Finally got back around to reading this entire thing. Listen, Pitt. I've been alive during the Civil Rights Movement, the LGB Movement, and what is happening now. I want you to consider something very carefully. The LGB Movement had the benefit of the end of the Civil Rights Movement(s). Vietnam was going on at the same time, and people stood together arm-in-arm, shoulder-to-shoulder. I was smack in the middle of that one. The huge difference between then and now is that I'm a Black transman. A super-Black transman. The racism within the trans community and then the larger LGBQ+ community is far more entrenched than it was during the 1st two movements. AND I'm sick of it. I've seen it time and again slung straight at me personally on every social media platform there is, and local meetings in the area I live. It's hostile and fuck-shit.
The trans community is only accepting if you drop the Black part and fight for the white-led trans part. I cannot drop one for the other, though I've been seeing it done left & right. I'm also much older than the average LGBTQ+ voter, so I can be ignored for the larger message of telling us to, "Shut up and dribble." Going forward, this needs to be brought out or lose another demographic that your article doesn't even discuss. I don't know if it will be lost, because so many Black people (or BIPOC) will do just what I said and separate themselves from their culture to blend in with the other. I will not do that because I've got 2 sets of civil rights that are looking at annihilation, not just 1. I am a man of integrity, so mine won't allow me to pretend my skin doesn't exist.
Because of this, I'm not prone to joining anything, because it would require me to split myself in two, and that just won't do. I am a leader with some influence, but it's not grand yet. In other words, the entire LGBTQ+ is racist AF. Mostly white transwomen who were socialized as white men is the reason it's so ridiculous right now.
I would never advocate for, ask, nor require one to compromise one's sense of self. I could not do it for love, I could not do it for acceptance, I could not do it for family. I have to be 100% honest with myself and who and what I am, and I won't compromise my sense of self nor my morals and principles. I hear you when you say you won't split yourself in two. My integrity will not stand for that, so I would never expect you or anyone to do so.
I am passionate about equality for all. With every fiber of my being, in all the things I fact check, debunk, research, or write about. It is what drives me after long work hours to read, research and write what I do. It is always with the ideal that we are all worthy of love, respect, acceptance, empathy, and compassion. I generally stick to facts and figures, science and data, and I try to unravel the arguments used against us. I try to understand the mind that performs such mental gymnastics, and to and tease apart the reasoning until the truth is revealed. Then write about it, so that we can all see and learn from it, identify it in the wild, and know how to counter it. If the trolls and the masses are countered at every turn with facts and truth, then the deafening roar of prejudice retreats to a whimper. Where the light of truth shines, darkness retreats. Or so I hope.
What you have shared so powerfully is a very real aspect of the LGBTQ+ community that I have no experience with. You speak to a queer history I know little of. Yet you speak what I know must be true. If I have learned anything in my life so far, it is that when a trans person comes out, you believe them. When the woman on the floor comes to you to share her stories of harassment, you believe them. When a kid shares they are being bullied and assaulted to and from school, you walk with them. That no, you did not see that hungry person take some food, and that when someone is being treated unfairly, you stand with them. You see something, you say something, you do something. When you tell me there is racism that runs deep and rampant within the LGBTQ+ community, and specifically the trans community? I believe it, without question or reservation. You lay the cause of this at the feet of white trans women? I believe you. I hear you.
You raise a magnificent message that resonates with me. I never sought to write an intersectional piece here, that is not the goal of this article. It is not an area I have any depth of knowledge beyond the basic principles and precepts. I sought to write a broad call to action to the LGBTQ+ community and our allies, with a focus on giving notice to and holding our politicians accountable. You have lived through and experienced so much that is, sadly, still very relevant today. You were in the trenches fighting the good fight, and you are *still* in the trenches. The knowledge, wisdom, and experience you have is invaluable, and we would all do well to listen and learn from. I read research papers and counter disinformation outside of my job because that is what I can do right now. I want to organize. I want to coordinate. I want to assemble. I want to resist and stand should to shoulder, arm-in-arm, like you and so many have before me. I know that can't happen if we are not united together. I know that is not possible if we do not begin listening to and respecting one other. The LGBTQ+ community is growing in size and diversity, and that brings a sense of strength and resilience that I believe is taken for granted. So long as we ignore the pain and prejudice that exists within our own ranks, I fear we will not be able to stand united against that same fear and prejudice when it is aimed at us.
