To jump off of that: The disdain for MOGAI labels means that literally any vocabulary younger than 3-5 years (and sometimes even up to 10-15 years), and ESPECIALLY any language associated with non-binary people, multi-attraction, or attraction based on factors that are not binary genders, gets automatically derided and dismissed.
And that’s just among LGBT+ folk. Cis straight people dismiss all that language automatically as ridiculous alphabet soup stuff, whether or not they know the phrase MOGAI to mock it with.
Can you see how this is a direct enemy of NB people — a community that (in this specific contemporary iteration of that concept) has only begun to articulate itself at all in the last 20 years, and only really picked up big steam in the last 5-10 — describing themselves at all?
Like if the cut-off for respectable LGBT language was 2000, and anything more recent than that is MOGAI bullshit…. modern NBs just aren’t allowed to talk about themselves whatsoever, because any word coined after 2000, especially if it was coined on tumblr, is just ~snowflakey MOGAI radikweers making up ridiculous nonsense words for overspecific concepts?~
If you’re an enemy of new specific language for new specific concepts, you’re an enemy of NBs. If you’re an enemy of reconsidering the usefulness of a gay-bi-straight orientation trinary, you’re an enemy of NBs. If you’re an enemy of “microlabels”, ie newly coined labels that don’t apply to you personally 🙄, you’re an enemy of NBs. If you’re not willing to imagine that the language NBs are coining for themselves right now can grow to be just as important and codified and significant as the language that lesbians and gay men use, and you’re not willing to lift it up, to be encouraging about its usage and include it where it’s applicable and appropriate, you’re an enemy of NBs. I don’t know what else to tell you.
Just wanted to highlight some HIGHLY relatable tags. “bitch ur nonbinary having to explain and getting made fun of is ur life now” is a huge fucking mood, and is probably the driving force in a lot of my decisions about the words I use.
Unless you’re a cis gay man, a cis lesbian, or a cis bisexual (and sometimes not even then!) having to explain what your words of choice mean, how they work in relation to you and your partners and your gender, is just par for the fucking course.
We would ALL be benefited by more mutual support for finding and using the language that fits you best — whether it was coined in 1915, 1975, or yesterday.
We’re all gonna get made fun of because we’re nonbinary. That’s just a reality. We’re always gonna be explaining ourselves and often failing to be understood. We may as well lean all the way into it and articulate ourselves in the ways that make us happiest, and support each other in doing so.
Author of these tags, if you don’t mind me tagging you to credit them let me know!
Homophobia: Murder, corrective rape, conversion therapy, being disowned, losing your job, getting denied housing, harassment, etc
“Heterophobia”: being called a “straighty” on the internet.
Racism: Murder, police brutality, corrupt criminal justice system, not being hired for a job you’re qualified to do, denied housing, racial profiling, hate crimes, etc
“Reverse Racism”: being called a “whitey” on the internet.
Transphobia: Murder, police brutality, being disowned, being kept out of gendered spaces you belong in, getting denied housing, losing your job or not being hired, etc
“Cisphobia”: “down with cis”
ALL OF THIS.
antisemitism: Murder, pogroms, being called sub-human and demons, blood libels, destruction of properties, cemeteries & synagogues, the Holocaust, being too scared to go wearing yarmulka in many public places, hate crimes, holocaust denial, having rocks & Molotov cocktails thrown at your car while driving, etc.
“anti-gentile”: being called a “goy” on the internet.
Ableism: Murder, poverty, pain, loneliness, isolation, physical and/or emotional abuse, idiot doctors, being blamed for one’s disability, eugenics, inaccessible spaces, stares, intrusive questions about medical history, dealing with bureaucracy just to get barebones safety net, etc.
“Survival of the fittest” type says: OK but I want to park closer to the grocery store.
good job, guys, we’re killing the shitty pet food industry this time. it can’t POSSIBLY be that we just recognized Gravy Train or Kibbles and Bits for being piss poor food choices; no, we’re just treating our pets too nicely.
General strikes are a big deal. They need organization, mass support, an agreed-upon list of demands, related demonstrations, etc. It’s not as easy as 10k people across the country at multiple different jobs not showing up – despite what you think, that will be seen as 10k independent occurrences and will result in several thousand firings for no call/no shows with no other notice paid. Even if this wildcat general strike gets enough traction to be seen as an actual threat (which is unlikely as just a viral tumblr post), the government will simply respond with arrests and brutality as they have in the past, and no part of this post prepares people for that
And don’t just decide to do it on your own – talk to your coworkers, get in touch with local unions and your IWW branch, talk to local chapters of climate activism groups like Rising Tide, 350.org, and Transition Towns to organize concurrent demonstrations and actions, and spread the word as much as you can so we can get some steam behind this in the 2 months we have to prepare
“Fuck Work Day” would probably just make things worse while scaring people off from participating in the real coordinated action less than a month later
