7813404
Isn’t it amazing that the Americans who have the most to say about State’s Rights seem to have the least respect for US Territories?

https://www.fimfiction.net/group/214974/the-insane-creators-guild/thread/514214/teen-disqualified-from-pokemon-tcg-tournament-after-laughing-about-pronouns

I already said what I wanted to in that thread, but I am wondering, what exactly is the bar these days? it seems like nowadays anything even remotely LGBT can count as political. And what counts as political is getting increasingly broader. I'll hope LGBT stuff to some extent can count as non-political, least it becomes difficult to talk about it beyond things like "I'm writing a F/F story". Although that does probably put most LGBT news off limits. as that does get treated very political by those against it.

7819756
It's really hard to draw a line on these things, and it's going to come down to the individual admin. I actually tend to let things slide a fair amount if it's in a grey area. (Not the least because every time I do, people start asking questions like this. )

In this case, I actually locked two threads, one of which was deleted afterwards. I actually was a little more verbose in that one about why I was locking threads, whereas this one, I belatedly realized that the lock message I typed wasn't there later, and just hurriedly typed one.

It was more that there were too many somewhat political threads going on at once in this case, and I was actually more concerned about the one that's no longer there, the "Happy Trans Visibility Day" one posting a video about trans people attacking Hogwarts Legacy streamers.

I would say the most likely ones I'm going to go after are things explicitly mentioning political parties, things that are targeting a group, or that are fairly controversial and likely to involve me having to lock them later down the line.

Don't worry too much about posting positive lgbt things, though, and this thread does exist, so if you're not sure, you can always post here.

Also, I'm not the end all on things. This group is Lyra's, and I'll go with anything she says on it, and she is free to unlock it if she wants. She also tends to only come on the site once a week or so, though, so I'm kinda trying to make sure things are being taken care of when she's not around, especially because admin action is starting to be needed more in this group lately.

--Sweetie Belle

7819756

what exactly is the bar these days?

There is no bar. As "progressive" activists like to say "everything is political", which btw is the result of "personal is political" paradigm adopted by them as far back as the 60-s. And as long as "progressive" politics dominates the conversation, any personal characterisitcs (gender, race, sexuality, etc) remains a potential political tool

7819756 That is a good question, what dosen't help is that LGBT stuff is one of the fiercest battlegrounds in the culture wars. You have some of the worst excesses of the LGBT movement ruining it for the more reasonable members of that community, pushback from some of the more reasonable members of said community, pushback from the general public as well as pushback from tradcons who are saying things like "I told you if we let the gays get married this would happen." One of the most disgraceful recent examples of this are some of the reactions to the recent shooting of a Christian school by a shooter that happens to be trans, there are people excusing the shooters actions on the left and then you have people on the right who have conveniently forgotten their "guns don't kill people people kill people" argument (which I agree with by the way) by arguing that trans people shouldn't have guns because they are mentally ill.

7819769 Politics has become a cult, especially among the left. A lot of people have no sense of meaning or purpose and seem to turn to extreme views to fill in that void. It is normal to want to belong to something greater than yourself and for some religion fills that purpose, but for those that aren't religious they need to find something else.

TERF: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TERF
It is a legitimate term. The only people seriously protesting it as a "slur" are the people it describes.

Dude! Simply having a wiki article doesn't make the term legitimate. Otherwise N-word would be a legitimate term. Or F-word (the one with three letters). The difference between a legitimate term and slur is that the former is an accurate description while the latter is meant to degrade people by either directly insulting them or ascribing some characteristics that they not necessarily have.

Letting them dictate that it's a "slur" is like letting racists dictate that being called "racist" is "slurring" them. It's nothing more than an attempt to shut down valid labeling used for criticizing a discriminatory group because they don't want to be perceived as discriminatory.

Well, don't complain that I'll call you SJW then. Because if you'll claim that it's a slur or somehow derogatory, I'll say that YOU are the one who wants to shut down my criticism.

7820149

Simply having a wiki article doesn't make the term legitimate.

The article literally has a whole section discussing whether or not the term is a slur. It specifically notes that most linguists and linguistic philosophers conclude it is not.

