I recently made a new account on lemmy.blahaj.zone, because I’ve been harassed and doxxed on my old account and I wanted a fresh start with a more lighthearted online identity that I could be more open about my gender identity on. I’d heard blahaj zone was good for trans people, so I made my account there. And yeah, [email protected] removed my post discussing neuronormativism from a queer perspective, but I hoped maybe “the trans instance” would be friendlier to trans people.
A couple days after making my account, I saw someone on Blahaj engaging in the tired old cliche of “I hate politics, there’s no politics on my social media and I want to keep it that way!” Well we’ve all heard the joke that the two races are white and political, the two genders are male and political, and the two sexualities are straight and political. Hatred of politics is a transphobic, sexist, and racist trope. And having sufferred harassment and abuse from people inside the queer community who “hated politics” and saw trans or nonbinary or xenogender identities as political, I knew this kind of speech was going to make bigots feel comfortable saying they also hate politics, and they think us trans people are it.
So, I responded to the transphobia. I started out by attempting to educate them on what politics actually means. But I was interrupted by the Blahaj admin Ada, who told me that politics is “anything I disagree with”, and that indeed politics isn’t welcome on Blahaj. This language was deeply triggering of my past issues dealing with abuse, and I knew from past experience this sort of thing is said by people who are getting ready to say some enbyphobic or racist hate speech. It is especially common for white queer people to talk this way to BIPOC queer people. I tried to reason with Ada, explained the history of the cliche, the trauma it’s caused many trans people, and the consequences this kind of speech will have on the community here, making us all less safe.
Ada wasn’t having it. She minimised my concerns by reducing them to my personal trauma while ignoring my wider concerns for others’ safety, and weaponised my PTSD to paint my opinions as invalid because I am mentally ill. She said she owns Blahaj, and she gets to do whatever she wants with it, and nobody is allowed to express a differing opinion, even one that protects trans people, because that’s politics. At the time I thought her concern was me speaking directly to transphobes and making them feel uncomfortable by calling out their actions, so I said I’d just report it instead, and she banned my account.
This behaviour protects transphobes, WILL lead to trans and BIPOC people being harassed on this instance, attacks and gaslights victims of trauma (my concerns can’t be valid because I have a mental illness), and forces out any trans person with a commitment to safety for the community.
The thread where all this happened: https://lemmy.blahaj.zone/comment/2143969
I think the issue was more about forcing intense discourse on people who aren’t interested in having that conversation at that moment.
You werent banned for calling out transphobia, you were banned because you were being pedantic and argumentative. Plus you were on a new account so everything all together made it look like you were trolling.
I think if you had stopped after one or two comments it would be fine. My rule is generally to point out something if I feel it needs to be said, then maybe give one more clarifying response, then let it go.
Another choice would be to make a separate post somewhere discussing the neuances of ‘disliking politics’ – then people who comment on it clearly want to have that discussion and are opting in.
It seems like the situation triggered you, and sometimes the most productive choice is to step back from the conversation and move on.
Sorry you got banned, i hope you find a new comfy home on lemmy!
I just wanted to thank you for giving actionable advice to them and having a pleasant tone.
Of course :) might as well try and be helpful
Be advised: I recognize this person joining and speedrunning Ban% in safespaces for several months now. This is at least my 4th sighting of them. They will antagonize the userbase in record time by blatant disregard of netiquette and basic human decency. They will cite any of their vast repertoire of mental conditions or minority membership cards as justification when called out on bad behavior - whatever is convenient at the time. Conversation to them is a game that must be won at all cost and people with even slightly differing opinions are seen as enemies that need to be defeated (and also humiliated) Their strategy is generally to single out one member and harass them with wall of text posts.
Do not engage. Do not educate - dozens have tried and failed. Just identify the pattern and ban permanently, before they can do any lasting damage to your community.
You found another dronegender person on the fediverse? Where? Can I meet them? I have a lot of trouble finding people of my gender so any help would be appreciated
Hating politics is not transphobic.
I don’t believe that’s what they were saying. They were saying that transphobes often use the phrase to shut down conversation about their transphobic comments. That doesn’t mean anyone who uses the phrase is a transphobe using it for that purpose.
It’s literally what they are saying. Just look at their reply to me.
Thanks for the pointer, I agree with you now. What I get for giving people a shred of the benefit of the doubt…
Trans people are political, whether we want to be or not. When we start adopting this “hating politics” language, we implicitly accept the mechanisms that oppress us and make transphobia easier for other people. Hating politics is transphobic.
Claiming things that are not transphobic (like this) are transphobic is harmful to trans people. This explains why you were banned. Blahaj doesn’t allow transphobia or people who harm the trans community like you are doing.
Claiming things that are transphobic (like this) are not tranphobic is harmful to trans people. This tells us that Blahaj is transphobic. It doesn’t allow trans rights or people who protect the trans community like I am doing.
The troll once again showing their colors. Thanks for the entertainment and outing yourself as a hate filled bigot.
Before anyone tries to argue that they can’t be a bigot because they’re NonBinary, just keep in mind that transmedicalists are openly and directly transphobic despite being transgender themselves. Just because this person is NonBinary that doesn’t make them not a hate-filled bigot, they still indeed are one, and in a way it’s actually worse because they’ll just say people are being transphobic or enbyphobic towards them when people try to call them out, which ends up being harmful because they’re calling things that aren’t transphobic transphobic. That reflects negatively on trans people and takes away from the ability to call out actual transphobia.
Exactly. Thank you for saying this is in a better way than I could.
People that hate communists tend to also be people who hate LGBTQ+, liberals fit this category (like blahaj 196 with its huge “anti-tankie” banner) they are just better at smiling and covering up their hatred of you.
Not sure I buy that take, since communists hate tankies too. Blahaj is transphobic, but it seems to me they’re on the same side as communists when it comes to attitudes towards auth apologists
