#fact checking is exhausting and MUST include not interrogating the beliefs in political posts

[ghostofhallownest]

listen idk if it’s worth the discourse but like…y’all remember in 2014-2016ish when queer infighting on this site was at a new height? how “activism” was bullying asexuals and aromantics and “weird” genders and neopronouns (well, except the “acceptable” ones)? how respectability politics turned into a reason to tell kids to kill themselves, or that being raped would fix them, or that they were straight/“basically” straight and therefore unwelcome, how “the A stands for Ally” was a preferred position to including aroaces in the LGBT umbrella…i could continue, but the trauma our own community inflicted on its own members isnt the point.

i think we act as though that era of purging our community of unwanted members under the guise of “activism” tapered off and was relegated to extreme corners of the internet. however…tumblr’s leftist politics don’t seem that different to me? the posts i see are reactionary, with little willingness to accept that even overtly bad things are complicated. they’re excuses to be angry and to have that anger fueled and validated because so many of us are angry and feel powerless, and posting feels like doing something; it’s “activism” as “spreading awareness” but…i don’t think it’s productive?

so many of the posts i see spouting leftist theory buzzwords are just…repackaged purity culture and respectability politics and are so far removed from the way the real world operates as to be useless except as ragebait.

it’s not only morally wrong to encourage imperfect allyship, it’s a symptom of gaslighting from said potential ally. anyone with a lukewarm opinion on queers is just as bad as the fascist who wants us dead. children refusing to cut their parents off because of their queerphobia and conservative beliefs are blinded by attachment to an abuser. “he’s a little confused but he’s got the spirit” is dying out; if your dad is conservative but working on your pronouns and slowly working on your friends’ pronouns but he still thinks Reaganomics will save us all, he wants you dead actually and you should cut 👏🏼 him 👏🏼 out👏🏼 !!

everything that happens online is obviously 100% reflected in real life, so you can’t write or draw or even think that; did you know op of this fandom gifset is a terf, aren’t you going to delete it, aren’t you scrupulously checking yourself, it’s your job to manage who sees every single user’s content btw, and if you dont ur probably a terf or at least as bad as them.

idk guys. is this not what conservative echochambers also sound like? their radicalism is morally reprehensible, ours is pure and good and necessary, right? right? because Evil and Good are the only two categories and everything fits neatly into each, right? “the reading comprehension on this site is piss poor” as a badge of honor is funny haha but when conservatives get facebook brainrot that’s a symptom of conservatism and not something we could ever fall victim to ourselves…right?

god, im so tired.