Transition: A Life Faced With Adversity

There are many things that are a result of the social structure that we live in. One of these catastrophic results is suicide amongst groups that are marginalized and stigmatized because for one reason or another they don't fit into the norms that the social structure was built on. I've had several friends who were part of LGBTQIA (alphabet soup) communities who've committed suicide. When you live in a social structure that is adverse to your existence and in a society where you are painted as the 'other', life can seem too difficult to be worth it. Sometimes keeping on can be a fight that looks eternal and hopeless. One of the communities that is hit hardest by such adversity and stigma is the trans community. The suicide rate is significantly higher than pretty much any other population. Many trans folks who come out lose their job, family and friends over it, but that is just the beginning...
...Then there is the insane level of threats, violence and harassment. Walking down the street becomes more dangerous for trans folks. People often feel threatened when their over simplistic understanding of gender is being challenged. Sometimes some people get violent because they fear anything or anyone they don't understand. In medical situations, trans people are often put through hell if the medical professionals who are supposed to take care of them happen to not have the knowledge on basic sensitivities when it comes to trans folks. Because of horrible portrayals of trans people in the media and humor at trans folks' expense, society treats trans people as something to gawk at instead of someone with their own feelings, dreams and aspirations. Trans people are treated as subhumyn in that sense.
My heart and prayers go out to trans folks who committed, attempted or are thinking about suicide. I pray that they don't give up on their lives. Someday we will have a world where gender roles are not forced on anyone, a world without the gender binary or the patriarchal social structure. I pray for and work towards a world without social stigma. I pray for a world where instead of having to face overwhelming adversity, trans folks have support and hope reinforced by the greater society. Someday cis privilege, male privilege, hetero privilege, white privilege, economic-affluent privilege etc will be recognized and broken down with all the hierarchies. In the meantime the trans community has my solidarity and support. If you know a trans person who is struggling I urge you to be there for them and support them. Transition can be hard enough for them as is, then they may also be facing the stigma and oppression in ways we might not even be able to imagine.

Domestic Violence: A Societal Problem

It is all over the media, athlete Ray Rice knocked his fiancé out in an elevator and all he got as a consequence of his actions was a two game suspension. Regardless of whether or not the NFL saw the video before they handed down the two game suspension, they had to have known that Mr. Rice dragged his unconscious fiancé from the elevator which was also caught on camera. This is a symptom of a larger societal problem where the institutions, sports leagues, the media, politicians and even society as a whole does not take domestic violence and gendered violence seriously. The problem is almost without fail portrayed as just a few isolated incidents. When people speak out we are seen as "hysterical" and they will say we are "overreacting".

Another thing the media will do is if a survivor returns to the abuser they use that as a means of attacking the validity of the accusations. This happened when Rihanna was seen with Chris Brown after he had beaten her.

I know because of personal experience how difficult it is to get out of an abusive relationship. When I left my abusive ex and escaped abuse, I had help because a wonderful feminist came and helped me get away. She gave me a place to stay.

I am very blessed that she helped me because I wouldn't have been able to get away without her help. If it wasn't for her help in getting away, I'd likely still be with him to this day. However, there are many other womyn who don't have such support and feel as alone and trapped as I did at one point. If you are one of those womyn and you are reading this please know that you are not alone.

When I had a way out and realized that I deserve better than abuse, I left that motherfucker. Nobody deserves to be abused.

The problem is society doesn't take domestic and gendered violence seriously. The system is rigged to silence survivors. Much like with sexual abuse the police are usually don't take domestic violence very seriously and the injustice system rarely does anything about abusers.



I, personally, feel that a network of underground community oriented justice as well as education is the most logical way to combat this problem. As womyn, we must stop tearing each other down and follow the example of The Gulabi Gang in India.

Why Isn't Weed Legalized Nationwide?

