A Goose-Step Too Far

So J.K. Rowling is a Holocaust denier now.

Since she first kicked the door of her right wing closet open a good few years ago now to launch an unprovoked 'total war' against transwomen, Rowling started taking large steps - you might say goose-steps - up the staircase of fascism, and with each step, the sound becoming increasingly reminiscent of the ominous stomp of jack-boots.

Even before Rowling started crowing the anti-science TERF rhetoric which gathered to her a new base of transphobes to feed from the trough at her feet, there were those who had reservations about her anti-Semitic characterizations of the goblins in her stories, just as much as there were those who undoubtedly enjoyed and approved of them.

But as I watched over the past few years, I saw Rowling being increasingly fawned over by the sort of low-brow creatures like those who cheered on while Magnus Hirschfeld's institute and all his pioneering work in understanding and helping transgender women was fed to the incinerator of base national-socialist populism. 

So you see, for some time, I've had a pretty fair idea that it wouldn't be too long before she went full neo-Nazi.

As it turns out, I wasn't wrong.

'It's Just A Joke'

I just blocked another old school "friend" on Facebook for posting a transphobic "joke". 

Honestly, what some people think is funny at the expense of other people's suffering is quite beyond me.

It's not satire, because satire is meant to make fun of powerful institutions and people who are literally untouchable as far as ordinary people are concerned. Satire doesn't attack people who are vulnerable and victimized by society, or dehumanize them, or add weight or legitimacy to the arguments against them. 

What this constitutes is, in fact, bullying.

I mean, are you posting this sort of asinine infantile garbage because you think that letting people know you think the suffering of other people is genuinely funny, is somehow not going to hurt anyone - least of all the people whose suffering you're making a mockery of? Do you expect them to not be hurt by it simply because you're the one sharing it, and you're ostensibly their friend? Or do you simply not care?

Are you so self-centered or disconnected from your own humanity that you're somehow oblivious to the fact that you're actively rubbing salt in the wounds of any transgender people watching, and that you're basically laughing in their faces at their discomfort, their pain and their very real fears that they may be next?

Sharing material like that publicly, knowing that you have transgender people on your friends list, especially people you were friends at school with and know in real life? And doing so at a time when transgender people are being marginalized and being fucking murdered just for existing? 

What the fuck is wrong with you? 

Bigotry & Transphobia Stirs In South Africa - Again!

What really grated my carrot this week was part of the public reaction to the news that a transwoman had entered that archaic relic of the patriarchy which shamelessly puts women on show like cattle, the Miss South Africa contest!

It seems that as soon as things are nice and quiet and the bigots have stopped shouting for a little while, something happens to spark them off again - soon as they've more-or-less recovered from the disappointment that expressing racism and using the "k-word" in public gets people in trouble - the Karens come out screeching about how transgender people are somehow unfairly competing against them in x, y or z public domains and spaces, that "he-shes" don't belong in women's competitions (or in fact anywhere), and even that "god" created male and female, and apparently "doesn't make mistakes"!

This sort of idiotic Neanderthal mindset makes me bristle - so much so that it inspired my first LGBT activism-related article in quite some time!

So the news in question was that a local transwoman (a lady from PE called Zoe) is entering the Miss South Africa contest. It was in the Herald on Thursday morning, and by late afternoon every right wing lunatic bigot, transphobic halfwit and pious religious wanker who knows fuck-all about science, gender or what transwomen - and especially transwomen of color - endure in this country (or everywhere else) on a daily basis, started making an effort to vent their unintelligible hysterical bile in public. 

FAQ’s Answered #12: Who Is Cindy-Mei Winter?

Today in a series of replies to FAQ (frequently asked questions) sent to me by fans (and sometimes not so much), I answer the question:  "Who is Cindy-Mei Winter?" the first main character of the Quantum Series, and a transwoman.

FAQ’s Answered #10: Who Is Marsha In "Dead Beckoning" to Blachart?

Today in a series of replies to FAQ (frequently asked questions) sent to me by fans (and sometimes not so much), I answer the question:  "Who is Marsha in "Dead Beckoning", and what part does she she play in relation to the character of Blachart?"

What would happen if fascists took over the world?

What would happen if fascists took over the world? Not just one or two states, but all of them? How would people react to having their lives upturned? Without any alternative authorities to turn to, without any rescuers or saviors to call upon, how would they handle seeing 'undesirables' and 'enemies of the state' - their neighbors, family, friends or colleagues being dragged away to concentration camps by uniformed thugs with the full backing of the law?

How would they tell fact from fiction while those who have seized power and their news services twist the truth to cast themselves as righteous heroes and to portray their victims as unpatriotic, dangerous, threatening, impure, monsters deserving of extermination?

"Loderunner" - Why Did I Write It?

"Loderunner" is book 4 in my Quantum Series, and I completed the first draft in 2007. The background of the story and why I wrote it is something I've never gone into at length before, so for those of you who are interested, this might be worth your while reading.

New Release: "The Pink Community - The Facts" Second Edition!

New release: "The Pink Community – The Facts" - Second Edition! Back in 2009 when I was in full swing of my human rights advocacy and running two LGBT rights groups (SA GLAAD and ECGLA), I put together an online information resource which mainly consisted of useful quotes and links to articles online.

As an activist who campaigned a lot on social media against bigotry in form of homophobia and transphobia, these links came in handy to post as replies to enraged bigots, rather than typing out lengthy replies each time! Instead, the link would manifest with a reference to a useful scientific or medical article that would invalidate the bigot's viewpoint, and they would be left there, seething, embarrassed, with egg on their faces!