The difference between a legitimate term and slur is that the former is an accurate description while the latter is meant to degrade people by either directly insulting them or ascribing some characteristics that they not necessarily have.

TERF: Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminist.
Describes people that are:
✓ Trans-exclusionary in their philosophy
✓ Radical
✓ Feminists
This is, per your own criteria: "an accurate description," (it describes a set of beliefs, therefore is tautologically accurate to say that people who fall into these these beliefs are in fact described by a label saying they have those beliefs) is not "directly insulting them," (it is descriptive, not pejorative; none of the words are commonly held to be insults) and is not "ascribing some characteristics that they not necessarily have" (again, tautological, since the term is literally just a list of characteristics and people who the term applies to by definition have those characteristics).

Well, don't complain that I'll call you SJW then.

I don't care if you do, particularly now that it would be wholly meaningless: I'd know you're only doing it to be petty or vindictive instead of for some sincere reason.

7820155

The article literally has a whole section discussing whether or not the term is a slur. It specifically notes that most linguists and linguistic philosophers conclude it is not.

Most? There isn't even such a word near the phrase you referring to. That section of the article literally points out that there are several "camps" with different attitudes towards the issue.

TERF: Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminist.
Describes people that are:
✓ Trans-exclusionary in their philosophy
✓ Radical
✓ Feminists
This is, per your own criteria: "an accurate description,"

The only accurate part is about "feminists". Everything else is nothing but an attept to deflect the argument and degrade the opponent. Radical? According to whom? According to those who consider biological reality "radical"? And "trans-exclusionary" is a non-description, unless of course interpret that as opposing to the trans-ideology.

you're only doing it to be petty or vindictive instead of for some sincere reason

Yeah, because if an argument is somehow goes against your ideology, that means that the goal can't possibly be to establish the truth or achieve other "sincere reason".

7820165

That section of the article literally points out that there are several "camps" with different attitudes towards the issue.

"Linguists and philosophers of language have been skeptical of the idea that the term TERF is a slur."

It points out that it's mostly TERFs who seriously contend that "TERF" is a slur. And sure, I mean, of course they would. They don't want to be visible as an identifiable mindset, as opposed to having the privilege of their perspective being invisibly pervasive rather than examined and challenged with criticism they know they have coming.
Plenty of racists think "racist" is a slur, too, because similarly they'd like their beliefs to just be taken for granted instead of being identified for what they are and critically challenged, but it's still accurate so they're still gonna get called that. Tough cookies, I guess?

Radical? According to whom?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radical_feminism

And "trans-exclusionary" is a non-description

"used to distinguish transgender-inclusive feminists from a group of radical feminists who reject the assertion that trans women are women, the inclusion of trans women in women's spaces, and transgender rights legislation"
...What an oddly descriptive "non-description!"

Yeah, because if an argument is somehow goes against your ideology, that means that the goal can't possibly be to establish the truth or achieve other "sincere reason".

You haven't indicated that you even have any such goals. All I see is that you're mad about people having their ideas identified and being called what they are for some reason.

Continuing from here...

7820122
Yes, it is selective outrage, most outrage is. You realize she profits from the entire Harry Potter franchise? Yet people only choose this game to make a grand stand. The books are still out there, the movies are still out there. Hell, even Universal theme park is lining her pockets regardless if you go for anything Harry Potter related or not. She even has other non-Harry Potter books to profit from as well. She has several sources of income. Not buying the video game is hardly going to change anything. She's already insanely rich, a billionaire. She already made up her mind of her viewpoints. It's simply impossible to put a dent into her wallet. There is no stopping this train.

Let's give some other examples as to why I call this selective. Mulan's credits thanked a Muslim detention center that was near where they shot the film. Do those people not count? Should no one have gone to seen Mulan because of this? And what of Disney's Chinese movie posters, like for The Force Awakenings or Black Panther? Does it not matter that Disney tried to hide their black characters to please China?

Okay, so how about how gaming companies have been treating their employees? Activision Blizzard, EA, and Ubisoft have all been guilty of sexual harassment, among other things, of their employees. Do they not count? Should we never buy another game from those companies, least that makes us guilty of supporting companies being abusive of their employees? And this is just what we know about. Should we stop and pause when buying almost anything at all, even entertainment? Least money goes into the pockets of someone bigoted or guilty of bad things.

