After Chris Rufo leaked LGBTQ+ chatlogs from the intelligence community, Gabbard has announced that all those who participated in the chats will be fired.
I get very nervous about arguments that come from the place of "don't purge LGBTQ people because some of them are super-amazing at what they do!" Of course they are. But that argument doesn't address the real issue which is that purges like this are just flat out discriminatory and wrong. Such arguments could lead disingenuous actors (and let's face it, that's who we're talking about here) to a backhanded justification for purging LGBTQ folks who are merely qualified and satisfactory at their jobs. This must be fought on behalf of everyone, not just exceptional performers.
However, there's a history here that so many people are familiar with - the story of Alan Turing, whose brilliance basically made it possible to win WWII. And there are other stories of strength through diversity, like the Navajo code talkers of WWII.
IMO, there are very good reason why trans people tend to be neurodivergent and, secondarily, why neurodivergent people have such extraordinary creative abilities. The neocortical connectivity patterns are rather different between men's and women's brains. Women's brains are wired rather globally, with an abundance of interconnectivity between hemispheres and between diverse regions of the brain. And men's brains have much more localized connectivity, with a lot of functional redundancy. Women are deeper, more insightful thinkers. Men are more efficient thinkers.
Anyway, the point is that we have somewhat different blueprints. If you mix up those blueprints, you end up with an unusually wired brain. This gives rise to a proliferation of learning disabilities in our community, but likewise, the learning disabilities force us to develop coping strategies that mean we think differently (and often much more creatively) than other people. If you have a "weird" sense of humor that a lot of people just don't understand, you probably know what I mean.
So, whether you want to find a brilliant cryptographer who stands a chance of breaking a code that some trans person elsewhere invented, or whether you want someone who might organize your store displays in a better or more appealing way, neurodivergence and transgenderism may be intellectual assets of particular value.
But stepping back to your thesis that we should be talking about discrimination being wrong, rather than putting forward trans people as critical assets, I respectfully disagree. Very few people care about right and wrong. Most people are very selfish and think only in terms of "how do I benefit from this policy." If we have something unique to offer, that makes us valuable to them. I could talk at length about evolution and sociobiology and why altruism almost always has strings attached, but I'll spare you. Haha. Suffice it to say that evolution makes us selfish creatures, so we must focus on how to satisfy society's selfish needs.
I think the unifying theme of our "resistance" to this regime MUST ultimately be "strength through diversity." The right is trying to make "diversity" a dirty word - code for giving jobs to women and minorities for which straight white xtian men are allegedly more qualified. But history tells us they're wrong. We need to tell those numerous stories of how diversity flummoxed our enemies and saved the day - or how diversity made impossible things possible. People need to love diversity because it brings a strength from which they personally benefit.
Erin is absolutely right "The only way to stop another Lavender Scare is to be loud now." Trans activists are getting loud and I hope you'll join us: ntlcc.org/about
Hawai`i voters have known for ~20 years that Gabbard is a homophobe, transphobe, and overall religious nutjob; she and her family were major public opponents to same-gender Civil Unions and were pretty unhinged about it.
Oh for sure, it's just so strange to me that when she first started getting attention on the national level people somehow mistook her for a progressive. The thing I think a lot of people don't know is that a (D) after a rep's name doesn't mean anything in Hawai`i.
This reminds me of the homophobia that mathematician Alan Turing, creator of the Turing Test and famous for cryptography work in WWII was treated by his government and even his legacy still has been treated as recently as 2017: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-49730231 .
Hummmm. Weird. Transgenders was the first domino? It has been said. Some Democrats wanted to toss trans rights out the window in favor the LGB only. Once they established a baseline and a foot in the door, they will proceed with their full agenda.
