#that further alienates LGBT people from potential allies

[queen-thinky-thoughts]

.

People completely seriously calling a woman a "known homophobe", who accepted her partner of many years as gay when he came out in wildly homophobic times, remained close with him, supported him, and helped keep him company and look after him when he was dying while she had her own family with a small child... all because she was a bit bitter, possibly a bit shitty and not super accomodating to his lover and friends, who were not her friends, after his death?

Damn, dude, when did they change the definition of "homophobia"?

[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.

[fictionfreakazoid]

VLD Fixit: Veracxa Preview

So obviously the way that the show half-a**ed everything except the animation was hurtful to everyone who had high hopes for it being actually progressive. Callout post after callout post, I just kept realizing how there were problematic things and missed potential the whole show that I kept giving the benefit of the doubt to but ultimately none of them were ever resolved. So I decided to write a fix-it fic to fix all the things they executed problematically and add things to fill in the lost potential instead of just moping around thinking about what it could’ve been. All those things people wrote amazing fics for during break hiatuses, all the lgbt+ and poc potential, weak plot points, development of interesting side characters, I want to address all of them in my fix-it. I started like a week or so after the show ended but I procrastinated on writing some stuff out and posting previews of it to get feedback because a) I was lazy and b)after being lazy *school* happened. But I’m finally posting one of the parts: an alternate version of the veracxa meeting! 

In my fic, I’m giving the generals redemption arcs where they were the ones who saved Keith from his almost suicide and were the ones that gave the team all the intel/were allies with them instead of Lotor. I have that arc written out, but for now I’m just gonna briefly talk about it’s context for this particular part. After Narti dies, the other generals again disable Lotor but this time instead of trying to turn him in to the Galra, they turn him in to team Voltron because they know the Galra might not respect the bargain and put them in jail because they are prejudiced against half-breeds. And eventually after giving team voltron consistent intel like Lotor did, they were eventually deemed trustworthy and were recruited by the blade of marmora. Eventually, the overall coalition (including bom and team voltron) get intel that Earth could be due for an attack soon, so the coalition (who have developed technology/taken adequate technology from the galra to do quick transportation across galactic distances) send a small team to Earth to help them with defenses, battle strategies, developing weaponry/ships to fight against the Galra and the like. Acxa and the other generals are on that team and thus *veracxa* happens! Also, after they join team voltron, zethrid and ezor start publicly dating (they were hiding it from Lotor cuz they thought he’d force them to break up because *the workspace*). A lot of this part is just context explaining, so I’m going to put three asterisks (***) right before the part where the veracxa meeting if you just want to read that part. Also, when I was writing this, I realized that both Veronica and Adam are waiting for their loved ones who left into space and are close in age so I thought maybe they could be friends and that’s all in the context explaining if you’re interested! I also thought how they didn’t really show how much concern team voltron’s family had when they were gone was problematic, their kids literally left to space and absolutely no one had a clue where they were or when they would be back, so I wrote in some stuff about how Veronica and anyone else who worked at the garrison kept giving the families updates on their progress in analyzing what little information they had. 

This is a work in progress and I’m really passionate about it, so I’m open up to constructive criticism and feedback, let me know what you think! I’m going to have a list of things I would like ideas for regarding other parts of the fic, feel free to comment on them or dm any ideas you have related to them! Also if you have any writing feedback/tips, feel free to tell me as well!

--

Veronica was walking with Adam to see the arrival of the new group of aliens that were coming to help Earth out from a potential Galra attack that they predicted from their intel from the Galra. The group included some top scientists to help make technology to get them ready for the attack, some ships and fighters capable of making a stand against the Galra and some battle strategists and trainers who knew how the Galra fights and knew how to counter it. There were already a few scientists here who had come to make ships capable of fighting the Galra; they had arrived a little after Sam Holt had come back to help him and the Garrison out. Sam Holt had distributed the knowledge from the castle of lions to the coalition over a line that was carefully secured from the Galra by the Blade of Marmora. When Sam Holt arrived, he had given videos from Lance, Hunk and Shiro to their respective families and had immediately begun to prepare for potential Galra attack. Veronica had been so relieved to hear that Lance and Hunk had been ok, she had been worried sick for her little brother and his best friend who had become so close to him and important to the family.

