Every now and again I have an unrestrained rant, and this is one of those times. The following is based on two emails to politicians and subsequent events.
Because of the potential problems with Blogger’s community standards, I have edited the descriptor of the far right extremist groups. I have also added emphasis, made some privacy edits, and clarified the wording.
Take note: the problems I am writing about in this post will also occur in the referendum campaign for the Voice.
***
First (chronologically) email
Tonight a very dear friend of mine was physically assaulted while travelling home by public transport (bus) in regional town. This follows a similar assault on him while also travelling on a bus. He is reporting the assault to police as I write this email.
The assault may be related to mental health, but it comes on top of other violent far right extremist violence.
It is my opinion that far right extremists have become emboldened in
recent years: clear, definitive action is needed to stop those right
wing extremists and their associated LGBTIQA+ haters as a matter of
urgency.
He is, as I mentioned, currently making a complaint at his town’s police
station, but police have a still deeply flawed standing with LGBTIQA+
people, and, especially after they appeared to be protecting n___s a couple of weeks ago. The police need to do more of the
actions shown recently when an LGBTIQA+ hater was dismissed, and develop
a much improved connection with LGBTIQA+ people - starting with
listening to us about properly organised consultation events where
police do not flaunt wearing guns.
I am aware of the strong actions being taken by the Andrews government -
and the Palaszczuk government in Queensland, and of the supportive
statements that have been made, but we need stronger - MUCH stronger -
protection at all levels of government - including proper
anti-vilification laws. (We have other needs as well, but this is not
time or place for those.)
I also STRONGLY recommend that the next time someone in any department
tries to justify letting in a notorious trans-hater with previously
demonstrated links to n___s (possibly stupidly and very WRONGLY claiming
hate speech is a free speech matter), our objections be given proper
weight and the visa denied - the damage done by such people who can only
be described as evil shows up most AWAY from the public events, in the
towns and daily lives of trans and gender diverse people, and
LGBTIQA+ people generally.
PS (not in my original email): my has been assaulted yet again (in early July), and this time it looks like the police might finally take action. So now there will police investigations and use of court resources - and in the interim, there has been the life changing trauma of fear for months ... all of could possibly have been prevented by a caution or warning. Why was no action taken?
***
-
the effect of such events, to state the obvious, goes beyond the obvious
damage to TGD people and others who are targeted by other similar
detestable events: it will potentially embolden bigots;
- counter
protests against bigots of all types are always important, but, as I
mentioned below, activities by bigots can have an influence away from the direct
locale that is influenced by social media bubbles. Hence, the fact that
no-one was arrested or deterred from the event that n___s were at in
Melbourne is what the trans haters would notice, not the strong support
at the Trans Day of Visibility which probably didn't even breach their
social bubble - whereas the TDoV is vitally important to TGD people, as
is the clear and prompt expressions of support from the Andrews
government;
- I endorse the calls for better protection that others (e.g., Georgie Stone - SBS website here) have made in response to this, but the issue of not mistaking hate speech for freedom of speech is also important.
There are also longer term solutions to consider - namely, preventing people being socially conditioned into being bigots in the first place, but that goes well beyond the purposes of this email; - the
attitudes of people in police and public services needs to also be free
of all forms f bias - especially unconscious bias; and
- the
issues and perspectives raised by these events will also need to be
considered as part of managing the campaign for the Voice - and the
racists have already made their presence felt at the launch of the "no"
campaign (here, on The Guardian website).
Other material
I want to draw your attention, Dear Reader, to other relevant material:
- On the march by far right wing extremists and transphobes and the counter-protests [Content Warning: hate, discrimination, violence, extremism] - in which I outline why nonviolence is the best long term strategy for effecting permanent change (which is but one of the many reasons that throwing soup at and on a notorious trans hater was wrong, and likely to be counter-productive [it is also, no matter how commonly it has been used, likely assault IMO - and gives right wingers ammunition to argue that they need protection against us, and so on]);
- The state of the world is amathia [Content Warning: suffering, violence]; and
- A transgenocide [Note: Content Warning] is underway.
It is also worth noting how much news there has been on this and related matters.
