• Khrux@ttrpg.network
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    67
    ·
    5 months ago

    I was at the end of school during the 2016 election and my closest friend in my Comp-Sci class who I’d known from 11 was in the far right pipeline; this person found Hillary absolute abhorrent, loved trump and was generally the 2016 Pepe style crypto-facist. We live in the UK too, so this is even less common than it probably was in the USA.

    When school ended, I stopped speaking to this person, but a few years ago saw that she’s come out as a trans woman. I’m happy for her and not really keen to reconnect at all, but oh boy am I nosy about the timeline of her political views. I wonder if she still holds them, was struggling with internalised issues or just had a huge realisation at some point.

    • Charzard4261@programming.dev
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      48
      ·
      edit-2
      5 months ago

      I’m in an identical situation as you (also from the UK funnily enough), except I did keep in contact with her, albeit at arm’s length at first. She’s explained to me over the years that it was internalised hatred, made worse by her family’s very outspoken views about anyone not straight and white.

      When she finally had a chance to get away and start thinking things through herself, she began to accept herself and others. She’s a lovely person to be around now, and pretty vocal in trying to help other people learn about and understand trans healthcare and mental support. But most importantly, she’s happy.

      • Khrux@ttrpg.network
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        15
        ·
        5 months ago

        I’d hope we were talking about the same person and it’s a small world but I think people who are targeted by extreme right views is sadly just probably common.

    • buttfarts@lemy.lol
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      28
      ·
      5 months ago

      Liberal tolerance is such a defacto default that people who would be hard done by a white christofascist America end up signing up for it because they assume it will include the same rights and freedoms they currently enjoy.

      Also every trans Trumper believes they will be the token accepted trans person in the far-right. Same as some Jews cosied up to the Nazis to extract personal privilege at the expense of snitching on their own people only to end up at the exact same end-game anyways.

    • JasonDJ@lemmy.zip
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      14
      ·
      edit-2
      5 months ago

      The far right has a way of infiltrating people’s minds when they are already mentally weak. They lurk around certain communities and poach people out of them.

      This is how reddit was staunchly pro Ron Paul in 2008. Myself included. I still contend that that experience was a training ground for future internet-based astroturfing.

      They wind up the 20 year old virgins and turn them into incels, and from there and turn them into misogynists. As an example. Remember when /r/conspiracy was an interesting place full of lively theorizing about UFOs and Bigfoot?

      They dip into the source of your emotion…whether that be depression or desire, and widen it into a giant chasm ready to take in all your hate as if that will fix everything in the world. They blame your x on y, and to fix y you gotta vote for R.

      The funny thing is…this is the exact same story we are told after some idiot starts shooting up a mall. That they were targeted by extremists online. Same book, different protagonist.

      Should we just admit that the rise of the far right is just a symptom of a long unaddressed mental health crisis in the US, and certain people exploiting that for their own gain, or is it too soon for that?

      • coronach@lemmy.sdf.org
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        10
        ·
        5 months ago

        Should we just admit that the rise of the far right is just a symptom of a long unaddressed mental health crisis in the US, and certain people exploiting that for their own gain, or is it too soon for that?

        100%. The sickness of the system comes from inequalities and gutted education. Thanks, Reagan!

    • Wahots@pawb.social
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      11
      ·
      5 months ago

      One of my buddies suffered from the same problem. He was left out and generally held at arms length until he was shown love, or at least understanding. He flipped almost overnight and realized how grave his mistakes were. He ended up becoming a teacher and hopes to help students before they made the same sort of mistakes he did when his teachers were shitty to him. Props to him for breaking the cycle.

      He still regrets how far he pushed some people away, and the actions he took as a teen. But he is much happier now and we have mended our friendships with him.

      • LadyAutumn
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        20
        ·
        5 months ago

        Idk what trans women you have met but conservative views are extremely unpopular in the entirety of the transgender community. Being alt-right would get you entirely ostracized and barred from accessing most trans communities and spaces. Queer people are significantly less likely to be conservative than cisgender heterosexual people.

        I also have no clue why you describe trans women that way. “t-female-presenting people”. You can just call us trans women, or transfeminine people if you’re including feminine non-binary people as well.

        • eldavi@lemmy.ml
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          5
          ·
          5 months ago

          Idk what trans women you have met but conservative views are extremely unpopular in the entirety of the transgender community.

          i’ve had the opposite experience from living 15 years in the san francisco bay area.

          Queer people are significantly less likely to be conservative than cisgender heterosexual people.

          lgbtqa+ as a whole yes; but less so from the “t” part

          I also have no clue why you describe trans women that way. “t-female-presenting people”. You can just call us trans women, or transfeminine people if you’re including feminine non-binary people as well.

          i was corrected several times in the past when i said trans women or trans girl from trans-female-presenting people.