She had loved him being with her in the Garrison and they had had a lot of fun, when he had disappeared with barely a trace, she and her family had gone crazy with worry over them. She had worked with Colleen Holt, whose daughter had been with Lance and Hunk when they had disappeared, to use the Garrison resources to find out what happened. After they had disappeared, the Garrison had found Katie's equipment that she had been using to listen to the galactic network. With Colleen's help with finding people and resources in the Garrison with the skills necessary to figure things out, Veronica worked to figure out what had happened to them.  The Garrison had made a small division to investigate the Kerberos mission, not feeling that it was a high priority but still acknowledging its importance. They had some audio and video footage from both the Kerberos mission and when Lance and his friends had disappeared. They had also found a small shack that a kid named Keith had lived in when he had been kicked out of the garrison. The footage told them there was some kind of robotic blue lion that Lance and his friends had used to disappear and that there was some alien called the Galra. They had been able to find some personal notes supposedly from Keith's father from the shack that also gave some insight. They were able to find out that the blue lion robot ship thing was also magical and part of a weapon called Voltron and were able to confirm that the Galra were an alien threat. They were able to learn that the Galra were a violent empire seeking to control the whole universe and had been terrorizing the world for thousands of years. They further confirmed the Galra threat and voltron as a weapon using Pidge's equipment to listen to the galactic network. They worked on top of Pidge's equipment to listen to the chatter and documented and analyzed what they heard, but it was difficult to make too much progress. Pidge's equipment wasn't enough to actually send a message, and though they were working on making technology that was capable of sending a message out, it was not only difficult because of the unknown but definitely large distance between Earth and any intelligent alien life, it was also risky knowing what they had learned about the threat of the Galra. Though they recorded and analyzed what they could, they could only figure out so much with all the different alien languages and figuring out how behind they were technologically from what little they could understand from the transmissions they were listening to.

After some of their findings, the Garrison had reevaluated the importance of their work and had put more resources into the investigation and the results from their findings. Despite the bigger effort, they didn't learn too much more. They occasionally heard that Voltron had saved a planet or that the Galra were attacking a planet or something of the like, but they couldn't figure out any details and weren't making any progress with figuring out whether Lance and his friends were ok. Eventually, the investigation had hit a standstill, though the researchers were learning a little about aliens and their culture and technology, they were no closer to finding out what had happened to neither the Kerberos mission nor Lance and his friends. It hurt Veronica deeply that whenever she reported back to her and Hunk's family, she could never tell them any good news, or any news at all sometimes. During all the investigation though, she had gotten to know Adam very well. She had tried to hit on him at first, being the bisexual flirt that she was, but she not only learned that he was gay but also that he was in a tough romantic situation. He was a few years older than her (which is why she hadn't known of him earlier) and had been the fiancee of Shiro (who she had also tried to hit on before the Kerberos mission but had found out he was gay and taken anyways, now she knew who though). Despite Shiro having turned her down, she and Lance had always fangirled over him together at the Garrison and both of them had looked up to him as a hero (she had actually gone up to flirt with Shiro as a dare from Lance he had never thought she would follow through with). Over the time at the investigation, she had learned from Adam that Shiro had a disease, a terminal disease and that he hadn't wanted him to go on the Kerberos mission because of it. He had broken up with him when Shiro had left because he couldn't bear to be with someone who took risks that Adam had seen as unnecessary considering his disease; it had hurt Adam to see the one he had loved constantly choose to put himself in danger despite Adam's concerns for his well being. Despite the breakup, Adam still cared deeply for Shiro and had worked with the investigation into the Kerberos mission and that had been how they had met. Since they both had graduated the actual Garrison school and just worked there, they could leave the Garrison whenever they pleased (when they weren't working). Veronica's family lived far in Cuba, but Adam's and Shiro's families lived near the Garrison as their families also worked at the Garrison, but not in the piloting or technical fields. Veronica and Adam were both young prodigies in their fields, Adam being the best pilot second to Shiro and Veronica becoming one of their best technicians and analysts. Adam kept Shiro's parents updated on the investigation as they weren't able to be a part of it due to it not being in their fields, but felt similar to Veronica when he couldn't give them any good news. Despite him turning Veronica down, they had become good friends over the investigation. They had been the only young ones in the investigation, so they enjoyed each other's company. They trained in shooting together, they visited each other while they were working sometimes, they had long talks about their feelings, and Adam helped Veronica find people to flirt with and teased her constantly about it. Veronica was attractive and there were definitely plenty of girls and boys who were attracted back to her, but she never really tried to get into a relationship or actually pursue anything beyond flirting. Though she was outgoing and friendly, she didn't get along with too many people. Her personality was a bit much for most people and she hadn't really made too many friends over her life. She had really appreciated becoming friends with Adam, who didn't mind her strong, fierce and sassy personality. It had been nice to have support while she struggled through the pain of not knowing if her brother was ok.

