Isn't that a shame? Well, anyways...

It seems like a neverending stream of hate is directed towards us in the LGBTQ+ community and time and again we're told that it's just a fringe, that the majority supports us. Where is that majority? They feel very absent to me. 

When I talk about JKR (I'm sure you can figure it out), I get "allies" telling me that they can separate the artist from the art. That they can enjoy her work without supporting her position.

When we look at Netflix, their CEO, Ted Serandos, defends transphobia in their programming as not crossing the line. A cis het man, likely even enjoys styling himself as an ally to his employees, shows that he draws the line at profits. "We don’t allow titles on Netflix that are designed to incite hate or violence, and we don’t believe The Closer crosses that line." Not his to call, he's not bearing the burden of his indifference. But here's the thing, that CEO there knows that people that claim to be allies will still watch Netflix. He's not worried about that, social media has proven that platforming hate is lucrative and most people don't care.

However, there is an entirely depressing theme here that comes down to allyship evaporating when a sacrifice is needed to be made to truly support us. You can't really be an ally to any marginalized community if the moment you are asked to even just be inconvenienced you find reasons to avoid doing so. That is not allyship, that is not support, it's the equivalent of saying, "Isn't that a shame? Well, anyways..."

LGBTQ+ rights are under attack in many places. Many of these attacks have started with trans people, amongst the most marginalized in society. We're constantly being gaslit, with people in power claiming they are being "bullied" by the trans community, that they're not transphobic that they just have "questions," and that it's really trans people with all the power. It's clear, utter, nonsense, but it's working. Why? Because "allies" would be inconvenienced, perhaps even need to take on risk, to push back that narrative and so they won't.

So it is clear to me that we are almost completely alone, with some small collection of true supporters who do make those sacrifices. For the majority, though? If you can't even sacrifice a kids book for the sake of our lives and dignity, what happens when the chips are really down? 

I think I know the answer to that. 😕