          • SkyeStarfall
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            8
            ·
            5 months ago

            What are you on about 😭

            I think this is more of a reflection of the circles you have been in, than the trans community at large. I have never seen a trans person wanting to be called “trans-female-presenting”. That’s some shit that conservatives say, a roundabout way of denying the identity.

            • eldavi@lemmy.ml
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              1
              ·
              5 months ago

              That’s some shit that conservatives say, a roundabout way of denying the identity.

              i said the something similar and i was repeatedly assured that it was right; the fragmentation of between generations that don’t use social media and those who do seem clearly pronounced.

          • LadyAutumn
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            8
            ·
            edit-2
            5 months ago

            Trans women or trans feminine people is fine. The other way you’ve been seemingly corrected towards is reminiscent of “TIM” and “TIF” which are two transphobic terms meant to invalidate trans people.

            Your little “less so from the T part” belies something of your beliefs here. You also, again, have no clue what you’re talking about. Living in a particular area does not instill in you broad understandings of the sociopolitical beliefs of some demographic. Just that the people you’ve met in that area have, in your perception, been more likely to hold those views.

            Does not pan out in reality. I have a feeling I know how you’re going to respond to this. I’d love to see you prove that inkling wrong.

            • eldavi@lemmy.ml
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              2
              ·
              edit-2
              5 months ago

              i’ve also heard trans feminine before; but i was slapped for using trans women

              You also, again, have no clue what you’re talking about. Living in a particular area does not instill in you broad understandings of the sociopolitical beliefs of some demographic.

              Does not pan out in reality. I have a feeling I know how you’re going to respond to this. I’d love to see you prove that inkling wrong.

              the pot calling the kettle black takes on new meaning when you take such an aggressive position against someone who is part of the same community and also when you do as i did and let your experience inform your opinion.

      • Wereduck
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        4
        ·
        5 months ago

        It’s interesting to me that your experience is so vastly different from mine given we live in the same area (SF bay area). Most trans people I know, including myself, fall on the far left, and at significantly higher rates than the cis people I know (Queer or not). I’ve also never heard the term “t-female-presenting” before, it is completely foreign to me. I mostly hear and use “trans women” or “transfeminine”.

        I wonder if there’s another demographic factor, or you are in a unique community of trans people. The people in my circle are generally 20-35, nonreligious, working class, often living paycheck to paycheck, and are actively and primarily in community with other trans people, as a support structure. How would you describe your circle?

        • eldavi@lemmy.ml
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          5 months ago

          I wonder if there’s another demographic factor, or you are in a unique community of trans people. The people in my circle are generally 20-35, nonreligious, working class, often living paycheck to paycheck, and are actively and primarily in community with other trans people, as a support structure. How would you describe your circle?

          i had a similar thought and now i think it’s because i only hung out with latinos at the time since my ex was friends w them and he was mexican. english was no one’s first language, except for i, nor were they born in the united states nor any other english speaking country so maybe there was some sort of cultural or language translation happening since reading trans-feminine-presenting sounds odd when i read it out loud.

          • Wereduck
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            5 months ago

            Interesting! Most I know were either born in the US or have been in the US since they were kids, primarily communicate in english, and discovered their transness while here. You might be right with the cultural/language translation being a factor. But I’ve also seen “Transexual”, “Transgénero”, “mujer/hombre trans” used by Spanish speakers which tracks not that far from common English usage. I wonder if there’s a different distinction being made or if it’s intertwined with the particular individuals’ conservative ideology in some way.

            • eldavi@lemmy.ml
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              2
              ·
              5 months ago

              i suspect age is a big factor too; the youngest of the trans people i used to know would have been genx-er’s and i’m assuming that the big majority were boomers since the eldest millenials would have been in their early to mid 20’s at the time (circa 2006).

              all of them were born and raised somewhere else and migrated to the united states as late teenagers or young adults; so i have little doubt their conservative upbringing for those with happy enough childhoods would have had a big impact.

      • Khrux@ttrpg.network
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        edit-2
        5 months ago

        I’ve since moved to a very left wing city and I’ve met a lot of trans women. Most have strong political views for sure, but those views are very far left wing too.

        • eldavi@lemmy.ml
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          3
          ·
          5 months ago

          i moved away from new york in 2009 san francisco in 2019 and have lived in austin and chicago since then; this exchange is teaching me that chicago, austin and the lemmyverse trans communities are more alike then any of them are to new york or san francisco.