Last night was just the beginning. Here’s a list of the dozens of protests scheduled for TODAY, from Birmingham, Alabama to Seattle Washington.
This info in this list comes from GetGroundGame.com, and only includes protests taking place today; there are some scheduled for the days ahead that I have not listed.
The list at GetGroundGame will be updated throughout the day; my list here will not. So check there for the latest info and to see what protests have been added, as well as for protests scheduled in the coming days. If you have a protest to add to the list, contact @JessLivMo. on Twitter, not me.
If your city isn’t listed, see @JessLivMo‘s Twitter feed, which has info on it that hasn’t yet made it onto her big list.
QFT. And I don’t agree with AnnaB thatt here’s nothing non-Americans can do to make a difference. Pressure your own politicians and media to reject Trump and Trumpism in whatever way they can – the proto-fascist regime that has come to power in the USA must not be normalised! Demonstrate to show solidarity with those resisting Trump in the USA – decent Americans must know they are not alone, and that those in other countries don’t think Trump and his cronies represent them.
I don’t think there is a female or male brain. People want so badly to categorize by gender that they take data that clearly shows certain brain activity exists in both men and women, go looking for some difference in the way it appears between the genders, and then declare that difference to be due to gender. People can’t handle not knowing a gender for a person. Just try responding to someone asking if a baby is a boy or a girl with, “why do you want to know?” They don’t know how to interact with a child unless they know its assigned gender.
Sorry for the double post, but back on topic: https://medium.com/@yonatanzunger/trial-balloon-for-a-coup-e024990891d5#.ljv8tj9po
@Lord Pabu you are missing some important context when you assert that people on either side of that debate are really in agreement.
Both of those arguments have been used in the past (and are still used in the present) to both attack AND support trans people.
There are transphobes out there going ‘you can’t be trans unless your brain is masculinized/feminized’. There are also transphobes saying ‘you can’t be trans because gender is a construct; you’re reinforcing the patriarchy’.
There are also trans allies and trans people who fall on both sides of these debates – and people who have only ever been exposed to one variety of thinking.
So yes, there are people on both sides of the debate who support trans people. Speaking for myself, though (of course I can’t speak for all trans people) it’s exhausting because my very existence seems to spur people to give me their opinions on this debate. I have to hear about it constantly. And personally, I don’t really care about anybody’s personal theories on gender. I tend to view them as a reflection of that individual’s relationship with their own gender. I’m just tired of hearing about it.
For an example of what I mean, see in @GrumpyOld SocialJusticeMangina’s comment –
“but we have trouble with the idea that you can be born into the wrong body, because we believe you are what you are and anatomy doesn’t rule over everything you are.”
(Sorry, I’m still pretty newbie and I have no idea how to do block quotes)
I can’t convey the degree to which I am tired of hearing how any one particular person perceives gender and therefor how they think I should relate to my own gender. Everyone has a right to their own opinions on gender and identity because everyone /does/ have a relationship to their gender and absolutely should put in the time to think about that if they care to.
But when you’re trans, it’s like your very identity becomes a topic for philosophical debate constantly. You’re not allowed to just exist without having to hear about how buddy over here has a problem with such-and-such trans terminology. And 90% of these ideas people take issue with didn’t come out of the trans community in the first place – they came from cis therapists who were ‘studying’ or ‘curing’ us.
I’m going to stop here because I’m sure nobody was really looking for my opinion anyway, and I apologize for derailing.
OT: update on the terrorist attack in Quebec:
* Six victims died, 5 are still in critical condition, 14 wounded have been released from hospital.
* Two shooters arrested, they’re believed to be the only shooters. Mohammed Khadir and Alexandre Bissonnette. Motivations currently unknown. Khadir is a muslim name, Bissonnette is as quebecois “pure laine” as you can get. So people are jumping to contradictory conclusions.