And what of meat eaters? Should all of them come under fire for making sure meat continues to be made and sold at the cost of animal lives? How far do we want to go with purity tests?

7820137
As a transwoman myself, I must ask, why would people want to support the transgender community? Yes, trans rights are human rights and transgender people are still human beings worthy of respect like anyone else. However, I can see why people don't want to support a community that harasses and bullies people over playing a goddamn video game. There are in fact, bad ways to try to promote good causes and this is one of them. And then when people like Pikamee quit after being massively harassed over suggesting she wanted to play the game, a girl who doesn't seem to have a hateful bone in her body. Funny how so many VTubers, often women, have came under fire for this. Even on this very website I gotten a lot worse for standing up for this game (I detail that in my blog posts), declared a pick me aka a traitor, over a freaking video game. This is what it comes down to, a grand stand for transgender rights over a video game, a video game! I know I keep repeating that but just take it all in for a moment as to what this looks like. And WB is probably for sure going to move forward with more Harry Potter products thanks to the sales of this game. Used to be that liking Harry Potter didn't make you a transphobe, but well that all seemingly changed with this video game.

Man, it's the start of April and I'm still talking about this freaking game. The protest failed, that battle is lost. Just accept defeat and try something else. Clearly trying to stop people from buying and playing the game failed with the game selling at least 12 million copies across all platforms its currently out on and even surpassing Elden Ring's lifetime sales. Arguably this game saved the Harry Potter franchise and no way WB won't capitalize on this. I'm so freaking tired of having to deal with transgender people and allies who give me hell over a video game when there's way worse things against transgender people like this very outrage. This is deadass when I decided I was done with the transgender community. I'm tired of all of the drama and outrage that does more harm to themselves than what actual transphobes are doing. Mind you this wasn't the one thing that led to this decision, this was the trigger to a loaded gun built up for years. And then we got people claiming Rowling literally wants to kill transgender people, or that she's enabling such things.

7820169

They don't want to be visible as an identifiable mindset, as opposed to having the privilege of their perspective being invisibly pervasive rather than examined and challenged with criticism

Your statement would make sense only on two conditions. (A) There IS a singular identifiable mindset among everyone who are called TERFs. And (B) you examine and challenge that mindset with criticism and not with harassment, bullying, and slander. And both are false. In fact, the whole situation whit Hogwarts Legacy is an example of harassment and bullying that became a staple of pro-trans activism.

Plenty of racists think "racist" is a slur

At this point, it IS a slur. Actual racism is a prejudice against a certain race when you either believe that race has a certain quality that isn't proven to be the case (like believing that Asian people are better at math) or believe that race should be treated differently simply on the basis of race (like believing that black people are supposed to be slaves).

Today, however, you expanded the definition so much that ANY attitude that doesn't align with CRT is proclaimed to be racist. Find asian girls more attractive? - Racist. Don't believe in white privilege? - Racist. Made a joke about black people? - Racist!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radical_feminism

Well? Do Rowling and other "TERFs" call for revolution or some other "radical re-ordering of society"? If anything it's "transgender-inclusive" activists, who want a radical redefinition of the language. So, my point still stands - the epithet "radical" is inaccurate at best and misleading at worst.

"used to distinguish transgender-inclusive feminists from a group of radical feminists who reject the assertion that trans women are women, the inclusion of trans women in women's spaces, and transgender rights legislation"
...What an oddly descriptive "non-description!"

Descriptive? Not really. If anything it's just full of assumptions and misleading assertions. The only part that is even remotely accurate is the part about the "inclusion of trans women in women's spaces". Because yes, there are reasons why "women's spaces" are reserved for women only and some of the characteristics of some people make their inclusion antithetical to those reasons.

you're mad about people having their ideas identified and being called what they are

Except you don't call those ideas what they are. You call them what they are not, and insist that they constitute something they are not. And your continuous assertion that criticising transgenderism is an attack on certain people is exactly the reason I am "mad". But then again, you can't comprehend that part because you can't comprehend that YOUR ideas can be a subject of criticism and exposure.

