George Takei writes about the dangers of Republican efforts to scapegoat the LGBTQ+ community, having been scapegoated along with the Japanese American community during WWII internment.
Thank you sir for sharing your personal experiences on this very important topic for everyone to understand. I am not a member of the communities that you reference, but I am an ally. All of us can be allies to those who are being scapegoated. We need to stay informed. We need to speak out. What happened during WWII should never happen again. What is happening now, needs to stop and it will only stop through support from the majority of the population. We must speak out. We must be allies.
When we were sent away, no one else stood to protest what was was happening. It was collective fear and hatred that permitted this injustice. We have to ensure that we stand by vulnerable communities when they come for them. Today, that is the LGBTQ+ community, especially our trans folk. Thank you for being an ally.
I’m a transplanted Californian from North Carolina who believe it or not wasn’t raised to hate or be afraid of people who aren’t just like us, I thank my mother for that, and although I hate the extra expense of living in the Bay Area to stay near my grandchildren I love that people here for the most part don’t have the prejudice against people who aren’t exactly like them, they can’t, there is more diversity here than anywhere I know of. I’ve been an avid reader of all history since my teens, there’s a reason for that, and I read of the Japanese internment camps, how they lost everything and the impossible way they were forced to survive, exist. I also found out that there was not even one documented case of treachery by any Japanese American during the war. You write of the right to live and there are still places in the world where they put to death gay men, women or trans people. The story of a male nurse from the UK who took a job in Saudi Arabia to live among a different culture that almost cost him his life, these countries the U.S. deals with but would kill a substantial amount of our citizens just for who they are is unbelievable. Another thing, I once believed, long ago that states should be given more power over their own laws but no more no way. Actually only the federal government can make the laws that cover the entire nation when it comes to human rights, what books to read, how children are taught and what and how many gun sales are allowed and to who. States have proven time and again that the people in power cannot make sensible decisions on any of these issues that affect peoples every day lives. A house divided cannot stand? Exactly! That 150+ year old statement Lincoln made is proving to be true now more than ever and fifty countries within a country hasn’t worked, will never work, only federal legislative policy and made law will work to bring all Americans under the umbrella of protection eliminating the need for power hungry politicians to force hate and discrimination down the throats of people who otherwise might not think that way. It has to change. SCOTUS also has to be changed.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll continue to say it, I can’t understand how people can be threatened by a trans person or any other member of the LBGTQ+ community. These are people who are just trying to live their lives. They are not trying to recruit or or entice or proselytize or “groom” anyone else into a “lifestyle.” I have far greater (and justified) fear of so-called Christians who believe that practicing their faith requires forcing me to live by their dictates!
Gender diversity threatens the patriarchal order and the notion of the man as the center of the family unit. That has enormous power upon those who are already insecure in their roles.
I am a big star trek fan, who lives in the Netherlands. I am also bisexual, and I hoped you would be also an advocate for people like me... but I don't think your really know how divided the community right now is about the 'trans' issue.
Regarding the 'affirmative care' I have the following to say:
It is wise to remember that gender affirming care will never be standing science, and it will always be experimental, especially in the speed at which the field moves.
2) I know a lot of detransitioners. For some, they were homosexual boys and lesbian girls who thought that transitioning would relieve their discomfort with their gender non conformity. For these boys, girls, men,and women, the affirmative care they received was gay conversion therapy, which left hem sterile and unable to receive re
3) Many young people with other disorders are medically transitioning, thinking it will solve their distress. For some it will, but for a large portion, it won't. Too much focus on transitioning instead of the other mental conditions, will make them worse.
4) WPATH's standards of care are widely discredited and are disregarded as a way to treat trans people. for more info about this, see https://beyondwpath.org/
5) I agree with you about the gender diversitiy., But affirming care is not the solution
to all situations. Right now I am reminded of WW2 too, because the nazi's in germany also sterilized a lot of gay people. Please do your research because you are an icon to many LGBTQ+ people, and they are growing more and more disheartened by pro-trans activism which disregards the concerns of the rest of the community.