We stand together, or we fall together.
As we see with the recent bathroom sit-in, we are beginning to stand together. So now is the time for us to come together and listen, learn, and heal so that we CAN stand ready. So that we are not betting on our resiliency, but are truly resilient. So we can organize and stand firm together, anchored in our values, strengthened by our unity, and tempered by our diversity. So that we can stand shoulder-to-shoulder, arm-in-arm, brother, sister, and sibling alike as one equal strength. A strength that will not crumble in the face of that same fear and prejudice that threatens to divide us. A strength that will not only withstand the onslaught of the bigotry and violence heaped upon us day after day, but will fight against the very institutions and power that threaten our freedoms and existence. We can't afford not to, and progress cannot happen if we leave any one of us behind.
There is no room for anyone in the LGBTQ+ community to tell you, or anyone, to "just shut up and dribble."
Instead, it is the LGBTQ+ community that should be asking you, and leaders like you "how can we have your backs?"
We should prove with action what we failed to do in words.
Yes, everything you said is the "ideal" way to be about what is happening right now. I've said that we can't unite as long as people react to me the same way the larger community reacts. I'm making a call to action for the burliest, hairiest, manliest transmen to go to DC and line up at the lady's room ... visitor entrance to the White House. https://youtu.be/am1myRsqyT0?feature=shared
Sometimes I can't say everything I'm doing while crying out because something happened again in a group of those transwomen ... while everybody just sat there and watched. On the side, telling me that they saw it (even multiple times) and cringed. I asked, "Why didn't you say anything?" The question is avoided because they know why and it embarrasses them. Cowardliness. I come from a generation of people who weren't cowards in the least, and it's so frustrating to see this generation of people talk a lot, but do nothing. I'm also a veteran, so I only know fearlessness even when fear grips at me a lot lately. Know what I mean, PITT?
I forgot if you're gay, straight, bi, or trans. It doesn't even matter. We must stand firm together or be divided and ripped apart. But it starts within our community first. Then we can demand better treatment by the "moral" majority who isn't moral at all. We cannot be hypocrites in this matter, cannot treat some like crap while demanding not to be treated like crap, and God help us all!!! God Bless the LGBTQ+
I'm not sure what you can do. I'm dealing with a family crisis at the moment and am having trouble thinking straight. Death in my direct family. I'll try to remember this thread and come back with at least one answer. Just keep writing like you do. I enjoyed it and it was awesome as information, truth, and facts go.
This is an exceptionally compelling and deeply researched piece. The way you've laid out the "mathematics of morality" alongside the stark human cost of political expediency creates an irrefutable case for standing firm on LGBTQ+ rights—not just as a moral imperative but as a strategic necessity. Your ability to weave hard data with lived experiences and historical context makes this article resonate on multiple levels.
The breakdown of the "domino effect" is especially powerful, underscoring how these seemingly incremental restrictions are part of a calculated strategy to erode broader LGBTQ+ rights. It’s a sobering reminder that silence or compromise is not neutrality—it’s complicity.
Thank you for equipping readers with clear, actionable steps to resist these attacks and build a stronger, more united community. The message is loud and clear: we are not going back, and we will not be sacrificed for political convenience. Brilliantly written and deeply impactful—thank you for your work.
![People with Inconvenient Truths about Transphobes [PITT]](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_80,h_80,c_fill,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep,g_auto/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F704ba0db-3e10-4112-9364-c2f224d0cfae_500x500.png)
![People with Inconvenient Truths about Transphobes [PITT]](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_36,h_36,c_fill,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep,g_auto/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F704ba0db-3e10-4112-9364-c2f224d0cfae_500x500.png)
This is fantastic! Possibly the most applicable, honest and well-researched publication I've read.
