Blog
We are the book we’re talking about
And we are what’s at stake in truth-telling. If the interlocutor opposes me because of who I am, will they be impressed that I read a book? No. Even if it is a book they have heard of? No.
Humility: A needed balance
On early modern philosophers and online trolls. In Lewis Carroll’s ‘You Are Old, Father William,’ a young person asks: ‘You balanced an eel on the end of your nose - / What made you so awfully clever?’
What is human dignity?
Where does it come from? How do we know it exists? Does dignity need to be pinned to God, or can it have secular grounding? Is it about humility, pride, or both? What does interdependence have to do with it?
Why is the far-right ever more intensely anti-trans?
Because they’re bored by finally winning against abortion rights. Fascists oppose trans people because they find difference threatening. Being anti-trans is fundamental to their politics, and it predicts what comes next.
How the far-right comes for trans people
Violent far-right U.S. groups are ‘hugely and deeply’ anti-transgender. Anti-transgender rhetoric isn’t “just asking questions!” or curiosity or nuance. It is hateful; it is organized; it foments organized violence.
Donald Trump casts aspersions on trans people in his NRA speech
He told the pro-gun group that transgender people are violent. It’s nothing to do with academic curiosity nor concern for anyone’s well-being. This is yet another way he encourages violence toward a minority group.
How Trump self-scored 36 points on LGBTQ rights — and why it’s a failing grade
The administration has done nothing whatsoever to support LGBTQ rights. The Trump administration has done nothing whatsoever in favor of LGBTQ rights. Don’t repeat its lie to the contrary. It causes pain and stress.
Republicans say: Make it hard to divorce again
The Party of Trump wants to stop your divorce. Independence? For whom? The Republican Party wants to end no-fault divorce. They want everyone to be married with children. This threatens everyone’s right to exit a bad marriage.
Transphobia is a bellybutton mirror
On the Tucker ’n’ Carlos Show, insights from Naomi Klein’s ‘Doppelganger’. We have to stop copying historical patterns of hate and cruelty. I try to reflect the world in ways that are good and true, not through a pipik-mirror.