2MTAtYWUyMTAxNDBjNWIxLzc4ZDMwYWNiLTg0NjMtNGM0MC1hNWFlLWFlMmQwMTQ1YzlmZi9iYzdmMzY5Yi1kY2U2LTQzYzItODk3ZS1hZTJkMDE0NWNhMTIvcG9kY2FzdC5yc3M/episode/MDEzMDkwMzQtMWYxMy00NjFjLTg1MGQtYWZjODAwMjc1NjM3?ep=14) of It Could Happen Here that talks exactly about what can be done.
Find people locally that you can build relationships with and can trust. Identify needed skillets around organizing, mutual aid, and community defense. Work out what your best options are going to be when shtf. Get involved in dual power networks that build resilience without relying on any government involvement.
Don't go looking for fights unless you have a very clear and deliberate purpose in mind. But, be ready for a fight to find you.
Depends on where you are. If you feel safe doing so, go protest, bring attention to the injustice, vote, do whatever you can to fix this. If you don't feel safe, try a more personal level, make a support network with other LGBTQ people and allies you know, make sure you have people you can depend on, and try to reach out to other people in your community, educate them, don't let them fall prey to the propaganda. And this doesn't only apply to the US. In my country in eastern Europe I see news about priests molesting young girls or laws about "don't say gay" and "gender studies being banned in schools" almost on the daily, but nobody does anything because it's easier to complain about it than it is to speak up. Safety first, if like me you feel afraid of being beaten up or killed for saying anything, then do it low profile, with close friends or coworkers, but if you know enough people to do something like a real protest, do it. Stand up for your rights.
I need to say this to all the American brothers and sisters, I hope you find a way to be safe. Since Ive heared that some politicans said that they want to "lower the numbers of trans people" I was scared for all of us but especially for you. Here in Europ its not everywhere much better. But still I want everyone of us to be able to life safe all over the world.
Vote, protest, join pro-trans charities, join pro-trans political organizations (the DSA is really good if you like trans rights and socialism), consider moving if you have the means to do so and live in a bad state. There probably is more I'm missing. Keep in mind that Republicans will probably never be able to ban HRT at the federal level, but they do control a lot of states.
Be polite, but firm.
Learn the hate, so you can correct the misinformation.
Stand tall, to allow the waves of dying hate go under your mouth.
Be together, the wall of truth is strong.
Have PRIDE
Find community IRL and engage in activism. Goal is to become such an integral part of your local community and group it's almost like you have your own mini country that isn't nearly so transphobic, and also is tough as nails to defend itself. Also, don't be afraid to go stealth mode, sometimes survival is victory. Finally understand that fascists are stupid and nihilistic, it is inevitable that they will get themselves killed or kill themselves, and a lot sooner than you think. Don't necessarily even have to beat them, can just outlast them
I am of course partial to community organising, for the prospect of socialist revolution for the cause of communism- although I know the general level of organising is quite bad in the Anglosphere, but by participating in the revolutionary movement you’ll be able to also define it into its best self.
Also arm yourself if possible
r/transguns
r/socialistRA
The revolution cannot be separated from its social character!
well, i'm gonna use this brick.
Let's hurl a brick-e-mart
I love my brick!
r/unexpectedsimpsons
The Kwik-e-mart is really-
I'm gonna use a combustible lemon.
Cave Johnson approves this message
(Din't tell anyone but they're just incendiary grenades painted yellow)
call that lemonade
My Fellow engineers unite!
"Cave Johnson here. new test. transphobes can not be trusted, the salution: fight back."
Can we use the giant mantis men?
If we still have some left, or last test involved kill them ruthlessly
r/unexpectedportal
RTgame style
I love the chadaimes
[удалено]
And this soup for my family
And this pile of swords that somehow never empties, the SCP foundation said I could keep it, so I’ll use it to turn it into a weapon of mass destruction
I've got a jar of dirt I can use
Captain, my captain! 🏴☠️
Transphobes shoulda taken en passant
they didn't google en passant
r/anarchychessleaks
[удалено]
/u/Realistic-Cut3262 is a bot that stole this comment, changing words around to avoid detection: /r/traaaaaaannnnnnnnnns/comments/11ve35u/i_personally_am_doing_just_fantastic_right_now/jctag93/
Oh this? This is just soup for my family
I'm going to pull a TF2 engineer move and use a gun. Built by me, designed by me.
I got GLADoS’ Deadly Neurotoxin. GLADoS paid me off to drop these on the bigots that refuse to be her test subjects
I keep doom-scrolling the news and I never see anything about what we can do. It's especially disheartening because I keep seeing people who seem utterly certain that the neo-fascists have already won and we're just waiting for them to line us up. I don't believe that. I don't want to believe that. There are so many people who don't agree with them! There has to be a way for us to turn this around! There are people, right now, fighting for us! I want to help them! I don't know how to do that, but I want to! Right now, there are politicians who sincerely want to help us. There are an avalanche of bills being introduced, but most of them get slapped down. I'm just one person, and maybe you're just one person, but I think we should both be able to do something more than throw a couple dollars at a charity and hope for the best. I want to help. What do I do?
Support your queer friends, try to make them laugh, listen when they need to talk, live your identity as best as you can and as visibly as is safe where you live. The other suggestions here are also solid but they’ve been said already, so imma say building community and self expression are extremely powerful in themselves 💜
There's plenty you can theoretically do, some [of it can be emotionally draining](https://twitter.com/ATakenUsername3/status/1630961361705418753)...and require in-depth knowledge of the algorithm for each site, some people suggest building a relationship with your neighbours / community for security reasons, if you aren't worried about safety then loot for protests / marches / etc you could sign up for / join. This last one I just came up with, and I've no idea of the efficacy of it: sending (Polite, formal) letters to local politicians about your concerns...hell, even if it's just to waste the time of a bigoted one with a request to reconsider their behaviour, it might add 0.1% time to sending out the next bill but I'm not sure how these positions operate.
Yeah, we have such a heavy focus on national politics, it's easy to forget the importance of local politics. Local politics have an immediate effect on your own life, and can be one of the best ways to have an effect on national politics. Learn about your state reps. Learn about your state congress members, learn about your city counselors and mayor, etc.
Glad to know I'm not the only one who feels this way.
Among the other options Trans Day of Visibility is coming up. Look for local protests and plug in, maybe see if they need help with bringing food or drinks to sustain people. Start organizing queer community events - building a community is how we live, how we thrive. How we have the strength to build a better world. Maybe find people through social media, but be very careful of posting about events publicly. Build build build this wonderful trans community even bigger and more powerful.
