Because it is late and I am tired and I have been a Purple menace long enough today (but as many of you know, I am a Purple Menace like it is my full time job every day).
So, there is this post making the rounds, originally posted by genderqueerdukeofmexico and it is taken from a blog I read almost every day, Bird of Paradox. And it pains me to see that post taken totally out of context and being used as an example of the naysayers who claim that Purple Day is useless. Please read the post in its totality. Read about the person who wrote it. A transwoman who devotes her life to activism about transphobia. That quote taken out of context is cruelty because it does a disservice to the woman behind it, who, day in day out writes about the very same issues everyone is waxing lyrical about today. Hear her out before you use her as a weapon against the very same cause she stands for.
Also, ask yourself if you are willing to listen to what one of the people you are supposedly standing for has to say on the subject. Sure, she uses harsh language and she says uncomfortable things. Because that is her life she is talking about. And if we are standing as allies the best we can do is shut up and listen to what the people we are standing for have to say.
If we think our voices are stronger or better than the people we stand for, we are not allies. We are part of the problem. And I don’t think that was anyone’s intention today. However, every time that quote, taken out of context is reblogged and the person who wrote it is used as an example of “wrong tactics”, then we are not only contributing to the problem but we are, in fact, part of the system that oppresses.
Good night.
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