Blog
3 Strategies to Fight Transphobia
Last October, a long essay was published in Volcánicas, over 30,000 words, arguably a book: “El terfismo en América Latina: un borrado histórico de las personas trans / Reportaje completo.” The reporters are Katia Rejón and Arlen Molina, and the analysis is by Katia Rejón, Matilde de los Milagros, and Catalina Ruiz-Navarro.
Gay and trans freedom is everyone’s freedom
Be who you are, choose your path, and let’s do it together. A big reason to support LGBTQ rights. We don’t have to continue our role in a bad situation. We can speak up and ask for help getting free. May we all be happier because we are here together.
Let’s make hope
Some people do not like the word “hope.” It is often an empty word. It is used in greeting cards. But hope, just as often, has deeper meanings. I am not attached to the word “hope,” but it is a common word for certain concepts that are important.
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?
When we disagree on politics and I lose a friend
I have to be a good person, and even then, it’s up to someone else if they want to be my friend. They don’t owe me what I gave as a gift, and certainly they don’t owe me what I never gave at all.
Does ‘woke’ mean saying — or not saying — certain words?
In any case, careful speech—including refraining from speaking — can build trust. When the right wing refers to “woke,” they may want to prevent others from saying certain words—or to reserve certain words for themselves.
It’s not ‘free speech,’ it’s bigotry
If they really believe in free speech, this is how we’ll know. There are many reasons why people have prejudices and why they devote their speech to expressing bigotry. Not high on the list: commitment to free speech.