I wonder what the hot button topic will be when the whole Hogwarts thing finally blows over.
Maybe it will be a rerun from when it was considered a waste of taxpayer money to accommodate autistic kids in schools. Anybody here old enough to remember when the Spectrum was broadly considered to a myth perpetuated by bad parents?

You know I said to another person earlier that I do not think Martin Luther King would approve of the bullying tactic done by the LGBTQ community and he was all for peaceful protesting if it could be helped. He is the person I strive to be and I also try to be like Jesus because in the Bible he advocated for minorities a lot and that is something I admire. If either one of them saw modern activists today they would be rolling in his grave and I think that goes both the right and the left. Some people have it in their mind that the left can’t be criticized and I very much think their are things that the left needs to be criticized. Honestly I wish the community would put the same energy into the bills that are actively harming the community. For some reason there are a lot of sex scandals on the left and some very dumb poorly organized protests. The Just Stop Oil Movement is one particular dumb protest I can think of at the moment. Some are calling out for violence which I think is scary. The one I am most worried about right now is the bill Texas Republicans are trying to legislate. I wish the LGBTQ community would put more energy into that instead of some video game and I told the person from the other thread that we have been called everything under the sun and apparent they have it in their head that I was trying to say that we are being oppressed. Some of us are just numb to the name calling is all.
7820171

7820181
I don’t think I do but I do know about how the church used to demonize autism.

7819828

Politics has become a cult

Probably, more accurate to say that Identity became a cult. Because, yes, people want to have a sense of meaning and purpose, they want to feel that they belong to something more than themselves. But with mysticism being on the decline, no one wants religion that is based around God or something Supernatural. And to mean something in a field of science is very hard - it requires studying and a lot of work. You can't just come up with cool theory and claim that you've made a discovery - you'll have to prove your point with research and logic, otherwise scientific community would tear your thesis to shreds.

So, what's left for people who want to fight for something that is important (or at least feels that way)? Only some nebulous things like "social justice" or "rights", so they adopt (or even invent) some identity, declare it oppressed and propose some crazy policy to end that "oppression". And if someone disagrees (either about said oppression existing or policy being beneficial for society) they just declare that someone an enemy, who is against justice and rights (because, obviously, if you fight for human rights and justice, everyone who argues with you is against those things).

7820169 TERFs do exist, and are extremely toxic and hateful, but TERF can in fact be a slur if it is used to falsely accuse people of such. JK Rowling for example is often falsely accused of being a TERF. TERFs have a particular ideology that presents an idealized womanhood and view trans people, trans women in particular to be a threat to that. That is a tad different than someone who may be on the left like Rowling criticizing the more distasteful elements of the LGBT movement.

7820171 I am not trans, and can't even begin to imagine what that is like, but as someone with Autism I understand what it is like to be a social outcast. In that regard I sympathize with trans people, but am very disgusted at what the more radical elements have done to it and the broader LGBT community (even though I am not exactly part of either). I can understand the desire to support trans people, but what is often done in the name of supporting them in many cases seems to do more harm than good which goes back to my prior comment about backlash. One thing I couldn't stand as someone who grew up Autistic was labeling, I saw it all around me and hated it back then and thanks to identity politics getting so toxic hate it even more now. My parents raised me to respect, but not label others. I will admit I occasionally fall short of this, as we are all human, but I hate how so much of society has stopped even attempting to live up to this.

7820181 Yes, though it particularly singled out mothers. It was called Refrigerator Mother Syndrome and was once believed by even most doctors. I was diagnosed with Autism at age 2 in 1988 and the doctor that diagnosed me said I was mentally retarded, could turn into a vegetable at any time and recommended institutionalizing me. That doctor may have been correct that I am Autistic, but was wrong about the severity or that it was some kind of societal death sentence. My parents didn't listen to him and I was fortunate enough to be admitted to a then experimental program at UCSD that would later form the basis of many behavioral therapies for Autism that are still used today, therapies that helped make me who I am today.

7820206 It once did, my parents are both Catholic and when looking for a local parish the first one they came across was one that was not very sympathetic to me. They found another one though that was thankfully much more accommodating, and they became almost like family to me.