5) For more info, follow for example the youtube channel : Gender a wider lens.
Or go to genspect.org, which is an organisation that is critical of the affirmative model.
Additionally, the book 'time to think' by hannah barnes could be something to read. It's a about the biggest gender clinic in the world, the tavistock, in the UK, which recently closed due to them affirming the trans youth too fast.
It's been a while since you posted this but thank you for your comment.
I've tried talking to people about my concerns about puberty blockers with kids, etc. and I wind up being called names (transphobic etc.).
I've pointed out the medical studies that warn that puberty blockers are dangerous and posted links to medical studies regarding the use of puberty blockers in children (including the recent Cass report) but the conversation has become so heated and toxic, it's almost useless to even try discussing it.
I know this much ...
I'm gay and I know a lot of other gay people who are very concerned about some of the stuff going on with "trans-kids" but again, when we say something, we're being labeled as bigots.
I'm very concerned how this will play out in November.
In 2020 28% of LGBTQ people voted for Trump. That's an increase of 12% from 2016 and I can't help but wonder if the reason some gay folks are voting GOP is due to this issue.
That’s the problem my oldest brother who I once looked up to has. We haven’t spoken since 2016 I think due to his inability to accept my disgust of Donald Trump, he probably changed toward him but we’re forever broken.
Christians are the reason that gender affirming care exists.
the Dutch protocol, of which a perverted version is in use in the USA, was invented in the Netherlands, in the VUMC, which was a christian university hospital.
This is such a good comparison. Scapegoating is incredibly dangerous, not just because it targets the least capable of defending themselves, but because it gnaws away at our very identity as a nation or collective of humans.
LGBTQ+ persecution, coupled with the wholesale kidnapping and redistribution of brown-skinned human beings trying to escape unimaginably bad conditions back home, are eerily reminiscent of that ugly moment in our history.
I have a granddaughter in law who through the dreamer act finished college and so did her brothers but her parents that brought them to America won’t accept that their youngest son is gay.
I totally agree. This is a dangerous time, particularly for the most vulnerable among us. I personally do not understand why so many people are willing to hate others for things that are not under their control and do not hurt anyone. My sympathy has always been with the trans community. It must be terrible to wake up feeling uncomfortable in your own body (and Elliot Page's book, which I just read, confirms that). My view has always been that you are a human being and should have all the same rights and basic respect that I expect as a white, cis hetero male. What you do in private with other consenting adults is none of my business and has no influence on how I see or treat you. I do not understand why this is not the norm in what is still a racist society where too many people bully the most vulnerable among us.
Thank you for your wise words. As a member of the Jewish community, I too often feel unsafe (I proudly wear my Star of David , visible to all). When we have services or programs, the presence of security people is included in the planning.
This is what we call our right to religious freedom. You have freedom as long as you accept and worship according to the dominant religion. The problem with Americans is they don't even recognize the total number of independent and disagreeing Christian denominations. Which Christian Church will be selected as the dominant one? Who gets to decide? What happens when that church has a crisis in its doctrine and splits as happened throughout the history of the Christian Church?
I am also Jewish and have had that thought. I live in Sweden now (married a Swede) and we do have to have security at our synagogue every Friday and Saturday, as well as for any other events. Our danger comes more from Muslims that have been radicalized here, not so much from non-Muslim Swedes. I love that Sweden wants to help as many as possible. I just wish that our government would provide the resources to really help them. The need for assistance doesn't stop the minute they are granted asylum or residency. The US, however, I have no idea how to change it. I have no idea if more people are speaking out than in the 1930s and 1940s. I hope so.
When I offered a choice between “Here’s a solution to a problem.“ and “Here’s an alternate solution to a problem, but this one harms people we don’t like“ Republicans will always choose the second.
To them, it’s not an acceptable solution if it doesn’t hurt somebody unnecessarily.
