#and the other side is like accusing the others of being classist or ableist or something

[phantoms-planet]

Barred Protection Chapter 8

Tw: depression and inmate violence (not graphic)

Masterlist

Batman knew it had to have been Daelus to leak the story. The man had asked to send a letter and then the very next morning Vicki Vale had a story out about the scandal? There wasn’t a chance of it being anyone else at that point. Part of him was mad about it, given that they weren’t ready to handle the aftermath, but the other part of him understood the desperation. Men in bad situations did stupid things trying to fix them.

News outlets had leapt onto the story like savage wolves. It was only hours before the world knew of Dealus’s actions and the true nature of his medicines.

Just as Bruce thought, there was a savage fight over ethics and human rights. The two loudest sides were the people claiming that using the medicine was complacent in torture and child endangerment, and the people claiming it was ableist and classist of anyone who agreed with the former group.

Bruce couldn’t fully agree with either of the points. He could never condone the treatment Danny had gone through, but he wasn’t blind to the suffering Ameliorate had abated. Just like most things in life, there was no black and white answer.

He really wished there was.

“B?” Dick’s voice pulled him from his thoughts. “How bad is it?”

“Hmm…”

“That bad?”

Bruce grunted again. It was worse than ‘that bad’. The Justice League was now being accused of not acting fast enough on a shady company, as if something like this was usually part of their duties.

Granted in hindsight they should have acted much sooner.

He let out a grumbling sigh before paging the League for an emergency meeting. They couldn’t go back and fix what happened but now they were going to mitigate the damage as much as possible. Though that ship might have sailed already.

With a swish of his cape, Batman went over to the zeta tube and in seconds he was up in the Watchtower.

Several of the others were right behind him. He led the way to one of the meeting rooms to wait for everyone. Thankfully, and promptly, everyone filed in and took their seats.

Batman pursed his lips before starting. “As you all are aware, the news of what happened regarding Danny has been leaked to the public. There has been great backlash against the League for how slow we were to respond to this, as the news had put it, dangerous precedent for business affairs.”

There was a wave of complaints that filled the room. Batman held his hand up, having to wait several minutes before everyone got their outrage under control. “I am aware that this may be unfair, but it may also not be. We need to have our best public speakers at the press conference. Superman? I want you front and center. I will have a list of topics that are confidential at the moment as well as a few pre-written answers if a question stumps you. Diana, I want you to help him.”

“The two of you are the favorites of the public, they will be easier on you. As for everyone else: Danny is fully confidential. If anyone tries to get you to speak about him, you will answer with ‘The league has already made their statements on the matter’, is this understood?”

A chorus of yesses followed. Flash held up his hand. “What are we going to do with Ameliorate? We can’t let them keep selling medicine, can we?”

“Not as freely.” Bruce stated. “For the time being they are going to be put under suspension. No medicine can be sold unless it is necessary for survival, no patients can be seen under the same conditions. In the wake of things, I think it best if we employ teams on site of dispensaries and clinics to protect the people who need the medication to live. I don’t want protests to get violent with those people as the targets.”

“I agree,” Diana was sitting up straight as a rod, anger barely hidden. “But I also believe there shouldn’t be any more collecting from Danny.”

Another chorus of agreement and Batman held his hand up again. “No, we will not collect more from the boy.”

“Then what of the people who rely on the medicine to live?” J’onn asked, brows furrowed.

Batman didn’t answer as fast this time. He’d been thinking about it and frankly, the only solution he could come up with was synthesizing something that resembled Danny’s tears. He could have his kids help with it to make it go faster.

He let out a sigh. “I will attempt to synthesize the tears. We can’t just let people die without at least attempting this.”

---

Danny floated in the expanse of space lazily. He didn’t need to breathe and the cold didn’t bother him so he could spend as much time as he wanted up here. With earth so tiny below him all that happened felt so far away-

Not-not that anything had happened to him. Everything was fine. He was just…relaxing after a hard day at school, yeah.

“Danny?” He whipped around at the voice. The green skinned man was back and this time he was holding his hands up placatingly. “My name is J’onn, but you may know me as Martian Manhunter.”

Martian Manhunter? The man who’d been harassing him was Martian Freaking Manhunter?! Of course one of the people he dreamed of meeting was being a massive jerk, that was just Fenton luck. Danny turned to fly away but was stopped by a hand to his shoulder.