7820227 Many also unfortunately want to force their own opinions on others through government force and regard any concerns of slight dissent in the same manner that a religious fanatic would view a difference of religious opinion. In other words the other person is not only wrong, but is evil and must be punished. The older I get the more I despise politics and want to push humanity towards relying far less on politics to solve its problems. Too many people assume the government should "do something" in regard to everything under the sun and don't stop to question whether it is the governments responsibility in the first place. I just want to be left alone, but have no choice but to engage in politics in order to defend myself from those who want to force me to bend to their will. There are people who, for example would put me into a concentration camp for simply deciding to not take the Covid shot. I despise these people, not because of the individual decisions they made, but because they want to interfere with mine.

7820230
That is sweet about you parents and I m glad that you know that not all Christians are not the same. I am more of an omnist meaning I believe in more than one religion and I am against the MAGA cult. For religious people there is also a spectrum. Sorry it had to happen to you. I’m Methodist if you are wondering.

7820174

But then again, you can't comprehend that part because you can't comprehend that YOUR ideas can be a subject of criticism and exposure.

I can comprehend that just fine, but it's not what you're doing. You're just having a meltdown over the fact that a word exists and it threatens your perceived interest in letting bigots you happen to agree with avoid the consequences that might come with being a bigot.

That's just a cross you're going to have to bear, I guess, because I don't see any reason to let hate ideologies off the hook for being labeled as hate ideologies.

7820231 I was young enough to not even remember it (probably around 2 or 3 years old or so, 5 at the oldest). I do however remember the discrimination I went through in the public education system though and the most horrific discrimination I went through was at work (though that has mostly been addressed). We have come a long way, but I think we still have a long way to go. A lot of people are falling through the cracks, I see a lot of Autistic children and teenagers getting help but then they become adults and still need supports but are often left with little to nothing. In regard to MAGA I think most Trump supporters are decent people, although misguided on certain things. Some of his more ardent supporters who are depicting him as a messianic figure are a bit concerning to me though both because it comes off as highly blasphemous and because claiming God is on your side or that of a politician is treading on dangerous ground.

7820237
I agree on the misguided part when it comes to MAGA and I am sorry that you went through discrimination. I was bullied a lot because of autism when I was younger and ironically the only place I felt like a normal person was at the church.

7820236

I don't see any reason to let hate ideologies off the hook for being labeled as hate ideologies.

Of course, you don't. It's far easier just to label views you disagree with as "hate ideologies" and dismiss all my arguments as "meltdown" instead, you know, actually trying to disprove them (that is if you actually can disprove them).

7820237

I think most Trump supporters are decent people, although misguided on certain things. Some of his more ardent supporters who are depicting him as a messianic figure are a bit concerning to me though both because it comes off as highly blasphemous and because claiming God

If you refer to people who refer to him as God-Emperor, I think they are mostly joking. And they played too much WarHammer40K.

7820240
But... what arguments?
You've literally been doing nothing but throwing a tantrum that a word exists. There's nothing to "disprove"; it does in fact exist and it does in fact have descriptive validity with regard to a particular hate ideology.
I'm so, so sorry you have a problem with this to the extent you're being driven to angry diatribes over it, because I know that's not any fun. But like I said, it is going to have to be your problem.

7820244

what arguments?

The ones that I made a few comments ago and you refuse to adress. You know, about you lumping together radical bigots and people who simply acknowledge that biological characteristics exist. Or about definitions.

7820243 That is not what I am referring to, I am referring to stuff like this.

7820246

lumping together radical bigots and people who simply acknowledge that biological characteristics exist.

I don't understand. Why are you conflating those two things, and where's the argument there? What should I be addressing, exactly?

7820247
Yeah, that's cringe. Though you probably shouldn't expect something else from tele-evangelist types.

7820250

Why are you conflating those two things

LOL! You are the one, who label them both as "TERFs".

What should I be addressing, exactly?

Seriously? You have all right here.

7820257

You are the one, who label them both as "TERFs".

I'm not sure what you mean. Understanding biology and being a bigot are different things. No one I know is saying biology "doesn't exist" or something along those lines, if that's what you mean. If you mean that TERFs sometimes misuse biology concepts to attack transgender people, then yeah, they do, but that's not an argument, just a fact about TERF ideology.

Seriously? You have all right here.

That's just you complaining that TERF is a word, and I've already addressed that: your dislike of it is your problem.