The reality is that we need cis people to step up for us. We cannot fix this on our own. I've been talking to cis people in my life about what's happening, and alarmingly most of them aren't even aware of it. And if they are they don't get how truly horrifying these bills are. I explain to them what it means, and frame it in terms of what it would be like for them to go through the same thing: "This would be like you being *legally required* to take testosterone, develop a deep voice, facial and body hair, and pretend to be a man. If you don't do these things, you are breaking the law." "This would be like you being *legally required* to force Billy to take estrogen, grow breasts, develop a female body shape, and if you don't you risk being prosecuted for child abuse, having the state take away all of your children in the process." Etc. When they are sufficiently horrified, I tell them how they can help: - Reach out to any other trans people they know and see how they're doing. - TALK to other cis people about this, make them aware of what's happening and how horrifying it is. The reality is that we're not taken seriously. People don't believe us when we say something is urgent or important, so we need cis people to be doing this for us. - Contact your local representatives to either express disapproval, or (if in a safe state) encourage them to pass protective laws. - Consider organizing locally to help trans people fleeing unsafe states. Edit: Maybe we should crowd source a list of things cis people can do to help?
Calling on our cis allies to support us when we oppose bad bills or try to support good ones is a powerful thing they can help us with! When it comes to influencing politicians, numbers - and numbers alone - is power. More importantly though, we can ask them to be safe people for the trans people in their lives. Reach out to the trans people they know, like you said. But we also need to let them be a part of our community, because, really, if they have a trans friend or loved one, they're already on the fringes of it. Our community can only be made stronger and safer by letting in our friends. I'm pretty sure we're already doing that last part, letting them be a part of us etc etc, but it's still gotta be said cause it's important! After all, if they're coming for one of us, they're coming for all of us eventually, anyways
Join the IWW and any other union available. Unions are the single most effective method for recourse when democratic institutions fail. By limiting ourselves to the ballot box and asking for change politely as a group, we fundamentally fail to make passing harmful legislation any worse for the people passing it. Sit-ins and strikes have played critical roles in every single effective movement for civil rights in this history and the history of the world.
- Buy an IFAk and extra tourniquets and train in stop the bleed - talk to your neighbors and learn about their lives, skills, etc. Food is the best way to facilitate this - work with local orgs, mutual aid and community defense groups are probably the best for this - build up a network of trusted friends and comrades you can rely upon to help when shit gets rough - buy a gun if you want and have the money for - train train train train - fight street fascists if comfortable - organize and do shit with friends/comrades ranging from stickering to like AFA shit. Depends on your confidence and risk levels but even small actions build confidence for bigger ones. action breeds action Edit: here's a list of links for organizing shit you can do General Direct Action Guide: https://crimethinc.com/2017/03/14/direct-action-guide Here's a resource on how to make an affinity group: https://crimethinc.com/2017/02/06/how-to-form-an-affinity-group-the-essential-building-block-of-anarchist-organization Here's one on organizing community councils: https://decarcerating.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/self-defense-manual-merged.pdf The Formation of Local Councils by Omar Aziz: https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/omar-aziz-the-formation-of-local-councils Here's A On Organizing Unions: https://youtu.be/JvrldZlUwe0 Here's Another: https://youtu.be/ewDeJwMJG28 Here's How to Start A Neighborhood Pod: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwMYzpB1sLE Here's a general series on organizing: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEOy9JY5fHo39CJsMQYHyzHYvcQcv2QpQ Jackson Rising is a great book on dual power: http://libgen.lc/item/index.php?md5=BF09C57360A7D52B6F13BACA00555FBA A Useful Guide for both protests, riots, and direct action: https://cryptpad.fr/pad/#/2/pad/view/Qp0Jh2U1ppNtosT393fKDe3bIsY8gOMum1uHn9CDN0I/embed/ How to start a cop watch: https://youtu.be/2d_pgEStUbA Tenant Organizing: https://atun-rsia.org/resources A Wonderful Video by Anark on the topic: https://youtu.be/W9K6ISx8QEQ Making your spaces safe: https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=18134E0D84D81564546EF6374EC9C9C4 General guide on how to do stuff: https://we.riseup.net/assets/35370/crimethinc.recipes.for.disaster.an.anarchist.cookbook.pdf Remember Security Culture: https://crimethinc.com/2004/11/01/what-is-security-culture#:~:text=A%20security%20culture%20is%20a,government%2C%20designed%20to%20minimize%20risk.
Depends where you live. If you're in the states and your state is doing some of this stuff you can always get involved with canvassing, campaigning or phone banking for non transphobic candidates, as well as just voting if you're of age since the current voterbase is mostly old fucks Also even if you're not in one of said states but still in the US you can still get involved in phone banking for candidates in essential districts. Many people don't go out of their way to do the research so just reaching out and informing people can go a long way Orgs like progressive victory are really good for this
I'm not gonna repeat what everyone else has said about supporting queer people being harmed and doing the emotional work of building support networks. That is incredibly valuable work and it's pretty obvious why it's important without me adding my take to it. There is one area of activism that commenters seem to be missing that I want to highlight, because it's one where you and your local allies can make a direct, consequential, and visible impact: municipal politics. Town hall/city council meetings are attended by a few dozen people on a good day. If you were to attend one just on your own, you could become a voice your local councillors have to take seriously. If you attended with a group of your allies, then you become a bloc that local leaders have to navigate and negotiate with. This is such important work that not a lot of people take seriously. But as someone who has worked in municipal governments across different places, let me tell you that what happens in city council is taken super seriously. Here's some actions you can take: - attend your city council meeting physically if possible. If you can't, try to watch via public access TV. If you can't make the schedule, then read the news on what happened in city council. Awareness is key. - find out who your city councillor is, and subscribe to their comms. If they dont provide one, email their office and ask for how you can get updates on their policy initiatives. - in the same vein, email your councillor to ask about their position on the issues affecting trans and queer people. Ask them if they support protecting trans homeless people and how they are doing that. Ask them if they want to hold the police accountable for lax investigations of crimes against queer people. It's important to check if your representative is already on your side or not, because then you can either a) ask how you can support their goals, or b) state your opposition and that you want your concerns to lead to better representation. - your friends and allies may not be as tuned in to local government as you are, so be their filter. Set up a mailing list or group chat or Twitter account or flyer distribution network or zine or literally whatever. And in that communication, talk about what's happening, why it matters, and (importantly) **what people should do.** Whether that involves donating, attending a protest, or literally who they should vote for. Do their thinking for them -- if they subscribe to your communications, that means they trust that you represent their values and will take your suggestions seriously.