“Would you like to see my home?” And just like that he was reeled in like a fish.

J’onn changed the dreamscape to an alien world with strange architecture and beautiful views. When Danny started asking questions about anything and everything, J’onn patiently answered them.

He learned about how the society ran, J’onn’s former job, his family (a clearly sore topic), how his planet was destroyed. J’onn needed a moment after that one, Danny let him compose himself as he explored a little more. This was a dream come true!

Danny asked even more questions until he wore himself out and he changed the surroundings back to empty space.

J’onn floated in silence with him for a while. It was nice. Maybe…maybe J’onn was nice too.

“Can I ask about your family?” J’onn gently nudged.

Danny stiffened. Was this a trap of some kind? He watched the alien in front of him for a moment before snorting. No, this was genuine. So…Dany told him. About his parents hunting ghosts, his sister who wanted to be a brain surgeon and wanted to grow up too fast, and when he was out of things to say about them he started talking about Sam and Tucker.

It was like a weight was lifting from his chest. Their surroundings changed with memories that he brought up; showing the Nastyburger, his home, school, and before he knew it Danny was starting to cry.

He didn’t want to cry, he’d done so much of it, but he couldn’t help it. J’onn held him as he broke down with body-wracking sobs.

---

Diana had noticed how relaxed their ward had become. It seemed J’onn’s new approach was working at first, until tears started slipping from Danny’s eyes again.

She quickly grabbed a tissue and began wiping them away. The poor boy had been through so much and he wasn’t even close to being done, the least she could do was wipe his tears for him.

Minutes after Danny started crying J’onn was taking his hand from the boy’s forehead. He met Diana’s eyes. “He wanted time alone. I believe I have reached him on some level though. He showed me his family and friends.” Diana nodded in relief.

After what had happened three tries ago, none of them were sure Danny would let them help. Showing his family was a huge improvement. A second chance.

“I’ll go tell Batman.” She swept to her feet and made her way to the monitors, where Batman was watching closely. “Batman?”

“Hnn?”

“J’onn says Danny showed him his loved ones.”

“Good progress. Have him come debrief with me when he can.”

Diana offered him a small smile. “I will. Do we have progress on the G.I.W?”

Batman let out a much more frustrated grunt. It took him a moment to compile his thoughts but Diana didn’t mind. She liked that he thought before speaking. “There’s…not good news. Researching them I found a set of acts, the Anti-Ecto acts, that make what they’ve done, what they’re doing, completely legal as long as they can prove their specimens are ghosts.”

“How have we not heard of these before?”

“I don’t know.” Bruce was clearly very frustrated. She understood, he liked having everything under control and no unknowns. This was a very important unknown.

Diana set a hand to his shoulder. They both seemed to be thinking the same thing; the public was going to be just as upset hearing about laws that allowed the torture of a young child.

---

Despite what people thought, Daelus was not the one to spill about his operations. He had wanted that to go quietly. As if he would sacrifice his whole company in an attempt to get the bat to listen to him. It was laughable.

No, the letter he had sent was to his assistant. He wanted Carter to re-start the synthesizing of P’s tears.

They had tried for years with no success, but if they could manage it now maybe the company, and the people who needed their medication to live, could be saved.

Unfortunately he had received a letter back saying that everyone who was working on that project had been put under various forms of arrest, and that his methods had been leaked. Who had leaked it? He wasn’t sure. Everyone was under iron tight NDAs.

Either way Daelus’s company was as good as dead.

Grief didn’t even begin to explain how he felt. His whole life’s ambition was gone, his good intentions marred, his reputation so sullied it might as well have been dragged lower than hell.

To say he was reacting poorly was an understatement. Most days he couldn’t get up to brush his teeth, let alone go to the cafeteria to eat.

Not that it would be safe for him anyway.

He had been moved to an isolation ward since the last time he’d been around the other inmates they had…very violent reactions to seeing him. Daelus shuddered at the memory.

Did he think he deserved it? Well…maybe? He hurt a child, sure, but he had also helped so many people. Surely that mitigated some of the harm. And really, how else would he have gotten tears from P, especially at the volume they needed to produce to keep up?

Surely the result had pardoned at least part of the means.

Though Daelus was put out about the fact that he had done those things to a child. Maybe he should have found a better method. Maybe he should have had his scientists work harder on the synthetic version of his tears.

Maybe he shouldn’t have bought a person in the first place.

