Δαφνη Ευτυχια Αρθουρος

"I have invented a combined chess and checkers board. This board will allow the playing of both games within the same board. This idea was invented by Shampoo." -- from www.matrix4.net

I'm still in a write-more-than-respond headspace for now.

Today is a day to remind people to remember tell everyone to get angry enough to do something about a whole lot of people who die for what has to be one of the stupidest reasons.

"Because you don't like the way they dress," or "because they're different," or even, "because they're confusing," are pretty stupid reasons to murder somebody. Not only is the act tragic and unjust; it's also a pretty fucking pointless reason for violence. Not that there are many good reasons for murder, but at least there's some kind of ... well, "sense" I guess ... to political assassinations, robberies gone bad, jealous rage, drug turf wars, or revenge for other murders. Those are still Bad Things, but at least I can understand them. But to kill somebody because you don't like their clothes? Or because you can't quite figure out whether you're "supposed" to find them attractive or not? That's just dumb.

But apparently there are memes out there that say it's okay to beat up or kill someone whose gender identity is confusing or surprising or just "unapproved"; and that violence against transgendered people is somehow "expected" (as in police statements along the lines of, "we don't expect to find the killer because transgendered people around here have a lot of enemies"); and that being surprised or confused is an excuse even if it's not a valid justification (the "homosexual panic defense", for example); and that the lives or transgendered people aren't worth as much effort when it comes to bringing their attackers to justice, providing protection when threats have been made, or even, in some cases, providing adequate treatement of their injuries.

Fortunately there are competing memes that label hate crimes especially disgusting (whether increased penalties for hate crimes are warranted or not), or at least that nobody deserves to be attacked merely for being different. We need these anti-violence memes to spread.

Today is the Transgender Day of Remembrance. Damn near everyone who reads my journal probably understands the issue, but I'm sure some don't think about it all that often unless they're reading a news story about a transgendered victim at the time, so this entry is a reminder. And I'm sure some of my friends do think about the problem more often, but don't find opportunities to mention it in conversation with random people who might not have thought about it at all. And there may be a few who hear anti-TG statements and don't object to them for fear of "making a scene".

Today, I ask all of you for a favour: mention it. Spread the "TG people don't deserve violence" meme. Spread awareness that in many parts of the world, including the United States, this is an ongoing problem -- that people do get killed for wearing the "wrong" clothes or using the "wrong" pronouns -- and attach a meme that says what a horrible thing that is.

In return, I promise to try not to get beaten up or killed this year, okay?

Last year I posted an entry that explained, among other things, why I don't feel all that much personal fear when I'm out in public. That's all still true. So instead of asking you to spread these memes for my personal protection, I'm asking you to do it just because it's something I feel is terribly important. Put a bug in someone's ear today so that the next time they hear about a TG murder, instead of thinking, "And he was wearing a dress -- isn't that silly?" they'll think, "Wow, that's part of a pattern I've heard about ... and that's horrible." So that instead of thinking, "Well he/she was asking for it," they'll think, "Wow, that's just as bad as if somebody killed a cisgendered male or a cisgendered female simply for being male or female. How scary it is that there are people who could think that way." (Okay, I don't expect you do conduct a major re-education campaign; just to put the memes out there to start the ball rolling.) I know a lot of people, but all of you put together know a lot more people, and besides, most of the people I know have already been exposed to anti-violence and transgendered-people-are-just-people memes. You know I'll do the same for some of your causes.

Just say something.

Thanks.

I meant to write about this the day the news broke, but as long as I'm thinking about gender and justice and activism and all that stuff, I should get this out.

Other people have posted about how happy the Massachussetts court decision about same-sex marriage makes them. I can't honestly say that it makes me happy. What I can say is that it gives me a glimmer of cautious optimism, and that the opposite decision would have made me angry. Right now I feel the way I do when "my" football team returns a kickoff to the 45-yard line -- it's good field position (that is, it makes the rest of the drive easier), but unless the next few plays go well, it's moot. Part of me is waiting for the other shoe to drop -- you know it will; the only question is whether it's going to make a big noise or a small one -- and part of me is trying to figure out how to make sure the next three downs gain at least ten yards. But in this case, even standing on the sidelines and cheering loudly does something, as long as I cheer using reasoned arguments in places fence-sitters can hear.

So there's anticipation, a little relief, optimism, some feel-good at the gain, but not joy yet ... and there's also nervousness, especially since I've gotten used to expecting bad officiating in this game, and even a little cheating.

(Of course the football metaphor only goes so far -- there are more than two teams playing, and at least one team's strategy amounts to "try to piss off the other sides as little as possible while using them against each other".)

So it's good news, yes, but it's not a touchdown. Here's hoping. In the meantime, don't do the end-zone dance just yet -- exchange high-fives and huddle up for the next play.

Why did "Benson Arizona" just leap into my brain and wedge itself there? (I almost said, "Why on Earth..." but reconsidered given where I know the song from.) I wasn't thinking of anything remotely related, and didn't see or hear a similar phrase.

If "*plonk*" is the "sound" of someone falling into your killfile, is there a similar sound for a post getting tossed into your quotes file (qotd queue, randomized .signature file, fortunes database, favourite quotes mailing list, quote collection on the web, whatever)?