I have a t-shirt that says “Together We Rise” in the pride rainbow colors. I like to wear it when I am out to preemptively let people know where I stand. So far, I have only had positive comments.
Hello George, I spent my early childhood on the island of Okinawa, 1954-1956. We traveled, we shopped in the surrounding villages. My parents never made any mention of 'differences' in the people we met. I personally was never made 'aware' that people who did not look like me were 'less' then me until we returned to the Midwest and my mother's family had 'opinions' about everyone. I am and ally to all and I state that to any and everyone friend or foe as they chose to name me such. Thank you for your intelligent and thoughtful discourse on your life and your bringing to light past and present experiences that mold and change each of our lives. Thank you
It is difficult to understand. I was student in the sixties, in joyous , rebellious Amstedam. We got beers from the homosexuals, who wanted more than we were prepared to give them. We had Provo and sang the uche, uche song (cough) and were beaten by the police for this breach of public order.
Religion was only a point in the contribution of resistance against the German occupation.
I see and feel the closing in of a fascist danger, with friend Putin as a bystander or contributor.
I asked a seccesionist what he saw as a desirable future for his separate America: a state with a state religion, without minorities, homosexuals and trans-people?
My mother cried when she told us about missing friends of her primary class. We lived our life here (in Europe) in peace, but warning signs are everywhere. Imagine that: secessionist pleading for a civil war...
As a citizen of Canada I can't speak to the specific issues being discussed in terms of the LGBTQ+ community in the US. I can only provide information from my own perspective about my own country.
However, in practice there is not much success with US citizens claiming this due to their ability to move within their own country to a state/location that is more LGBTQ+ friendly than their current residence. (see https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/popular-e-petition-calling-for-canada-to-allow-trans-people-to-claim-asylum-but-that-right-is-already-established-1.6310796 ) I guess in one sense I can see the point of this. Why would you be willing to move to another country but not to a new and better location within your own country? I can also see a few reasons why this may be true, and I am very much more than willing to hear from others to become more educated on the issues surrounding that.
We are, generally speaking as a people, personally supportive of those in our 2SLGBTQI+ communities being open about who they are and displaying their affection openly in public, no different from anyone else. As of the last reliable poll I can find published on this (2021) the rate of acceptance was only 61% and 48%, respectively, but my own feeling is that this has moved upward in the past 2 years - at least in my region in central Canada.
As others here have said, I too am an ally, and I know many, many more people across this country who also are allies. We can and do speak out and push our governments at all levels to be more inclusive and to specifically protect those needing protection. We can and do make a difference in Canada, and I for one won't stop until we're all just people who are accepted as just people. No secret wondering about their personal inclinations. No more discomfort in the presence of those who are transitioning. When people showing their love and affection for one another is just that, without anyone's sex or gender even being a thing anyone would think about. I may not live long enough to see all of that come to pass but I'll be able to rest assured that others will keep up the fight until it has.
There is a terrible virus spreading in the air in America. It can't be stopped by artificial boundaries. Soon, those with guns will spread the virus unless Americans wake up and stop them with the rule of law. The tests have already begun. Will our rule of law stand? Will our representative government draw its power from the people or from themselves? Even now Tennessee's legislature is making a stand to silence dissent. LGBTQ+ are just some of the bodies that will be infected by this virus. All of our children will be forever changed by this virus through the education reforms being made or attempted. Stop the lies. Call for legislation that makes it illegal for politicians to lie during their campaigns and in office if they are elected. Call for legislation to reform the way our candidates campaign. Go back to the days when the media had to give equal air time to any opposing candidate if they gave time to any candidate. It's time to rethink the American ideal of free speech, "I don't agree with you, but I will fight for your right to speak." We suffered this hate speech against many of our fellow Americans. We looked the other way when hate speech turned to action. It is time to recognize that "free speech" doesn't include the right to spread lies. Too many are spreading lies with the effect of "shouting fire in a crowded theater".