Maybe his company shouldn’t have been the only thing he cared about for so long.

A puff of air escaped his lips. Daelus couldn’t change what he had done. He wanted to, yes, but he couldn’t.

He wished he could see P again.

He wished he could apologize.

[radley-rambles]

A lot of the criticism of Nano is getting very Piss On The Poor.... they flat-out did not say a lot of what they are being accused of saying. They said that categorical damnation of generative AI has some classist and ableist undertones, which I agree with only because we live in an ableist and classist society, and therefore, those undertones will be present in damn near any large debate.

But.

This is about the context. For Nanowrimo to try to shut down:

criticisms of generative AI in creative spaces

writers' very real and valid concerns for their future livelihoods (we've already seen the massive negative impact generative AI is having on indie writers, cover designers, etc.!)

larger environmental concerns (generating text doesn't use too much energy, but generating a single image with AI takes as much power as fully charging your smartphone... and if you support one sort of generative AI in creative spaces without explicitly condemning others, of course it's going to be taken as a general promotion!)

with accusations of classism and ableism...

Especially when so many writers are disabled, poor, and have specifically created communities and adjusted their goals because of this lack of privilege... Especially when those writers are now worried about the impact AI will have on these support networks... Especially when Nano is being sponsored by an AI writing company....

To say nothing of them trying to tone-police criticism and demanding that people obey their site rules on other sites such as Tumblr...

It smacks of using the language of social justice to hurt the very people who they are claiming to support.

To address the ableism accusation: Yes, some people cannot write. That's okay. I am disabled and could not ever hope to run 100m, let alone a marathon. This is a thing I Cannot Do Due To Disability - y'know, on account of disabilities being disabling and all. Still, I wouldn't dream of saying that me being driven 100m in a car is the same as running a sprint, and insist on being included in a sprinting competition? It's an entirely different thing - and that is okay to acknowledge. Pretending that driving 100m is the exact same as running just because the person in the car is disabled, is really fucking patronizing. And I honestly don't believe any of the disabled people Nano is talking about are claiming that having AI write your novel is the same as writing it yourself - so let's not make this about any such accusations. This is about disabled people being used, once again, as a feel-good marketing tool, rather than groups like NaNo actually giving a shit about us, lmao.

Nanowrimo is placing themselves on a side in a far larger cultural argument, whether this was their original intention or otherwise. And I think the vast, vast majority of creative people will agree that they're on the wrong one.

[mudelebentru]

"And your “side” can recognize that dismissing all calls to empathy as guilt trips and using other empty woke tactics like using the fact that some people can’t be healthy on a vegan diet as a way to paint even the suggestion as classist/ableist."

In that regard, I'm not asking for empathy or compassion, but mostly remembering to the accusing vegan that for some people it's not sustainable nor practical. I can't afford to buy 100% vegan, eating two eggs at breakfast is cheaper, that's a fact, while "animals see you as their oppressor" is more doubtful and rooted in a particular view of animal life.

And as an attempt to highlight the hypocrisy, yeah, you are so awake and have so much conscience, but yet you are here projecting human qualities on animals and forgeting about humans that already have those human qualities and are struggling right now. Doesn't sound full of compassion and understanding, just full of itself.

I'm honest: I'm practical and I will act on what benefit my own survival; the same principle applies to animals. If someone wants to start to quantify oppressions and obstacles for every single subject to reach full well being on this planet, then I call for them to do it well and consistently.

"And vegans can still understand that a plant based diet is not accessible or even safe for all people despite your side sometimes being too quick to leap to those terms."

I have yet to see it, tbh

"My whole point is EVERYONE can be less reactive and listen. And yes, that means the people you’re talking about and it means people on your side too!

I genuinely do believe everyone here makes good points! I don’t really disagree with anything you said! I just think people don’t consider the very valid points the other side makes."

I don't think that they have valid points, tbh

The points I can give them is that in some cases plant based diets can be helpful to some people and that certain practices towards animals are immoral, outside that, the whole concept of linking what you eat -need to survive- to a sloopy feelings based ethics is not a good idea.

"And this is the only personal note, but in the USA and many other countries eating meat only once a week is insanely low. Most Americans eat meat with every meal except breakfast, and more elaborate breakfasts at restaurants or for days off and some fast food/food truck often feature meat as well. It’s much more reasonable to criticize the excessive meat consumption of the USA vs where you are from.