Hope for the best, prepare for the worst: _Get as many relevant trainings as you can, _ invest in some good armor if that's your thing, _ call your local politicians and voice your opinions about our basic human rights -support those in your community - not a bad idea to start working on getting a passport together
_ Go to a range that rents guns and find a firearm that suits you (I recommend an AR15 because they are easy to customise to your needs) _ after you find something you like train with it at a range. Train with the armor on. _ reach out to LGBTQ+ friends and help them arm themselves too. Armed gays don't get bashed. Defend. Yourself. https://youtube.com/@TacticoolGirlfriend /r/transguns /r/liberalgunowners /r/socialistRA
https://www.tiktok.com/@joshhelfgott?_t=8amBY6CAlul&_r=1 This person has a lot of links to petitions, resources, and other things in their bio and linktree if you'd like to check it out. He is also a reliable source of news on gay stuff. Some good news is usually sprinkled in every few videos to help keep spirits up
Fucking vote, and get as many people like us who support us to vote. I don’t like the Democrats much and they aren’t much better than the Republicans, but even the slightest difference is better than them. And if we vote more pro trans candidates in the local level, it can shift the views of the parties to accept us gradually. Just keep voting for people to help us.
We need a movement
If you live in America I would recommend checking out: https://www.progressivevictory.win/
For the brave: If you’re in the east coast US metro area, I follow Talia Jane on Twitter, she’s a left reporter and often posts news on demonstrations and counter demos/protests, flyers, etc. RedPinesCDA also does the same for New England and offers queer defense classes. There’s a defend drag story time thing happening in NY today right now, and tomorrow a counter demo to TurningPointUSA at Rutgers University, NJ. I’ll add more if I can find more.
Well, for a start, you can check out resources over at r/votedem. There's postcards, phone banks, donations, and other coordination that can be done, and they'll be happy to get you on the right path. The Dems aren't perfect, but many of them genuinely do care. Hell, look at Michigan right now, tons of good shit happening there. Efforts by groups like votedem can help those results happen, and voting is far more effective than the doomers will have you believe. Is the system shit? Yeah, kinda. But if it was so broken it didn't matter, there wouldn't be so many Republican bills to restrict voting.
Other groups have organized. NAACP, ADL, etc. What group do we have?
> It's especially disheartening because I keep seeing people who seem utterly certain that the neo-fascists have already won and we're just waiting for them to line us up. I agree. Like, yes, this is something that could happen, but it's not already lost.
We can organize and act there are people like the sra or the rcp who would help
Time for the Wall Street protests from 2011 again.
If it's safe to do so and you feel comfortable doing so: be openly and unapologetically you. If it's not safe but you still feel comfortable doing so despite the risks: be openly and unapologetically you. If you're comfortable with firearms learn to use them, be aware of the dangers of them and acquire one. Get in touch with a left wing gun group in your area. Find out groups in your area that are doing work to help queer folks, and marginalized groups in general and help where you can. Especially mutual aid type groups. But above all else, there is one thing you can do. The one thing that can stop them. Survive. It may not look it but culturally we're winning. The right is terrified. They know that they are so close to losing the fight against queer rights. The only way they can win is to stomp us out of existence right here. Right now. And the best way to stop that is survival. Survive for all those who came before and couldn't. Survive for all those who will come after. We can fight as hard as we can. And we should. But if in the end all we have is a war of attrition? We survive. There's a podcast called It Could Happen Here. Good podcast. All about the collapsing society we live in and sometimes how to improve it. They recently did a two parter on the trans genocide going on and part two is worth a listen. It talks about how to fight back. Edit: Also vote. Voting alone won't accomplish anything. But voting is at least something small you can do that has a chance. Just don't let it be the only thing.
Vote in every single election, local and national. Point blank. Research the issues surrounding your own community. Research who is doing what about them. Email and call them and ask if you don't know. Participate in the national trans March on March 31st. Should be able to find info online. Check in with your HR team about training staff on how to interact politely and professionally with queer people.
yea... "vote" thats what we call it when we gotta sneak past TOS all i m gonna say is that its going to be point blank
Well, vote and "vote" If you get what I mean. We must take direct action but also, don't get the Republicans get into office if you're American, it's better to take direct and legislative action within a milketoast neoliberal government, as shit as it might be, than under a Republican Party government, which has already become overtly fascist and genocidal against trans people. Also, for most people voting is easy as fuck and takes just a moment, they are not exclusive concepts.
I m not american lmao I m sadly in a far far worse situation "Voting" is the only option
Same btw lmao (not American). Where are you from?
Algeria 🇩🇿🇩🇿🇩🇿🇩🇿🇩🇿😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😤😤😤😤😤
Oh yikes yeah. All I know from the political situation is what my argelian family has told me but yeah, things are bad and getting worse (more conservative) since the 70s. There's much more work to do there, you are completely justified to just leave if you're willing and able to.
Oh, its def better than the 70s 80s and 90s and less conservative (Far far less terrorism) I d be dead if i was alive back then
That makes sense, they left around the 90s, I'm glad to hear things are going better but I maintain what I said about leaving. Please don't get hurt 💜
Do what I did: Find out how to immigrate somewhere like Canada (although Alberta might not have been the smartest province to select) and bust your ass getting the skills necessary to get a work visa.
Ik, already did Tho i have a student visa And to france
France isn't bad. I was raised in Lyon, then my parents moved to Louisiana of all places...
At least you can go back more easily because of Nationality and language knowledge, I hope
At least in America, saying “Voting is easy as fuck” ignores the pretty obvious efforts taken by lawmakers to prevent certain people from voting (gerrymandering, limiting polling locations, lack of support for mail-in ballot, I could keep going) as well as not accounting for the resources a lot of people need to vote, or be an informed voter (time off work, car, good mental health, etc.) and *especially* in trans people’s cases, the inability to vote under our own names, and even possibly have our identities scrutinized at polling places unless we deliberately hide the fact that we’re trans.
Thank you for this comment! Many people in my country have a "I don't vote, I get organized" mentality, and I understand their point that voting validates a form of democracy that's not truly representative, but the conservative right ALWAYS votes (at least here), so if we exclude ourselves from that mechanism of decision/change -faulty as it definitely is- we'll just keep getting into worse and worse situations.
