🎀 Seryph (She/Her)

I mean, reread the definition. Oddity specifically states that animals are the thing to avoid cruelty towards. Bacteria are not animals, therefore they don’t matter under this definition.

There are some microscopic animals that exist, but they still don’t really contradict the definition because of the “as far as is possible and practicable” clause. You can’t really stop your immune system from working so it’s a moot point. Hand sanitizer doesn’t matter since tmk the actual microscopic animals like tardigrades or roundworms aren’t really affected by it.

They’re a man or woman now

This is why, this statement means that you don’t view trans people who haven’t “finished transitioning” as their actual gender. This is a transphobic and pretty reductive understanding of how transition works (albeit one that some trans people hold themselves, usually transmeds). I won’t write an entire essay on why but here’s just a small bit to chew on: consider that a “finished transition” is very different from person to person and some people might never consider it finished. Some people only want to socially transition, others have to medicate for their entire lives, both could consider reaching their ideal state “finished” or they could consider it a continual work in progress.

Also,

This isn’t defense, this behavior actively makes things worse for trans people.

The idea that pointing out someone’s transphobia will somehow support the transphobes is laughable. If being called out is seriously enough to make someone stop supporting trans people then their support was conditional and only surface-level.

Staying civil, as you suggest, is what actually helps conservatives since it allows their views to go unchallenged when their views are bad and should be challenged. Part of this includes challenging people who may think they are supportive but harbour transphobic beliefs that they haven’t analysed fully. And these wrong beliefs can have actual harm. As a simple example, there are a lot of “allies” who say that trans people are their gender but not their sex, which is a belief that can harm trans people when brought into a medical context where our bodies are (if on HRT) closer to those of our actual gender than to our AGAB.

Genuinely, some of the most painful things I’ve ever read were texts written by small evangelical communities about their history and folk heroes who were doing missionary work. The way they write about the subject is just extremely uncomfortable to read. Especially when they complain about the way other christians treat them and then do the same shit to others.

Like, one was about a man who was basically disowned by his family for being in a different denomination from them. But then he fought in WW2, found others like him and built a community that came back home with him to establish their churches. Afterwards, he went to Brazil and “heroically” tried to convert people there and fight against the Catholic majority who didn’t want him there. And the text tries to imply a parallel between the isolation from being disowned, the war, and finding community to the work of a missionary. Like, he’s so isolated here but he’s fighting back against the Catholic oppression to found a new community type stuff.* Meanwhile, the book is mentioning how faithful his wife and kids were for being there to support him while he does this, and I, being someone who moved around a lot as a kid, just feel bad for them.

*(This may be slightly off but it’s how I remember it. It’s been a year since I speed-read it so some parts are a bit hazy and my entry in my reading diary for it was just a simple “fuck missionaries.” It’s safe to say I won’t be rereading it anytime soon)