Do you mind if I ask what country you are from? Because I think that makes for better communication if we know where our perspectives come from."

Well, from a third world country, so here we don't eat that much. It seems like an integral part of american culture to aim bigger in everything, tbh

It seems to be not like a carnivore problem, but an american hyperconsumption problem.

[the-bjd-community-confess]

“DM for price” means the seller will look over your SM account(s) to see what they think you can afford and will charge you much more than the item is worth to discourage buying if you look poor or otherwise undesirable, because they don’t want what they’re selling to be sullied by someone who wouldn’t fit their image. It’s a standard (shady) sales technique.

See tl;dr: at the bottom, but source: used to (briefly) work at a shady clothing vendor at a certain “History Themed” theme park type place. They didn’t put price tags on our products. We were instructed to memorize base price for the different types of items and to markup by 300-400% if the person was dressed ratty or looked unhygienic or sloppy. And there were other problematic elements to “who would look good in our clothes” that were not necessarily explicit but were implied by things the bosses said, like weight, attractiveness, and conformity to perceived gender. Race was never mentioned but looking back I suspect at least some employees were going off that as well.

So, let’s say a basic corset is worth $100. A cute thin girl wearing nice-looking street clothes or already in costume will pay $100 for it. A grubby looking overweight genderweird person in a stained t-shirt will be told it costs $375. A few of the people who don’t look “right” and are told the much higher price will buy anyway, but the price serves as a gateway to entry that “minimizes the damage to our brand” by making sure there aren’t very many “poor-looking” or otherwise “unsuitable” people “representing us.”

IMPORTANT SIDE NOTE: “History Themed” events are still great and I still love them!! This is NOT universal for “History Themed” places/events. In most cases, each vendor at a “History Themed” place/event is an independent business making their own decisions. Most of the other vendors at our park had their prices clearly marked and did NOT do this. This is not a “History Themed” problem, it is an “Asshole Seller” problem, which I have noticed at other places/events/festivals/craft fairs/jewelry stores/hair salons/etc. “Enquire for Price” means different people get told different prices, no matter what is being sold

Tl;dr: “DM for price” makes you look like a classist fatphobic ableist racist misogynistic gender-essentialist homophobic money-grubbing asshole snob. Go back and read the rest before you accuse me of being fake woke or whatever.

~Anonymous

[stonesofinfinity]

Hi. I'm interested in joining your group, but I'm curious as to how you handle it when actors are accused/found guilty of various offenses to our community. I know that Chris Pratt has attended a homophobic church for years, and while there's no proof of him being homophobic just yet, that's something that makes a lot of marvel fans uncomfortable. Another such actor is Benedryl Cummerbund, who has proved time and time again that he's classist, ableist, and autistiphobic with his commentary 1/2

interviews. Lastly, I would like to address RDJ’s touchy history with both black and yellow face. How open is this group to banning problematic fc’s like the above when these histories come to light? 2/2

Hello,

Thanks for your ask.

We'd like to take this opportunity to clarify SOI's position on a number of issues since this follows on the heels of a similar discussion on Discord, and to provide further context to our response below.

First, we’d like to make SOI’s position on discrimination clear - we are an inclusive group, and we have a zero tolerance policy towards homophobia, transphobia, sexism, racism, ableism, and any other form of discrimination. We are also firmly against pedophilia and any form of exploitation of minors or other vulnerable persons. Members who are in breach of this will be asked to leave.

Second, how does this translate to FCs?

In order to address that, it is first important to understand why an FC should be banned. Since actors do not derive income from use of their FCs in an RP scenario, the banning of FCs is predominantly to take a stand within the RP community against discrimination, and to ensure a place that's comfortable for our members.

In order to understand how banning an FC equates to taking a stand, it is important to remember that banning an FC does not directly address issues of discrimination unless there is clear and incontrovertible proof that an actor is homophobic, transphobic, racist, etc - only then would an FC ban send a clear message that certain conduct is not tolerated.

We would also highlight another important principle of law that is overlooked in the modern day world - the law requires that people are innocent until proven guilty. This is why the legal process is rigorous and demands a clear process of submission of evidence, allowing both sides to present their side of matters, and for professionals to consider the issue. This is important because it is easy to launch allegations at people, including malicious ones, but an allegation itself is not proof of an offence.

This ask has assumed that these actors are problematic enough to warrant banning, which requires a more in-depth consideration of the specific issues and allegations concerning them.

