Gregory's ServerOverheard: “Not all heroes wear capes. Or tops, it seems.”
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 @Normdeplume @Saerise @georgetakei Sadly, @Normdeplume, despite losing a few court cases, Tennessee has only become more determined to oppress trans & other LGBTQ people. @Saerise @georgetakei Sometimes, I wish I could amend my birth certificate to say I was born in a different state.   @georgetakei Funny thing is, this is legal in Ontario, Canada. Not to say she wouldn't have been harassed by a cop, though... @georgetakei @MichaelPorter it’s legal in British Columbia as well. Women can go shirtless if they wish. @MichaelPorter @georgetakei , it's legal in Kentucky too. The times change. A few years back we had a 'free the nipple' march in Louisville, where hundreds of women legally marched down the center of a street topless. @MichaelPorter @georgetakei I have been to Ontario, but never seen a woman exercise this right.  @dkmcf @MichaelPorter Yeah. Aside from Pride-related events or wilderness camping, the harassment risk is usually too great to go topless in Ontario. @PapyrusBrigade @dkmcf I was just about to say this. When the first "bare" protests were occurring, there were all kinds of losers out with their cameras. @MichaelPorter @georgetakei that's because there's only two months out of twelve where you can take your top off in Ontario.  @georgetakei The rule with the right is “you’re whatever gender lets us hurt you more right now.” @moira @georgetakei 100% this. The right has demonized trans people because they’re a scapegoat they don’t think has support. Notice they’ve backed off on blacks and Jews for the nonce. @seano @moira @georgetakei but we DON'T have support in many areas. Just a couple years ago, I remember so many LGBTQIA folk saying "Cancel Pride - George Floyd is more important." And we marched with those protests instead. We were, and ARE, allies. I'm extremely disappointed that the "liberal" media (and, sadly, many communities of color) seem to have forgotten that now that the attention of the fascist alt-right have shifted to us. @Freedom2B @seano @moira @georgetakei I assume you're assuming I'm racist. Being mixed-race, I don't think that I am; but my family-of-color is homophobic AF, so maybe I have a bias. I'm mostly disappointed that the people we proudly supported have seemed to have forgotten we exist. All communities, regardless of source of origin, are made of people (and people kinda suck). My friends from Africa experience Colorism here, and my friends from India still experience Caste-ism here. @RamenCatholic @seano @moira @georgetakei I would argue the problem is you consider yourself an "ally". Or others are "allies". You are not, and they are not. You are front line soldiers. You stand shoulder to shoulder with the repressed and victimized, or you stand with the victimizers. Any discrimination harms us ALL, not just the temporary target of the moment. The liberal media is not on our side. @patricklee @RamenCatholic @seano @moira @georgetakei , Exactly, and we are all in that list, even me, a middle aged white CIS heterosexual male. I may be far down on that list, but unless I stand shoulder to shoulder with everyone else, they come for me too. I am not an ally. I am on the front lines. Just like everyone else who is not in the club that is the oligarchy. @JonKramer @RamenCatholic @seano @moira @georgetakei I’m a 53 year old white dude. I’m not lgbtq. I’m not a person of color. I can only partially grasp the life of those. I’m trying (like you I think) to raise us all not punch the weakest. @patricklee @RamenCatholic @seano @moira @georgetakei , I would argue that the weakest of us is those who are afraid of small immigrant women in congress, or guys picking grapes, or working in chicken factories, or Asians, or women in general. And it's perfectly fine to punch those weaklings. You can recognize them by red hats or waving with their elbows locked. @JonKramer @RamenCatholic @seano @moira @georgetakei the strongest people never claim to be “alpha” They don’t need to. People know strong people and that doesn’t mean the person who can assault the most.  @sabik @seano @moira In general, it is hard to see oppressions you are not the target of, so it is never useful to assume that your oppressions are worse than others'. White Christian supremacy targets different people differently. Some through police, some through Healthcare, some through simmering conspiracies and mistrust. Trans folks are targeted. So are a lot of other groups. they really haven't backed off tho. speak on this, but leave others out your mouth, esp if it ain't your experience. @seano @moira @georgetakei everyone here seems to be blaming "the right" but it goes well beyond. the centre and even the left are regularly transphobic, whether through inaction (ie: they don't set up protections for us, they don't expand our access to healthcare) when they hold power, or active harm that rivals the way we're treated by fascists ("i support trans people but what if lebron james was in womens sports??????") @briellebouquet @seano @georgetakei Didn't say it was exclusive