"Why isn't weed legalized nation wide?" is a question I ask myself a lot. Is it because it is dangerous? Is it because it transforms otherwise nice people into criminals and the monsters they say are always  lurking in the dark? Is it because addiction is a serious problem? Or that it kills brain cells making us pot smokers apparently turn into bumbling imbeciles who can't think for shit? No. The reason is control. If people can smoke weed than they can make choices about their own bodies.
When looking further into it they were trying to control chicanos and blacks. Big business had everything to gain by the criminalization of weed. Hemp was bad for business for the cotton and paper industries. Control of people and resources was the goal.
To deny a person autonomy over their own body denies their individuality. This is the goal of the corporate power structure. They want power they keep it.
They can line their pockets with these private contracts for prisons. So each person sentenced over possession of a plant that is most common in communities of color and economically underprivileged. Control. Countless products that would cut into business interest. Control. Telling you that you can't put that substance in your body. Control.
That is why weed isn't legalized. Control. Period.

#JusticeForJason - Police, Power And Privilege [video commentary]

Police, Power And Privilege

#JusticeForJason

#ACAB

#InvestigateDentonPD

#FuckPoliceBrutality

#DentonTX

Recently, Jason Wayne Bishop (aka Pooh) was detained by the Denton City Police for public intoxication. He was beaten while in the DentonPD's custody. He had two swollen black eyes and had to have 17 stitches on his forehead (amongst other injuries). These are not injuries that could possibly be inflicted as a result of just being "taken down and restrained" but signs of force far beyond the use of force continuum. Moreover, the behavior of Denton's finest is also a manifestation and a symptom of a greater systemic and structural problem. It is part of a power structure that enforces privilege, social control, economic disparity and inequality. It is an overall system of injustice and behavior that is beyond sick.

Police Brutality in Denton, TX (Whooda Thunk It!?!?!) ACAB!

This is Jason chillin' in the squat with a tall can.

It was Denton, TX. In the early hours of the morning, July 18th, 2014 @ approximately 2:20am, a guy I know was tataken into custody for possession of alcohol and Public Intox. The arresting officer was Clint Webb Badge # 132. Now this officer seemed to be acting within the confines of his job and other than my ideological argument that the state enforced by all officers is the very power structure I would love to tear down as an anarchist, I have no beef with him. He did however witness at least some of what followed. Two city jail guards  described as black, stocky, approximately '5"9 started beating him ruthlessly.

This is Jason after what the pigs did to him.

Through out this whole thing Jason, the one beaten, was compliant. He did not fight back only tried to cover his vital areas as any reasonable person would do. I know Jason is know angel, he is my drunken ex fiancé who I am not to happy with as of late. But he doesn't have many people sticking up for him. And if this is what it takes to get his voice heard, well I got his back. There should be an investigation. This is clearly a case of bullies picking on one street person, but is part of a bigger problem. Lets set an example and fight for these pigs to be dealt with. For Jason, for Pooh Bear, for whatever you know him as...

ACAB!!!

ALL COPS ARE BASTARDS!!!

Edit: 17 stitches and a concussion.

Edit: "Fractured wrist,broken nose,contusions to face,17 stitches,concussion!" ~from his sister

Shame On Connecticut: A Sixteen Year Old Grrrl In A Male Correctional Facility

I have read from certain LGBT news sources lately, a lot of things about this Jane Doe. She is a sixteen year old transgrrrl in a male correctional facility in Connecticut. Now, I'm not sure how many of you realize the terrifying and traumatic problems that could arise when you throw a mere grrrl into a male facility that likely contains violent offenders possibly including rapists. This case is very blatantly heart breaking because she is only sixteen years old, but this reflects a bigger problem in this country. This problem is that this is not uncommon. Transpeople who haven't had the sexual reconstruction surgery are routinely misgendered by the legal system and thrown into male prisons. Most people with common sense would think that forcing a person into a place where there is an extreme risk of physical or sexual violence inflicted upon them based on the fact that they are a sexual minority is clearly cruel and unusual punishment. The fact is that they put a child in harms way, it sounds to me like child abuse. It has been 70+ days and they still haven't brought charges on her and they are still detaining her. I'm pretty sure that even if the first part wasn't unconstitutional, that shit is. Of course there is the factor of the prison industrial complex. Maybe it does come down to money. Maybe race plays a factor, after all, it isn't like we have enough latin@s in correctional facilities in this country, right??? I would encourage everyone to write to Governor Dan Malloy and politely yet really sternly request that he do something about it. Also write the Connecticut Department Of Children And Families to encourage them to do all they can to take this grrrl out of the male facility. Please be polite but express your outrage. Flood them with calls, emails, faxes and postal letters. Let your fire out folks and let it out well directed and well thought out. For updates you can follow Justice For Jane on twitter. They also have a Facebook page. So please get involved  and also sign the petition. I know I will. Unless this grrrl is released, the state of Connecticut can go fuck itself.