When she had seen the video from Lance, she burst out crying, so relieved that he was ok. She was still scared and worried for him, now knowing he was what they called a paladin for the blue lion, but she was also proud that her goofy little brother was out there working to save people. She sent the video to her family and sent Hunk's video to his family. Although she was glad that he was safe for the time being, she still had to work with all the new information Sam Holt had brought with him. He had brought a lot of information and as she was one of the top analysts, she had had a lot of work to do. But knowing that Lance was ok made it a little easier. Sam worked with the information the investigation team had uncovered and then worked to get the whole Garrison involved and upgraded. The investigation team had actually gotten some information that even Sam hadn't had and it had been an overwhelming experience to put all the data together. With the new knowledge, Sam worked with the instructors to adjust the Garrison for the Galra forces accordingly. The Garrison had adequate piloting techniques and training, but they also had to get better ships to be able to fight the Galra and also had to train the students and current pilots to be able to actually fight. The scientists that had come a little later had helped with making ships and technology to fight against the Galra, but they still didn't know too much about how to actually strategically fight the Galra. That's why the new group of aliens who included more fighters and actual strategists were so important. Veronica and Adam had asked every single alien that had come to Earth about Lance, Hunk, Pidge, Keith and Shiro, but not a lot of them knew too much about them besides their roles as voltron paladins. But every little thing that they were able to tell them meant the world to Veronica and all their families. Veronica and Adam had also bothered Sam Holt to the maximum with all the questions they had asked him about them. They all told her enough to know that Lance was still himself but more mature and made her really proud of him, though she began to miss him even more. She also stood by Adam, who had to hear about all the crazy stuff Shiro had gone through. All the pain that Shiro had gone through hurt Adam, but Sam had told him how much of a difference Shiro was making. Shiro had made a video for his parents and for Adam. He had apologized for leaving for Kerberos and told them how much he had missed all of them, but he stuck with his choice because he's helping people who need his help. Shiro told him that he wished Adam was there with him, getting to see all the aliens and helping all of them out, Shiro telling him that he would've been great at it and would've loved having his partner alongside him. Although Adam was still concerned for him and still mad that Shiro had chosen to leave, he knew that risking his life and helping others is what Shiro had wanted to do and he couldn't ever change that. Now all he wanted was to be there alongside him to help him as best as he can, so he could be with the one he loved as long as he could.

***

When the new group of aliens had arrived, Veronica felt her heart drop. Among the group there was a gorgeous purple alien girl who looked super badass. She was next to 2 other pretty alien girls, but they were holding hands and seemed very happy together. Also, there was just something about the purple one that drew Veronica in. Adam looked at her and could tell what was about to happen and rolled his eyes but smiled. Though she knew she should be professional, as soon as the aliens were getting settled with Sam, Veronica pounced at the opportunity to flirt and use a pick up line.

“You must be one of the fighters because my heart has been shot clean through, ” she told her, giving her a big flirty smile.

“It doesn't look like your heart has been shot, and although I'm a highly skilled fighter I'm actually here as a strategist,” the alien replied, not having understood the flirt.

Not giving up, Veronica held out her hand to shake. “I'm Veronica. I bet you have a name as lovely as your complexion.”

Raising her eyebrow, the alien took her hand and shook it. “I'm Acxa, ” she replied, still not acknowledging the flirts.

Veronica was about to talk to her more but she was called over by someone from the Garrison. She told Acxa it was very nice meeting her while raising her eyebrows, though guessing Acxa still wouldn't understand her flirts, and went off to where she was called. Adam pats her shoulder and chuckles under his breath (she punches him in the arm for that) and they walk over to get down to work.

At a meeting for all the top people in each field, Veronica found Acxa leading the meeting with her strategies. Acxa's strategies seemed really well thought out, though Veronica didn't know too much about battle strategies to be sure. Acxa seemed a bit hesitant when presenting them, but Veronica couldn't figure out why since Acxa clearly knew what she was talking about and had good and smart ideas. At the end of the meeting, Veronica tells Adam to go ahead without her, and he shakes his head but smiles as he leaves. Veronica waits until everyone else had left the room and surprisingly Acxa had too, even though Veronica hadn't told her that she was waiting for her and she clearly couldn't pick up social cues well. When Acxa saw that Veronica was also there when everyone else had left, she hugged her own arm and looked down. Veronica walked over to her and laid her back on the wall.

“You don't have to answer this if it makes you feel uncomfortable, but I was just curious… why did you look so hesitant and anxious when you were presenting? You clearly knew what you were talking about and even though I don't know anything about battle strategies, I could tell your strategies were impressive.”

“I'm part Galra.” Acxa said, looking back at Veronica bluntly as if she had explained everything.

“And?” Veronica continued, expressing her confusion.

“Don't you distrust me because of that?” Acxa asked genuinely.

Veronica was taken aback by the bluntness of the question and Acxa mistook her shock as confirmation for her fears and hung her head down sadly. Veronica quickly responded to deny her misinterpretation. “No! No, no, no, no. You're working to help others face the Galra now and gave us good strategies when we desperately need it, and that's what matters.”

“Your peers might disagree. The blade of marmora often faces hate even from the people we help save because we're Galra. Not only that, but some of the blade itself dislike and distrust me and my 2 friends who aren't full Galra.” Acxa replied, seeming like she had accepted the situation though it hurt.

