To put it bluntly, the only way to end homelessness is to house people or kill them.

That's it. Those are your options. Homelessness doesn't go away based on "crime crackdowns." You will imprison the unhoused, and when they are free, they will be unhoused again. Or they will die in prison.

When you burn encampments or force people out without their stuff, they remain unhoused or freeze to death.

After working with the unhoused, it's become abundantly clear that those who don't want to support them instead want them dead.

There is blood on the hands of every government and organization that controls the homeless population with force instead of compassion.

being a trans woman of color is incredible because "progressive" tme people will invoke my life and experiences to talk down to my white sisters as if they're uplifting me but when i try to speak with my own voice they pretend i dont exist

I've had to get extremely cautious when nonwhite, most often black transfems are invoked by tme people. They want you as a token so bad. They want the legitimacy of having the ultimate racialized tranny behind them, so they can feel like a real ally. White tgirls aren't really any better.

literalyyy and to that last point, i've been getting nervous with all the attention this post is getting from (i assume) white transfems because i hate the idea that my venting at one thing will get misconstrued as a reason to not take intracommunity racism seriously :(

watching someone start reblogging transmisandry bullshit is like seeing them get hacked by a scambot. will you stop.. for me

when people say misandry or androphobia or whatever aren't real they aren't being pedantic about your language. believing misandry is real is ideological poison. the second you attribute the real oppression you face to some "anti-male prejudice" you have given up your ability to understand and fight the actual power structures causing it. any bit of time and energy you spend arguing that women don't have it as bad as they say they do is time and energy you aren't spending on anything actually productive. wake up

When your conceptualization of justice is based upon vibes rather than analysis, your morality becomes portable and can be redirected by larger systems to attack manufactured enemies, due to a lack of foundational understanding of what is wrong and why.

In other words, if you don't understand the engines of the patriarchy and white supremacy, it won't take much for you to be tricked into believing "reverse racism" and "misandry" are real.

It really puts into perspective for me how stupid this shit is when I saw another post joking about what if white tgirls tried to coin the term transmisognblanc for anti white t girl prejudice.

I think I can sometimes extend too much grace to these fucking guys but that made abundantly clear how insane this is. Like Ive seen people make pretty mean coments about white tgirls on the internet but there usually pretty understandable vents from folks who the world has been more than a little mean to. I cant imagine incorporating "sometimes people cross the line of my personal comfort in their critiques of whiteness" as like a cornerstone of my politics. What a myopic way to live.

Also this just makes you so dangerously manipulatable. If all it takes for you too turn against a powerless minority is for them to be mean to you I regret to inform you of a favourite tactic of channer and kiwifarmers. Your politics are a windsock for whoever is most skilled at pissing you off.

the situation with harry potter is kind of unprecedented in some ways imo because it is maybe the largest media franchise in history to be created & owned by a single person who still has direct creative control over it. who is also a billionaire with significant cultural/political influence. like the usual "no ethical consumption under capitalism" type excuses shatter on impact when the bigoted author in question is logging onto twitter every day saying explicitly that when you buy the tim hortons ravenclaw donut she is using your donut money to fund the genocide of trans people. like with big franchises usually there's at least a little more diffusion of responsibility than this

interesting kinship i noticed

bwaow

quick question is that (meme)(tiktok)(video)(tweet)(post)(etc) actually funny or is it just a white person using aave

bwaow

reblog if you hate the current interior design trend of painting everything white with hints of grey or black. ignore if you have no taste

doing all the post COVID exposure stuff (saline sinus rinse, azelastine nasal spray) just to be careful bc we didn't mask today, and wondering why it's so seldom talked about to people who won't mask for whatever silly reason like "I don't like them on my face" or "they make me claustrophobic" or "no one can hear me talk" or whatever like... I've never heard anyone who refuses to mask say "and because I don't do that, I do all this other stuff to ensure I am lowering my chances of spreading respiratory disease." its always "I can't mask and I don't do anything else either" and no one ever goes "well, have you considered all of these other things you can do post exposure?" because those things aren't as effective as masks, I guess, but THEYRE WAY WAY BETTER THAN NOTHING if you do then right after you go somewhere unmasked (you can do the spray before, too, and it will help even more. even if you contract COVID the spray reduces viral load and symptoms.) it's weirdly absent from discussion of this kind of thing

I genuinely didn't know there was anything other than masks and vaccinations to help prevent covid transmission. OP says in the replies that its too exhausted tonight to get into it so I started looking on my own and the top ten results are all Isolate, mask, get tested, vaccinate.

