/u/AndroidwithAnxiety on What even is the main disourse about this?

I think of it as the 'where do we draw the line' idea. Slippery Slope Fallacy??? In short, it's the misbelief that if an arbitrary line isn't consciously drawn somewhere and then enforced, people will genuinely start identifying as attack helicopters, and that it will be harmful.... for some reason / that if conscious effort isn't made, society will implode into degeneracy because people are incapable of self-regulation or something. It's the 'if we stop arresting people for being gay, then they'll want to get married, and if they can get married then they'll want children and if they can have children they'll-' panic but repackaged. It's Homophobia: Episode (I've lost track) Season Can We Stop Now Please? And we all know homophobia is repackaged misogyny so...

There's also the added fear of ridicule by association. It's the same reason some gay and lesbian folk turn against bisexuals, why some binary trans people don't recognize non-binary trans people - why some people in the queer community seem to love punching down (recently came across an asexual who was against anyone using microlabels because that was 'too weird'...) If we accept every identity, then we'll end up with Rabiosexual (literally satire) people and nobody will take any of us seriously if we include people who self-identify as having rabies!!! If they have rights, then people will think I'm crazy and try to take away my rights too - so if I stop them having rights, then the bigots will like me and leave my rights alone! Nope. You'll have just laid the foundation that will help them take your rights away. And one of the easiest ways of ridiculing something is to attribute it to a new generation and their newfangled social medias - because teenage girls are the stupidest and most sensitive creature known to men adults. Repackaged homophobia...

It's still the drawing of an arbitrary line, except it's coming from the other side. It's Pick Me behavior appealing to the conservative fear of hypothetical future 'degeneracy'.

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I have three go-to counters for anti-queer bigotry - especially the argument that it's a mental health disorder.

1. That's what people used to (still do) say about homosexuality and being trans.
2. Even if it is a mental disorder, do you think that ridicule and cruelty and exclusion will help individuals seek out treatment or support? What effect do you think your behavior towards them will have on their mental health? It's been proven again and again that de-stigmatizing a condition leads to more and better treatment for it.
3. What do you think the treatment for it would be, if it is in fact a disorder? I'll give you a hint; it involves the same things as basically every condition ever. Acceptance and understanding. And any physical medical treatment is between the patient and their healthcare provider so mind yo business.

And if being queer is reliant on oppression, then how long until gay people are no longer considered queer because they've got all their rights? If it wasn't so upsetting, I'd start quoting stats and the history of 'correctional' treatments for people who didn't / don't conform to society's expectations of relationships, and how asexuality (especially repulsed aces) features heavily.

I should get around to writing an essay about this stuff at some point, I swear.

June 29, 2021 at 11:55PM