I've been hoping to weigh in for the past week but I still can't find the words. I know, big whoop, most of you hate my commentary anyway. Most of you prefer to make empty jokes about things and forget it. Being aloof can be pleasant. But you can't be aloof about shit that threatens you for your life.
I'm just gonna try. Let me start by saying a disclaimer. This shit stresses me out & I will not succeed in eloquence or brevity. I am not wise. I'm just emotional. I wish I could put all of this better, but there are many more who will top my efforts. For that I am redeemed. Alright, onward.
The problem isn't what is or is not homophobic; it's not what people can and can't say on their social media; it's also not how messy comment sections can get. Those are all red herrings. Most of the time the topic shifts to the theory of homophobia, whether people have the right to do what they please on Instagram, and whether blowback defeats the purpose of apology. All of these are diversions.
Every time a pro exposes their otherwise implicit disgust for trans & queer people, we're gonna run into this same mess. We as an audience are generally more concerned with the spectacle, and skate companies as businesses are definitively more concerned with covering their assets.
So what is the problem.
The problem is that it's natural for cis & straight people not to care, not to be concerned with the livelihood of trans & queer people. What you see as homophobic or even appropriate behavior doesn't matter to us, and I hate to be blunt. At the end of the day you don't care. You will never have to care & therefore you will never care. It's natural for you to conserve your energy. But your perspective does not affect how shitty life is for each of us. Whether you get it or not, we're still going to suffer every day. The world outside our own community has yet to realize that we need shit to change. We do not need to be understood. We do not need to be appreciated. We need shit to change. The world has been constructed around ideas that we do not accept. The world has been constructed around us either not existing, or being snuffed at the first sign of life. We will always be misunderstood & people will always dislike us. We don't care. We do not have permission, but we do not need permission. We do not need to be liked. We need to be able to live past our youth. We need to know that we'll be able to see doctors when we are sick. We need to know that we can meet new people or go on dates with our significant others or even go into the public and not be murdered. We need to know that we can be approved for social services. We need to know that we can be approved for work. We need to know that we can be approved for housing. We need to know that our families wont jettison us and leave us for dead in cities that push us onto the street without anywhere to go but into sex work with men who will murder us for their own shame. We need to know that our governments won't center legislation around declaring us criminal, inhuman or non-existent. We need to know that we can be safe coming out & not force ourselves to live miserably & closeted. We need to know that it's better to not commit suicide. For most of us that's the only opportunity with promise.
The problem is sadly that if you're cis & straight your life is constructed to annihilate us. If you are cis & straight you are a homophobe, a transphobe, etc. It does not make a difference if you agree. It does not make a difference if you express it in private or in public. You are a proponent of the world that wants us dead, regardless of how you conduct your life. Yes it is bleak. But for us, it's the base-level of life. If we could change it, we would. But that power does not lie in our hands. It is up to you to be an anti-homophobe, an anti-transphobe, or to be what this world determines you to be.
Thanks for bearing with me. I know this is a lot. Many of you care for me deeply and I appreciate you all, so very much. Many of you dislike me and that's not my problem. Please know that trolling me would be a waste of your time, not mine. Yes I spent a lot of time typing this up, and it was not a second that I wasted. I feel lovely.
Topic: Daan on homophobia (Read 65816 times)