Poem: The Sign

I felt tears coming forth telling me that I'm trash

Bringing my emotion to hit the floor in a splash

I felt it at the hands of too many men

Trust broken, I crawl to a light at the very end

I have felt my heart smash upon my memories

But it forever burns to ashes in my dad's stories

"No dogs, no Mexicans" a sign

A window to a different place and another time

I hear mi abuelita tell me with pride about me

Words on who I am stories of this proud family

I almost forgot the stories of a sign

Stories that torched my heart and burnt my mind

The dignity in my blood flowing through time

The disgrace of this dark eyed face of mine

A shame that I bury myself in

A shame becomes betrayal, the biggest sin

But I am not just mi abuelita but I am me

I am more than my dad's daughter yet never free

Until I finally smash that sign

I won't be free until I burn the border I'm behind

But I will never be able to be my totality

While my definition is just my family

When modesty is on the sign

The fight is still about me, it is still mine

Because I'm not mi familia or mi raza

I'm not my pain nor am I my trauma

I sure ain't that sign

I am all my love and I am my mind

Still Waiting For Hobby Lobby To Do Penance

Recently, the supreme court decided that it is okay for corporations to deny female employees certain kinds of contraception for religious reasons. Initially, I was too in shock to respond with a blog entry. I was pissed. I'm still pissed. I mean I get it, corporations are people and therefore are entitled to religious freedom. By religious freedom they obviously mean freedom of your religion at the expense of other people's bodily autonomy.

Well, for the sake of sanity, lets break this down, shall we? Corporations aren't people, they don't have empathy, they don't have family members that they love unconditionally, they don't eat and they don't bleed. But giving corporations religious freedom? When was the last time a corporation went to mass? When was the last time a corporation took communion? When was the last time a corporation felt Catholic guilt? Is Hobby Lobby baptized? When was the last time Hobby Lobby did penance? Us womyn are waiting for Hobby Lobby to do penance or at least have contrition for setting a precedent that will fuck over womynkind. You see, the one religious thing corporations do would be sinning. For claiming the lord as a corporation, I'm pretty sure Jesus would go to their stores knock over shit and attack people with a whip. Kinda kinky, eh? Yeah, no...

Now as for religious freedom, religious freedom should never be an excuse for forcing one's religion on someone else. Does freedom of the press mean that a reporter can legally break in to your house, force you into submission and search you and your belongings if they are writing a story about you? No, apparently only the police can do that. Also, something concrete like someone's body is much more important to defend than something abstract like what imaginary friends a person believes in. Therefore, bodily autonomy should trump one's right to practice religion.

Fourth Of July Whitewash (Red, White And Bullshit)

Everyone is going bonkers over July 4th. I get it, I like fireworks too (when I am mentally prepared for them) and the festivities can be fun. But I have seen an insane amount of stuff glorifying the founding fathers for defeating tyranny and kicking the lobster backs out. Lets get one thing straight every one of the motherfuckers who signed the declaration of independence was a privileged white dude. Half of them were slave owners. But the government they created just continued the genocide that they had originally been doing in the name of the British crown. You see, when they talked about equality they weren't including womyn, native americans, black people or poor people. They wanted equality for American born, rich, white, land owning men. So when I hear people talking about bringing back '76 I have to ask, do you really want slavery? Do you really want to undo womyn's suffrage? There weren't even the minimal domestic violence laws that we have today, do we want that back too? I know these tea baggers like to glorify those days and considering their views on gays, womyn, people of color, etc it makes sense they would worship archaic documents written by backwards people during less progressive times. Do I love America? Yes. I love the Appalachian Mountains, I love the rest of the natural landscape, I love most of the people in America and I love the cultures of various localities of this country. I love American food. I do not, however, love the government here. It wasn't any better from the start. So stop whitewashing history, people. You know who you are.