Searching for "azelastine nasal spray covid" did get me this study though. I wonder if my pcp would prescribe me some for after I spend time around people unmasked, since I've got long covid already.

Check this out for a round up of some Covid research around antihistamines including nasal sprays.

https://synecdochic.dreamwidth.org/805203.html

thank you for the resources!

smarter people have said it better than i can, but there is no strong evidence that nasal sprays can prevent covid infection. once you're infected and its in your nose, it may reduce the viral load, but spraying your nose and thinking it will reduce your chances of becoming infected in the first place is negligible. i am saying this as a 6+ year covid conscious person.

i used to use betadine (iota carrageenan) nasal spray, and while some kind of nasal flush is better than nothing, a neti pot rinse or regular saline spray might be about as effective. i also tried covixyl and xclear (both xylitol sprays iirc), which really irritated my nasal passages with daily use. zinc sprays also have a chance of permanent loss of smell.

considering you can contract airborne covid through the mouth and even the mucus membranes of the eyes (hence many very-at-risk types opting for the physical barriers of stoggles, or using [unsubstantiated] eye drops like lumify), this only "treats" one vector of infection. again—better than nothing, and can't necessarily hurt so long as it's being used as directed—but not a sufficient measure to take in lieu of masking or other "swiss cheese" methods (ventilation, filtration, vaccination, etc.).

azelastine spray referenced above is not the same otc as it is with prescription, and the study cites using it 5 times a day for 3 days if showing symptoms/having a close encounter, and otherwise 3 times a day for 56 days. therefore, using the spray once after you come home from a risky event, again, can't hurt, but will not produce the efficacy purported in the study.

another touted prophylactic has been CPC mouthwash. luckily this is a common ingredient in many mouthwash already so it's easy to find. while also not preventative, it does reduce viral load in the mouth as well, so good to use in tandem with a nasal rinse or spray if infected. it can't hurt to use before and after outings (though some report brown teeth staining from daily use of cpc mouthwash), but again it is not a sufficient replacement for a mask.

metformin DOES have more substantial evidence for its use in preventing covid and treating long covid. pemgarda monoclonal antibody infusions are also being used as a preventative measure—purportedly even more effective than the mrna vaccine, which is great news for immunocompromised individuals for whom the vaccine is not an option— and as a long covid treatment with some success. also, very recently a japanese company developed Xocova, a PEP-like treatment for covid, but it remains to be seen whether or not it is accessible to the layperson (as was the issue with Paxlovid).

unfortunately at this time prevention is the most effective method of mitigation, and treatment or PEP for covid and long covid is woefully lacking. wear a well fitting respirator mask (kn95 or better), get vaccinated (twice a year if you are able; mrna efficacy is only 4-6 months, protein based like nee novavax is roughly 6-8 months, if you can try to alternate between them for better immunity), and use ventilation and air purifiers and filters to cycle clean air through an indoor area.

the sick times, the people's cdc, and the pandemic mitigation collective are the resources ive been relying on for many years. if you're on instagram michael_hoerger (medical researcher) of the pmc and jaydocovid (activist) are also good sources of info. the open medicine foundation also researches treatment for me/cfs and long covid.

went to a new optometrist today wearing my squid facts ‘save our freaks dont mine the deep’ shirt from @sarahmackattack that has a strawberry squid on it. and i wasn’t even thinking about it but the optometrist walked in and he was like ‘oh what does your shirt say’ so i showed him and he was like ‘oh that’s neat!’ and then i thought he might like to know about strawberry squid eyes since they have weird eyes and he is an optometrist and all. so i was like ‘yeah it’s actually a real kind of squid called a strawberry squid, their eyes are really cool because they have one big yellow-green one and one small blue one’ and he kind of gasped and went ‘oh my god that’s so interesting i wonder why they have that. do you know what their retina composition is like?’ and i watched as he minimized my chart on the computer and started looking up images of strawberry squid and then he googled ‘strawberry squid retina composition’ and he was like ‘sorry we’ll get to your eye exam in a moment i just really want to find out’ LMAO 10/10 optometrist experience will be returning

they killed him for this

To a racialized girl, the white man and white woman are like abusive parents. And the racialized man is like her brother, who also doesn't do any of the chores.