So I had J6 on the brain and I think that it was kind of scary especially when both sides think violence is only the answer. A scary thought Everyone is entitled to their own opinions but when one’s mind is clouded by judgment that is when they let hate take over and villainize people fir having different views. Are we perfect No and I have to also point out that there is no such thing as ethnical consumerism and it should all go down to the point towards what people’s priorities are. Why can we be like the rest of the world and rally peacefully? We have places like France, Russia, China Iran and even Israel who are more civil than we are. I think we are entitled to have opposing view and the key is to try and find common ground and not judge others because at the end of the day we are all different people with different values and moral. As humans we like to pick fights and try and dehumanize them instead of actually having a conversation. In a perfect world there would be ethnical consumerism but we aren’t at the point yet and I think one day we will get there but people don’t want to make sacrifices and I personally can’t be apart of something that actively bullies others for having opposing views. Why can’t anyone we be adults when it comes to politics?

7820230

JK Rowling for example is often falsely accused of being a TERF.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/dawnstaceyennis/2019/12/19/jk-rowling-comes-out-as-a-terf/?sh=7ff15405d70e

7820257 Unfortunately you are probably right, much of the woke nonsense is a reaction to that sort of thing and now we may see a comeback of that. Why do people have to jump from one irrational extreme to the other?

7820264 January 6th was an FBI entrapment scheme. There were a handful of violent idiots there, no doubt about it but you also had a lot of feds there are Capitol Police letting people in and everything. A better example of the devolution into political violence would be the George Floyd riots or Antifa setting up the CHAZ/CHOP in a part of I think it was Seattle if I remember correctly. I do agree though that political violence is bad and am greatly disturbed at the increasing similarities to America today and America in the last 30 years or so right before the Civil War. Remember though that the grass isn't always greener, Russia is a dictatorship that is arresting people for protesting the Ukraine invasion. This woman got arrested in France for insulting the president of France on Facebook, Iran is a theocratic hellhole where women get thrown in prison for what they wear and China is George Orwells worst nightmares come true. While I wish I could call America a free country (the few years especially say this isn't true) it is still far more free than most other countries.

7820303 Nowhere in that tweet or any other statement does Rowling mention any hatred of trans people.

7820309
True and I was actually talking about how people behave in these movements not the state of the country. Sorry if I wasn’t clear.

7820309

Nowhere in that tweet or any other statement does Rowling mention any hatred of trans people

Do you mean except for all the times she denies their existence and tries to erase them categorically? All the times she's tried to have them excluded? All the times she's portrayed them as villains? All the times she's misgendered them?
A very reasonable threshold of evidentiary weight has long since been passed. What more do you want before you'll be convinced? Maybe nothing will ever get through to you; I think we may simply be in "there are none so blind as those who will not see" territory, to be honest.

7820311

all the times she denies their existence and tries to erase them categorically? All the times she's tried to have them excluded? All the times she's portrayed them as villains? All the times she's misgendered them?

There is nothing of the sort in the Tweets that are featured in the article. However, an article contains a video with the phrase "all my biology is female... even if doctors disagree" - yeah, a very scientific approach.

7820322
https://www.glamour.com/story/a-complete-breakdown-of-the-jk-rowling-transgender-comments-controversy
Not that I think you'll acknowledge any of this ("there are none so blind as those who will not see" is applicable, I'm sure), but here.

Damn this topic blew up quick. Err... Winston, are you going to address my reply way above? You've been entirely focused on EnergeticRider.

7820204
Sadly the "progressive" movement these days have long lost sight of MLK's peaceful ways. I've seen calls to violence and rioting, often from 20-something-year-olds. It's quite sad how this generation seems to think violence is one of the first, not last resorts. These are often people who are against guns yet want to attack people who probably own guns. The people who will proclaim "punch a Nazi in the face!", except "Nazi" means "anyone I disagree with". These people think they can knock someone out with one punch and don't consider just how badly hurt they can get after when that person uses self defense to fight back. Honestly a lot of the "progressive" movement is not well thought up and very high on emotion with very limited logical and rational thought involved.