“Well forget about all them! You're going to make an important difference and potentially save lives with your good strategies. If anyone tries to tell you anything hurtful, I'll fight them.” Veronica said, passionately defending her.

“Are you a skilled fighter?” Acxa asked.

Veronica hadn't been ready for that serious question. “Well actually I meant verbally, but I mean I can shoot well enough with my blaster and I work out a lot.”

“Do you know how to fight in combat?” Acxa asks her.

Veronica looks down and blushes. “Not really… Do you?”

“I do.” Then Acxa frowns and lowers her voice. “All the Galra have to…” Acxa hugs her own arms and looks down. Veronica looks down as well but then looks up when Acxa speaks up again. “I was actually wondering if you'd mind showing me where my quarters are again? I could really use some rest.”

Veronica grinned. “Of course!” she replied enthusiastically. Then Veronica blushed at being so obvious but Acxa still didn't notice. “Follow me,” she told her, still grinning and blushing. Acxa smiled slightly and followed her.

The walk to Acxa's room had been silent, Veronica being too nervous to say anything. But she had really liked talking to Acxa and Veronica decided to take a risk.

“So, um, if you'd like, sometime I could give you a tour and show you around. If you want.” She said to Acxa, blushing and shuffling her feet.

“I'd enjoy that. Thank you for taking to my room.” Acxa then smiled and looked at her. “And for the words of support. I appreciate it.”

Veronica had a dopey smile on her face at that point. “Of course.” She just stared at Acxa after that, possibly even drooling. “Well, um I'll let you get your well earned rest now. See you later.”

“See you later.” Acxa replied with a smile, then she closed the door. Veronica then left with a dopey smile on her face.

(“Looks like it went well.” -"Shut up Adam”)

The next day, Veronica was training on her shooting skills. Veronica was an adequate shooter but she wasn't as skilled at shooting as she was for data analysis. After missing another shot, she huffed in frustration. The next thing she knew, there were firm but gentle hands on her arms, adjusting her position.

“You're too tense,” a familiar voice said behind her.

Veronica had almost died on the spot. She had not been ready for the sudden contact and had squealed loudly in surprise. Her face felt like it was on fire. “A-Acxa?” she stammered.

“Yes?” Acxa replied, acting as though she hadn't just made Veronica melt.

“I was just, I just wasn't expecting you come here. Although, as I think about it, you did say you're a skilled fighter. But you never told me what your actual weapon of choice is, or if you even fight with a weapon or just do close combat.” Veronica rambled, still unnerved.

“I am skilled with a blaster, but I'm just as skilled with close combat.” Acxa answered. “So I was wondering if you would mind taking me on that tour now? If you're not busy,” she asked nervously.

“Oh, um, of course! Uh just let me change into something more suitable. Let's go to my room first.” Veronica replied, still flustered at the whole ordeal but excited to hang out with Acxa more. When they reached the door to Veronica's room, Veronica looked at Acxa mischievously. “You know, I wouldn't mind if you wanted to come in while I changed,” she told her, raising her eyes flirtatiously. Acxa was again unfazed by her invitation and told her she would wait for her outside the room. Veronica sighed in disappointment but went into her room to change. She was still determined and decided to wear something really nice to try to impress Acxa. She wore an outfit with a lot of blue to match her eyes. Then she left her room and looked at Acxa. Acxa couldn't suppress a small blush and told Veronica she looked nice in that outfit. Veronica was shocked she had finally gotten a reaction out of Acxa for a change and happy she finally succeeded. Veronica grinned and hugged Acxa's arm. “Let's get started with the tour!” She exclaimed, openly excited as they started walking forward.   

--

I want to write out a bit more of the preceding plot before I write the tour, sorry for the cutoff just when the action was starting! On the tour, they will eventually talk about how Acxa wasn’t respected for her intellect both before she joined the coalition because she wasn’t full Galra and after she joined the coalition by ally planets who held their prejudices against the Galra even after the blade proved to be on their side. Acxa also hadn’t been well received by team voltron or the blade of marmora because of the initial distrust because of her previous allegiance to Lotor. Veronica had never discredited her aptitude because of her Galra heritage and defends Acxa’s intellect and tells her that she doesn’t care that she’s part Galra, she wants to become closer to her (similar to what actually happened in canon). 

Some things that I would like some ideas for:

The shadam dynamic/story before they broke up after Shiro left for Kerberos (Adam wasn’t even given a personality before they killed him off, he was just introduced as the love interest and I’m just not sure what kind of character he should be or what kind of partner he would be with Shiro)

The Garrison klance dynamic (I think it would be cute to write them a dynamic and story before they reunited because of voltron, they were there for a few years, there’s no way they wouldn’t have solid interactions when they were literally living together for years as kids) I’m having trouble thinking of a dynamic that’s cute and could fit in with Lance thinking they had a rivalry and Keith not remembering him enough to recognize him when they first reunite.