Before I get to that, please consider what you will do. If you want some suggestions:
- be as properly informed as you can;
- write to your elected representatives (if you are in a nation where you have them);
- change yourself to remove as much unconscious bias / lack of acknowledgement of unearned advantage (aka “privilege”) as you can;
- ask your workplace if all people / types of people are safe;
- join and actively participate in an activist organisation - if you have concerns about street marches, then join Amnesty International.
Now, those news links - and be warned: this is quite long (although I’ve limited it to six weeks - despite it getting worse for at least a decade), and mostly negative. Note carefully that multiple bigotries are often held by any one person. Also, there are some relevant links - good and bad - which will be in this week’s news post.
after more violence from her supporters (including a motorcycle running down a politician), a notorious transhater linked to white supremacist fascists has left New Zealand without speaking (TG) - see this criticism of the hater (Star), also this on the links between forms of bigotries (TBS) and “the intersection of [right wing extremism/fascism] and transphobia” - which, as that article notes, we have warned of previously - including in my email in January requesting cancellation of the transhater’s visa (M), this summary / commentary / overview (M), this editorial criticism (LA Times) of transhate/transgenocide (M) laws, and this call for better legal protection in Australia (TG) and this message of support for trans people from a Christian Minister; a vile LGBTIQA+ hate message of social media has drawn widespread condemnation - see here (which is truly surprising - and possibly questionable, given that person’s past displays of hate) (TG), here (TND), here (SBS), and here (ABC) - and the victim has asked for improved protection of LGBTIQA+ people (TG);
black children are more likely to be sexually abused in the form of strip searches by UK police (TG) - see also here (M), and this, on a police officer charged with assault of a child (not tried, so presumption of innocence applies) (Nottingham Post); “former Sydney prison officer sentenced to 23 years in jail for sexually assaulting inmates” (ABC); concerns over legal stays in cases against catholic clergy accused of child abuse (TG); “mental health is not an individual matter, but a political one” (Aeon);
a deep analysis of transphobic thinking in a supposed to be progressive party in my home state (Several Problems Press); “I had two options – die or find a way to live as a transgender man” (TG); “‘the reporting process was more traumatising than the assault itself’: LGBTQ+ survivors on accessing support after sexual violence” - especially if police were involved (and trans people were the LEAST likely to be perpetrators) (TC); LGBTIQA+ kids are taking action in support of trans kids (TruthOut); “Nebraska lawmaker with trans son tells GOP colleagues she's done with them in righteous speech” (LGBT Nation); “Matthew Shepard's father shares warning about anti-trans hate” (Pink News); a sistagirl’s story (ABC) - and see also this story (SBS);
incompetent - to the point of being described as Pavlovian - pseudo-journalists who are doing the publicity work of POTUS45 (Empty Wheel); “growing up in Germany, I was taught about the rise of [fascism]. It’s vital to call out even the early symptoms” (The Lead); a heroic US state legislator is filibustering and will do so for the entire session to prevent a transgenocidal bill being passed (Rolling Stone) - see also this (New York Magazine);
there have been marches in my home city by transhaters which have included far right wing extremists: my thoughts on that are here - see also here (Tasmania will also take action) (SBS), here (TND), here (SMH), here (SMH), and here (The Shot), and this petition ... and just days after the extremist parade in my home state, a pack of pseudo-christian extremist (SBS) thugs (QN) violently (TND) assaulted (TG) peaceful
trans-rights activists on the opposite side of a street to where a
notorious right wing politician was speaking - who condemned the
violence but grossly misrepresented the actions of the trans-rights