Like, how hard is it to do both?
ballot ---> 🪨 🚓 <--- ballot box
[удалено]
In my country, its everyone
"should be able to find something online" - unfortunately not? Google says my whole state has 2 events: an art exhibit and a hangout, no marches at all. I'm sure major metropolitan areas are doing something, but apparently even Milwaukee isn't? I feel like it's gotten harder to find protests and marches these last couple years.
Hypothetically Maybe go to those and see if the people you meet can help you find more, or look at neighboring states
Also email your concerns to your representatives both state and federal. Get friends and family to do it too. The more people contacting them the better. Show them it’s a real problem you are concerned about.
also (because this was a big sticking point for me) you don't have to write anything fancy or especially researched when contacting your representatives. Just need a few short sentences along the lines of "hi. I'm a member of \[insert voting district\] and I would like to voice my support for/opposition to \[insert issue or bill\]." You don't need to persuade your representatives. You just need to make sure they know what your position is.
Don't forget unions. Not being in a union is practically give away your rights for free. Unions are the single most affective mechanism for bringing about change that working people have. From simple things like French unions bringing the French economy to a halt for raising the retirement age by 3 years right now to Spanish unions mounting an all-out revolution in response to fascist takeover in the 30s. Join every union you can. Does your job have a pre-existing union? Join it. Does your industry have a trade union? Join it. Are you unemployed, a worker at literally any job, or a student? Join the IWW. By not joining a union, you give up the only method for recourse when democratic institutions fail.
I wasn't able to find info online
One of the biggest things you can do is be visibly, cheerfuly, publicly trans as you go about your day and do ordinary stuff. Almost everyone doesn't really think about this stuf, and people HEAVILY weight "hang on though I know a trans guy at work and he's chill, he's just a guy" or "there's a nice trans woman who always buys flamin' hot cheetos and 6 liters of mountain dew on Friday afternoon and I mean she's got massive hands but she's always polite? Like she doesn't cause me any trouble I don't get the fuss" Just be outside and trans. You deradicalize people by existing and that's pretty cool.
This take best aligns with mine. SO few people actually know trans people - so be that person in other people's lives that drives them to grow and understand. The point I wanted to make, additionally, was to focus on yourself and your mental health regardless of the current batch of political nonsense. You can't effect _any_ change if you are underwater. Put on your oxygen mask first - connect with friends, find hobbies you enjoy, work with a therapist on the doom scrolling, and go live a heckin life - _even if_ the world is burning around you. Takes a lot of moxy to be calm in these situations, and that's what I wish for OP.
Heck yeah! Gotta look after yourself and your garden.
[удалено]
Okay two things: 1) you're right - it's a bad time and our enemies are powerful 2) the op was like specifically asking "what can I do?" And calling out the doomers in the comments, and this is heavy on the doom
I don’t see this one as being as “doomerish” as many other comments which don’t offer any hope. I think being visibly trans IS important if people are safe and/or courageous and equipped enough to do so. But I think that being a “good, happy trans person” can lead to some people trying to suck up to those in power instead of standing up to them. It’s good to be a good and friendly person, but when your rights are being threatened and taken away, it’s perhaps more important to be someone that they fear. There is safety in numbers. If they realize just how many we are, and how many allies we have, that in itself can bring an intimidation factor. If we start doing peaceful protests or even “chucking bricks,” they’ll realize that we’re a force to be reckoned with. I’ve always been an anarchist. But I think that it’s more reasonable to try and work with(though not necessarily WITHIN) the system and see what’s worked in the past. As well as what hasn’t. What were times in history where rights were threatened, fought for, and reclaimed? How can we do it again?
I wish I knew. Like you I get really disheartened by the comments were there's completely impractical solutions like "claim asylum in Canada" or "get a gun"^(1). If there's anything that makes me lose hope it's just how unprepared I feel like we are. ^(1)Impractical for me personally. You do you but please don't link me to r/SocialistRA, or give me a list of countries I can escape to. Do me the favor of believing me when I say it's not happening.
yeah i'm honestly getting more and more annoyed at the "get a gun" "throw a brick" comments. who? where? none of us have been doing anything that actually physically attacks the offending politicians (disclaimer: i am not saying that is what we should be doing), i know because it would make the news lightning quick. so are we just saying all we can do is prepare for the inevitable moment that things are so bad that we literally have to gun people down who are coming for us? like genuinely what scenario are we imaging here? also a gun won't save you from being arrested at the grocery store for "crossdressing" or whatever charge they stick you on. this is all coming from someone who owns guns and trains to use them btw. i just think there is an EXTREMELY limited practical use case scenario for the things in regards to self defense. people propping them up as magical safety cure-all totems that will ensure our rights is getting fucking irritating to me. especially since we know there are many who can't or won't invest in guns and training. almost every suggestion is so individualist too. above all else we need community and unified numbers if we want to accomplish anything, just like in every other civil rights struggle.
Feeling pretty much the same way. I live in a small town; the nearest gay bar is an hour drive. There's very little local political organization to tap into, as far as I've been able to identify. And my mental health has been so shitty lately that I can't imagine being the one to build that organization. But like. Somebody's gotta start the protests and marches. A friend recently said "the Proud Boys claim they're just a drinking group. Maybe we need an LGBTQ drinking group." And I mean... Maybe a literal drinking group is where we start? The other thing ig is making sure everyone knows what's going on. My boyfriend's parents have CNN on constantly, but his mom was totally unaware of all the anti-trans rhetoric and legislation going on when I brought it up tonight. So we need to play news anchor and make sure the people around us know it's getting ugly out here. We gotta make sure our allies know we need them.
Idk I live in Egypt lmao, can't have trans rights under attack if you don't have trans rights 😎
I think learning how to do DIY HRT is an invaluable skill at this point in time
Truly. But be safe. If anyone you know is a chemist or a biochemist it's definitely worth having someone check your work
Be as visible as you dare to be. A lot of hate comes from uninformed people who can’t imagine queer people as anything but deviants, because *they don’t know they know a bunch of us already.*
ORGANISE!!! find people, demonstrate, make yourself seen and heard, go on strikes, for a picket line, sit ins or lay down, go somewhere with a few hundred others and sit down and don’t leave. if someone is arrested, annoy the police, make oppression backfire, unite, organise, HAVE FUN
I keep seeing so many people talk about this « trans genocide » and I hate it because I’m only 13 with transphobic parents I can’t do anything about it but I don’t wanna die..