* All political levels are united in calling this terrorism, and the press is following along (the francophone press did it before the politicians spoke; the anglo press waited until it had permission from the premier and prime minister).
re non-USAians–I’ll be demonstrating in Bristol tonight. There is a lot going on here. And of course there’s The Petition, at 1342415 signatures and counting. Someone pointed out that apparently to May some things are ‘the will of the people’, and are sacrosanct, while others are ‘just populism’, and can be ignored.
In the time it took me to type that it’s gone up to 1348930.
About the convergence of blogs that I noted, here’s a climate science blog I follow: Climate Denial Crock of the Week (which posts much more often than weekly these days):
kupo:
Now that’s interesting:
I wouldn’t say I respect Putin, but if he’s really pulled this off, it’s one of the most audacious pieces of statecraft ever. Machiavelli wishes to subscribe to his newsletter.
@PreuxFox
I was actually looking for your opinion.
I don’t want to get into too much detail but recently there was a dispute over trans issues in a feminist group I am in and I don’t think anybody on any “side” voiced things the way you did. That was incredibly lucid from my perspective. Thank you.
ETA: I know you don’t want anyone to take it as gospel but the argument in that group just got very odd and b&w. This was just a fresh topic on my mind.
@PreuxFox
Thank you for sharing your perspective.
Here’s a quick lesson on how to do blockquotes. If you see a quote button, you can either click it, enter the text you wish to quote, then click it again or you can highlight the text and click the button.
If you don’t see the button, you can use the blockquote html tag like this:
<blockquote>Text you want quoted goes here.</blockquote>
The above would look like this:
On topic:
https://twitter.com/ShaunKing/status/825980022427090944
@PreuxFox: Thank you for taking the time to share your experiences.
@kupo: that article is terrifying. Legit terrifying. I’ve been reading paragraphs a little at a time, because it’s too much to take in all at once.
@numerobis: I am glad that they are referring to it as a terrorist attack. I am very very not glad that it happened, though that seems inadequate to say.
https://twitter.com/eorden/status/825908026750156800
jeeby creeby. I mean, par for the course, but really?
My heart goes out to all the victims of the terror attack in QC. At least they’re calling it what it is. I hope they continue to get loud, and louder still. This cannot be allowed to stand.
Thank you for everyone’s contribution. I appreciated your comment, @PreusFox. Don’t ever be afraid to say what you’re feeling!
Abars01
I sent an email to my local MHR the other day, prompted by a circulating GetUp petition. I’m in the process of redrafting it to deal with Turnbull’s newest spineless effort. But it’s now 3am so I’m leaving that for tomorrow.
NOTE: I actually know Amanda so you might want to think about how casual or formal you want to be in writing to whoever your MHR is. Of course, if it’s one of the leeches or lackwits on the government side, this will be no use to you at all.
You also might want to check out GetUp or some of the other activist sites who may already have petitions or sample emails drafted ready for use.
Quebec terrorist attack: there’s only one shooter, it’s Bissonnette. His friends claim he wasn’t an extremist, just a quiet guy. Studied anthropology and political science.
The guy they called Khadir is a witness (I assume a victim of the attack? Unclear) and it’s not even his actual name.
Of course someone unrelated by that name in Montreal is now having his image spread on social media. And my MNA has that name; I’m sure some asshats will assume he’s related and somehow is to blame.
@guest
I actually do agree that there aren’t things that are innately feminine or innately masculine, for the exact reasons you describe. Those categories change across cultures and time. That said, society does categorize things as either masculine or feminine, and that’s what I was trying to reference. Badly. :/
@Kupo
I do agree! The fixation we have on gender as a society is really weird. I go on whole tirades about how disturbing I find it that we gender segregate toys while people look at me like I’ve grown a third head. I’m just really not okay with that attitude. The studies I’ve seen about ‘male’ and ‘female’ brains seem plausible to me only because they are studies done on adults, and it makes sense to me that a lifetime of socialization would have an impact on how a brain behaves. What I disagree with when I see those articles is the lack of acknowledgement that it’s socialization that causes this, and the vast majority of the cishet people these studies focused on weren’t actually born that way.