to the right, just said it was the _rule_ with the right. Centre and left, there are other possibilities. Not certainties. Just possibilities. @moira @seano @georgetakei in terms of centre and left establishment? they pretty consistently, at best, do absolutely nothing to protect us or expand our healthcare to match the rest of the population. the right is worse. but i'm tired of seeing racism and transphobia blamed on the right. the right can't get away with this shit without inaction and tacit support from centrist and even left leaning politics that give them the power to turn their hatred into laws. @moira @georgetakei iiiiiiiiiiit's not just the right. you're correct otherwise though. there's regular misogyny that they'll happily apply to us, and then there's the bonus transmisogyny on top. @Gtmlosangeles @georgetakei Okay, this is an accidental Mastodon squib, considering the TOPic: 😆 @georgetakei the only thing consistent about her case is the state/local government treating her like trash. @georgetakei should become standard protest tactics of transwomen "if were not woman, then by the same logic, were not beholden to the same standard" cant think of anything more feminist either, directly points out several hypocrisies at once  @georgetakei This is a brilliant hack, although I suspect Tennessee would rather declare public nudity legal than recognise transgender folks.  @TomF @georgetakei didn't Facebook work around this by prohibiting "female-presenting" nipples? Or was that Tumblr? @oblomov @georgetakei That was Tumblr. The fix for that was nipple-pasties that were printed with pictures of certified-male nipples :-)  @TomF @oblomov @georgetakei how do you get that certified? You know, I don’t want to know. @georgetakei yes but file under: there should be no such thing as a female specific crime“ in the US as well. Breasts aren’t indecent. @muzikant @georgetakei And also seems like a cause that is a perfect fit for the right, who all freaked out about wearing masks. Who’s the government to tell us we have to wear cloths at all??? @pjandy @georgetakei well to the extent that we cover our anuses it’s sanitation. But breasts are considered sex organs and are therefore indecent in public. But the whole body is a sex organ, without exception. So women are held to different standards of decency for the same reason as the Muslim countries that force women to cover their faces or hair. @muzikant @georgetakei yeah and also breasts are for feeding babies. The whole thing is weird and there isn't a logically consistent thread running through any of it @georgetakei Maybe leaders in Tennessee were referencing a quote from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: "In those days spirits were brave, the stakes were high, men were real men, women were real women, and small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri were real small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri.' https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/46075-in-those-days-spirits-were-brave-the-stakes-were-high @georgetakei I honest to god tell this as a joke in my stand up act. That it actually happened in real life... Jesus. @georgetakei Isn't #maliciouscompliance wonderful? You can generate your own schadenfreude. Three cheers for her! @georgetakei This was in 2011, so is somewhat stale news. And where's "the rest of the story"? @eleeper stale news? states, more and more, are making it impossible to change gender on state ID. the feds aren't helping. it happened a long time ago but it's 10x worse now, so i'd argue it's still quite relevant furthermore, fuck you. there is no "rest of the story" and it's disgusting of you to imply this is somehow her fault. trans ppl are denied ID changes to match their sex and gender all over the world every single day. you want the rest of the story, ask literally any trans person. @briellebouquet @eleeper the rest of the story as in... What happened when the second "offence" went to trial? Or did it somehow get ignored? Did this resolve her issue getting her gender put onto her driving license? Because it happened in 2011 it's reasonable to be able to answer these questions by now?  @eleeper @georgetakei @georgetakei Heinlein's Razor: Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity. @georgetakei I looked this up to see if there had been a ruling on her case yet, but was surprised to find that this actually happened in November of 2011. Oddly I can't seem to find any follow-up to the story other than it appears she was jailed for 23 days, which sounds like the State still refused to be consistent with itself.  @georgetakei Schroedinger's Nipples: Some how both male and female depending on the observer.  @georgetakei #Alt4You From Advocate: Andrea Jones of Morristown, Tenn., who had gender reassignment surgery and has been recognized as a woman by the Social Security office, decided to make a statement ... (more) @georgetakei #Alt4You (continued) She walked out to the parking lot and removed her shirt, which she reasoned would be acceptable if the state recognized her as male. Instead she was arrested for indecent exposure. (end)  Do whatever works, right? But how much you want to bet that they'll just change the law so no one can go topless? @georgetakei , When I was a small child, in (70s) LA, this happened when the cops arrested a topless stripper. Turned out to be a trans woman, and charges were dropped. I live in Kentucky now, and it is legal for women to be topless in public. Watching the world change in increments has been fascinating.  @georgetakei so how far can we take this? what if we just mount a pair of fake tits on a sign? @georgetakei  @georgetakei Another example of the "double standard." So Tennessee has now banned "moobs" with this precedent?   @georgetakei 1/2 @georgetakei @georgetakei Were any of you aware that in other countries such as Canada, a female not wearing any type of top in public is LEGAL. In your United States, females are still 2nd Class Citizens and are NOT EQUAL to males. If you George Takei can be in public without a top but females are arrested, then you are superior in the eyes of the law.  @georgetakei Here's one I'm happy to #ALTText4you  @georgetakei Tennessee is run by complete fscking idiots who failed to envision the situation they're now in.  @georgetakei This happened 11 years ago, I wonder what happened to her.  @georgetakei To be clear, I have NEVER understood the ridiculous topless laws for women. Men have breasts too. They are exactly the same as a female breast. Just smaller. @georgetakei if guys can walk around topless, then women should be able to as well. Time to get rid of gender in everything! @georgetakei how is that she got arrested? there's tons of dudes with big teats running around TN! @georgetakei this is the way. @georgetakei ... Wonderful ... Hanging the police ... by their own logic ... @georgetakei she was arrested for indecent exposure after removing her top. What 3rd world country is this that thinks it's still 1823, not 2023?  Seems a bit of a sexist law if ever I saw one. If it's okay for males, why are females excluded, transgender or otherwise? That said, good on her for calling out the authorities on this: they can't recognise her as female in one instance, and male in another. @georgetakei I can't even understand what happened or what **should** have happened. Is the message here that indecent exposure laws are outdated? @georgetakei sometimes you have to make a point. the State can't have it both ways. don't let them have it both ways.   ⬆️ Image description #Alt4You @georgetakei that is so interesting.. it shows the stupidity of the law, the complete ignorance of the state, and it’s agents, and the creativity of the “accused”.. 💕  @georgetakei No one should be fined for the way they dress, or undress. No matter sex, gender or gender identity. (But I get the story :-) ) @georgetakei if you squint, it's ALMOST like it's a double standard to just be mean to the transes! Almost. But nah, couldn't be that... Well, we really know it's about control of bodies - they'd rather tie themselves up in these knots, before recognizing what their eyes and ears tell them about their fellow humans. @georgetakei this should end like the mail delivery scene in the original Miracle on 34th Street. @georgetakei  @georgetakei this is assuming double standards from government is a crime or something that will get noticed? /s But in all seriousness....wtf Tennessee?? @georgetakei FYI all, this was 12 years ago. I am unable to find out what happened after. @georgetakei doesn’t this just mean that the dmv has the issue while the police consider her female?  @georgetakei Some progressives hear this story and think smugly, “we put those conservatives in a bind! Now they’re confronted with the paradox of their beliefs and have to rethink their position!” But conservatives do not care what you think. They have a consistent position. They want this woman excluded from society. Her existence is an affront. And if she will not disappear, they’ll remove her. By whatever means they can. Some progressives don’t know what we’re up against.  @georgetakei Tennessee law on indecent exposure: Morristown municipal code doesn't mention indecent exposure. @georgetakei This is wrong on so many levels. 1. Trans women are women. 2. Breasts are not obscene. Not by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, New York has allowed women to walk topless in public for many years and it did not user in the apocalypse. It had no negative effects at all. @georgetakei Good to hear nothing has changed in Tennessee or the south no matter what you have changed yourself.. To gouté à Line from the play: “Greater Tuna” about a southern town, Dede Myers at the weapons & ammunition store said; “if we can’t kill it, it’s immortal!” @georgetakei as I often say, what more clearly demonstrates the bullshit sexism and misogyny of censoring only "female looking nipples" in public and online, but not "male looking nipples," than how trans and nb people are treated?! at what point in transition does someone gain or lose the right to go topless in public without getting fined/arrested/banned from social media for "sexually explicit nudity"??? @georgetakei |
@georgetakei: Ugh it would be my state.