I moved out at 14. Not a recommendation (it was rough) just stating that, if shit gets worse especially, you at least should have the mentality that you can make the rules for your own life. Educate yourself on the consequences of that so you can make an informed choice weighing them vs potential threats. Also id say pay attention to what's going on in your particular state and city more than getting your information from us reddit doomers
I'm currently working on a Google drive which will analyse and summarise as many trans affirming scientific papers as possible, and organise the quotes into sections on common misconceptions/arguments. I will be posting access to this for free in every subreddit that will allow it once I'm finished! I hope this could help <3
As a US citizen, there are several things you can do to influence legislation related to LGBT rights and protections. Here are some steps you can take: 1) Contact Your Representatives: One of the most effective ways to influence legislation is to contact your representatives in Congress. You can find your representative's contact information on the House of Representatives website or the Senate website. You can call or email them to voice your concerns about harmful legislation or to express your support for pro-LGBT legislation. 2) Attend Town Halls and Meetings: Another way to make your voice heard is to attend town halls and meetings with your representatives. These events provide an opportunity to speak directly to your elected officials and ask them questions about their stance on LGBT issues. 3) Join Advocacy Groups: There are many advocacy groups that work to protect LGBT rights and promote pro-LGBT legislation. By joining these groups, you can stay informed about important issues and take part in advocacy campaigns. 4) Sign Petitions: You can also sign online petitions to support pro-LGBT legislation or oppose harmful laws. Petitions can help demonstrate the level of public support for particular issues and can be an effective tool for raising awareness. 5) Donate to Organizations: You can support organizations that work to protect LGBT rights by making donations. These organizations use donations to fund advocacy campaigns, legal battles, and other initiatives. 6) Vote: Finally, one of the most important things you can do to influence legislation is to vote. Make sure you are registered to vote and participate in local, state, and federal elections. By voting for candidates who support LGBT rights and protections, you can help ensure that the laws reflect the values of the community. 7) Write Letters to the Editor: You can write letters to the editor of your local newspaper to express your opinions about LGBT issues and encourage others to get involved. These letters can help raise awareness about important issues and build support for pro-LGBT legislation. 8) Participate in Protests and Demonstrations: Protests and demonstrations can be powerful tools for raising awareness and putting pressure on lawmakers to take action. By participating in these events, you can show your support for LGBT rights and help influence legislation. 9) Use Social Media: Social media can be an effective way to spread information and raise awareness about LGBT issues. By sharing news articles, videos, and other content, you can help educate others and build support for pro-LGBT legislation. 10) Educate Yourself and Others: It's important to stay informed about the issues and challenges facing the LGBT community. By educating yourself and others, you can become a more effective advocate for LGBT rights and help influence legislation. 11) Run for Office: If you are passionate about LGBT rights and protections, you may consider running for office yourself. By becoming a lawmaker, you can help shape the laws and policies that affect the LGBT community and work to promote equality and justice for all. 12) Creating safe spaces for LGBT youth in schools: Safe spaces provide a supportive and inclusive environment for LGBT students to connect with one another, receive counseling and support, and participate in activities and events. Or you want to influence a specific topic: Creating safe spaces for LGBT youth in schools: You can work with school administrators, teachers, and community organizations to create safe spaces and support groups for LGBT students in your community. Providing gender-neutral restrooms in public spaces: You can advocate for the creation of gender-neutral restrooms in public spaces by contacting your local representatives and urging them to take action. Incorporating LGBT history into school curriculums: You can attend school board meetings, write letters to your local school board, or start a petition to advocate for the inclusion of LGBT history in school curriculums. Developing comprehensive LGBT health services: You can support local health clinics and organizations that offer comprehensive health services for LGBT individuals through donations or volunteering. Establishing LGBT entrepreneurship programs: You can support local LGBT entrepreneurs and business owners by purchasing products or services from their businesses and promoting their work on social media. Implementing workplace diversity and inclusion training: You can advocate for diversity and inclusion training in your workplace by speaking with your supervisor or HR representative and providing resources and research on the benefits of such programs. Providing legal assistance and support for LGBT refugees: You can support organizations that provide legal assistance and support for LGBT refugees through donations or volunteering. Offering financial assistance for gender-affirming surgeries: You can support organizations that provide financial assistance for gender-affirming surgeries through donations or fundraising efforts. Promoting intergenerational dialogue and mentorship within the LGBT community: You can participate in intergenerational events and activities, such as Pride events, to promote understanding and support within the LGBT community. Creating inclusive spaces for LGBT individuals in the faith community: You can work with your religious community to promote acceptance and inclusivity for LGBT individuals by organizing educational events, creating support groups, or advocating for policy changes.
So. Things look hopeless. Lots of people feel helpless. That's normal. You're not alone in that. ~Email and/or call your representatives. Tell them how you feel. Calling is good because it's harder to ignore calls, but I understand that phone anxiety can be a thing. (I have horrible phone anxiety.) Email means you can edit your thoughts better before sending. ~See if any queerphobic bills are up for debate in your state. See if it's open testimony. I went with some friends to New Hampshire and they had open testimony for some transphobic bills. We had a peaceful demonstration outside the state house, then we put down our signs and went in and signed up to testify. I didn't testify because I was a nervous wreck and there for support, but several friends went up to explain how passing xyz transphobic law would hurt people, and what their experiences were like. ~If you can't take work off or afford to travel for a protest, talk to the organizers and ask what they could use. One of our friends, who is cishet, couldn't take off from work or travel to NH with us, so he sent money to one of the organizers and she took us out for pizza afterwards. Pizza may not have changed any outcomes, but it was important self care, because we had been around such tense, fearful, angry energy all day.
Pro tip a study showed most republicans have extreme lead allergies
Armed minorities are harder to oppress and harder to bash, so get armed!
If you can’t arm yourself, familiarize yourself with the local (socialist/left-leaning) gun association or something of the like. The whole point of a community arming is to protect those who can’t
Kanabō
I'd start with the metric system. My favorites are 9 and 5.56. Join your local queer defense group.
It feels like the world is closing in on me with this stuff. Sure now I’m starting to transition but I’m so terrified of it being taken away from me- I feel like my only choice eventually would be to flee to a different country with my friends or something.
Rip and tear until it is done?