Sadly causes are so easily given little attention when the Internet outrage of the moment takes center stage. Even I'm not aware of many of the wider spread issues due to how much first world problems (Hogwarts Legacy) get all of this attention. Or calling people racist for not liking a movie trailer. A truly sad state we're in.

7820206
Wouldn't surprised me if they thought autism was the result of demons or something. Even some guy I was dealing with for awhile in 2012 thought me being transgender was the result of demons. To a non-believer like me, that sounds so stupid yet people are dead serious about this. At least he didn't seem to think autism was a demonic influence.

7820230
I'm also autistic. Seems to be some kind of connection with being autistic and transgender, although both can exist on their own as well. Autism and gender dysphoria have been the biggest hinders in my life. I had so many social issues with people and even now that I'm 35 it looks to not be getting much better over time. I even lost friends of 5 years over this, who backstabbed me and effectively betrayed me, with another autistic person no less. Even with other autistic people I can get into conflicts with them not listening to me, going with what they first thought of me, and only looking for the bad in me. That's not to say I'm perfect or using autism as a get out of jail free card, but at some point, I have to understand that a lot of this isn't my fault, when people keep expecting me to be something I'm not or never can be.

Oh, the "progressive left"? They have no tolerance or accept any excuses for not knowing every bloody little social norm they have. Even being autistic does nothing to save you. They'll talk about ableism and all that, but give no allowance for autistic people. You're still expected to just know exactly what is acceptable and not for the specific day. Maybe queer is an empowering term or a slur, who knows. Better hope you know. You're only as good as the worst thing they think you done. There's no forgiveness even if they dig up a deleted tweet from over a decade ago. Everything you ever said and done is held against you for life even if you're clearly not the same person as all those years ago.

These same people act like they entirely know how anyone that plays Hogwarts Legacy is like. They'll throw anyone under the bus over a freaking video game. They're actively harming their own movement and there's little I can do about it. They clearly won't see my side of things, it's all about how oppressed they are and saying things about Rowling that are simply not true like calling her a Nazi. She has sued people for such statements. Now I'm not here to defend Rowling, she sure doesn't need it from me, but more so that going after her for things she's not guilty of doesn't make her look bad.

7820410
If you want to talk more you can PM me. I don’t want to start another fight and I am interested in what you have to say.

7820454
And yet, you haven't explained why out of all the sources of Rowling's income, people only seem to care about this one game. Where's that same energy to boycott everything Rowling has every made or had a hand in? Impossible to stop isn't it? Just like this game. It's not that I'm blind to the bigotry that transgender people face, I'm beyond tired of it myself, being accused of things like wanting to transition just to invade women's spaces to harm them. But you know what isn't helping? Harassing and bullying anyone who even wants to play the game. It stops being criticism when you attack someone's morality and other things like I myself have been attacked over.

Empty whataboutism you say? I bring those up because they're all human rights violations, yet online people only make a fuss about Hogwarts Legacy. I live and breath Internet quite a lot and I have seen a far, far smaller pushback against all of those other examples I brought up. Even when it came to say, the Fantastic Beasts movies, people did not make this kind of fuss. There were not legions of people saying that if you see those movies you're transphobic like they are with playing this game. Now to be fair those movies are considered pretty terrible and didn't exactly make bank. But it's still money for Rowling.

If it isn't clear, I do care about transgender rights. I do care that I can get the health services I need because I damn near ended myself in 2017 because I didn't have tens of thousands of dollars lying around for surgeries to hopefully help me feel better about my gender dysphoria. I went through absolute hell and the only reason I'm better now is because of specific meds. Even now I'm really frustrated at how it seems, at least to me, transgender people are viewed as worst as ever in quite some time. And you want to know what a part of that is? Godawful "activists", be them trans or not. Do you not think there are bad methods? Do you think the ends always justify the means?

People like you are why I don't want anything more to do with the transgender community, regardless if you're part of it or not. You don't know a lost battle and protesting this game is one of them. You can't stop the sales of this game. You tried and failed. Now that doesn't mean the war is over, far from it, but this battle is. People can't enjoy a damn video game without having their entire morality put into question. You can buy and play all of those other games in my whataboutiusm and hardly anyone makes a fuss about it. But play one wizard game, the line is crossed! Rowling, who's already super rich, will become... a bit more wealthy.