I had a few other things, but due to not getting back to this in a while and not writing it all down, I can’t remember. Again, any feedback and ideas would be appreciated!

[nicemango-feed]

Forbidden Intersectionality: Liberal + (Ex) Muslim

Some of you may have seen my interview on Cracked recently. I was fortunate to have the opportunity to speak on a larger platform. Below is a blogpost thats basically an extension of my thoughts from there: ------- Being of Muslim background in the West right now...in this Trumpian, 'rising far right' era is tough enough as it is....but being a secular, non-religious person of Muslim background is a whole other level of fucked up at the moment... So many of us thought there weren't others like us, questioning Islam, questioning conservatism in our communities...because these things just aren't talked about. The risks are too great especially if you're living in a Muslim majority country like Pakistan or Saudi Arabia (the two places I've lived). And when, through the internet, we found each other....us secular/agnostic/atheist types of Muslim background were just so relieved that there were others...that there was a growing voice for us...that we banded together on something that doesn't tell you much about a person's values: rejecting/challenging religion. Now...as the political climate changes in the West, we see the cracks in the ex/reformist Muslim movement more obviously than ever. There are those of us who were coming at it from the angle of opposing conservatism, rightwingery whatever form it may take, and others who were specifically only opposing Islam. As a result the people who prioritize opposing Islam alone, are happy now to side with the Western right. Some even going as far as joining anti-Muslim movements, the alt-right, supporting Trump, etc. Back in the old country, expressing doubt about religion or challenging cultural boundaries can mean serious consequences. At the very least resulting in alienation and being ostracized, disowned, ex communicated (we are not free from this consequence in the West either) ....and at worst it means things like blasphemy accusations, death.  So I do understand where the anger and bitterness some have is coming from (I don't excuse it, but I can see what created it). This taboo and loneliness surrounding Islamic apostasy is also why finding others simply to align with you on this one thing feels so big, that almost nothing else matters.

However, as more and more of us come out and express ourselves, we begin to see the diversity among Islam's apostates too. Still we are often lumped in as one, and even at times put on an unnecessary pedestal in the western atheist scene when discussing Islam. I hate to be the one to say it, but ex-Muslims can be wrong in their assessments and opinions of Islam too, like anyone else. And if they are allying with the Dave Rubin's and Kekistanis of this world then it's increasingly important to see beyond the 'ex Muslim = they're infallible when it comes to speaking about Islam' view. Ex-Muslims too can overshoot in their criticism or overreact, tainting a movement that began with thoughtful critique.

Yes the stigma and risks that come with apostasy in Islam are high and frightening. I'm a living example of how high the stakes are, I have to work under a pseudonym to feel safe. But at the same time, it's important to keep in mind that things aren't always that intolerant and there are all types of people in countries like Pakistan and Saudi Arabia too, people who are struggling to be heard - further silencing them with generalizations is not only unjust but also counterproductive if reducing extremism is the goal. Liberal, accepting-of-apostasy Muslim families do exist there, but sadly in small numbers. It is voices from those minorities that need to be empowered...but so rarely are. Instead, the narrative that Muslims are always conservative rules the airwaves in the West, be it left or right leaning media. Yes...there are crazy mullahs saying ridiculous, vile, intolerant things (often focused on by the right) ....and yes there are hijabi women who need our solidarity (often focused on by the left), but Muslim existence isn't limited to these simple caricatures - yet most representation of them is (and no, I'm not drawing a moral equivalence between vile intolerant mullahs and peaceful conservative Muslim women who wear a headscarf). It's been incredibly hard to break that mould...and the few instances of people trying to represent the more secular, liberal types of Muslim existence are met with a huge amount of resistance from all across the political spectrum. I mean....we already have so much to deal with from within the community, that tacking on these external battles, simply for a foothold... for a place to say "I'm here, and I exist"...are disheartening and exhausting. As if dealing with angry Mullah’s against fun and freedom wasn’t hard enough! Image from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7IpMIhR6Yg

The left, the right, Muslims and non Muslims too, can all be hurdles for secular, liberal and progressive Muslims.

This is so incredibly untrue, as secular, liberal portrayals of Muslims are onlyjust starting to break through into the mainstream. While we have a wholehost of characters that play the token religious character, or 'the terrorist', etc. 

There's really no winning as a 'secular Muslim'.

People want to shove you into a box with extremists and nothing will stop them.

"Why don't Muslims tolerate apostasy, it's outrageous!" - well here's a Muslim woman

expressing support for people who have left the faith, and this is what she has to hear.

Why Don't Muslims fight for LGBT rights? Some do. And when it's not the western far right trying to get them to adhere to a literalist interpretation of Islam, it's a Muslim right-winger who wants to drag them back.

Muslims lie. There you have it. Because lying is totally unique to Muslims.