What I meant when I was talking about inborn traits is how even babies have distinct personalities before they reach six months of age. I took a psychology course on human development that quoted four distinct personality types (not at all defined by gender). So if people who are trans believe they were definitively born into the wrong body, I can give them the benefit of the doubt that there’s something in the early hardwiring of our brain that can lead to that feeling under some circumstances. I don’t know exactly how that would work, and the science doesn’t seem to be all that conclusive at this point. We know so little about the human brain in some respects. I just want to err on the side of validating people, but I’m pretty sure I’m just being convoluted in my approach at this point.
@PreuxFox
I can definitely imagine how exhausting it is to have to hear people debate the nature of your identity all the time. It wears me out just trying to imagine it. I didn’t mean to diminish the way people have used this issue as a bludgeon when it should be anything but that. I do agree that our relationship with gender should be personal, and not at all up for debate.
So I’m going to drop it now, because I’m making myself uncomfortable at this point. (I’m awkward. So very awkward. I’m sorry.)
Scildfreja, I followed through on other parts of that thread.
The charming POTUS mocked Chuck Schumer for his tears when talking about the Democrats drafting a reversal of the travel bans.
http://heavy.com/news/2017/01/president-donald-trump-mock-mocks-chuck-schumer-crying-fake-tears-white-house-watch-video/
You’ll notice that Schumer’s people refused to dignify that with a response. I haven’t had a chance to check further but I found this when following up on this entry.
If that’s true then the POTUS claim to know Chuck Schumer “very well” looks just as shaky as every other statement he makes.
I’ve tried a slightly different tack. Don’t know if it’ll do any good but for £2.25 in stamps (which I swiped from work anyway) possibly worth a shot.
(Please don’t point out any spelling mistakes, it’s too late now!)
My ground signal these days is just completely and totally,
“Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck.”
At least we’re being plunged into a boiling pot and not simmered up from cold, because we are not taking all this lying down.
In some good news, there are many marches in solidarity of Muslim communities all around Canada. I’ll be going to one locally tonight @ 5 in Whitehorse at the Shipyards docks.
I’ll be at Gare Jean-Talon tonight in Montreal, 18h-20h.
I’m expecting a large crowd. I’ve never quite seen so many friends mentioning a march, despite how often Montrealers march.
Hi Mammoths!
Just got back from a small but vocal protest against Trump outside the council offices in Derby, UK, which I found out about less than an hour and a half ago, but was glad to get to.
Also signed the petition to prevent Trump from making a State Visit, which apparently the government is going to ignore (only 1 and a half million signatures so far!). For any other British readers, the address is below – sorry, I don’t know how to do hyperlinks.
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/171928
Also been looking at Trump products, and companies carrying Tump products, to boycott – (I was boycotting Amazon anyway because their working conditions are notoriously shit, and one of their big distribution centres is quite local to us, so it’s our local young people whose working lives are being ruined – but why blame a big company for lowered living standards, when you can blame immigrants, right?)
Basically, trying to do what I can. Of course we’ve got our own problems – Brexit, Theresa May cosying up to the likes of Erdogan, increasing intolerance – but it’s all part of the bigger picture.
I don’t really like writing posts like this because I’m aware of how minor all these actions are alone, and it all seems a bit ‘look-at-me-I’m-helping!’ but previous protests and campaigns have shown how small actions can add up, and I’m glad to be counted as Trump’s enemy. Which is easy for me to say all the way over here…
Keep up the good work! It’s back to lurking for me…
DH
Holy fuck, this is despicable. From the Guardian, just now:
Someone shoots up a mosque, and that’s justification for the muslim ban?
@Moggie: Not going to lie, I was waiting for it.
It was predictable.
I’m pissed Trudeau took the call.