Taking the example of Chris Pratt first - the allegation against him was made by one person, but this has essentially been taken as fact. In response, Pratt issued a public statement setting out his position, excerpts of which may be read here [x]

The article also lends further context to the original allegation.

In particular, Pratt's response stated, "We need less hate in this world, not more. I am a man who believes that everyone is entitled to love who they want free from the judgement of their fellow man." which reads as LGBTQ supportive.

To ban someone regardless of their personal beliefs, even where there is a clear statement in support of LGBTQ rights, does more damage than good.

Realistically, a vast majority of Christian churches are still on the record as being anti-LGBTQ. There are other religions which are or which have members that are anti-LGBTQ. If we start banning FCs on the basis of membership or affiliation with an organisation, taking this further – should we ban everyone who voted for Trump? Everyone who is a Republican? Everyone who is an in way shape or form associated with an organisation, state, or country that is shown to be intolerant?

As LGBT rights activists and advocates in the real world, a major problem that we face nowadays is witchhunting and policing from within the community. This disrupts the very work that advocates and allies are trying to do.

To use hearsay to wrongfully accuse someone is in itself extremely harmful - it alienates potential allies, it causes infighting, it requires time and effort to resolve - time and effort which is far better spent doing actual, concrete advocacy. Furthermore, it creates a wedge between us and fractures allies, which is the very effect that opponents are aiming to cause.

Furthermore, banning FCs is an all or nothing, zero sum game. There is no grey about it. There is no “this person is an ally but has made some mistakes" nuance to it. As such, bans come with a cost that needs to be considered in making a decision whether to utilise them.

For instance, in the case of RDJ, the issues of black face and yellow face are not issues of racism when taken in their broader context that goes beyond just "an actor played the role of a person of colour". In the first place, it was clear in both instances that he was playing a role within a role. Tropic Thunder was clearly stated to be a satire - a mockery at the ridiculousness of the very lengths that actors will go to in method acting. Furthermore, if there is harm (however unintended), the fault arguably lies with the scriptwriters, the producers, and the director rather than the actor. On the other hand, RDJ has done the LGB community a service by being active in gay roles even before this became mainstream. In this situation, and others like this, an FC ban not only doesn’t achieves nothing for persons of colour, it downplays and even destroys the good that he has done for the LGB community (and that is speaking as a person of colour personally).

Finally, in the case of Benedict Cumberbatch, many of the allegations about him are accusations that have erupted into full blown witchhunts. Some of those quotes, taken without further context, are troublesome. But again, taken within their intended context, they take on completely different meanings.

To truly progress from simple mudslinging to actually being an effective ally, it is necessary to move beyond just cherry picking lines from interview quotes. Unfortunately, far too many people are not willing to invest the time and research into understanding an issue before going straight to the accusation stage, making it difficult to decipher what is actually the truth.

Banning an FC is not the same as denying an actor a job or firing them. It does not hold them accountable. It does not send any message to them. It barely sends any message to the RP community when grey and remote and unproven allegations are pulled up to use against a person. Rather, it ends up in a mess where most if not all FCs are banned – which is a natural consequence when we use the ban stick against any tiny perceived slight.

Society itself is evolving and learning. Things that were tolerated ten years ago are not tolerable now. Is there transphobia in early Marvel films? Yes there is. Should we ban all the actors who appeared in them? Should we ban all Marvel films written by those teams? That wouldn’t help gender nonconforming people today. Actors too, are people, and they are learning along with the rest of us. In fact, we need to recognise that the entirety of Hollywood and perhaps the entire film industry globally is homophobic, transphobic, sexist and racist. Majority of the world out there is as such. Even within the ally community, allies still require time and opportunities to learn how to be better allies.

The solution, therefore, doesn’t lie in banning everyone and dismantling Hollywood. Speaking as a professional – the times that we see real change is when we sit down and engage in dialogue and education, not in drawing lines in the sand.

Are there FCs that we would ban? Yes – examples include 1) situations where there has been a conviction and no sign of change, 2) where there is clear evidence of e.g. homophobia, transphobia, sexism, racism etc on public record in the actor’s own capacity (and not saying lines that are written by a script writer), and which are verifiable by independent sources, and again, where the actor has not provided a retraction or apology and/or 3) where is clear consensus between the players and the admin team that an actor is problematic and should not be tolerated. We would state for the record that the named examples in this ask do not fall within any of these categories.