To a trans girl, the cis man and woman are like abusive parents. And the trans man is like her brother, who also doesn't do any of the chores.

What must be understood is that these oppressions, infact benefit the privleged. Obviously. Feminism MUST center women. It MUST be based on the goal of WOMENS rights. It can not be diluted into trivial BS about being "for everyone". Men will always actively benefit from misogyny so long as it exists, it is within their interests, a true ally will be an uncompromising gender traitor.

Likewise, any half descent white ally must be a full race traitor. There cannot be an anti-racism concerned with white feelings. Whiteness as a concept is the enemy. There's no way around it. There is zero room for compromise. The greatest failure of feminist and queer movements is the failure to center the racialized. Opting instead to be homonationalists and feminationalists.

A movement must have women, non-white women at the forefront. Transfeminized women at the forefront.

you don't "need to medically transition to be a Real Transfem", that's ridiculous. Self-identifying is enough to put you in the sights of the social apparatus of transmisogyny. By taking even a purely internal step away from the categorization of your body and experience as Male, you are threatened by social enforcement of that same oppressive paradigm. But the type of preventative enforcement that is suffered by that still-closeted girl is very different from the type suffered by the girl who has transitioned and come into direct contact with corrective punishment. The difference is in material consequence—neither is free of those consequences, but the consequences of one are undeniably more deadly. And the preventative enforcement comes directly from the threat of the corrective punishment; therefore, we can only truly address the former by centering the project of dismantling the latter. If we can deconstruct the powers and systems that enforce corrective punishment, then the threat that keeps girls from physically realizing their self-identity disappears.

the girl who hides herself behind a mask of cisness is a victim of transmisogyny. But she may be a victim who can keep her job, her house, her physical safety, in a way that the girl who does not hide herself cannot. It is the revealing of oneself that invites the corrective punishment, and it is the threat of corrective punishment that prevents us from revealing ourselves. By fighting only for our ability to be recognized in language, we ignore the ways that we are punished in action. Conversely, by removing the ability of the system to remove our jobs, our housing, our respect, and our physical safety we create an environment where recognition of our identity is meaningful and safe, rather than a way for the system to paint its own face while continuing to make us the victims of corrective violence—especially those of us who are the most vulnerable.

The New Chaser: Objectification of Trans Women in the Age of Performative Allyship

In June of 2024, queer and trans-owned magazine Autostraddle published “A Trans Guy’s Guide to Picking Up a Trans Girl”. Written by Buzzfeed alum Gabe Dunn, the article immediately became the subject of debate with over 200 more comments than any of the author’s other articles. Many took offense, describing the article’s suggestions as “manipulative,” “dehumanizing,” and “transmisogynystic claptrap.” Indeed, the article reads more like a man trying desperately to hide his objectification of trans women behind a veil of queer solidarity and pithy stereotypes than real dating advice. Many claimed Dunn to be a chaser, someone who pursues trans women out of a fetishistic sexual desire rather than actual romantic interest. Though the article itself was not taken down, Autostraddle deleted social media posts about the article after significant public backlash. 

Amid these negative comments, there were also several trans women who wrote they wished someone would show them the care and interest the article suggests; how could someone be a chaser, they seem to say, if they take the time to listen to you and engage in your interests? Dunn does not fit with the image of chasers they know: those chasers are often cis men who are not afraid to put their vapid fetishization and dehumanizing beliefs at the forefront. They show no interest outside of physical anatomy, and imply or outright threaten physical violence if the object of their desire shows any agency or self-worth. They make it clear that trans women need to fit into a narrow caricature of objectified submissiveness, and that their personalities and interests don’t matter. Dunn’s article seemingly contains none of these red flags, and even suggests an understanding and connection with trans women. Yet the criticisms are hardly unfounded, and upon closer inspection a different set of more subtle and insidious warning signs emerges.