There's only around 12 states that are safe for LGBT people to travel or live in, and many of them are seeing increased violence towards their community. New York City had a recent killing of an LGBT Black dancer. Others have told me what my own eyes confirm, that NYC is no longer as safe for people like me. Are things better in Canada? I've heard some rumors that you have a few alt right groups causing problems.
I'm sorry to hear that. I don't like to even imagine NYC as a hotbed of anti-LGBTQ violence.
We do indeed have our own problems with the alt right. One of our biggest problems I've been given to understand is that many (although far from all I'm sure) of them are being organized and/or incited to hate and violence by other alt right groups from the US unfortunately. Many of my friends, relatives and acquaintances have actually discussed frequently the "Trump effect" and how it has "leaked" over the border into Canada. For those who were inclined to think in those ways anyway, Trump has normalized hate, vindictiveness, racism, homophobia, misogyny, conspiracy thinking, the anti-vaxx movement, etc. Funny thing about the rest of us though, the attempts by these groups to influence us just make us dig our heels in deeper and work even more diligently to force them back out again.
You have a unique perspective, George. Thank you for using your visibility (I would not demean you by using "celebrity") to call attention to the mendacious motives of politicians.
George is right. The very ones trumpeting the loudest about "Politicizing the Justice Department!" are the same one's literally criminalizing mention of sexual & ethnic and racial minority communities & cultures. What's it called again? 'Free Speech'. Thought-policing in action, double-speak in rhetoric.
I had no idea this happened until I met my husband. A large portion of his family, including both of his grandparents) were kept behind barbed wire for several years because they looked like the enemy. I was shocked. There is still generational trauma that affects him to this day even though he was born 45 years later. My daughter is part of the LGBTQ+ community, and it makes me sick to think that it may get worse before it gets better. I am doing all I can to fight for her by voting, contacting legislators, and sharing posts. My fear is it isn't enough.
One of my close friends growing up had parents who had been in an internment camp. That is how I knew of that internment. She told me about it. My mother, coming post Nazi Germany to the USA in the late 1950s to visit a penpal in Seattle, and then to study in Chicago, raised me to be aware of fascism. I am 100% with you on being concerned at the vilification of LGBTQ+ people, as well as Jews, women, Non-Whites, Democrats, the Constitution, true Law and order, and it is frightening how many people are falling for this on this planet. My daughter and her friend whose father is Japanese-American are going to university in Germany this fall. We are in Germany now to help them look for housing, and I of course keep my eye on the Nazi pretender party AfD, as they grow more and more popular with Putin manipulating them and the Left in the background. I am finding that the internet is as dangerous as it is enlightening and needs far more research on its subversive properties. How can we prevent Russian bots from having so much say over our elections, and their puppets in the Republican party? I think the problems are deeply complex and our nation is wounded post Covid, in ways that we do not fully understand. Trump is continuing to wound us too. He is a cult leader who gained a national stage. It is a lot to handle and many who once knew better are succumbing to hatred and anger, instead of getting therapy (of which there is a shortage both in therapists and in coverage for care). We need a national healing which will help get rid of the influence of the White Supremacists threatening to take over our nation and destroy democracy.
Thank you sir for sharing your personal experiences on this very important topic for everyone to understand. I am not a member of the communities that you reference, but I am an ally. All of us can be allies to those who are being scapegoated. We need to stay informed. We need to speak out. What happened during WWII should never happen again. What is happening now, needs to stop and it will only stop through support from the majority of the population. We must speak out. We must be allies.
When we were sent away, no one else stood to protest what was was happening. It was collective fear and hatred that permitted this injustice. We have to ensure that we stand by vulnerable communities when they come for them. Today, that is the LGBTQ+ community, especially our trans folk. Thank you for being an ally.
I cannot imagine what you went through George and it must never happen again. I am with you all the way.
