#also if this is how you find out I hate trump. goodbye block me unfollow me i don’t give a shit

[ccuriousmischieff]

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[friendlylocalwhumper]

if you’ve seen posts about politics in the whump community...

have you been seeing posts about politics around here in the past few days? been seeing whump blogs answering asks about affiliations and opinions on spicy topics? have you been vaguely aware that there’s some kind of drama, but haven’t felt comfortable addressing it because you don’t know the whole context?

i’m going to try and explain it clearly for you under the cut! some of the involved parties are my friends, and some are expressly not my friends, but i’m going to try to remain impartial. there is a segment toward the end dedicated to my personal opinion, so the rest should be a straightforward explanation. the intent of this post is to clarify this situation for my followers so that they’re more comfortable in the whump community. if you choose to interact with me on this topic, do so respectfully, and show empathy to both sides, even if only out of cursory respect.

foreword: there are several people who were mainly involved in this. i’m going to @ the people who i mention that have posted about this on their blogs, because they own up to what they believe, and in this way i’m reaching out to them so they know i’m mentioning them and what they’ve stood up for. full transparency, full accountability. by using an @ when i mention them, i’m also giving you the opportunity to click and see their blogs, so hopefully this post is generally accessible, clearly explained, and convenient for the reader. also, i’m putting direct quotes in italics so that you can easily spot them and find them again.

names: ari is @one-lonely-whumperfly (she/her), ruin is @crash-bump-bring-the-whump (he/him), i’m scott (he/him)

on may 22nd (8 days ago) there was discussion in a whump server about politics: specifically, ari said I'm just so damn sick of everyone on Tumblr being completely unopen to other's views to the point that they post "unfollow me if blank" things.

this began a dialogue between her and ruin that essentially settled into two sides: ari believing that it’s wrong to judge republicans as a group since not all republicans are hateful, that it’s immoral and ignorant to ask republicans not to interact on your blog, and ruin believing that since members of some groups such as trans folk and those who are mexican feel unsafe and uncomfortable interacting with republicans, it’s valid for them to set the boundaries of their blog and interactions by asking republicans to unfollow the blog.

screenshots of parts of that pivotal conversation: (i am in the last screenshot, and was involved in this conversation when it was happening - i’m not entirely removed from the topic in this way, i recognize that)

on may 28th (2 days ago) ruin made a post on his blog explaining that he has trauma in regards to interacting extensively with republicans, and requesting that republicans unfollow and block him. this sparked the flurry of anonymous asks to people such as ruin, myself, and one or more other whump blogs who i know wish not to be mentioned. every ask that i have seen on the matter says something along the lines of “it’s wrong to generalize, you’re a bad person for thinking all republicans are bad, i’m disappointed, unfollowing”.

that same day, may 28th, ari made a post in the same server’s general chat saying the following:  I think it's finally time for me to leave this server. But before I go, I'm going to air my grievances... This is meant to be a server for love of whump and now it's become politically charged and ostracizing. I'm Republican and I feel 100% unwelcome here, so here's goodbye. Oh, and by the way, I voted for Trump. [segment taken out of the middle where you see the “...” because the comments therein are server-specific and not directly related to this post.]

related posts: ari on the “unfollow if you’re a republican” type of post khal on being judged as a republican and not asking anyone to unfollow vic on staying out of drama and sticking with whump (please do not interact with vic about this, only use this link as reference to see their perspective. do not comment on this linked post or send vic any asks on the topic.)

my opinion: i think that it’s important to respect boundaries. i will own up to my bias on several points: like ruin, i am a trans man (one way in which i have reason to be uneasy with republicans solely based off of the party’s policies and general beliefs); unlike ari, i am not republican, and i am not christian. i was raised by christian conservatives with whom i have many issues, so i have a bias against them, like ruin. whether or not it’s a valid bias in my eyes is irrelevant - it is a bias, and i’m making that clear for you so that you can read my post with that context in mind.

i can see ari’s original point; i understand that being judged based off of one asset of your identity hits like a gut-punch. my problem with ari’s perspective is that, in feeling defensive over that, she didn’t express empathy toward ruin for his need to set that boundary on his blog. i feel for the people who are emotional over feeling excluded or cast aside, but in the end i always empathize more with the person who feels unsafe, and ruin acted in reaction to systemic oppression/hatred/disgust, in the context of their past, by trying to set a personal boundary. not only did ari argue against ruin’s right to set that boundary, but by actively bringing this up and making it so firmly about politics, she did successfully impact ruin’s comfort level on this site. from my persepctive, the ideal course of events would have been for ruin to have made his post, and for ari to have unfollowed him, and that would have been that.

conclusion: i’m not comfortable with the amount of asks and passive aggressive comments i’ve seen on this topic. i am not the only source of information on this, but i can guarantee that most whump blogs do not want to interact with this topic. we’re here to whump, after all. i just hope that after reading this, you sympathize with both ruin and ari, and that if you feel the need to ask questions or discuss, you do so respectfully, patiently, and if possible, not on anon. we’re all a little nervous about anon asks right now, with this going on. you guys know how much i hate meta (i prefer to keep it 100% whump on my blog), so i probably won’t be answering any asks about this. again, my intention here is to give context, not to spark a conversation, so i hope that this gives folks peace of mind, or something to chew on, but not a launch point for more opinions and attacks. if you feel the need to send your thoughts to someone, send them to me; please don’t bother the other blogs that i’ve mentioned, i don’t want to take up more of the community’s time with this topic.