Top Romney Adviser Outted Trans Woman to End Her Political Career.
Do y’all remember Eric Fehrnstrom? Well it turns out that Mr. Etch-a-Sketch isn’t just all bark and no bite when it comes to hating queer people.
Apparently Fehrnstrom was full of “glee” after finding the birth certificate of Althea Garrison shortly after she was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives, effiectivally ending her political career.
Now I could go into how ridiculous it is that being transgender is regarded as such a bad thing that I could basically ruin this woman’s career (it’s something happens all the time to trans people, not just those of us in politics btdubs), but that isn’t the point here. The point here is how low this bigoted asshole would stoop to do this. The fact that he is one of Romney’s “most trusted” advisers would be enough for me to never even consider voting for him, even if I agreed with him on literally anything. You add this on top of Romney’s protest of an anti-discrimination aid for Massachusetts public schools because it contained the word “transgender”, and you have one gigantic transphobic mess.
But, yeah, it’s completely wise to let this bigot run the country.
I’m a little afraid that if he gets elected, he and his ilk are just going to… slowly… keep finding more rights that they can take away from trans people. Like, you know, me. And some of my friends. :| To the point where we’ll pretty much be forced to live on the streets and die out.
Holy crap, this already has over 1,000 notes?!
Whoa… Thanks everyone who has spread this. :D
Home! How lucky tohave one, how arduous
to make this scene
of beauty for
your family and
friends. Friends!
How we must have
sounded, gossiping at
the dinner table
last night. Why, that
dinner table is
this breakfast table:
“The boy in trousers
is not the same boy
in no trousers,” who
said? Discontinuity
in all we see and are:
the same, yet change,
change, change. “Inez,
it’s good to see you.”
- James Schuyler, from "June 30th, 1974" Talk to me on the internet!
Anonymous asked: Rufus was using their school computer to make the threats. Rufus also deleted his first blog and then started another (though claiming for a while that the new blog wasn't him) - meaning that blocking was pointless, because he already demonstrated that he was willing to find ways around that. All I'm getting from your discussion is that threats to lesbian women aren't important, and that lesbians don't have the right to protect themselves.
Since you are an anonymous person on tumblr, I am even less inclined to give your claims credence than Brennan’s—also, it’s not implausible that you are Brennan, with anon on.
This person’s actions were reprehensible, not only to lesbian women, but to all survivors of sexual assault, abuse, and rape, a group of which I am a member. I have no interest in defending their actions or behavior.
It is clear that Brennan’s actions were motivated at least in part by transphobic malice. I believe that she would take these actions against anyone, myself included—even someone who has not made threats of any sort against her.
I made my original post so that people would be aware of the danger involved in engaging Brennan at all. My post had nothing to do with the actions of the person outed by Brennan, but only by Brennan’s own actions.
The line that the various radfem anons in my inbox are repeating is that actions have consequences. I submit to you that Brennan’s actions also have consequences, and that if she is going to make a minor vulnerable to danger, she will find that people will comment unfavorably on this choice.
see http://bugbrennan.tumblr.com/tagged/evenweirdosneedtoreblog
So Rufus made rape and death threats to women on his school computer for months, and Stephen Ira and the rest of the Tumblr trans cult didn’t care. Finally someone alerted Rufus’ school of the threats to make him stop, and the trans cult lose their shit over it, despite the fact that he was outed for harassment, not being trans. According to the trans cult, being trans means that rules don’t apply to you.
Also, excuse me if I can’t bring myself to respect the identity of a heterosexual female who calls herself a fag. Someone please correct me if that qualifies as anything but insulting appropriation. I refuse to be gaslighted.
(TW: brief mention of sex worker-phobia)
If high schools were by and large trans positive environments, I would almost understand Brennan’s course of action. However, I happen to know they aren’t. Because teachers knew of my trans status, I was vulnerable to constant harassment and traumatic misgendering. Once, a high school teacher told me that I was only fit for work in a brothel, but even that wasn’t available to me, because “only really confused people would buy you.” Repeatedly, they disregarded my severe bullying at the hands of other students on the grounds that I’d invited it by choosing to present as male even though I was female-assigned. It left me with issues that I will deal with for the rest of my life. Brennan has chosen, as an adult, to make a kid vulnerable to all of that.
There is no connection between Brennan maintaining her safety and Brennan speaking to this school. Had she only wanted to stop the messages, she should have blocked this person and contacted tumblr. Had she actually feared for her safety, she should have contacted police to get protection. (Because of my parentage, I happen to know that this is something cops will provide for people who are being threatened, whether anonymously or no.)
I’m a queer man who fucks and loves other queer men; that’s why I’m a fag. You are neither of those things, so you don’t get to tell me how to reclaim word that have been used against me. It seems pretty funny to me that you think I don’t have a claim to the word faggot despite people frequently yelling “Faggot!” at me on the street, something I’m assuming is not a regular occurrence for you.
I think people don’t realize how actually dangerous this woman can be—she’s not important, I don’t think, or particularly influential, but she is unfailingly mean, poisonous, and scary. Outing a kid to their school is no small thing.
I know that I fuck around with Bug all the time, talking to her and so forth, but that’s something that I’m privileged to be able to do—I’m not going to get fired if I’m outed, because I’ve already been outed to pretty much everyone, and my school is (often) trans positive. If she were to commit libel against me, I have the ability to defend myself against the charge.
I don’t want to tell people how they should express their anger, or who they should talk to, but please be aware of what you’re doing when you engage with Brennan. And be careful! Make informed choices! This is a person with no sense of boundaries whatever.
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My Chicago shit-talk is mainly ironic but if I ever start shit talking Los Angeles you must know I am deadly serious about that terrible place
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the dean just quoted Tupac
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Play
the Mountain Goats - No Children (Middle East Downstairs 9/26/06)
jd says “oh it is butts. just butts” so please...
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:D
I just got notice that I’ll finally be paid my first round of royalties
from my book sales.which is really awesome
like. it is only $25 but.
whatever!