There really is no winning. As a liberal+Muslim, someone always turns up

to either discredit that you're truly liberal or that you're truly Muslim.

And thus, 'Forbidden intersectionality'. 

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As an ex-Muslim, I still very much consider myself a part of the Muslim community - like any secular Jew or Christian would consider themselves connected through culture, shared history, family, holidays, etc. Never before has my need to identify and stand in solidarity with the Muslim community felt more pronounced, than in a time Muslim registries and Muslim bans are casually being spoken of in mainstream discourse. 

This is truly terrifying for anyone of Muslim background. 

When it comes to things like the registry or being barred from entering the US, I don’t think secular, non-believer status matters. And when it comes to hate crimes, I'm pretty sure no one will bother checking how devout you are, either.

In fact, there have been many victims of anti-Muslim hate crime that just happened to have brown skin, or weren’t even remotely Muslim. 

All this certainly complicates things for those of us from within who do have legitimate critiques of the community and of Islamic fundamentalism. How do we demand progress in a political climate rife with anti-Muslim sentiment?

Battling Homophobia in a Muslim context

The orthodoxy Islam still commands worldwide in its adherents is unmatched by most other mainstream religions in the 21st century. For example the countries that still carry a potential death penalty for homosexuality are largely Muslim. 

Three years ago I wrote and illustrated an anti-homophobia children’s book set in Pakistan, called My Chacha (uncle) is Gay (you can get a copy here).

As I mentioned in my Cracked interview,

"I was delighted when it got picked up by some schools in the Toronto area and was used as a resource for The Day of Pink (which is an anti bullying initiative)."

The book was read out in classrooms and assemblies, and the response was incredibly supportive at first. Then, as parents 'discovered' that not only were their children read an LGBT-positive book *gasssp* ...but were read one set in Pakistan, the outrage began. 

Many claimed it was an assault on their religion, and a misrepresentation of it. Some said I was attacking the moral fibre of the ‘Muslim family', I received countless death and rape threats. Some referred to me as Wajb ul Qatal - 'worthy of killing’, they wished STD’s and Sharia punishments of being 'stoned to death' upon my *fictional* character Chacha.

This went on for quite some time. 

The most amusing comments called me 'Satan’s daughter' or compared my children's book's evilness -evels to that of Salman Rushdie’s notorious Satanic Verses! I am not worthy, but I’ll take the compliment with pride. In Toronto a radio show broadcasted calls from angry parents, punctuated with a few obligatory calls from people defending the book. Some parents threatened to sue the school board, and predictably the LGBT supporting liberal school board backed away from such a book. It was never used in an official capacity again. There were warnings being circulated on Islamic sites that people should protect their children from corruption, as they too could be exposed to this gay-turning, soul-sucking 15 line picture book.

As I said on Cracked, "Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) published a blog post claiming that the school board was the one bullying parents into teaching their kids about LGBT diversity. I was branded an ‘Islamophobe’ and that was it - a resource that many children/teachers enjoyed and found useful was no longer available." When Muslim communities have problems with integration or accepting values like being LGBT positive, the way to tackle that would be precisely through such resources. But often in the face of accusations of Islamophobia even books about love and tolerance are tossed out as controversial. It's the kids who lose out the most. Just recently, a conservative Islamic lecturer discovered my book and posted about it's 'evil agenda', sending a fresh new batch of threats and haters my way.

Click to enlarge

On the other side of this battle right wing non-Muslims accused me of trying to ‘sanitize homophobia’ in Islam and said that nice gay uncles like this simply didn’t exist in Pakistan, that I was painting a rosy picture of what it was like to be gay in a Muslim country, that Chacha would have been stoned to death in reality. I mean…it was a fictional children’s book, thus obviously simplified to a great degree. It's incredibly frustrating that If ever people from the Muslim world are challenging things and pushing boundaries the Western right often wants to pull them back to standards that Islamists would be proud of. 

For one side I was an Islamophobe, for the other a sanitizer of Sharia. And that pretty much encapsulates what it's like to discuss Islam as a liberal (ex) Muslim nowadays, caught between a rock and a hard place. 

It's like walking a tightrope...you point out there's homophobia in Muslim culture and you risk that being grabbed and used by people who want to ban Muslims.

What do you do, when stuck at this impossible junction... Being liberal and Muslim is unacceptable...invisible even.

Image from Cracked.com

It simply doesn't fit the narrative - but being liberal and ex muslim is also an overlap that many days, seems unmaintainable.

Often, you are not accepted by fellow liberals in the west (because Islamophobic) or you're not accepted by those who are interested in critiques of Islam because those circles are increasingly becoming anti-sjw, anti-feminist, anti-left...

