Merfinks
I was alerted by this.
So, bristling, I read. They really do say that.
Today, J.K.Rowling re-stated her position on transgender lives. We have previously reached out to her both publicly and privately, offering a calm conversation around the issues she has raised and today, we sent a further email to her team, renewing that offer. We are yet to receive a response.
How sanctimonious that is, how passive-aggressive, how entitled, how intrusive. Yes, Rowling has nothing better to do than “have a conversation” with the damn fools (or fool) of Mermaids. If they offer she has to respond.
As part of that email, we have disclosed something we hoped never to say. We say it now with permission from those involved. Without giving personal detail, without betraying confidences, we must represent the seriousness of the situation. We are aware through our work with families that there have been cases of self-harm and even attempted suicide following J.K.Rowling’s statements and the public response on social media and in the press. Surely this must cause us all to pause and question the way young trans lives are being debated in public.
Note, first of all, that “following” is not the same as “because of.” I wonder if a lawyer told them to phrase it that way, or if they’re just naturally sneaky.
Note also this oily insinuating crap about “lives” – transgender lives, young trans lives. It’s another branch of the bullying. Lives shmives, the point is the ideology, the truth claims, the doctrine, the bullshit we are told to believe and repeat and endorse and force on everyone else.
No movement is perfect, no movement can succeed without evolution, but history is kind to those who stand up for their rights.
What? What does that mean? The Proud Boys see themselves as standing up for their rights. Nazis saw themselves that way. Men’s rights activists see themselves that way. If “history” is “kind” to them it will probably be in a world where Donald Trump is a saint and Ivanka Trump is in her seventh term as president.
We can all look back in admiration at those brave, radical people deserving of statues, who stood against racism, homophobia, misogyny and all forms of prejudice, all the while threatened by the famous, rich and powerful of their day.
Who’s we? Who’s all? Lots of people don’t look back in admiration at feminists and anti-racists and LGB rights activists. This is Whig history on steroids.
Wrong! Post hoc ergo propter hoc. It’s in Latin, therefore it is true.
lol
Ah, the old saw comes out again: correlation is not causation. My cat threw up after Rowlings comments. It started raining. I had a dream where Newcastle won the FA cup. I had to get tested for COVID because I was unwell and nobody could say what it was (it’s still a mystery).
Damn you, Rowling! [shakes fist at the sky]
Frankly, I wouldn’t be surprised if there were indeed suicide threats or attempts when Rowling came out as gender critical. Such wailing and gnashing of teeth, fan clubs panicking, and breathless article after article expressing shock and concern over the effect on the most vulnerable, most marginalized, most suicidal group in the world.
There’s not a teenager out there who isn’t well aware that transgender people routinely kill themselves if not accepted as “who they know they are.” They’re reminded of that over and over, it’s drummed into their heads by Tumblr and Twitter and Tavistock and all the handwringing social media and organizations throwing out statistics because this is a real, live possibility for every … single … one of them.
Mental health professionals think that’s a very wise thing to do. Young adults aren’t susceptible to suggestion, or social contagion. Psychologists and therapists agree. Warn teenagers about the sorts of things that are likely to make them throw their life away. Keep them on their toes. It’s good.
No. Not really. Doing that is bad. If there really were suicide attempts not just following, but because of Rowling’s statements, I wouldn’t blame Rowling. She didn’t set them up.
[…] a comment by Sastra on […]
“We can all look back in admiration at those brave, radical people deserving of statues, who stood against racism, homophobia, misogyny and all forms of prejudice, all the while threatened by the famous, rich and powerful of their day.”
Wow… If there is a less unsubtle way to say “Look at me! Am I not admirable? Will history not see me as a hero?” I have yet to find it…