I’m a transplanted Californian from North Carolina who believe it or not wasn’t raised to hate or be afraid of people who aren’t just like us, I thank my mother for that, and although I hate the extra expense of living in the Bay Area to stay near my grandchildren I love that people here for the most part don’t have the prejudice against people who aren’t exactly like them, they can’t, there is more diversity here than anywhere I know of. I’ve been an avid reader of all history since my teens, there’s a reason for that, and I read of the Japanese internment camps, how they lost everything and the impossible way they were forced to survive, exist. I also found out that there was not even one documented case of treachery by any Japanese American during the war. You write of the right to live and there are still places in the world where they put to death gay men, women or trans people. The story of a male nurse from the UK who took a job in Saudi Arabia to live among a different culture that almost cost him his life, these countries the U.S. deals with but would kill a substantial amount of our citizens just for who they are is unbelievable. Another thing, I once believed, long ago that states should be given more power over their own laws but no more no way. Actually only the federal government can make the laws that cover the entire nation when it comes to human rights, what books to read, how children are taught and what and how many gun sales are allowed and to who. States have proven time and again that the people in power cannot make sensible decisions on any of these issues that affect peoples every day lives. A house divided cannot stand? Exactly! That 150+ year old statement Lincoln made is proving to be true now more than ever and fifty countries within a country hasn’t worked, will never work, only federal legislative policy and made law will work to bring all Americans under the umbrella of protection eliminating the need for power hungry politicians to force hate and discrimination down the throats of people who otherwise might not think that way. It has to change. SCOTUS also has to be changed.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll continue to say it, I can’t understand how people can be threatened by a trans person or any other member of the LBGTQ+ community. These are people who are just trying to live their lives. They are not trying to recruit or or entice or proselytize or “groom” anyone else into a “lifestyle.” I have far greater (and justified) fear of so-called Christians who believe that practicing their faith requires forcing me to live by their dictates!
Gender diversity threatens the patriarchal order and the notion of the man as the center of the family unit. That has enormous power upon those who are already insecure in their roles.
I am a big star trek fan, who lives in the Netherlands. I am also bisexual, and I hoped you would be also an advocate for people like me... but I don't think your really know how divided the community right now is about the 'trans' issue.
Regarding the 'affirmative care' I have the following to say:
1) Puberty blockers are not standing science. The Dutch protocol has been widely critiqued internationally. For an explanation about this, see this article: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0092623X.2022.2150346
It is wise to remember that gender affirming care will never be standing science, and it will always be experimental, especially in the speed at which the field moves.
2) I know a lot of detransitioners. For some, they were homosexual boys and lesbian girls who thought that transitioning would relieve their discomfort with their gender non conformity. For these boys, girls, men,and women, the affirmative care they received was gay conversion therapy, which left hem sterile and unable to receive re
3) Many young people with other disorders are medically transitioning, thinking it will solve their distress. For some it will, but for a large portion, it won't. Too much focus on transitioning instead of the other mental conditions, will make them worse.
4) WPATH's standards of care are widely discredited and are disregarded as a way to treat trans people. for more info about this, see https://beyondwpath.org/
5) I agree with you about the gender diversitiy., But affirming care is not the solution
to all situations. Right now I am reminded of WW2 too, because the nazi's in germany also sterilized a lot of gay people. Please do your research because you are an icon to many LGBTQ+ people, and they are growing more and more disheartened by pro-trans activism which disregards the concerns of the rest of the community.
5) For more info, follow for example the youtube channel : Gender a wider lens.
Or go to genspect.org, which is an organisation that is critical of the affirmative model.
Additionally, the book 'time to think' by hannah barnes could be something to read. It's a about the biggest gender clinic in the world, the tavistock, in the UK, which recently closed due to them affirming the trans youth too fast.
I really hope you change your stance.
It's been a while since you posted this but thank you for your comment.
I've tried talking to people about my concerns about puberty blockers with kids, etc. and I wind up being called names (transphobic etc.).