protestors. Prime Minister Albanese must condemn this violence - see also here (TND), here (TG), here (Star), here (Star), here (Star), a NZ focused article which states there is historical precedent for public safety trumping so-called free (hate) speech here (TC), “let’s counteract hysteria by dispelling gender diversity myths” (The West Australian), and videos were circulated on social media prior to the planned massive ambush URGING VIOLENCE (TG); a Tasmanian newspaper “has printed a front-page apology for publishing an anti-trans letter to the editor that was later found to be fabricated” (QN); an Indigenous Senator who was being an outstanding ally at a trans-hate rally was “pulverised” by two trans-haters and several police - see here (SBS), here (TND), here (QN), here (TG), and concerns about her treatment were expressed by the Minister for Indigenous Australians (TG); the reality of children’s sport that include trans competitors (M); the history of trans people in Australia in the 19th century (TC); the US republicans war on women (and other minorities) is continuing on its vicious path (F24) - and has led to an educator being sacked over a famous historical statue (The Daily Beast), and a request for an extremely violent and pornographic book to be removed from a school library: the bible (Raw Story); the limits of expert judgement (TC);
“more than 95% of north Queensland children on internal police ‘blacklist’ are Indigenous” (TG); in the UK, London’s “Met police found to be institutionally racist, misogynistic and homophobic ... can ‘no longer presume that it has the permission of the people of London to police them’ ” (TG) - see also here (TG); “Philadelphia will pay [US]$9.25M to protesters over police use of tear gas and rubber bullets during 2020 ... racial justice protests” (The Philadelphia Inquirer);
the US “Secret Service was aware of credible threat against Nancy Pelosi but neglected to pass it on until hours after capitol attack” (Political Tribune);
new and more accurate term: transmisic instead of transphobic - see here; protests in Italy against restrictions on same gender parents (TG); an elected US state representative “speaks from a Christian perspective against an anti-trans bill” (social media); “Intersex medical rights bill introduced in the ACT” (SBS); anti-LGBTIQA+ hate is being reflected in proposed extremist legislation in Uganda that includes the death penalty (TG) - see also here (TG), here (UN); the next step (TG) in the USA’s transgenocide; more recycled hate in the USA (LGBTQ Nation); more transhate (TND) in sport (AJ);
rising global homophobia is an attack on democracy (SS); an HONEST depiction of what Drag Time Story Hour really looks like (The Advocate) - and NONE of those arrested this week for allegedly being predators is a drag queen (QN); “Tennessee Senate passes bill that legally erases trans people” (The Pink News); more concerning attempted religious influence on politics (TG); the abuse of history (American Historical Association); “fascism’s easy. But democracy and civilization? They’re hard work” (M); “governments must do more to protect human rights defenders ... Officials in many countries “vilify and target” human rights defenders instead of recognizing the crucial work they do to help build fairer societies, a UN-appointed independent expert said” (UN); the term “culture wars” is being misused (social media);
an autopsy has revealed US police killed a protestor when their hands were raised (NPR); the scandal (TG) of the BBC backing conservatism governance that conflicts with agreed international obligations and silencing (ABC) one of its staff for point that out continues to grow (F24); a The Guardian exclusive reports that Qld police are investigating a whistleblower’s allegations of abuse of children by police - see also this (TG); “rape charges dropped against ... man after police search found to be illegal” [CW - the material found by the illegal search is disturbing] (TG); in the overturning of a manifestly wrong sentence of a climate crisis protestors/defender of human existence, it was revealed NSW police used a “false factual basis” - in words normal people understand, a lie about an ambulance being blocked (ABC);
an “Intersex runner ... [is] fighting for everyone's right to compete in sport” (ABC); an unfair dismissal case has been won in Italy (Star); the grotesque panic defence in the USA (M); the accreditation of so-called independent (which includes religious) schools in Qld will be reviewed (QN);
