3w ago

Do you think things will get better again?

It felt for a few years that things were looking up. No one really cared when I transitioned, people were largely supportive.

Since 2016 though, things have been in a rapid decline. I’m exhausted, I feel like I have a target on my back, and I’m terrified.

I want to move but the economy is crashing and I have some semblance of stable work now. Not enough to save for a move, not enough to get above water on the debt my ex left me, but enough that hopefully I’ll be able to keep paying rent and keep food in my fridge.

I just can’t imagine another three years of this.

12 comments

America is broken. Trump is not the cause of our problems. Trump is like a maggot in a festering wound. He's in the White House because America is broken. When he leaves the White House, America will still be broken.
The good news is that we can fix America, and we don't have to wait three years. We can start right now, but it's going to require effort and dilligence.
- It feels like we are in a tornado right now. I guess what I want is for the storm to stop. I know that many things are broken and will need to be rebuilt, but it feels like we can’t start that process while the winds are raging.
  
  I don't like that analogy because it suggests that we're at the mercy of the forces of nature. It is their intention to make you feel like there's a tornado outside, and you're powerless to stop it so just hang tight until its over. But it's just a bunch of rich people with fans and noise makers outside your window, trying to scare you inside. You have far more agency in this situation than they want you to realize. Because as long as you are busy hiding from the storm, they are busy stealing all of the value and power they can hoard. By the time you emerge, they will have claimed everything for themselves and act like you're the problem for not liking it.
- The only way to fix America, like all stolen pieces of land pretending to be a legitimate nation, is to disband immediately and give it back to the original inhabitants.
  
  How are your negotions going with the tribal leaders to enshrine gender rights into their new laws? Any tactical advice for the rest of the Lemmy diplomatic corps?
I may be crazy, but yeah. I think things will eventually swing back to people not being giant shit bags about things that aren't their business.
The problem is when, and how much struggle between. I don't think it'll be long on the scale of things because once awareness hits a given threshold where the abstract becomes personalized, humanized, it's a lot harder for hate to keep going.
I'm fairly confident that the us and most of Europe had hit that threshold. That should be enough to keep things from regressing totally, which means an eventual resurgence of acceptance and integration into societal mores.
Not that there is ever likely to be an absence of bigotry, and there won't ever be an absence of ignorance, much less outright "sociopathy" where people actively seek a target they can hate and abuse.
Social progress is rarely linear. There's fits and starts until things start chugging forward steadily. It was like that with pretty much every rights movement I know of, so I don't see why trans rights should be an exception.
Unfortunately it won't be only another three years, think decades to get back what's been lost.
I hope you've the strengthto do whatever you need to do to survive.
- Within the confines of my apartment, I have most of what I need. It’s those external threats that I fear.
  I have PTSD related to involuntary institution, and that’s the tool they have that keeps me up at night. Or losing the ability to work and then my apartment. If I can have my space I can survive.
You feel like you have a target on your back, because you do. Your primary task now is to protect yourself. That might mean being armed. It definitely means building relationships with people around you. It should mean putting together a decent go bag.
I don't say any of this to be scary. It's just true. I have a trans son, also AuDHD, and it's fucking hard to face the reality of the gestures widely situation right now.
I could survive another 3 years I think, but I don't know if it could get better after that. I'm doing what I can to push back but it feels pretty bleak. I wish I had hope to offer.
I apologize if this out of line or inappropriate, but I see you and my heart goes out to you and those in your position. You certainly don’t deserve to have to feel like this. Also, fuck your ex for screwing you over and leaving you in debt. That’s just fucked up.
Things aren’t looking good. One way to feel better is do something with people who would support you and fight for you. Try to join a direct action group.

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