Even among the many heinous actions of the Trump adminstration toward LGBTQ+ citizens this is beyond the pale. First question: how did Chris Rufo, a rightwing provocateur, obtain information from a NSA sponsored employee chatline -- an intelligence agency, no less. This should be investigated immediately as a lapse of security and privacy. Also, apparently what was "obscene" was the mention of transgender issues of any kind. The screen shots that Rufo posted were not obscene by any measure. I contacted all my Congressional representatives but by all accounts we don't have a working Congress, thanks to a paper thin Rethuglican majority. This is an attempt to purge all LGBTQ federal employees, (with the apparent exception of rich white gay guys in Trump's inner circle who are also billionaires). There is SO much disruption going on by Trump that I fear this will be sweep away amid the flood of other illegal and deplorable actions by Trump. CONTACT YOUR CONGRESSIONAL REPRESENTATIVES NOW.
They're actively working to erase trans people as a recognized legal class (and in general), so if we "don't exist" legally, therein lies the loopholes, or holes they made themselves, I assume. Same for the basis of removing discrimination protections, even though that technically conflicts with the intepretation of discrimination based on sex, but I wonder if any cases about this will be ruled favorably using that precedence. I could be totally misinformed and misinterpretting law stuff (not a lawyer), but I presume that to be the plan of attack if that's how it could work for them.
The courts themselves aren't even in effect. The Trump administration is openly ignoring court orders, the the US Marshals and cops who are supposed to enforce court orders are on the side of MAGA/Nazis. We don't have a constitution. If we want protection, we'll have to make it ourselves. If we want justice, we'll have to make that too.
HIPAA is still in effect too but that didn't stop that physician from walking away without consequence after leaking patients' confidential medical records.
Well, my only point is these people simply ignore the law. So if you're not able to do this because of Bostock and Harris Funeral Homes they don't give a crap and do it anyway.
and the NYT once again, offers only biased reporting that does not question or point out the lies in the actions of fascists... nothing in their article (unless they've updated it since initial publishing) makes this sound like spurious and ridiculous targeting
CNN is reporting the incident as "100 personel will be fired due to sexually explicit messages on the company chat network". There is absolutely NO MENTION that the conversations revolved around LGBTQ+ health and life issues. So much for accurate reporting.
Ironically, Joe McCarthy had a closet gay on his team during the lavender scare, Roy Cohn, who–at the end of his life worked for–wait for it–the current POTUS.
This is beyond horrible!! I truly grieve for the way they are trying to dehuminze all of you! I will fight for all LGBTQ+ rights. Who will be targeted next by the evil administration?
How convenient to have found these chatlogs now. I hope they'll be combing ALL the departments looking at ALL the chatlogs to see what ALL the people, are talking about during their breaks or lunch. All the while the sexual assaulter pussy-grabbing President, and his woman-assaulting and abusing appointees to the agencies and courts are running wild.
Things are getting so dystopian and horrible that I really wonder when the main subject of Erin’s news articles should become if and how trans people can apply for asylum in other countries.
I have not heard that Canada is opening up yet to any trans refugees from the U.S. In fact, I think even if you do apply for any asylum status, you might have to do it outside of Canada. Maybe that will change at some point, and if it does and you hear about it, please let me know, I just think the current situation is very malignant and dangerous, and it is not sustainable in the long run, since there is clearly no stopping point for them.
A fine starting point is to say, 'I'm wondering how to get in touch with trans people in Canada' on a place on the 'net frequented by trans and queer folks :-).
Hi, Lynn, I'm a genderqueer Canadian, and while I don't claim to be super-connected to queer and trans community nationwide, I can probably help you get started building connections.
I'm not an expert(!) but to my knowledge, very few countries will accept Americans seeking asylum *At This Point* at least. Most of those cases involve things like whistleblowers. The next potential issue is what pressure the current administration might bring to bear on welcoming countries. This article by an immigration lawyer seems well informed and comprehensive about both asylum and alternatives. Stay strong, one and all!
Oh my Goddess! I had no idea Tbilisi Tulsi was doing this. Thank you for reporting on this! Merde. The trans codes have begun. We must resist like our lives depend on it.
I get very nervous about arguments that come from the place of "don't purge LGBTQ people because some of them are super-amazing at what they do!" Of course they are. But that argument doesn't address the real issue which is that purges like this are just flat out discriminatory and wrong. Such arguments could lead disingenuous actors (and let's face it, that's who we're talking about here) to a backhanded justification for purging LGBTQ folks who are merely qualified and satisfactory at their jobs. This must be fought on behalf of everyone, not just exceptional performers.