a US state “seeks to jail trans kids’ parents, authorize out-of-state kidnappings” (M) - see also this (Mother Jones) ... but another state has protected (ABC News) trans health care and will be a trans refuge (Them); “the hard right aren’t democratic opponents — they’re enemies of democracy” (infinite8horizon blog) - and their supporters in the media are unethical (TG) liars (TG); the USA’s “top 1% has taken $50 trillion from the bottom 90%” (Time); a violation of the KKK Act in the USA (Law and Crime); the US republican party is “about hate” (M), and a republican state has voted to allow child abuse in the form of child marriage (AP); “at CPAC, a creepy obsession with trans kids, and a speaker’s call to ‘eradicate’ transgenderism entirely” (Huffington Post) - see also this (M); one US state will now openly allow anti-LGBTIQA+ discrimination (ProPublica); “we’re watching [US] fascism become nazism right before our eyes ... what do you call an organised political movement dedicated to … ending people’s rights to exist?” (M); “the massacres of [15th March] 2019 at two Christchurch mosques confirmed the far right remains a constant threat to public order and safety in New Zealand, and that this threat was largely overlooked by security and intelligence agencies” (TC); “how anti-woke became a cowardly slogan for a racist crusade” (M); the US far right extremists also want to criminalise wearing a mask for health reasons (SS - JW);
from a few years ago, a “historian of fascism offers lessons for democracies on how to resist authoritarianism” (YT) - see also this (RNS);
how to prevent intelligence community ineptness for the next pandemic (TC); the US FBI breached privacy principles by BUYING data (Wired);
“LGBT+ Australians call for funding to address discrimination at home as federal government pledges millions for Asia-Pacific” (ABC); “what it's like to be intersex in Australia” (SBS); yet another study showing that “children of same-sex couples fare at least as well as in other families” (TG); “'trans people exist': Taoiseach backs the teaching of gender identity in [primary] schools” (The Journal Ireland); an update on a conservative US papers obsessive transphobic campaign against trans children (Popula); NSW police took no action against an unauthorised anti-LGBTIQA+ march by pseudo-christians (Star) - see also this (Star);
US police ALLOWED far right wing violent extremists to violently beat LGBTIQA+ people (M) - see also this (M); “New York City to pay millions over police ‘kettling’ at Floyd protest” (The Philadelphia Inquirer); as Indigenous youths are targetted in streets, “online anti-crime groups propel Queensland to a political reckoning ... people with pitchforks on social media pages are raising fears of vigilantism but others say they want real solutions, not just more kids in jail” (TG) - see this, on similar racial profiling and targetting problems in WA (TG), this (TG), this, on sexual assault via strip searches and sexual threats of detained children (TG); “(how) fascism is when people don’t want you to exist” (M); a US “republican ... faced fierce criticism for ‘grotesque suggestion’ in southern state with history of lynchings” (M); the USA “is destroying everything by making it a business” (M); “martyrs won't save the world” (SS - JW); further to the recent debates on changed content, “why one children’s books editor turned down Roald Dahl titles” (TG);
“deputy commissioner highly critical of botched arrest of [an Indigenous man killed during the arrest], inquest hears” (TG), and “senior officer says dragging of [the man] to police car after shooting was ‘unacceptable’” (TG); “one in 100 police officers in England and Wales faced a criminal charge last year” (TG); in the UK a “secret House of Lords circle ‘shown to have worked with far right’” (TG); “fifty refugees who allege they endured horrific treatment in now-defunct South Australian detention centres are facing vast and unexplained delays to their cases against the government, which threaten to languish in the courts for more than a decade” (TG); “NT gambling regulator admits not telling bookmakers of 48 addicts who asked to be banned” (TG); “no real estate agents fined for breaking NSW rent bidding rules, despite hundreds of warnings” (TG); a social media platform is “‘acting too slow’ to tackle self-harm and eating disorder content” (TG);
“the federal government has launched a 10-year national LGBTIQA+ health plan, including $26 million in grants and research ... in a move advocates say will save lives” (QN); CHANGES IN NUMBERS/RELATIVE NUMBERS OF TGD PEOPLE/YOUNG PEOPLE ARE BECAUSE OF THE REDUCTION IN STIGMA, NOT THE UTTERLY RIDICULOUS SOCIAL CONTAGION FANTASY (M); “powerful speech halts bathroom ban in Arkansas: "most extreme anti-trans law in [the USA]" gets pulled” (SS); a Christian church has spoken out against anti-LGBTIQA+ attacks at World Pride (QN);
“the website that wants you to kill yourself — and won’t die” (Mother Jones); “all US extremist mass killings in 2022 linked to far right” (Axios); “today’s climate activist ‘criminals’ are tomorrow’s heroes: silencing them in court is immoral” (TG); compassion fatigue (DW); “‘gender trolling’ is curbing women’s rights – and making money for digital platforms ... Online hate has become a tool of the right and a lucrative business. It’s driving women out of public life, putting democracy and human rights at risk” (TG); “why the right wing is obsessed with (our) kids ... hate is a social construction” (M); “NSW police criticised for ‘outrageous’ midnight arrest of student who protested at RBA” (TG); “advocates criticise Victoria’s decision to allocate affordable housing by ballot rather than need” (TG); “what coverage of Nicola Bulley, Emma Pattison and Brianna Ghey tells us about an out-of-control media” (TG);
