this. i’ve been out for 5 years but my mom was doing more research on what being trans is a little while ago so she could understand me better and unfortunately came across a link with the pronouns and countless gender labels
it was embarrassing as fuck and i had to explain to her that i wasn’t going to end up identifying as a poly genderqueer demigirl or ask her to call me bun or fae and that wanting to transition is solely for my wellbeing and she said it was going to be hard to take me seriously for a long time because of what she saw

Blaming other trans people for a cis person’s refusal to take you seriously is not only not fair to those other trans people, it’s not fair to you.

Don’t you deserve more accountability from the people in your life? Don’t you deserve more than allowing them to fob off their (hopefully temporary) unwillingness to take in what you’re telling them about yourself and your life onto someone else?

Because that is their choice. Their reaction. Blame them and no one else. As long as your mother can blame her refusal to deal with you on whatever wacky thing she saw on the internet… well, if it wasn’t the internet, maybe it would be day time TV. Maybe it would be Silence of the Lambs.

It would be something, though. I guarantee you that.

A cis person saying that they can’t take a trans person seriously because people with weird pronouns exist is the equivalent of a straight person saying they can’t take gay people seriously because of what they saw at the Folsom Street Fair.

What they really mean is they choose not to take us seriously, and this is the most handy excuse at the moment.

If we could get rid of the most “extreme” or “ridiculous” example of trans-identified people on the internet, the person who doesn’t want to take us seriously would just use the next most extreme example remaining as their alibi.

Get rid of everyone who’s more “out there” than you are, and you will be the excuse. If there was no one whose gender expression was sillier or more incomprehensible to your mother than yours, she’d be stuck with the truth, which is that taking you seriously makes her uncomfortable.

The “fringe culture” of any marginalized group will always be the alibi used to ignore or attack the mainstream, but here’s the thing we all need to realize: it’s not a particular fringe that’s the target, just whatever is the most outre layer at the moment. The idea that sacrificing the fringe is a successful defensive tactic is like the idea that when an army is camped out on your borders, you can protect yourself by giving up your borders.

The army’s still there on your new borders. Its goals are still the same. All you’ve done is let them get that much closer to your heartland.

Furthermore, back when the “cute” pronouns started to trend I remember thinking that most of the people I saw seriously playing with them were young NB kids whose loved ones had already given them the very clear message that their chosen pronouns would not be respected? These didn’t come out of “oh, well what can I do to get people to take me less seriously?” but out of “they aren’t taking me seriously to start with so what do I have to lose?”

Chances are anyone that you want to attack for using pronouns that you don’t think anyone will take seriously has already tried out one or more of the “accepted” nonbinary pronouns - epicene they, spivak, xe/xem/xyr, thon, and so on - and not had that accepted at all. If there’s an element of mockery in a kid choosing cute pronouns for bunself, it’s mockery of the authority figures who rejected bun when bun called bunself they, not mockery of buns friends who may be xe or ey or he or she.

gamer nerds are so dramatic

I strongly encourage everyone to check out the tweet and marvel at nerds’ anguished realization that their heroes do not all share their insular mutated worldview

According to the Washington Post, up until three years ago Darren Wilson worked for the Jennings Police Department, located not far from from the city of Ferguson. The Jennings police department was also made up of mostly white officers, who were supposed to be protecting and serving a mostly black community. Instead, there were so many problems between the police and residents of the town, that the entire 45 person police force was fired. Wilson was one of the officers who lost his job, when the Jennings police force was disbanded.

The city of Jennings has a population of only 14,000 residents, 89 percent of those citizens are black. The racial make-up of the city’s police force, on the other hand, was something like 43 white officers to two black officers. Much like Ferguson, the poverty rate is high and full time employment is scarce. Rodney Epps, one of the Jennings city council members who voted to disband the entire police force, told the Washington Post that the city was plagued racial tension.

“The straw that broke the camel’s back, an officer shot at a female. She was stopped for a traffic violation. She had a child in the back [of the] car and was probably worried about getting locked up. And this officer chased her down Highway 70, past city limits, and took a shot at her. Just ridiculous,”

Epps said during an interview, published on August 23.

After a string of lawsuits over unnecessary force, including accusations of police beating and attacking residents without cause, along with federal and state investigations that revealed fraud and corruption inside the Jennings police department, the city council realized that the entire force was a liability, instead of an asset.

The council voted 6-1 to shut down the Jennings police department, fire all 45 officers who belonged to it, and start over.

While there are no specific reports about Darren Wilson at this time, Lt. Jeff Fuestang, who was appointed to run the city’s new police department described conditions in Jennings at the time the that Wilson was fired:

“There was a disconnect between the community and the police department. There were just too many instances of police tactics which put the credibility of the police department in jeopardy. Complaints against officers. There was a communication breakdown between the police and the community. There were allegations involving use of force that raised questions.”

So much for that spotless record. Darren Wilson, along with 44 other cops, was fired because of serious misconduct, excessive force and rampant corruption. Why is that not on his record?

h/t: Randa Morris at AddictingInfo.org

I grew up in St Louis after our family moved there from England. The racial segregation is really bad. Many white people in St Louis (especially in STL County) are truly racist and bigoted.

Interesting how the background of the police is never questioned and always excused by reformist media

and to add the the above comment it’s interesting how the background is ignored because “the officer is doing his duty” and is seen as a public servant for like the Greater Good, but when you say “all cops are scumbags” then they want to talk about individuality. 

_{Blue Ivy reacting to seeing herself on the screen during Beyonce’s VMA performance.}

Y’all believe it now?

You’re fucking kidding me right?

People are suffering to Ebola and America had a way to potentially cure it

AND THEY REFUSE A FUCKING REQUEST?

Does saving lives not mean anything to anyone anymore?

I fucking cant

Who’s really surprised? AMERICA isn’t shit & never will be.

They said it costing too much was part of the issue but I haven’t seen the government have any issue with the billions of dollars they constantly give Israel to do any mother fucking thing they please.

Seriously?! the US ain’t shit

Didn’t they give it to a Spanish patient today

Wtf America

http://www.usnews.com/news/business/articles/2014/08/11/spanish-ebola-patient-gets-experimental-drug

It’s fucking true. They said no to Nigeria. But then ship it right the fuck out to Spain for one patient.

It is so hard to love a country that does not value you/people who look like you.

Welp/

Told y’all this was going to happen. Just like what they did with the HIV/AIDS drug treatments. 

and none of this “oh it’s experimental!” bullshit. obviously there are people in Nigeria willing to take the risk- but oh, somehow ONE person in Spain takes precedence over the rest, right?