However, there's a history here that so many people are familiar with - the story of Alan Turing, whose brilliance basically made it possible to win WWII. And there are other stories of strength through diversity, like the Navajo code talkers of WWII.
IMO, there are very good reason why trans people tend to be neurodivergent and, secondarily, why neurodivergent people have such extraordinary creative abilities. The neocortical connectivity patterns are rather different between men's and women's brains. Women's brains are wired rather globally, with an abundance of interconnectivity between hemispheres and between diverse regions of the brain. And men's brains have much more localized connectivity, with a lot of functional redundancy. Women are deeper, more insightful thinkers. Men are more efficient thinkers.
Anyway, the point is that we have somewhat different blueprints. If you mix up those blueprints, you end up with an unusually wired brain. This gives rise to a proliferation of learning disabilities in our community, but likewise, the learning disabilities force us to develop coping strategies that mean we think differently (and often much more creatively) than other people. If you have a "weird" sense of humor that a lot of people just don't understand, you probably know what I mean.
So, whether you want to find a brilliant cryptographer who stands a chance of breaking a code that some trans person elsewhere invented, or whether you want someone who might organize your store displays in a better or more appealing way, neurodivergence and transgenderism may be intellectual assets of particular value.
But stepping back to your thesis that we should be talking about discrimination being wrong, rather than putting forward trans people as critical assets, I respectfully disagree. Very few people care about right and wrong. Most people are very selfish and think only in terms of "how do I benefit from this policy." If we have something unique to offer, that makes us valuable to them. I could talk at length about evolution and sociobiology and why altruism almost always has strings attached, but I'll spare you. Haha. Suffice it to say that evolution makes us selfish creatures, so we must focus on how to satisfy society's selfish needs.
I think the unifying theme of our "resistance" to this regime MUST ultimately be "strength through diversity." The right is trying to make "diversity" a dirty word - code for giving jobs to women and minorities for which straight white xtian men are allegedly more qualified. But history tells us they're wrong. We need to tell those numerous stories of how diversity flummoxed our enemies and saved the day - or how diversity made impossible things possible. People need to love diversity because it brings a strength from which they personally benefit.
... just my 0.02 euros ;-)
I don't read it as, 'Don't purge LGBTQ+ people because...,' so much as, 'This is why/how purging LGBTQ+ people will go badly for the purgers.'
Erin is absolutely right "The only way to stop another Lavender Scare is to be loud now." Trans activists are getting loud and I hope you'll join us: ntlcc.org/about
Hawai`i voters have known for ~20 years that Gabbard is a homophobe, transphobe, and overall religious nutjob; she and her family were major public opponents to same-gender Civil Unions and were pretty unhinged about it.
You just named the reasons she was picked
Oh for sure, it's just so strange to me that when she first started getting attention on the national level people somehow mistook her for a progressive. The thing I think a lot of people don't know is that a (D) after a rep's name doesn't mean anything in Hawai`i.
I would like to see the actual text of the chats rather than the Rufo/Gabbard/media characterizations of the chats.
This reminds me of the homophobia that mathematician Alan Turing, creator of the Turing Test and famous for cryptography work in WWII was treated by his government and even his legacy still has been treated as recently as 2017: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-49730231 .
Hummmm. Weird. Transgenders was the first domino? It has been said. Some Democrats wanted to toss trans rights out the window in favor the LGB only. Once they established a baseline and a foot in the door, they will proceed with their full agenda.
Even among the many heinous actions of the Trump adminstration toward LGBTQ+ citizens this is beyond the pale. First question: how did Chris Rufo, a rightwing provocateur, obtain information from a NSA sponsored employee chatline -- an intelligence agency, no less. This should be investigated immediately as a lapse of security and privacy. Also, apparently what was "obscene" was the mention of transgender issues of any kind. The screen shots that Rufo posted were not obscene by any measure. I contacted all my Congressional representatives but by all accounts we don't have a working Congress, thanks to a paper thin Rethuglican majority. This is an attempt to purge all LGBTQ federal employees, (with the apparent exception of rich white gay guys in Trump's inner circle who are also billionaires). There is SO much disruption going on by Trump that I fear this will be sweep away amid the flood of other illegal and deplorable actions by Trump. CONTACT YOUR CONGRESSIONAL REPRESENTATIVES NOW.