calls for the MSM to stop publishing excerpts from the private diary of an alleged sexual assault victim that were provided to POLICE as EVIDENCE (there is at least one police officer who, IMO, needs o be sacked and then charged) (TND); the personal impact of the RoboDebt cover-up (TG); a whistleblower is fighting a retaliatory (my word) punishment (ABC); the UK’s queen consort has supported anti-Semitism, misogyny and racism - time for Australia to become a republic (TND);
digital targetting of LGBTIQA+ people in West Asia and northern Africa (HRW) - see also this (YT - HRW) and this (HRW); “Meta has profited from over 200 ads using the anti-LGBTQ “groomer” slur, even though the platform claims it prohibits the term” (Iron Wynch) - see also this (TG); Vic Police have sacked a homophobe (Star); bystanders became accessories by doing nothing while a vicious attack on transwomen was taking place (QN); a major US newspaper has discredited
itself by trying to argue that reporting along the lines of that used
to justify eugenics, sexism/misogyny, racism/white supremacism was
defensible (TG) - see also this (SF Gate), and this (Pride Source); hate vandalism as World Pride gets under way in NSW (QN); far right extremists have committed a physically violent attack against an LGBTIQA+ event (QN);
outstanding advances for women (including menstrual law) and LGBTIQA+ people in a new Spanish law (HRW); diversity plans will be required for medical trials (Nature); as one US state moves to try to kill trans adults as well as trans children (M), revelations that the prior bullying of two murdered queer kids was ignored (M); “the global wall-building boom suggests a return to divisive cold war mindsets. It marks a failure of progressive politics – and reflects the resurgence of authoritarian ideologies of fear, separation and difference. More to the point, geopolitically, ethically and practically speaking, this damaging policy is a dud. Walls won’t work” (TG); an examination of the appeal of the toxic masculinity of the so-called “manosphere” (TC) as referrals of male followers of a notorious violent misogynist currently in jail in Romania to a UK counter-extremism body increase (TG) and a call is made for parents to talk to sons about that misogynist (TG); a survivor of two gun massacres has appealed for real change in the USA (TND) - where “one in 20 US homicides are committed by police – and the numbers aren’t falling” (TG); “a team of Israeli contractors who claim to have manipulated more than 30 elections around the world using hacking, sabotage and automated disinformation on social media has been exposed in a new investigation” (TG) - see also this (F24); emotional intelligence has declined globally (6 Seconds research); “‘catfish[ers]’ ... have higher psychopathy, sadism, and narcissism” (TC);
“UN rights experts gravely concerned over ‘brutal deaths’ at hands of police” in the USA (UN); the Australian War Memorial is STILL accepting donations from companies that profit from war (TG); “fury among NSW Liberals as MP escapes punishment for sharing explicit photos of female rival” (TG); “multiple witnesses who testified before a special purpose grand jury investigating [POTUS45’s] efforts to overturn the 2020 election may have lied and committed perjury, according to a section of the grand jury’s report” (TG);
on failed allyship (M); a debunking of a fake transphobic story (Substack); a call for an “government apology for entrapment, persecution of homosexual men” in a “gay prison” in NSW in the 1950s, 60s, and 70s (TG); LGBTIQA+ allies outnumbered haters 7:1 at a drag story time event in Tasmania (Australian Pride Network); blatant and illegal homophobia in NSW ahead of World Pride (QN); the problem of corporatisation of Mardi Gras (TG);
Assumptions / basis
In writing this, I have assumed / started from the following:
- this blog states quite clearly that it is about political and human rights matters, including lived experience of problems, and thus I will assume readers are reasonable people who have noted the content warning in the post header;
If you appreciated this post, please consider promoting it - there are some links below.
Finally, remember: we need to be more human being rather than human doing.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.