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One of the most disillusioning things for me about GC ideology wasn't the language of it, but the way the people who were a part of it treated their trans allies.
I don't just mean the way they treated me- I gave them hints I wasn't fully on board.
I don't just mean the way they treated me- I gave them hints I wasn't fully on board.
Like that time I made a thread of people I thought they should follow and tagged @ZJemptv in it somewhere in the middle. Got a lot of flak for that, but Zinnia Jones is rad and her writing was important to me and fuck what they think.
But like seeing the way they treat Debbie, like, say what you want about her politics, Debbie Hayton is one of the most polite human beings I've encountered. I have never seen her say a bad word about anyone.
And the shit Posie Parker and others say to her...
And the shit Posie Parker and others say to her...
But do her allies stand up for her? Nope, they just joined in the pile-on. And the cruelty of it... But that was what it was like. They'd love bomb me if I wrote a thread criticizing trans behavior, but all the while I'm watching the way they treat others.
And the thing is there was literally like ten of us in the whole side. Ten or less. Some came and went.
We had this idea that we were speaking for a silent group that were afraid to speak out, but in retrospect that was clearly bullshit.
We had this idea that we were speaking for a silent group that were afraid to speak out, but in retrospect that was clearly bullshit.
But just, the whole time they can't seem to talk about anything except misogynistic mutilated men in makeup. And I'd watch them be incredibly cruel to trans people and be lauded for it but if one of their trans allies said something out of genuine ignorance they'd swarm.
I began to slowly realize that the abuse the more extreme GCs accused trans people of doing is what they were doing to us.
It wasn't about philosophy or reality or women's rights, it was about getting high on righteous anger and having an enemy at which to fling it.
It wasn't about philosophy or reality or women's rights, it was about getting high on righteous anger and having an enemy at which to fling it.
And when called out, they'd say MISOGYNY! YOU JUST CAN'T HANDLE A WOMAN TELLING YOU NO!
And it's like, no, YOU can't handle anyone questioning you. Women who did question them were often mocked or assumed to be men.
And it's like, no, YOU can't handle anyone questioning you. Women who did question them were often mocked or assumed to be men.
So yeah, I stayed a lot longer than I honestly wanted to, and the reason I did is because I cared, and still very much care, about certain people that are a part of it. Because despite the constant abusive rage politics, some of them are fantastic human beings.
Some of them dropped the GCs themselves. Others went quiet. Some of them turned out to be wearing the masks they accused me of. But I still care about them all. Anyone I connect with, like I dunno I just can't not care even if they hurt me and it makes it hurt more.
For a long time, I didn't want to say what I really thought because I didn't want to hurt them the way they'd hurt me. So I held on.
But that's over.
But that's over.