In addition, we have asked, and continue to ask, that regardless of personal opinions, players be respectful of the persons they are talking about. Corruption of a person’s name in the context of making allegations about their personal character is disrespectful, because it is construed as mockery rather than a joke in good fun. It is entirely possible to have a civil discourse about the flaws of a person without resorting to mockery. Again, true change does not come through name calling and putting others down - it comes from raising up the ones who have been sidelined by society.

Finally, a personal appeal to persons reading this – if you are passionate about issues of civil and human rights, there are massive fires out there that need to be fought. The advocacy community is horribly overwhelmed and always in need of volunteers. You can make a real difference by getting involved.

[jadeg2212-blog]

Varadkar is a bollocks

I’m just gonna use here to vent as to why I think our new gay Taoiseach isn’t as progressive as the empty heads I’ve been talking to think he is because nobody will have this conversation with me and it’s making me a bit agitated.

FIRST OF ALL let me give a bit of back story on the imposter. Leo Varadkar is the leader of Fine Gael, he also happens to be gay and he also happens to be the son of an immigrant. His dad is Indian and his mother is Irish, he is first generation Ireland, he was born and raised in Ireland.

Secondly he wasn’t elected as Taoiseach, I’d just like to correct all of the articles that say different. Enda Kenny resigned which meant the leader in our majority party became Taoiseach. He was elected by his party not democratically by the people. Every article that didn’t clarify that is wrong.

It’s interesting to note that his competition, Simon Coveny, who got the majority of votes from the grass roots and Leo got the majority of the votes from the politicians themselves. Politicians votes are worth two thirds of the vote leaving the grass root votes to only count for one third. So he ended up winning and I think it’s very telling that the Politicians voted for him and the grass roots didn’t. The politicians seem to have a bit of a double win on their hands now not only is Leo absolutely playing by their rules to the letter of the fucking law BUT he is gay so they can trot him out anytime somebody says they aren’t progressive.

So let me list in no particular order why Varadkar is an imposter (or more to the point, why he’s not progressive or he’s not a progressive choice for Taoiseach)

In 2010 Varadkar was accused of sexism, this is one of the reasons I feel he is anti woman. He was accused of Sexism and said ‘If anything, I went easier on Mary Coughlan because she is a woman’ yep. Because that’s what sexism is, when you don’t go easy enough of somebody. *eye roll*

In 2016 while Varadkar was health minister he claimed to not understand the question when asked if abortion was a class issue and he dismissed the question. So in Ireland, if you can afford to fly to England and have an abortion, good for you, you abort that baby, but if you are too poor to do that tough shit, you’re having it. It’s interesting to note, he is the son of an immigrant which is being touted as 'amazing progressive’ but he was born and bred in North Dublin, he comes from an affluent family, he was privately educated in secondary school and then studied law in TCD briefly before switching to Medicine and qualifying as a general practitioner in 2010. He has never been poor, he is very upper middle class at the very lowest so I think touting him as the son of an immigrant like 'oh my god, this is amazing’ is a bit deceptive because Leo definitely grew up with a silver spoon in his mouth. One, a lot of the rest of us. Didn’t. And one, a lot of the women who can’t get an abortion, didn’t either.

Last month, Varadkar was asked about gender equality and responded that he would be 'fair to men’ and promised that they wouldn’t be 'marginalised’ because that is the aim of feminist around the world??? it’s not about equal rights for both sexes (which is the literal definition) but it’s about marginalising the men. Thank god they have Leo here to protect them.

Then we introduced civil partnerships in 2010 which he was against, and he was not against it for the same reasons I, or thousands of other people were against civil partnerships for reasons like there are 160 differences between that and legal marriage, which is completely unfair and not equal at all but he was against it because in his own words, speaking in the Dáil in 2009 against the civil partnership campaign he said that 'two men cannot have a child, two women cannot have a child, a child has the right to a mother and father and whenever possible the state should try vindicate that right and the right of a child to have a mother and father was much more important than two men or two women having a family’ or in other words, Leo Varadkar is a member of 'Mother and Fathers matter’ or he might as well be.

So our first openly gay Taoiseach has debated in our government against giving gay people equal rights, both the rights to adopt and the rights to a civil partnership and then he the audacity to wear a rainbow flag on the day of the marriage equality vote like he hasn’t done either of those things.