Gradually this list grew until it migrated from a text file I kept on my PC, into a Word document - and then, when I started my blog "Sour Grapes: The Fruit of Ignorance", I dedicated several pages to it there. Later, in about 2012, I migrated it to my official author site, where it still lurks, as a free resource for human rights advocacy. This allowed for page hierarchies rather than just a huge cluster (or clutter!) of pages on a site!

The Enemy Of My Enemy Is Not Necessarily My Friend

Why is it that when people who use a word like 'tranny' to describe transgender people are told, by a transgender person, that the word is derogatory and offensive towards transgender people, they rally and insist that it isn't?

America's Shame Before The World!

I can't understand how a majority of Americans - supposedly the most forward-thinking people on the planet - could vote "Trump".

It's mind-blowingly disappointing. It's awful. Simply awful. 

 

This is a dark day for human rights, not just in America, but everywhere. Considering the orange monkey's appalling campaign promises, there will be human rights violations and civil rights losses in abundance as Trump faces pressure from his rabid supporters to live up to his election promises - build the wall, strip LGBT rights, enact racist laws, deport all immigrants, hack the constitution, make Christianity a state religion.

Ignorance Is Not A Legitimate 'Point Of View'

The debate around the St Marks "Sex in the City - Is Gay Okay?" discussion held at the church three weeks ago just doesn't seem to want to die. 

You can view the video I took here: https://youtu.be/00-u-tJwh-o

Homophobes continue to post their ignorant remarks  in such a manner as if to show that a) they know what they are talking about and b) they have some kind of hand-written note from "God" to authorize them to hate and to persecute others in its name.

Yes sirree, Port Elizabeth has a "prophet" in its 'burbs - another one who claims to know what "God" said and meant, intent on not letting anyone get on with their lives without being told off for being the "lustful sinners" they are.

In today's episode, let's look at the comment made by a Nigel Wakeford, a regular in the Herald "chirps" column. In my humble opinion, Mr Wakeford is just showing his ignorance. 

Russia Has Lost It's Soul... And Its Mind

Russia has begun a very enthusiastic crack-down on LGBT people, and it's using Christian religion and junk-science being peddled by Scott Lively as justification. It's very concerning. Unfortunately this is what happens when religious conservativism is allowed to run riot, and when that very important line between church and state is erased.

Uganda Again Set To Pass 'Kill The Gays Bill' - Followed by Nigeria

What can I say about this, folks - except "I told you so"? 

I've warned about it since I first started this activist blog, after all. 

My Brief Delusional Time As A Lesbian

This morning I was lying in bed considering what to wear. I sleep naked these days, because I've enjoyed the new found freedom that being physically female brings. 

What I was wondering was, what to clothe my body with once I got out of bed, and despite the personal style I've developed over the past few years, I'm now totally at a loss for what to pick in my closet.

Being female, albeit a transgender female now 6 years post-op, the choice should have been clear to me. The reason for this dilemma is that I was told last night by a person of some prominence in the local lesbian community, that I "dress like a drag queen".

Cry, Emo Kid - They Really ARE Out To Kill You

I was shocked and saddened today, when I saw news articles of STATE SANCTIONED AND ENCOURAGED MASSACRES in Iraq. 

The target of these unholy act of unspeakable barbarism? LGBT people, feminists - and Emo kids. That's right - Iraqi religious police assisted by fanatic religious militia - and relatives of the victims, have been abducting and murdering people - including children - because they don't approve of their hairstyles, dress, or if they happen to appear a little too masculine or feminine to their liking, for their idea of "appropriate" gender! 

Nobody is safe from their brutality and terrorism - not even children! 

Monsters!

Challenges of Life

I believe where it is SAFE to do so, transgender people should be out and proud. And where it isn't safe, they should be proud if not out - and they should still work for equality, dignity and human rights so that they - and the generations that are to come - one day can be out. Nobody cares about people they don't know about, folks. 

When people don't remind folks that they really do exist, the haters, purists and bigots like to believe and pretend that they don't.

Dismantling Fear

Many transsexual people I have encountered over time have chosen to introduce themselves to friends or acquaintances as being more than "just" transsexuals. 

Instead of just being honest about having been biologically male or female, and having changed that, they invent stories about having been born intersex - presumably because in their minds, the audience will somehow view them more sympathetically that way than if they were just honest to begin with.

 

Why can't they just be honest?

 

Well, as it turns out, there may be some very good reasons why they do this.

Kicking The Crutch

The world around us is filled with people who are selfish, cocky and arrogant about their own religious beliefs. I say not these things because I resent the pride others take in their religion, but because the pride some of them take in their choice of beliefs boils over into a hatred of the religious choices of others who choose differently to them, and into persecution of those who dare to do so.

Will Somebody Please Think Of The Children?

I regularly meet a friend of mine, who is a Christian reverend, for drinks at a local coffee shop. We enjoy casual chats about religion, persecution and human needs and frailties. He mentioned to me that there is no ONE Christianity, but many, and that today there are more than 200 different formally identified "mainstream" denominations - or "churches" around the world. Ironically, each one considers itself to be the ONE TRUE Christianity, or at least, the face of it.

We Make Hate Great

Tolerance. Equality. Individual freedom. The right to self-expression. These are the things that make democracy great. These are the things that make life worth living.

And yet many people who claim to support these ideals, really do not. While they claim to, they see equality as something they are deserving of, while simultaneously they view anyone they do not personally approve of trying to gain equality with them as an attack on their own superior and privileged social positions. 

 

They distort facts and ideologies to serve their elitist and supremacist ideals, and hijack democracy in order to preserve a social order where words like "love" and concepts like "good" and "evil", and even terms like "family" and "marriage" become tools to exclude fellow human beings from equal, decent and humane treatment - and as weapons to destroy them.