Is Title VII not still in effect? Won't this open them up to massive lawsuits?
They're actively working to erase trans people as a recognized legal class (and in general), so if we "don't exist" legally, therein lies the loopholes, or holes they made themselves, I assume. Same for the basis of removing discrimination protections, even though that technically conflicts with the intepretation of discrimination based on sex, but I wonder if any cases about this will be ruled favorably using that precedence. I could be totally misinformed and misinterpretting law stuff (not a lawyer), but I presume that to be the plan of attack if that's how it could work for them.
The courts themselves aren't even in effect. The Trump administration is openly ignoring court orders, the the US Marshals and cops who are supposed to enforce court orders are on the side of MAGA/Nazis. We don't have a constitution. If we want protection, we'll have to make it ourselves. If we want justice, we'll have to make that too.
HIPAA is still in effect too but that didn't stop that physician from walking away without consequence after leaking patients' confidential medical records.
That's different though, it's negligence, not to say it isn't wrong.
Well, my only point is these people simply ignore the law. So if you're not able to do this because of Bostock and Harris Funeral Homes they don't give a crap and do it anyway.
and the NYT once again, offers only biased reporting that does not question or point out the lies in the actions of fascists... nothing in their article (unless they've updated it since initial publishing) makes this sound like spurious and ridiculous targeting
CNN is reporting the incident as "100 personel will be fired due to sexually explicit messages on the company chat network". There is absolutely NO MENTION that the conversations revolved around LGBTQ+ health and life issues. So much for accurate reporting.
yeah, I heard that earlier in the day. Had no idea what the fuck was really going on until later when I read Erin's post.
Ironically, Joe McCarthy had a closet gay on his team during the lavender scare, Roy Cohn, who–at the end of his life worked for–wait for it–the current POTUS.
Time is a flat circle.
This is beyond horrible!! I truly grieve for the way they are trying to dehuminze all of you! I will fight for all LGBTQ+ rights. Who will be targeted next by the evil administration?
How convenient to have found these chatlogs now. I hope they'll be combing ALL the departments looking at ALL the chatlogs to see what ALL the people, are talking about during their breaks or lunch. All the while the sexual assaulter pussy-grabbing President, and his woman-assaulting and abusing appointees to the agencies and courts are running wild.
Things are getting so dystopian and horrible that I really wonder when the main subject of Erin’s news articles should become if and how trans people can apply for asylum in other countries.
Agreed. I’m wondering how to get in touch with Trans people in Canada so if and when I flee the U.S. I will have company.
I have not heard that Canada is opening up yet to any trans refugees from the U.S. In fact, I think even if you do apply for any asylum status, you might have to do it outside of Canada. Maybe that will change at some point, and if it does and you hear about it, please let me know, I just think the current situation is very malignant and dangerous, and it is not sustainable in the long run, since there is clearly no stopping point for them.
A fine starting point is to say, 'I'm wondering how to get in touch with trans people in Canada' on a place on the 'net frequented by trans and queer folks :-).
Hi, Lynn, I'm a genderqueer Canadian, and while I don't claim to be super-connected to queer and trans community nationwide, I can probably help you get started building connections.
I'm not an expert(!) but to my knowledge, very few countries will accept Americans seeking asylum *At This Point* at least. Most of those cases involve things like whistleblowers. The next potential issue is what pressure the current administration might bring to bear on welcoming countries. This article by an immigration lawyer seems well informed and comprehensive about both asylum and alternatives. Stay strong, one and all!
https://www.relocate.world/en/articles/us-citizens-seeking-asylum
I would hope this is illegal. However, with the way things are now, I would not be surprised if they can "get away with it."
Oh my Goddess! I had no idea Tbilisi Tulsi was doing this. Thank you for reporting on this! Merde. The trans codes have begun. We must resist like our lives depend on it.