Finally got back around to reading this entire thing. Listen, Pitt. I've been alive during the Civil Rights Movement, the LGB Movement, and what is happening now. I want you to consider something very carefully. The LGB Movement had the benefit of the end of the Civil Rights Movement(s). Vietnam was going on at the same time, and people stood together arm-in-arm, shoulder-to-shoulder. I was smack in the middle of that one. The huge difference between then and now is that I'm a Black transman. A super-Black transman. The racism within the trans community and then the larger LGBQ+ community is far more entrenched than it was during the 1st two movements. AND I'm sick of it. I've seen it time and again slung straight at me personally on every social media platform there is, and local meetings in the area I live. It's hostile and fuck-shit.
The trans community is only accepting if you drop the Black part and fight for the white-led trans part. I cannot drop one for the other, though I've been seeing it done left & right. I'm also much older than the average LGBTQ+ voter, so I can be ignored for the larger message of telling us to, "Shut up and dribble." Going forward, this needs to be brought out or lose another demographic that your article doesn't even discuss. I don't know if it will be lost, because so many Black people (or BIPOC) will do just what I said and separate themselves from their culture to blend in with the other. I will not do that because I've got 2 sets of civil rights that are looking at annihilation, not just 1. I am a man of integrity, so mine won't allow me to pretend my skin doesn't exist.
Because of this, I'm not prone to joining anything, because it would require me to split myself in two, and that just won't do. I am a leader with some influence, but it's not grand yet. In other words, the entire LGBTQ+ is racist AF. Mostly white transwomen who were socialized as white men is the reason it's so ridiculous right now.
Just some thoughts, Pitt.
I would never advocate for, ask, nor require one to compromise one's sense of self. I could not do it for love, I could not do it for acceptance, I could not do it for family. I have to be 100% honest with myself and who and what I am, and I won't compromise my sense of self nor my morals and principles. I hear you when you say you won't split yourself in two. My integrity will not stand for that, so I would never expect you or anyone to do so.
I am passionate about equality for all. With every fiber of my being, in all the things I fact check, debunk, research, or write about. It is what drives me after long work hours to read, research and write what I do. It is always with the ideal that we are all worthy of love, respect, acceptance, empathy, and compassion. I generally stick to facts and figures, science and data, and I try to unravel the arguments used against us. I try to understand the mind that performs such mental gymnastics, and to and tease apart the reasoning until the truth is revealed. Then write about it, so that we can all see and learn from it, identify it in the wild, and know how to counter it. If the trolls and the masses are countered at every turn with facts and truth, then the deafening roar of prejudice retreats to a whimper. Where the light of truth shines, darkness retreats. Or so I hope.
What you have shared so powerfully is a very real aspect of the LGBTQ+ community that I have no experience with. You speak to a queer history I know little of. Yet you speak what I know must be true. If I have learned anything in my life so far, it is that when a trans person comes out, you believe them. When the woman on the floor comes to you to share her stories of harassment, you believe them. When a kid shares they are being bullied and assaulted to and from school, you walk with them. That no, you did not see that hungry person take some food, and that when someone is being treated unfairly, you stand with them. You see something, you say something, you do something. When you tell me there is racism that runs deep and rampant within the LGBTQ+ community, and specifically the trans community? I believe it, without question or reservation. You lay the cause of this at the feet of white trans women? I believe you. I hear you.