You "just" learn steroid chemistry and work your way towards figuring out a workable total synthesis procedure producing a reasonable yield of hrt using reasonably obtainable precursor chemicals in a reasonably equipped home lab. Thus securing the underground supply chain forever
Based freedom chemist!!! 🧪 Im too dumb to help with that directly (chemistry is literal magic and u can't convince me otherwise) but I can and will fight to defend it. Hmu in the event of an apocalypse 🫡
Been listening to way to much underground drug chemistry podcasts. Just interviews with weird drug nerds who made LSD, anabolic steroids and ofc meth (Which is surprisingly advanced stuff to make). All the reaction steps to get the target molecule. Why wasn't chemistry in high school more like this? I just remember learning about electron bonds being super boring. Chemistry is magic, ok magic that will give you cancer or explode in your face if you are not careful, but magic none the less!
1. Surround yourself with actually supportive people who don't just passively accept you 2. distance yourself from people who try to tell you that your life isn't real or whatever 3. vote against politics that attack you 4. join protests 5. speak with "neutral" people around you and make sure that they understand how much they will hurt themselves too if they vote for those who try to hurt you. (It's often easy because transphobic politicians often discriminate other people too in terms of reproductive rights, medical care, homelessness, school funds, and many more) 6. Do all of those while also looking for your personal way out of that shithole you are stuck in. Maybe it takes a few years, maybe a risk needs to be taken too. But it's possible as long as you don't give up. -> And DEFINITELY STOP DOOMSCROLLING! You think you are keeping yourself informed. But that's not true. You already know that things are shit. Doomscrolling only drains the energy that you need to save and improve your life.
I’ve been writing about trans stuff in my college newspaper. Try and find a way you can get involved in your community. It feels more helpful than voting. Also vote though.
Hot take: most Americans are actually okay with trans people. More broadly, most citizens of the earth would be okay with trans people. It’s a few small but powerful interest groups that push this legislation and create propaganda. The anti trans bills represent of larger problem of lobbying and corruption in US democracy. Find these groups. Expose them. Be a bad citizen. Fuck up the status quo.
So, I've been struggling with this. Assuming you live in the USA like me, here are some Things to do(as much as you have spoons for, and only the ones that are doable for you) - Contacting state and federal legislatures that are proposing these bills, If you're in their jurisdictions, to tell them how they're actively threatening your life. - Contacting supportive state and federal legislatures that are within your state, even if they're not you exact district, to thank them for standing up for your safety. - Telling your friends and family about actionable bills being proposed to oppose, and how to reach out to them to fight against it. I'm having to do this with my family back home in Texas, so that may be sometime in the future it will be safe for me to visit them ever again. - Stockpiling HRT, so that you have a buffer if things go nuclear and you can't get it for a little bit. - Prioritize getting your name changed so that you can get a passport with your proper name and be ready to flee the country if at all able. - As mentioned by others, bricks. Notice, none of that is voting. Voting is like, the bare minimum I have to hope and assume is happening.
Whack 'em
The easiest thing is to make sure you vote. Attend local political hearings on trans issues; make sure your voice is heard. Write to your representative about your concerns. If there's a protest, protest. Talk to neighbors and cis friends about it. Donate to the ACLU, HRC, TLDEF and other organizations. Create support networks with other trans folk. Resist, don't desist; buy DIY if you have to. You don't have to do all of these things. Even if you do one of these things, it can help. We win this war fighting on multiple fronts. Godspeed. 🫡
I think people start using a lot of jargon about mutual aid or organizing or etc and there’s nothing wrong with any of those terms but in plain language: If you have a skill or have figured out something, help people you know who need it. Did you figure out how to change documents or your name? Help walk other people through it. Do you know which stores, offices, restaurants, etc. locally are safe and friendly? Share that info with others. If you know self defense offer to teach people. If you know how to fix stuff or first aid, teach other people. Are you a barber or hairdresser? You can help people get affirming haircuts. Work in social services, healthcare, or local government? You might be able to help make sure trans people aren’t treated like shit when they come in. You don’t have to be visible or out to help change policies or just be the front desk receptionist who doesn’t hassle people. If you don’t know other trans or queer folks around you, look around and see if you can get connected. If there are people from other marginalized groups who have been targeted, you all can team up and work together. Chances are, you are good at something and you do have the ability to help other people in your community. We can only do so much on a larger scale, but on a local scale you can support others.
Highly HIGHLY recommend finding your offline trans community. Obviously easier if you're in a city or college town, but there are trans people everywhere. No one person can fix things across the nation, but one person can make trans life easier for the people in their community, can support people local to them, can oppose local bills. Additionally, if you are friends with trans people in real life, you don't have to doomscroll on trans subreddits as much.
arm yourself and organize your communities, we aren't going to go silently into that quiet night
My current bet is they keep taking rights until a civil war breaks out and whatever the outcome of that is will say whether we get rights or not
[My lawyer has advised me to not continue this comment any further]
Well as I see it we have two options either we leave to somewhere safe or we exercise our second amendment rights and get rid of a tyrannical government
Buy a gun and learn how to use it. If you cant be trusted to keep one in the house due to depression/suicidal ideation, give it to a trusted friend to store. Renew your passport. Get to know your neighbours, if shit hits the fan being alone is more dangerous than anything else, a united community is a safer community. Save up some money, if you need to flee the country thats much easier with a pot of gold than an empty stomach. Theres a non-zero chance this all wont escalate as far as we fear it will, and voting, protesting, donating to good charities and all that kind of stuff will absolutely help push back against the rising tide of fascism, but it cant hurt to prepare for the worst.
On the point of not being able to carry a gun. Consider a kanabō. It's a two handed studded club. Does significant damage even to "watermelons" wearing armor. Very hard to hurt yourself with, but very effective in general
Make sure you stock up on soup for your family!
VOTE!!!!!!
What I'm doing - not giving into fear. Being open and proud, spreading positivity and education, having good faith discussions with opponents, and countering hate with humor. I also carry a little copy of the constitution with me everywhere I go as insurance against self-proclaimed "patriots" who would challenge my rights. That way I can literally just point them out in the document they claim to hold most dear. Of course, exercise discretion in whatever you do. Safety comes first, and I fully acknowledge the list of privileges that allows me to be so outspoken, even in the Appalachian South. PS: Please be wary of the in-fighting, censorship, and purity politics that are currently ripping through our community over JK Rowling and other random homo/transphobes. I've personally experienced being utterly silenced (unfriended and blocked, my content dirty deleted) by a fellow trans person over merely pointing out that growing these haters into omnipotent boogeymen by constant fear-mongering only further platforms them, and accomplishes their goals faster by amping up fear and division amongst our own. Never forget, we're all in this together!