I've pointed out the medical studies that warn that puberty blockers are dangerous and posted links to medical studies regarding the use of puberty blockers in children (including the recent Cass report) but the conversation has become so heated and toxic, it's almost useless to even try discussing it.
I know this much ...
I'm gay and I know a lot of other gay people who are very concerned about some of the stuff going on with "trans-kids" but again, when we say something, we're being labeled as bigots.
I'm very concerned how this will play out in November.
In 2020 28% of LGBTQ people voted for Trump. That's an increase of 12% from 2016 and I can't help but wonder if the reason some gay folks are voting GOP is due to this issue.
Again, thank you for your post.
Take care.
That’s the problem my oldest brother who I once looked up to has. We haven’t spoken since 2016 I think due to his inability to accept my disgust of Donald Trump, he probably changed toward him but we’re forever broken.
For real like just let people be people and let them live the way they want to . When they are not even bothering a single cell of constitution
Christians are the reason that gender affirming care exists.
the Dutch protocol, of which a perverted version is in use in the USA, was invented in the Netherlands, in the VUMC, which was a christian university hospital.
Hmm I didn’t know that. I do know Christian’s that accept people as who they are though so...
This is such a good comparison. Scapegoating is incredibly dangerous, not just because it targets the least capable of defending themselves, but because it gnaws away at our very identity as a nation or collective of humans.
LGBTQ+ persecution, coupled with the wholesale kidnapping and redistribution of brown-skinned human beings trying to escape unimaginably bad conditions back home, are eerily reminiscent of that ugly moment in our history.
I have a granddaughter in law who through the dreamer act finished college and so did her brothers but her parents that brought them to America won’t accept that their youngest son is gay.
I totally agree. This is a dangerous time, particularly for the most vulnerable among us. I personally do not understand why so many people are willing to hate others for things that are not under their control and do not hurt anyone. My sympathy has always been with the trans community. It must be terrible to wake up feeling uncomfortable in your own body (and Elliot Page's book, which I just read, confirms that). My view has always been that you are a human being and should have all the same rights and basic respect that I expect as a white, cis hetero male. What you do in private with other consenting adults is none of my business and has no influence on how I see or treat you. I do not understand why this is not the norm in what is still a racist society where too many people bully the most vulnerable among us.
Thank you for your wise words. As a member of the Jewish community, I too often feel unsafe (I proudly wear my Star of David , visible to all). When we have services or programs, the presence of security people is included in the planning.
This is what we call our right to religious freedom. You have freedom as long as you accept and worship according to the dominant religion. The problem with Americans is they don't even recognize the total number of independent and disagreeing Christian denominations. Which Christian Church will be selected as the dominant one? Who gets to decide? What happens when that church has a crisis in its doctrine and splits as happened throughout the history of the Christian Church?
I am also Jewish and have had that thought. I live in Sweden now (married a Swede) and we do have to have security at our synagogue every Friday and Saturday, as well as for any other events. Our danger comes more from Muslims that have been radicalized here, not so much from non-Muslim Swedes. I love that Sweden wants to help as many as possible. I just wish that our government would provide the resources to really help them. The need for assistance doesn't stop the minute they are granted asylum or residency. The US, however, I have no idea how to change it. I have no idea if more people are speaking out than in the 1930s and 1940s. I hope so.
“... but it was also deliberately cruel.”
Of course it was. The cruelty is the point.
When I offered a choice between “Here’s a solution to a problem.“ and “Here’s an alternate solution to a problem, but this one harms people we don’t like“ Republicans will always choose the second.
To them, it’s not an acceptable solution if it doesn’t hurt somebody unnecessarily.
Thank you for sharing. I'm so sorry you have had to go through this both as a child and now 😕
It is my experience as a child that informs my activism of today.
And that is definitely the bright side to what your family endured. Thank you for your activism.
Thank you for being a strong voice for our community. This story should be the front page news across the country.