I'm getting freaking sick and tired of the "good guys" ruining things, to the point I rather deal with the actual transphobes as at least I don't expect them to be friendly to me or supportive of them. Quite frankly, if the "good guys" are this judgmental, why should I give a crap about them? Why should I support a group of people that do almost nothing but hinder me and act like I'm a super awful person over a freaking video game?! I don't quite have the answers on how to combat Rowling trying to pass some kind of bill or law, but this drama over Hogwarts Legacy isn't it chief. I'm beyond tired of quite frankly, awful people (as in the irrational Twitter mob) telling me how awful I am because they themselves only see the awful in situations.

Hmm... why was Winston's reply deleted? I can still see it in full thanks to my email, but I won't really reply to the message since it was deleted. Doesn't really seem right to directly address the points brought up in a deleted comment that Winston may have backpedaled on. But I will say ask some questions.

1. Who is this outrage helping?
2. How is this making things any better for transgender people such as myself?
3. Why is this mostly directed at just this one game considering Rowling makes far more money from other sources?
4. How come those who push people to not buy the game don't seem to consider what kind of look it gives to the transgender community?
5. What abbot the whole the ends justifies the means? Are there not bad means?
6. How come people who have a go at me over this game won't answer stuff like that?
7. Do people not realize the Streisand Effect that resulted from the boycott?
8. How is stopping people from buying the game going to stop Rowling from being a billionaire with the views that she still has?

Seriously, how many people were like "okay, I changed my mind, I won't buy this game" based on this boycott? People keep claiming they're trying to help the transgender community but then throw transgender people like me under the bus for daring not to agree with their methods. At least actual transphobes won't give me such grief and trouble over a video game. That's not to necessary defend them but I do find it interesting none the less.

7820570
I deleted it because there's no point to further discussion. You (and the rest of the crowd in this thread generally) have made up your mind. I've made up mine. I don't think there's much more to say.

7820631
Alright then. But I will close with this. I felt your points were not strong and you didn't address a lot of what I said like why only focus on Hogwarts Legacy and not the rest of Rowling's income like from the books, movies, and toys. Stuff that will make her way more money than the game's short term sales. But yeah, I'm just beyond tired of dealing with this and rather just instead turn toward whatever the next thing people are being outraged about now. Perhaps even just leave this thread alone for now till something else comes up which in this day and age, probably will be very soon.

https://nypost.com/2023/04/04/donald-trump-arrives-for-nyc-arraignment/

It looks like it happened officially, Trump has surrendered and is now in court. While I have a lot of issues and critiques of Trump the fact is the deep state can't stand someone they can't control and want to normalize gulaging people like we are some kind of banana republic. I am going to laugh my ass off if Trump actually wins in 2024 while in jail.

7821083
Doesn’t the term Banana Republic mean to be an economically destabilized country that has been locked into dependency on exporting domestic goods in trade deals designed to keep the country too weak and too poor to stabilize itself?
If yes; then wouldn’t this Deep State actually be acting at the behest of a foreign government that wants to cripple America’s economy?

7821263
When the government in a so-called "banana republic" undermines its own economy it's usually not done on purpose to benefit some foreign agent but is just a side effect of that government trying to hold a tight grip on all the industries and businesses - too many competent managers are sidelined in favor of "trustworthy" ones.

That's actually what happened in Venezuela under Maduro. And is happening in the US, at least in the entertainment industry.

7821263
Economically destabilized: America is turning into Zimbabwe with the out of control inflation, Biden played a major part in it though the same can be said of nearly every president since Woodrow Wilson. The Federal Reserve was nothing less than a banker coup against the American people.

Dependency: See China and foreign banks, the uniparty has sold us out.

7821272
Then if I understand correctly, the Deep State in the United States of America is most likely a Domestic body operating independently of foreign influence and the U.S. Entertainment industry is currently being annexed by the Deep State?

7821281
Does it really matter?

7821277
No argument from me there.
It’s a recurring theme in the United States that whenever something ‘significant’ happens to the Stock Market or to the Banks, the Federal Government gets all hands on deck for the event, while things like repairing the damage that happens as a result of a major storm that we all saw coming for weeks goes into the ‘whenever we happen feel like it’ pile.