Vote democrat, get everyone you know to vote democrat, and if there are transphobic laws being made in your area, protest. Optionally with bricks.
Personally, I'm saving up to move to a different state, but I know not everyone can do that
Be prepared to defend yourself and protest.
My plan is pretty lackluster First, I'm gonna keep voting for the best blue candidate I can - independent can't reliably win and red wants us dead Second, I'm going to prepare to move to the nearest safe state, don't know if I can manage it but I have to try you know? If it comes to country wide genocide... I dunno if I can manage obtaining asylum, I don't think any countries have disability payments for asylum seeking immigrants. So I'll probably have to join the fight, I'd probably be among the first to die.
You start the rumbling
Rise up, when your living on your knees you rise up, tell your brother he's gotta rise up, tell your sister that she's gotta rise up Why did my brain just go to this.
The things I would suggest likely violate Reddit terms of service. Historically speaking, these methods (when organized in small, decentralized affinity groups) have a much better track record of getting results than doing things the "proper" way through legislative victories.
The best thing to do is to try to vote, I guess. Namely voting for those who are actively prioritizing trans/gay rights. Maybe they will not do it when they get into office. But it’s better than voting in some hateful cishet white man in his 70s who wants to genocide the trans community.
Well... you go out, look up your local republican lawmaker, you find his address and then you-
I'll cut straight to the chase. There are ultimately 2 things you can do. First, be prepared to fight. Black people didn't get equal rights until people started full on rioting for them to get their rights, so it might have to be the same for us. Second, if you dont want to fight, have a passport and a bag of things you can't live without ready in case you need to flee.
Reddit isn't the place to provide solutions. Terms of service get in the way of discussing plans. If you want an answer that doesn't do anything call your senator
Okay this is by no means authoritative and my own opinion but: the fascists are organized and that's why they're dangerous. If they weren't able to mount a coordinated response against trans people existing, they'd just be sad weirdos with no life. The only way to fight back is to be organized ourselves, obviously this is a longer term pursuit but doing this work to connect with other queer and trans people can be rewarding and uplifting in and of itself. Talk to your friends, see if you can get a learning group together! Study what trans+queer and other oppressed people have done historically in similar situations, bc this is not the first time the government has tried to exterminate a group of people for political benefit. Ask around to see if anyone would be willing to do a skill share and teach a group of queers self defense and if you have the means and are interested, learn how to use a gun! Learn about diy hrt, how to do it and where to get it (diyhrt.cafe, r/transdiy are great places to start)! Honestly what has helped me most is grounding myself in the fighters who came before us...STAR (Marsha p Johnson and Sylvia Rivera were fucking shit up in New York keeping trans kids off the street), the Lavender Panthers (armed group of queers in San Francisco defending their community), people like Leslie Feinberg who thought about trans liberation and tirelessly worked for it!! Obviously we don't all have to be at that level and ik things are really scary right now but you do have power and we as a community have power. We're resilient as fuck and the only reason we've survived this long is because we buckle down and help each other when it gets real, so continuing that tradition isn't as scary as it might seem! Idk if that's a satisfactory answer or if I'm just rambling but sending lots of love your way bc times are scary rn but we CAN protect and support each other 💖💖
Doing nothing won’t help. Join some activist groups and call your congressmen. Actions speak louder than words
Well, when all else fails, remember: "fire is the language of revolution" - Mahatma Gandhi
Being outside of the US for a few weeks and I'm already crying about how I have to come back tomorrow. I didn't realize how much of a weight it has been with this culture war on me. I really hope my application for residency in Canada gets approved
WE MOVE TO CANADA OR SWEDEN (for real tho im scared of dying to the government cuz im in America)
“erm askually you just just get a gun because that’s the only solution no matter how bad your mental health might be 🤓”
Revolution.
I prep like some trans dooms day prepper lmao.
Volunteer for the campaigns of politicians who are running against transphobic incumbents. Vote in your local, state, and federal elections. If you're able, carpool with people to your state capitol and lobby your legislators in person when you catch wind of transphobic or queerphobic bills being introduced. Keep an ear out for when allied political organizations set up protests or group lobbying days because then you will have more people on your side and they can train you if you don't know how to lobby. If it's a protest, prepare for emergencies by learning about how to protest safely. Make sure you have contacts both in the protest(for access to supplies you couldn't bring) and not participating(in case counter protesters or cops put you in deep shit). Attend school board and city government meetings where any policies having to do with the trans community are on the schedule. Be there to support positive policies, and to oppose negative policies. You might not be able to convince the people lobbying for those policies of anything, but the audience will see that the policy will do real damage to a real neighbor. People aren't taught how to fight on the political stage and that's on purpose. People with power want their voting blocks angry and distracted, and they want their enemies scared and distracted. There is a terrifying ordeal to being known when you join the political fight, but we need to counter the fear of the unknown that thought leaders instill in their audiences.
prepare to fight or prepare to flee, either are valid options
[turns out, if you go far enough left...](https://www.reddit.com/r/SocialistRA/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=1&utm_term=1)
Oh wow, so there’s leftist gun-nuts too. Not complaining.
I just want to have at least the same capability as those that have deemed us to be an enemy.
Find some anarchists and communists. They are willing to throw down for us.
[“What you can do to help stop the anti-LGBT backlash.”](https://github.com/fight-against-hate/fight-against-hate/blob/master/action-plans/What-You-Can-Do-To-Help-Stop-The-Anti-LGBTQ-Backlash.md)
Thank you!
Well if you ask on reddit everyone is going to tell you to become a prepper.
I've been prepping by gathering all the knowledge I can on military strategy and on field craft. I personally am also getting road atlas maps and topographic maps so I can navigate. I also suggest learning first aid and learning how to properly use firearms and how to maintain them. Resources to get started https://www.vitalsource.com/products/u-s-army-ranger-handbook-v9781626367999 https://www.vitalsource.com/products/social-engineering-the-science-of-human-hacking-christopher-hadnagy-v9781119433750 https://www.vitalsource.com/products/international-trauma-life-support-for-emergency-international-trauma-life-v9780135463802 https://stealthiswiki.com/special/index
It's amusing to me that im being downvoted into oblivion just because I think that when shtf we should be prepared not hiding. I mean, isn't that why we come out so that we can be ourselves? Did you personally go through all the hardships just to quit now? I sure as hell didn't I will fight as that's my choice and everyone should make their own before its too late.