Men's Rights Activism: A Menace To The Progress Of Our Species...

I'm hearing about with increasing frequency about these "men's rights" groups. Amongst these groups, I keep on hearing about A Voice for Men. Now whenever I hear about this group or hear a men's rights activist talk, I really have a hard time deciding whether to puke because of how disgusting they are or laugh at how stupid they sound. This notion that feminists oppress men is stupid. For feminists to oppress men, those of us who are feminists would have to be in a position of real materially measurable power within the structure of the system and the institutionalized social hierarchies. We really don't have such power. Do men face some fucked up shit from the system? Yes. The draft is an example. However, feminists didn't create the draft, as a matter of fact, many feminists are pretty strongly opposed to imperialist wars and all the macho bullshit associated with war. What is the Men's Rights Movement about? Scapegoating womyn and feminists for their troubles. Scapegoats have never had pretty results in history.
But let us look at the facts, shall we? Womyn's bodies are regulated in regards to reproductive healthcare decisions being meddled with by laws. Womyn are taught how not to be raped. We are told to cover our bodies as to not tempt men. We are told not to drink at parties, not to go out at certain hours, not to draw attention and if we were raped then we are guilty because we somehow failed to prevent the man (who we obviously tempted) from raping us. We have dysphoria sold to us to keep us buying their products. We have a pay gap that has made it difficult for working class womyn to get out of abusive marriages for economic reasons.
That macho masculinist shit fed to men who have easily misplaced anger by AVfM and other men's rights groups has a poisonous effect on the socio-political climate. But to make bad even worse, when some heartless mysogynist egomaniac with no conscience gets pissed of because his male-entitlement  wasn't nurtured and fulfilled and he kills people over being rejected by womyn, that climate dismisses  him as one lunatic even though he has been many men many times over. They play that shit down. They even express sympathy for him saying "why didn't one of you sluts sleep with him?" as if we owed that to men to keep them from murdering. But that is what the "men's rights movement" wants, a culture of coercion and male entitlement. Fear: If I don't sleep with him he might kill me and/or others. Entitlement: He killed her because she rejected him, poor boy.
That is why the men's rights movement is a menace to any kind of healthy progress of the humyn species.

Misogyny Brings Murder And Tragedies (Commentary About The UCSB massacre)

Recently, in light of the massacre at UCSB, I feel I need to talk about the misogynist statement where he rambles on about killing blond sluts and how womyn didn't love him enough. The fact that he said that shit would have been pathetic and laughable if he didn't act on it. But he did and it was tragic. Some groups of men want to use this tragedy to reinforce male entitlement and make the shooter out to be a victim. This also brought the conspiracy nuts and wannabe Alex Joneses out of the wood works try to gloss it over by saying that the shooting was fake. Well it is very real and very tragic for the families and loved ones of the people he gunned down. Elliott Rodger was not crazy, he was not a victim and unfortunately he is not alone. He is part of an epidemic of male violence against womyn as retaliation for feelings of rejection. He was a misogynist. He was a terrorist... not a martyr, not a victim, not someone who suffers from mental illness and certainly not justified. You would think MRAs would want to tone down their hate speech for a bit, right? Wrong. The MRAs and their whole lot seem to think if one of us womyn had put out for him he wouldn't have been driven to this (because clearly womyn are responsible for whether some guy murders people or not) and some are even rallying around the guy as some sort of victim. One of the MRA groups called A Voice for Men has a conference coming up in Detroit. There is a petition to stop the conference, by the way. The conference is in extremely bad taste considering the recent massacre. Who is to blame for this massacre? Elliot Rodger first and foremost is to blame. The culture of male entitlement and violence is another example. Men are taught in society that they deserve to "have" a grrrl and that womyn are commodities for men to "get" like when you go to the store to get a pack of cigarettes. Well womyn aren't a commodity to get. We are people with feelings, dreams, aspirations and interests of our own.

My condolences to the friends, loved ones and family of the six people who Elliot Rodger killed. My heart goes out to you.