Having few and mild opinions about the Western far-right is appreciated by many in the audience that will inevitably be drawn to you for your criticism of Islam. They usually tell you to stfu about Trump ...and accuse you of Taqqiya (an obscure concept in Islam which I only heard about in the West) if you don't, because they want to get to the 'good stuff'...the part where you confirm their ideas about generalizing Muslim immigrants, and act as a shield from accusations of bigotry.

My small patreon $ goes up when i criticize islam and goes down when I don't. This is an incredibly depressing view.

— Eiynah -- (@NiceMangos) September 6, 2017

We-ell thats not gonna happen with me....and I can't seem to keep quiet about Dave Rubin and Gad Saad, Peterson, Shermer...I certainly won't be going on Breitbart or Rebel Media to talk about how there's no place for Islam on the planet. So.....that leaves me walking a rather lonely path....and as you can read in my tweet above, often has me wondering what my place is in all this. If it's even worth it to try and counter the avalanche of bs, that seems to be coming from within the ex-Muslim movement...bs like, 'Islam can't be reformed', 'there's no place for it on the planet', 'Islam is worse than Nazism.' I mean, at this point the discussion really seems to have left the grown up table.

The Term Islamophobia Adds to the Confusion The waters are so muddied, that the term really does more harm than good. Allowing any criticism of Islamic fundamentalism, homophobia, etc. to be labelled as 'Islamophobia', gives right wing fundamentalist Muslims a chance to shield the religion from valid criticism. It's essentially the same thing as right wing Christians trying to shield their religion from criticism. Think of the absurdity of the 'War on Christmas' to get a feel for how 'Islamophobia' sounds to us. That's why I prefer the more precise term, 'anti-Muslim bigotry'. The problem is not theological criticisms of Islam or criticisms of literalist interpretations, it is the generalizations, hatred and fear-mongering around Muslims. Seeing the confusion surrounding this, the Western far-right swoops in to claim that "Islamophobia" isn't real even when its being used to describe blatant anti-Muslim bigotry. The cries of "Islam is not a race", while technically true...ring hollow in a climate where brown people are targeted based on their skin colour and appearance. And thus the cycle of confusion continues.

As anti-muslim sentiment skyrockets, the emboldened far-right uses this opportunity to gain more support. As the Western far right lashes out at Muslims, the Muslim far-right uses that opportunity to also gain more support. And the rest of us, are well and truly fucked by them both. The Hijab Debate

The Hijab is a hot topic, both within Muslim circles and outside. Well-meaning Western liberals tend to overcompensate in their desire to make Muslims feel accepted and can end up championing conservatism from our communities. This is particularly tricky now, because Muslim women are in actuality being attacked for their modesty garments. So in the West, it's not exactly on the same footing as opposing something like a Christian purity ball or virginity pledge - though it largely comes from the same place and regard for women. As a woman who grew up in a theocracy, Saudi Arabia, I was forced to wear modesty garments by the state and have encountered "morality police" on several occasions. I have seen them hit my mother's ankle with a cane for letting her headscarf slip. The memories are not pleasant. So...for me, it's rather distasteful to see the constant celebration of modesty garb. It leaves me feeling very isolated from my fellow liberals, who I assumed would stand with me in opposing body-shaming of women in my culture too. Simultaneously, I can understand that it has become hard to oppose a garment that is causing women to be targeted. My personal solution to this is that I stand in solidarity with hijab and niqab wearing Muslims when it comes to bigots singling them out because they are visibly Muslim. But I still vehemently oppose the concept of a requirement for women to cover up so as not to invoke lust. Both things can and should be done together. One can show solidarity with hijabis without championing the hijab as some great symbol of liberation, which it clearly isn't, as many Muslim girls and women continue to be forced into modesty against their will. The Media gives little coverage to Muslims who don't 'Look like Muslims' There is so much noise around supporting the hijab that non hijabi Muslim women are drowned out. This results in a very one dimensional coverage, that yet again perpetuates the stereotype that 'Muslim' is synonymous with 'conservative Muslim'. Even Playboy Magazine isn't immune to this and had to get in on the hijab celebration! Another example of this misguided support is the Shepard Fairey poster from the Women's March.

An admittedly powerful, iconic poster of a woman in a US flag hijab was displayed as part of a series. It was seen as a symbol of resistance, as the 'anti-Trump'. But it's hard for women like me to get behind one form of conservative symbolism to oppose another form of conservatism. So I created some artwork accompanied by a short audio message explaining that we do indeed need to show solidarity with hijabi Muslim women, but perhaps this wasn't the best method since there are many connotations to such a garment, not all positive. 

Despite my clearly liberal sentiments and disclaimers that it was not to be used by people spreading hate towards Muslims, despite my opposition to Trump expressed in the audio message the post was widely retweeted by Trump fan accounts as well.

It seems there's almost nothing we can do to prevent this.

Either you suffer in silence under the homophobic, misogynistic Islamic far-right, or you risk emboldening the anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant Western one. 