What an awesome t-shirt! I wish there was one for Canada.
I have a t-shirt that says “Together We Rise” in the pride rainbow colors. I like to wear it when I am out to preemptively let people know where I stand. So far, I have only had positive comments.
Hello George, I spent my early childhood on the island of Okinawa, 1954-1956. We traveled, we shopped in the surrounding villages. My parents never made any mention of 'differences' in the people we met. I personally was never made 'aware' that people who did not look like me were 'less' then me until we returned to the Midwest and my mother's family had 'opinions' about everyone. I am and ally to all and I state that to any and everyone friend or foe as they chose to name me such. Thank you for your intelligent and thoughtful discourse on your life and your bringing to light past and present experiences that mold and change each of our lives. Thank you
It is difficult to understand. I was student in the sixties, in joyous , rebellious Amstedam. We got beers from the homosexuals, who wanted more than we were prepared to give them. We had Provo and sang the uche, uche song (cough) and were beaten by the police for this breach of public order.
Religion was only a point in the contribution of resistance against the German occupation.
I see and feel the closing in of a fascist danger, with friend Putin as a bystander or contributor.
I asked a seccesionist what he saw as a desirable future for his separate America: a state with a state religion, without minorities, homosexuals and trans-people?
My mother cried when she told us about missing friends of her primary class. We lived our life here (in Europe) in peace, but warning signs are everywhere. Imagine that: secessionist pleading for a civil war...
As a citizen of Canada I can't speak to the specific issues being discussed in terms of the LGBTQ+ community in the US. I can only provide information from my own perspective about my own country.
In Canada our federal government specifically supports asylum seekers from the LGBTQ+ international community, including the US (see https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/refugees/canada-role/2slgbtqi-plus.html ).
However, in practice there is not much success with US citizens claiming this due to their ability to move within their own country to a state/location that is more LGBTQ+ friendly than their current residence. (see https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/popular-e-petition-calling-for-canada-to-allow-trans-people-to-claim-asylum-but-that-right-is-already-established-1.6310796 ) I guess in one sense I can see the point of this. Why would you be willing to move to another country but not to a new and better location within your own country? I can also see a few reasons why this may be true, and I am very much more than willing to hear from others to become more educated on the issues surrounding that.
We are, generally speaking as a people, personally supportive of those in our 2SLGBTQI+ communities being open about who they are and displaying their affection openly in public, no different from anyone else. As of the last reliable poll I can find published on this (2021) the rate of acceptance was only 61% and 48%, respectively, but my own feeling is that this has moved upward in the past 2 years - at least in my region in central Canada.
As others here have said, I too am an ally, and I know many, many more people across this country who also are allies. We can and do speak out and push our governments at all levels to be more inclusive and to specifically protect those needing protection. We can and do make a difference in Canada, and I for one won't stop until we're all just people who are accepted as just people. No secret wondering about their personal inclinations. No more discomfort in the presence of those who are transitioning. When people showing their love and affection for one another is just that, without anyone's sex or gender even being a thing anyone would think about. I may not live long enough to see all of that come to pass but I'll be able to rest assured that others will keep up the fight until it has.
Fellow Canadian here , thanks for sharing and speaking out !❤️❤️
As a fellow Canadian, thank you for your comment. It helped me learn about the support in Canada.
You're very welcome. I'm not sure how well known it is at all.
There is a terrible virus spreading in the air in America. It can't be stopped by artificial boundaries. Soon, those with guns will spread the virus unless Americans wake up and stop them with the rule of law. The tests have already begun. Will our rule of law stand? Will our representative government draw its power from the people or from themselves? Even now Tennessee's legislature is making a stand to silence dissent. LGBTQ+ are just some of the bodies that will be infected by this virus. All of our children will be forever changed by this virus through the education reforms being made or attempted. Stop the lies. Call for legislation that makes it illegal for politicians to lie during their campaigns and in office if they are elected. Call for legislation to reform the way our candidates campaign. Go back to the days when the media had to give equal air time to any opposing candidate if they gave time to any candidate. It's time to rethink the American ideal of free speech, "I don't agree with you, but I will fight for your right to speak." We suffered this hate speech against many of our fellow Americans. We looked the other way when hate speech turned to action. It is time to recognize that "free speech" doesn't include the right to spread lies. Too many are spreading lies with the effect of "shouting fire in a crowded theater".