Idealization: Flattery Or Unreasonable Expectations

I heard a term recently someone referring to the "ideal partner" and it rubbed me the wrong way so I had a discussion with a friend of mine hoping he might have some insight. There seems to be something messed up about idealizing a person (though on some level at some point most likely everyone, including me, is guilty of this) as it seems like putting someone on a pedestal and putting expectations on them that they didn't necessarily consent to. The friend I was discussing this with said that the term is like the term "the one" and that is a fairytale. I thought about this and he is right, it is fairytale bullshit. I feel that maybe the reason the term rubs me the wrong way is it is that hetero-normative fairytale bullshit. If someone is labelled that "ideal partner" and they don't live up to said ideals that this person is now expected to live up to, that puts them in a position of failure to a non-consentual expectation. That is really unfair to the one who is idealized. Idealization of a person really hurts that person in the end because nobody can always live up to the ideals thrust upon them as an expectation. Really, I'm serious, nobody can. When they fail, they can't meet these obligations, that idealization turns to the demonization that really is the other side of the same coin. Idealization and demonization really end up being a trap. The idealization puts a kind of pressure on a person that never ends well. Nobody is "ideal" we are all just people who interact with various other people in our own unique various ways, but ultimately we are all skin, muscles, skeleton, various organs, etc. that's all. Humyn.

Dear Putin, Have A Nice Bowl Of Shut The Fuck Up For Your Fucking Face To Drown In

A while back Putin passed a law banning swearing in literature, film and music. This kind of censorship is a really slippery slope. If someone wonders why I would say such things they such take a look at here in the USA how the list of words prohibited as obscene by the Federal Communications Commission and how that list has grown. But none of that is the real reason this censorship law is fucked up. The real reason is that any rule that limits or in anyway inhibits artists's work will hold back progress on a cultural level. There is plenty of art I despise and I will call artists out who make sexist, racist or otherwise bigoted art. But government censorship of art is never fucking okay. That shit is just plain wrong. Does Putin's anti-profanity law surprise me? Hell to the fuck no. It's not like he is known for being an advocate for freedom or even humyn decency. His treatment of the members of Pussy Riot is indicative of that. So Putin can go fuck himself.

Cliven Bundy: There Is A Place You Can Shove Your Racist Stupidity, White Boy

To whom it may concern, For a while now all these people are talking about Cliven Bundy. I am really getting sick of him. Can he go choke on a pretzel like a good cowboy yet? I get it, he doesn't like the federal government because he wants to graze his cows, own slaves and generally be a dick. He should really learn about shit before he opens his mouth. Mexicans and "spanish people" are not the same people. Spanish people are from Spain in Europe, you know, where white people come from. Mexicans are from Mexico where the overwhelming majority of the people are mestizo. Spanish may be the main language spoken in Mexico (Nahuatl, Mayan and other indigenous languages are still spoken more than some realize) but since English is the most widely spoken language in the USA maybe we should start calling anglo-americans English people. Chew on that with your grass, Cliven. Maybe the federal agents should have made him read a map while they were there. I am not a fan of the government either, the difference is that Cliven Bundy wants to take one fucked up hierarchical power structure and trade it for another fucked up hierarchical power structure. Why? Because the power structure serves him. He is just a white dude who wants to maintain his privileged life on his fucking ranch with his fucked up beliefs about people of color and apparently not learn the most basic geography enough to know that Spain and Mexico are two different places with  two different cultures on two different continents.

No, Cliven, they weren't better off as slaves. They didn't have better family life at a time when black families were enslaved and separated at the slave markets and african american marriages weren't recognized. But hey, maybe you should exchange your ability to be married for a jumping the broom ceremony that isn't recognized by the power structure that enforces a system that makes it possible for people to own you and put a price on your body. Is that the family structure you are looking for, Cliven?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agXns-W60MI

Above is the full speech, still racist as fuck as well as having anti-choice implications. Actually, it has more racist bullshit than the individual clip. It portrays stereotypes about Mexicans, and he can't even remember which culture he is talking about. I once heard a very wise man say "shape up or ship out." Well, Cliven, get your shit together or go fuck yourself, but don't open your mouth just to mass murder people's braincells.

Hey Cliven, shove your anglo-centricism and white privilege up your ass and graze on that, motherfucker!