In fact both LGBT and women's rights in Islamic countries are causes appropriated by the Western far-right now. In Alt-Right/Lite circles, you'll see gay rights used as a white nationalist tactic, it's deeply concerning and sinister that an ideology so troubling can be dressed up as 'human rights'.

They use these things as a cudgel, a mere pretext to bash Muslims with.

The trick is to express a faux-concern over these things not being up to par in the Islamic world, while having little regard for the same in your own part of the world. I cannot tell you how many Western anti-feminists champion women's rights when it comes to Islam, but will callously tell Western rape victims that they are privileged because at least they don't live under Sharia. 

Difficult Dualities

Whether it's accusations of Islamophobia or fears of emboldening anti-Muslim hate, either way, we are silenced. Just like any culture we too should be able to criticize our own, without being branded sell-outs, traitors or Islamophobes.

Except there is one problem.

In this complex political climate there *is* an actual loss of credibility too, which I covered in my interview;

"As more and more Muslim Reformers/Ex Muslims either get on the Trump Train, defend the Muslim Ban or join the Alt Right."

And on the left, secular, liberal Muslims continue to not be adequately represented. This tips the scales massively towards high-visibility of right-wing critics of Islam. 

Well known Ex-Muslim Breitbart Editor, Raheem Kassam, has said things like "If Merkel took a million rapey migrants, Hillary will take 20 million"

We also have the 'red-pilled' ex-Muslim types, who believe no Muslims are peaceful.

Now I as an ex-Muslim can tell you, that this is not representative of *all* ex-Muslims obviously, and there are many compassionate, progressive people among us. But the movement has taken an undeniable rightward turn without many denouncing the bad actors that are nudging the movement further towards Pepe. 

This is definitely not what I signed up for. 

YouTube shows that regularly feature alt right/lite figures will also court ex and reformist Muslims to come and criticize Islam from their platforms. 

When you go on Breitbart, or Rebel Media to criticize Islam - how can you complain that the Left won't take your voice seriously.

Credibility is a two way street. 

I would urge my fellow liberals to not champion Islamic conservatism and I would urge my fellow ex-Muslims to not prove critics of the ex-Muslim and Islamic reform movements correct by allying with the Western right and supporting/downplaying things like the Muslim Ban. 

This rightward shift of Islam critics has even produced a Trump-supporting, anti-multiculturalism Imam, would you believe it?  

2017, what a year!

The Imam once put out an 11-step plan to crack down on Wahhabism, a literalist and harsh interpretation of Islam. It sounds reasonable in theory, but reads more like an authoritarian plan to put ordinary Muslims under strict surveillance. Australian media has dubbed him the 'Fake Sheikh' 

 ABC states,

 "...Unsurprisingly, Tawhidi's tales about Sunni Muslims' shadowy plot to instate Caliphate have been enthusiastically embraced by the far-Right, including Reclaim Australia. Perhaps less expected is the extent to which Tawhidi himself has courted such groups. In the lead-up to last year's federal election, he made offerings of roses to roadside anti-Muslim Liberty Alliance and One Nation posters, as if the face of Pauline Hanson belonged not to Australia's most recognisable anti-Islam campaigner, but a titian-haired deity."

He throws around terms like 'Fake News' and 'Lying Left' - reminiscent of Trump himself. 

It's no surprise the term 'red-pilled Muslim' is also seen in comments from his fans. I honestly never thought I'd see that combination of words, but 2017 is full of surprises. 

I hope that one day, just like Sam Bee or The Daily Show, progressive Muslims can earnestly push for change without getting lumped in with or enticed by those with an anti-Muslim agenda. 

Islam is not a monolith, neither are its adherents nor its critics. Just like Islam can be interpreted and practised in a million different ways so too can criticism of it come from different angles and politics. It's important to be aware of the general Trump-era anti-Muslim climate, but its also important not to erase the few secular, liberal and progressive Muslims that exist. 

Recognize that people in my position are fighting a battle against bigotry from all angles. 

------------ A huge thanks to all my Patrons who make this work possible! To those who's support for me doesn't depend upon how much I criticize Islam and Islam alone, those who signed up recently, and to those who have been there for a while....your support and encouragement mean so much!  If you enjoy my work please consider supporting via Patreon 

from Nice Mangos http://ift.tt/2w8YDI4 via IFTTT

[queen-thinky-thoughts]

Gonna reblog this with all the same tags because I still feel strongly the same way.

.

People completely seriously calling a woman a "know homophobe", who accepted her partner of many years as gay when he came out in wildly homophobic times, remained close with him, supported him, and helped keep him company and look after him when he was dying while she had her own family with a small child... all because she was a bit bitter, possibly a bit shitty and not super accomodating to his lover and friends, who were not her friends, after his death?

Damn, dude, when did they change the definition of "homophobia"?