I’ve come across bad news that my home state has passed a really shitty law regarding trans people. Are there things I can do to help change this and all of the other shitty policies and attitudes at home?

  • AnarchistArtificer@slrpnk.net
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    2 months ago

    This is more of a “how to survive under oppressive policies while we work to change them” kind of tip, but self-care, and community support networks.

    For example, too many of my friends have found themselves feeling obligated to challenge transphobic rhetoric online. They frequently put themselves on the front line of things and persisted out of a sense of duty, even when their mental health was degrading. Sometimes self care is about moderation, in the case of my friend who actually enjoys arguing with assholes online. In some cases, it means picking a different front to fight on (such as in the case of a different friend who got back into activism after a break by starting a trans clothes swap).

    By “community support networks”, I mean a community where you don’t have to worry about changing hearts and minds, where you can sometimes say “fucking hell, this is depressing” sometimes. And also people with whom you can feel safe with and seize whatever joy you can. It might mean having a friend who knows a lot about DIY HRT, who can forward the info onto whoever needs it, or sharing prescribed HRT with someone whose prescription is late. It can mean a lot of things, and it can be online or in real life, but the short of it is that we can’t do this alone, whether “this” is “surviving” or “changing the world”