The Myth Of Reverse Sexism

I've heard it time and again. It annoys the shit out of me. It is those moments where someone (usually some dudebro-doucher) implies that feminism is somehow oppressive to men. It is when some idiot cries "reverse sexism" as if something like that even exists. It is when some dickhead uses the term "femanazi" as if challenging patriarchy and the other hierarchies that reinforce it is somehow comparable to rounding up and systematically exterminating entire portions of the population while militarily expanding into as many countries as you can. People who say these things deserve a good boot to the face. They make me sick. Sexism is more than a simple personal bias based on sex or gender. Sexism is a systemic and institutionalized form of oppression. Sexism is that even the most privileged group of womyn make seventy seven cents to the man's dollar. The biggest pay gap is that the latina population earns fifty nine cents to the man's dollar. That is in the United States of America. This is your "land of the free" and what it represents to those of us that are on a societal level underrepresented. Sexism is that grrrls are still told how to avoid and prevent being raped while boys are not taught not to rape or even in the circumstances where they are they are given a ridiculously poor understanding on what rape is. Sexism is the fact that rape is the accepted norm in society. Sexism is the fact that varying power structures in society feel perfectly comfortable shaming womyn over how much or how little clothing we choose to wear. Sexism is that domestic violence is overwhelmingly swept under the rug (nothing to see here folks) and society doesn't take it seriously. Sexism is rape jokes being considered perfectly acceptable in the media. Sexism is breastfeeding in public being considered obscene while you can find breasts being used for advertisement and marketing pretty much all over. Sexism is how prostitutes are criminalized while the pimps and johns are rarely prosecuted. Sexism is the media bombarding womyn with messages that our bodies aren't good enough, that we need their product to fit their bigoted beauty standards. Sexism is the systemic regulation of womyn's bodies by varying anti-abortion laws. Sexism is so many things that play into the power dynamics that make womyn an underclass. Sexism is NOT simply a personal bias and feminism is NOT the dominant force in society that is being forced on a vulnerable group of people. So to the next dudebro-doucher that accuses me or any other of the womyn who call them out on their sexist bullshit of "reverse-sexism" and calls us "femanazis" they should stop and think for once about the power dynamics and examine their own privilege. Maybe then, they will realize why we are so pissed off.

On Hope, Struggle And The Good Fight...

Sometimes hope can be a difficult thing to find. Sometimes despair and hopelessness can feel overwhelming. Sometimes you have to look for hope. Sometimes you want to give up. I know this feeling. Sometimes hope is broken down by traumatic events, rough times or bullies who seem to have all the power and all the control. Well, they may appear to be undefeatable and situations can appear hopeless and they are in fact very difficult, but I am writing this to say that nothing is ever truly hopeless and you can always fight the good fight relentlessly until you win and you should never give up. I am writing this for those who face oppression and exploitation in any of their many forms. Sometimes you can even stumble upon hope accidentally, but most of the time you have to find it in your own heart, desires, dreams, values or ideology. Sometimes, you may be given false hope by some asshole (often politicians) and that may bring you back to square one. If they claim to be your hope from a position of power, they will probably sell you out. The hope, that is in your comrades who fight beside you as equals because what you want and what they want are inherently linked because all your comrades' interests are somehow intertwined. That is something that can be achieved only by a horizontal sense of unity, solidarity and a strong will. That is true of the struggle for the eight hour day, for the precedent of resistance sparked during the stonewall riots and many other points in history. You don't need to rely on promises at the ballot box but a truly bottom up fight in the streets. You lose fights the same way you win them, but if you lose you should never let that make you stay down. You get back up and fight again. If you haven't let go of your hope and the fight then you haven't truly lost yet and if you haven't truly lost yet you can still win or at least push forward.

"Our God, She Roars" (a poem from the book I'm writing "The Riot Slut Diaries"

Our God, she is strong

She roars, words flow in song

She holds the moon and Earth

The sun that she birthed

She'll untie the ropes that bind us

We make new rope to unite us

A new life, freedom calls

Womyn of the world pulling down walls

Our God, she is struggle

She roars, structures crumble

She has life in her hand

She is the womyn of every land

Tonight Belongs To Us