Okay I know this is me getting irrationally angry for personal reasons but you know what, whatever. Let me break down all of the ways that Sarah McBride is currently in danger.
The far right has a well-oiled machine specifically designed to bully trans people out of public life. You can currently make a lot of money on social media just by tweeting out the names of hospitals/libraries/schools/etc that are even vaguely accepting of queer people, and waiting for the hate mob to show up. Depending on what state you’re in, the police might stop them, they might watch, or they might join in! It’s a fun little game of roulette.
There are multiple websites specifically created to gather information on any trans person even slightly in the public eye. And not just that one person, but anyone associated with them. Friends, family, colleagues–all of them are also fair game. And sure, these websites are only known to the ghouls who use them and the people who are terrified of them, but maybe one of these people tweets out your mom’s address, or your friend’s place of work, and then one of the influencers who makes a living off of whipping up hate mobs, or hell, maybe the owner of Twitter, a Nazi who has a very specific hatred of trans people, will retweet it.
Representatives in Congress have protection from the Capitol Police while they’re in the building. Of course, that won’t stop any one of your deranged colleagues from following you into the bathroom with a camera, or trying to provoke a confrontation with you in the hallway/office/House floor. Only the leadership gets mandatory protection. Maybe she can get emergency protection? But Speaker Johnson probably won’t put aside the money, and if the White House wants to step in there’s a very obvious time limit on what they could do.
Leftists on social media often seem to think all elected officials have unlimited money, but that’s definitely not the case with McBride, who was a state senator before she was elected to Congress. She might have enough to afford a good security system, but that won’t protect her if she wants to go anywhere but work and her home in her own car. Good luck ever feeling completely safe getting coffee, shopping for groceries, or just going for a walk.
And of course, even if nothing physical happens to McBride or her loved ones, there’s also the emotional damage of getting hundreds of thousands of messages from people specifically want to make you suffer. Any anxiety, insecurity, public vulnerability you’ve expressed? They’re going to blast it with a thousand-watt spotlight. This is coupled with the people you go to work with every day having a vested interest in making you feel as unsafe as possible. And it might get less intense as they move on to the next unlucky punching bag but it will never completely stop, there will always be people who specifically get off on trying to ruin any happiness they sense you’ve achieved.
So I want you to take all of that in mind, and then imagine you’re ALSO getting hundreds of thousands of messages of people from your own “community” calling you a bootlicker and a traitor. Telling you that because you’re trying to deescalate this tire fire of a situation you’re no better than the people trying to make your life a living hell. There’s no empathy for what you’re going through, even from other people who have very publicly gone through the same thing. And of course, that same level of rage and scrutiny isn’t being applied to any of the people harassing you, or even the people on your side of the aisle who aren’t defending you. It’s you. You’re the one getting blamed for this.
I really don’t have anything else to say except for fuck these people. Saying this kind of behavior is ghoulish is putting it mildly. I hope Sarah McBride is safe and has a support network, and I hope the people tweeting about her for clicks get a visit from the Empathy Fairy.
So well said
I’ll also add that some of the very online trans activists seem to have an unhelpful/unhealthy symbiotic relationship going on with far right trans bullying machine.
For example, at some point someone dug up a tweet McBride made in 2016 about how she would never comply with bathroom bans. I’ve seen both Elon’s reply guys and Erin fucking Reed use it as a gotcha moment. Albeit to make different points but …. When you’re using the same tactics as a far right harassment campaign it might be time to pause and self reflect.
The far right is so good at creating narratives. We have to stop letting them define the rules of engagement. And we have to stop being nice to leftist activists who should know better about falling into perpetuating these traps.
Also has no one ever heard of malicious compliance? When McBride goes into a men’s bathroom in Congress, it is going to make the old men there uncomfortable. She’s a woman! She looks like a woman! So it is going to become obvious very quickly how dumb the rule is. Her following the rule does not mean she is just “rolling over and letting fascists win”. She is just not playing into their game, and will show through actions how dumb the anti-trans agenda is. If she put up a stink about this, the Republicans would use that to paint all trans people as whiny, non-compliant and anti-American. She is showing that democracy matters more to her than debating things like bathroom bills. Her choice is literally making it so that Republicans have less to attack with. Why are people so mad 😠
One of the things that frustrates me about some of the Discourse is that obviously it’s obnoxious to tell people they’ll change their minds about things like having kids, or their identity label or what have you, and people shouldn’t do it. But those posts are always full of testimonials of people who never changed their minds and using ‘I was right all along’ as a reason for why you shouldn’t question people. Which is fair!
But also consider: people change their minds all the time. Some people don’t want kids until they’re 35 and then they want a dozen. Some people really DO ‘meet the right person.’ Sometimes something really IS just a phase, and that’s fine!!! Yelling about how this never happens or acting like other peoples’ experience invalidates our own is not perhaps the inclusive and supportive message we think it is.
Don’t tell people they’ll change their mind because it’s obnoxious, don’t tell people they’ll change their mind because there’s a good chance you’re wrong, but also don’t tell people they’ll change their mind because it makes it harder for them to actually do that.
do you ever wonder why stephanie meyer had the cullens live in a small town to preserve their “anonymity?” has she ever been to a small town??? small town people got nothing to do all day, other than to gossip and think about those weird people that live in the forest. if anything, they’re getting the opposite of anonymity. you want real anonymity? live in a big city. you could live next to someone for 5 years and never even learn their name. they’re up all night? they’re beautiful, looks like they had some crazy good plastic surgery? you never see them go outside? somehow hella fuckin rich? yeah. That’s LA
not even JRR Tolkien, who famously developed the concept of the Secondary World and firmly believed that no trace of the Real World should be evoked in the fictional world, was able to remove potatoes from his literature. this is a man who developed whole languages and mythologies for his literary world, who justified its existence in English as a translation* simply because he was so miffed he couldn’t get away with making the story fully alien to the real world. and not even he, in extremis, was so cruel as to deny his characters the heavenly potato. could not even conceive a universe devoid of the potato. such is its impact. everyone please take a moment to say thank you to South Americans for developing and cultivating one of earth’s finest vegetables. the potato IS all that. literally world-changing food. bless.
The humanities hold the key to understanding our past, navigating the present, and shaping a more equitable future. In his latest blog post, Eugene Tobin, Senior Advisor at Ithaka S+R, directs readers to the World Humanities Report, a groundbreaking international study commissioned by UNESCO. This report, and the United States focused report, explore the state of the humanities worldwide, including into their contributions to society, their challenges and their role in addressing critical issues like democratic resilience, cultural identity, and global interconnectedness.
Tobin reflects on how the report findings resonate within the U.S., where higher education faces pressures from privatization, affordability concerns, and shifting demographics. For librarians, faculty, and students alike, the reports are an essential resource to not only understand the value of the humanities but to advocate for their future.
If you’re passionate about the power of critical inquiry, the free exchange of ideas, and the role of the humanities in fostering societal growth, these are a must-read.
Another iconic bird–this one of bird feeders and front yards, the dark-eyed junco! This little junco couple is having a cute conversation over some winter berries.
amhrancas 