Then in 2010 Leo opened his big mouth again and said 'it’s very clear in our constitution that it’s a man marrying a woman largely with the view of having a natural family and if they are unable to do so they are obviously able to adopt and I would be of the view it doesn’t have to be for everybody but the preferable construct in a society, is the traditional family and the state through our laws should protect and promote that’ so not progressive.. at all. I understand he made these comments before he officially came out, but I don’t think it’s good enough that he never apologised for them. I understand that there are factors that play that maybe he was trying to fit in to and he was worried that somebody was going to find out that he was gay and I understand that and I have to make allowances for that but he has never publicly apologised for speaking out against the rights of the the very section of society he identifies with.

Recently in Ireland we had a citizens assembly to discuss the issue that is the eight amendment of red constitution. They voted overwhelmingly to replace the amendment and recommended with over sixty percent of the vote that Irish women should be allowed safe and legal access to abortion up to 22 weeks with no requirement to give a reason and that it should be sent forward to the Oireachtas.

Varadkar then came out and said he wanted Fine Gael to be a 'warm house’ for those who had conservative views on abortion. Our abortion situation at the moment is actually going against the U.N. court of human rights. His competitor Simon Coveny is arguably worse coming out and saying he is 'uncomfortable with women having bodily autonomy’ and Michael Martin took the biscuit by saying women should not be able to have an abortion because it’s not the babies fault. So Varadkar is not the worst here but he isn’t the progressive liberal he’s painted out to be either.

As minister for health in January 2015 Varadkar said he was pro life and said 'I understand the the unborn is a human with rights and that I do not adhere to abortion on request or in demand. I also stated and truly believe that this is a situation where there are few certainties and that family and doctors having to make extremely difficulty ethical and clinical decisions. Which is true. Like I’m 2014 where a pregnant teenage from the country side became suicidal when she realised she was pregnant and she wanted an abortion so she was told she would be given one and instead she was locked up in psychiatric care and kept there for the duration of her pregnancy. How long was she in there? Did she miss the window? Nobody knows because nobody fucking cares about woman in this country.

Varadkar in my opinion is a classist elitist who led his campaign for leadership on an anti welfare campaign and that infuriates me, he claims that his figures for welfare fraud last year were were eleven times higher than the official department figures. So it was actually eleven times more of an issue than it was actually made out to be. The official figures from the department were one. ONE. One convicted case of welfare fraud. There were ten more cases that were dropped because there wasn’t enough evidence. Varadkar figures included the ten cases that were dropped because they hadn’t enough evidence. He said things like 'only those zoo contribute to the system will benefit’ but never clarified what his idea of a contribution was so that’s quite problematic and concerning in my opinion. He also proposed to publish names of convicted welfare cheats on the internet. That’s right, the new 'progressive’ Taoiseach ran on a campaign that promised to doc people, so people who have already been convicted, who served their time or done their community service or even who have been through the justice system and had justice served. He wants to docs them. Of course everybody in FG thought this was a wonderful idea. Although he mad his whole campaign about FG calling them the 'party of people who get up early in the mornings’ Do you know who doesn’t get up early in the morning? Those who work nights, those who work shifts, those who can’t. It’s an ableist classist approach that also manages to leave out hard working people like doctors for example unemployment was at 14% its lowest under his party Fine Gael so if that were to happen again I wouldn’t expect there to be a net there to catch you. As an antidote Varadkar was quoted a few years ago saying 'Tiny Tim from the Christmas Carol should get a job’ I just hope he didn’t watch the film and the comment was coming from a complete lack of preparedness and a complete lack of research because if not he’d be insinuating a severely disable character in a children’s Christmas film should 'get a job’

In 2011 he ran a campaign as minister for social protection called 'Welfare Cheats us all’ that cost 200k to bring eleven people to court and only convicted one. If that ONE person who cheated welfare on €188 a week had to cover the cost of Varadkars campaign they would have had to claim social welfare for 22 years. Interesting Apple can get away with billions of euro in tax but ONE person cheats the welfare and the whole system has to be done away with?

As minister for health he presided over the worst A+E crisis the country has ever seen. Although in fairness, Simon Coveny who is minister for housing has presided over the worst housing crisis in the history of the country so it needs to be made clear is competition was arguably no better.

Just to add more petrol to the fire he also wants to ban strikes in the public sector. It is the fundamental right of a worker to strike to better their situation.

But sure I suppose he’s better than Enda?