There's only around 12 states that are safe for LGBT people to travel or live in, and many of them are seeing increased violence towards their community. New York City had a recent killing of an LGBT Black dancer. Others have told me what my own eyes confirm, that NYC is no longer as safe for people like me. Are things better in Canada? I've heard some rumors that you have a few alt right groups causing problems.
I'm sorry to hear that. I don't like to even imagine NYC as a hotbed of anti-LGBTQ violence.
We do indeed have our own problems with the alt right. One of our biggest problems I've been given to understand is that many (although far from all I'm sure) of them are being organized and/or incited to hate and violence by other alt right groups from the US unfortunately. Many of my friends, relatives and acquaintances have actually discussed frequently the "Trump effect" and how it has "leaked" over the border into Canada. For those who were inclined to think in those ways anyway, Trump has normalized hate, vindictiveness, racism, homophobia, misogyny, conspiracy thinking, the anti-vaxx movement, etc. Funny thing about the rest of us though, the attempts by these groups to influence us just make us dig our heels in deeper and work even more diligently to force them back out again.
You have a unique perspective, George. Thank you for using your visibility (I would not demean you by using "celebrity") to call attention to the mendacious motives of politicians.
George is right. The very ones trumpeting the loudest about "Politicizing the Justice Department!" are the same one's literally criminalizing mention of sexual & ethnic and racial minority communities & cultures. What's it called again? 'Free Speech'. Thought-policing in action, double-speak in rhetoric.
I thought we were done with agent orange after the Viet Nam embarrassment. Alas, it metastasized into a new form that became the 45th prez.
George, I have admired your forthright courage and transparency in these difficult times. Thank you for your candor and insights.
The only way to quell this wretched human and his minions is to be strong, challenge where needed, spread love and compassion not hate. And vote.
I had no idea this happened until I met my husband. A large portion of his family, including both of his grandparents) were kept behind barbed wire for several years because they looked like the enemy. I was shocked. There is still generational trauma that affects him to this day even though he was born 45 years later. My daughter is part of the LGBTQ+ community, and it makes me sick to think that it may get worse before it gets better. I am doing all I can to fight for her by voting, contacting legislators, and sharing posts. My fear is it isn't enough.
One of my close friends growing up had parents who had been in an internment camp. That is how I knew of that internment. She told me about it. My mother, coming post Nazi Germany to the USA in the late 1950s to visit a penpal in Seattle, and then to study in Chicago, raised me to be aware of fascism. I am 100% with you on being concerned at the vilification of LGBTQ+ people, as well as Jews, women, Non-Whites, Democrats, the Constitution, true Law and order, and it is frightening how many people are falling for this on this planet. My daughter and her friend whose father is Japanese-American are going to university in Germany this fall. We are in Germany now to help them look for housing, and I of course keep my eye on the Nazi pretender party AfD, as they grow more and more popular with Putin manipulating them and the Left in the background. I am finding that the internet is as dangerous as it is enlightening and needs far more research on its subversive properties. How can we prevent Russian bots from having so much say over our elections, and their puppets in the Republican party? I think the problems are deeply complex and our nation is wounded post Covid, in ways that we do not fully understand. Trump is continuing to wound us too. He is a cult leader who gained a national stage. It is a lot to handle and many who once knew better are succumbing to hatred and anger, instead of getting therapy (of which there is a shortage both in therapists and in coverage for care). We need a national healing which will help get rid of the influence of the White Supremacists threatening to take over our nation and destroy democracy.