You raise a magnificent message that resonates with me. I never sought to write an intersectional piece here, that is not the goal of this article. It is not an area I have any depth of knowledge beyond the basic principles and precepts. I sought to write a broad call to action to the LGBTQ+ community and our allies, with a focus on giving notice to and holding our politicians accountable. You have lived through and experienced so much that is, sadly, still very relevant today. You were in the trenches fighting the good fight, and you are *still* in the trenches. The knowledge, wisdom, and experience you have is invaluable, and we would all do well to listen and learn from. I read research papers and counter disinformation outside of my job because that is what I can do right now. I want to organize. I want to coordinate. I want to assemble. I want to resist and stand should to shoulder, arm-in-arm, like you and so many have before me. I know that can't happen if we are not united together. I know that is not possible if we do not begin listening to and respecting one other. The LGBTQ+ community is growing in size and diversity, and that brings a sense of strength and resilience that I believe is taken for granted. So long as we ignore the pain and prejudice that exists within our own ranks, I fear we will not be able to stand united against that same fear and prejudice when it is aimed at us.
We stand together, or we fall together.
As we see with the recent bathroom sit-in, we are beginning to stand together. So now is the time for us to come together and listen, learn, and heal so that we CAN stand ready. So that we are not betting on our resiliency, but are truly resilient. So we can organize and stand firm together, anchored in our values, strengthened by our unity, and tempered by our diversity. So that we can stand shoulder-to-shoulder, arm-in-arm, brother, sister, and sibling alike as one equal strength. A strength that will not crumble in the face of that same fear and prejudice that threatens to divide us. A strength that will not only withstand the onslaught of the bigotry and violence heaped upon us day after day, but will fight against the very institutions and power that threaten our freedoms and existence. We can't afford not to, and progress cannot happen if we leave any one of us behind.
There is no room for anyone in the LGBTQ+ community to tell you, or anyone, to "just shut up and dribble."
Instead, it is the LGBTQ+ community that should be asking you, and leaders like you "how can we have your backs?"
We should prove with action what we failed to do in words.
So how can I help?
Yes, everything you said is the "ideal" way to be about what is happening right now. I've said that we can't unite as long as people react to me the same way the larger community reacts. I'm making a call to action for the burliest, hairiest, manliest transmen to go to DC and line up at the lady's room ... visitor entrance to the White House. https://youtu.be/am1myRsqyT0?feature=shared
Sometimes I can't say everything I'm doing while crying out because something happened again in a group of those transwomen ... while everybody just sat there and watched. On the side, telling me that they saw it (even multiple times) and cringed. I asked, "Why didn't you say anything?" The question is avoided because they know why and it embarrasses them. Cowardliness. I come from a generation of people who weren't cowards in the least, and it's so frustrating to see this generation of people talk a lot, but do nothing. I'm also a veteran, so I only know fearlessness even when fear grips at me a lot lately. Know what I mean, PITT?
I forgot if you're gay, straight, bi, or trans. It doesn't even matter. We must stand firm together or be divided and ripped apart. But it starts within our community first. Then we can demand better treatment by the "moral" majority who isn't moral at all. We cannot be hypocrites in this matter, cannot treat some like crap while demanding not to be treated like crap, and God help us all!!! God Bless the LGBTQ+
I'm not sure what you can do. I'm dealing with a family crisis at the moment and am having trouble thinking straight. Death in my direct family. I'll try to remember this thread and come back with at least one answer. Just keep writing like you do. I enjoyed it and it was awesome as information, truth, and facts go.
Wow, I'm not even 1/4th through this one, and I'm stopping to share it in a few other places before I go on. Excellent!!!!
This is an exceptionally compelling and deeply researched piece. The way you've laid out the "mathematics of morality" alongside the stark human cost of political expediency creates an irrefutable case for standing firm on LGBTQ+ rights—not just as a moral imperative but as a strategic necessity. Your ability to weave hard data with lived experiences and historical context makes this article resonate on multiple levels.
The breakdown of the "domino effect" is especially powerful, underscoring how these seemingly incremental restrictions are part of a calculated strategy to erode broader LGBTQ+ rights. It’s a sobering reminder that silence or compromise is not neutrality—it’s complicity.
Thank you for equipping readers with clear, actionable steps to resist these attacks and build a stronger, more united community. The message is loud and clear: we are not going back, and we will not be sacrificed for political convenience. Brilliantly written and deeply impactful—thank you for your work.
This is just stunningly well written. Thank you.