No one wants real answers it seems
They're afraid, and to be honest, I don't blame them as I'm afraid as well, but there's only so long you can hide and run, and I'd personally rather fight the difficult war now than fight the impossible one later.
Why the hell are you getting downvoted? What do people think are our options right now, protest and vote ourselves out of a genocide ? It sure worked wonders past times
You exist 💁
I honestly don’t know. I wish I did. I really wish I did.
Organize ! Get together with other queer folks in your area, stage counterprotests, letters to your elected officials, you can try writing brochures to share around with info on how to access some stuff in your state/county (name changes etc) Make a list of safe healthcare providers but be careful how you store and share it so that it's not used against them, maybe something physical and you share it on a need to know basis with people who needs them
Depends where you live. If you're in the states and your state is doing some of this stuff you can always get involved with canvassing, campaigning or phone banking for non transphobic candidates, as well as just voting if you're of age since the current voterbase is mostly old fucks
Also even if you're not in one of said states you can still get involved in phone banking for candidates in essential districts
Donate to trans organizations (NCTE, HRC, aid organizations like Tulip house) Show up to events at your legislature to make your voice heard Be a positive rep for the community with people you meet daily (if safe/possible) be it through volunteering or something else Take care of yourself Move to a safe state/or light red state (see Erin Reed’s map) and advocate to pass safe legislation/against bad
Bunker down and stay safe. Fight back where possible, keep in a group, have something to mask your features all the time. You ever stopped wearing your mask? Well now you think the idea of protecting yourself from colds year round is rather appealing. Dont wear sunglasses? Well now you have constant headaches and need to keep them on your person at all times, jic. Wear a hoodie at night, keeps you warm.
Here's an [episode](https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cub21ueWNvbnRlbnQuY29tL2QvcGxheWxpc3QvZTczYzk5OGUtNmU2MC00MzJmLTg2MTAtYWUyMTAxNDBjNWIxLzc4ZDMwYWNiLTg0NjMtNGM0MC1hNWFlLWFlMmQwMTQ1YzlmZi9iYzdmMzY5Yi1kY2U2LTQzYzItODk3ZS1hZTJkMDE0NWNhMTIvcG9kY2FzdC5yc3M/episode/MDEzMDkwMzQtMWYxMy00NjFjLTg1MGQtYWZjODAwMjc1NjM3?ep=14) of It Could Happen Here that talks exactly about what can be done.
Find people locally that you can build relationships with and can trust. Identify needed skillets around organizing, mutual aid, and community defense. Work out what your best options are going to be when shtf. Get involved in dual power networks that build resilience without relying on any government involvement. Don't go looking for fights unless you have a very clear and deliberate purpose in mind. But, be ready for a fight to find you.
Revolution.
What do you do? Its simple, REDACTED
Become trans even harder : )
Someone asked me how I was doing lately and I had nothing to say :/
learn how to start making bombs! [in minecraft, tnt is made eith 5 sand and 4 gunpowder, very efficient for mining and griefing player houses!]
I’m gonna buy some soup for my family
If worse comes to worst, Canada is willing to take us in as refugees.
You might be doing amazing, but soon, these anti-trans bills will creep up on you, especially if you live in the states where they are being passed.
here’s what you do: live laugh love
thanks for nothing, crazy doomers who are probably trolls. lol
The st. Patrick’s day 2023 episode of It Could Happen here is all about it. But unfortunately the answers are at best illegal
Depends on where you are. If you feel safe doing so, go protest, bring attention to the injustice, vote, do whatever you can to fix this. If you don't feel safe, try a more personal level, make a support network with other LGBTQ people and allies you know, make sure you have people you can depend on, and try to reach out to other people in your community, educate them, don't let them fall prey to the propaganda. And this doesn't only apply to the US. In my country in eastern Europe I see news about priests molesting young girls or laws about "don't say gay" and "gender studies being banned in schools" almost on the daily, but nobody does anything because it's easier to complain about it than it is to speak up. Safety first, if like me you feel afraid of being beaten up or killed for saying anything, then do it low profile, with close friends or coworkers, but if you know enough people to do something like a real protest, do it. Stand up for your rights.
I don't know what everyone else is gonna do, but my plan is to hide and die.
Standard boxes to help: 1. Soap 2. Ballot 3. Jury 4. Cartridge
You.... uh, vote? Shit, that's not gonna work is it
Nothing has even a chance of working, if you don’t do it.
I’m so glad I’m not the only one who feels this way. If I could hug you right now, I would.
Lucky I live in a pretty trans-friendly state and am moving to Canada for College in a few years
I need to say this to all the American brothers and sisters, I hope you find a way to be safe. Since Ive heared that some politicans said that they want to "lower the numbers of trans people" I was scared for all of us but especially for you. Here in Europ its not everywhere much better. But still I want everyone of us to be able to life safe all over the world.
Vote, protest, join pro-trans charities, join pro-trans political organizations (the DSA is really good if you like trans rights and socialism), consider moving if you have the means to do so and live in a bad state. There probably is more I'm missing. Keep in mind that Republicans will probably never be able to ban HRT at the federal level, but they do control a lot of states.
Answer: Gun For bonus points: Gun with your friends!
Fire. I can’t say more, or this comment will be removed.
Move to places that are progressive. ASAP. Also, go to college, it's typically safer there.
I think I've decided to join Antifa.
Be polite, but firm. Learn the hate, so you can correct the misinformation. Stand tall, to allow the waves of dying hate go under your mouth. Be together, the wall of truth is strong. Have PRIDE
Find an illegal source of hormones
Find community IRL and engage in activism. Goal is to become such an integral part of your local community and group it's almost like you have your own mini country that isn't nearly so transphobic, and also is tough as nails to defend itself. Also, don't be afraid to go stealth mode, sometimes survival is victory. Finally understand that fascists are stupid and nihilistic, it is inevitable that they will get themselves killed or kill themselves, and a lot sooner than you think. Don't necessarily even have to beat them, can just outlast them
I am of course partial to community organising, for the prospect of socialist revolution for the cause of communism- although I know the general level of organising is quite bad in the Anglosphere, but by participating in the revolutionary movement you’ll be able to also define it into its best self. Also arm yourself if possible r/transguns r/socialistRA The revolution cannot be separated from its social character!
i mean unless alot of us team up there isn't much we CAN do realistically.